Inside Chess 1997/15 Two Classical Sacrifices: Made and Unmade by GM Leonid Shamkovich The classical Bxh7+ sacrifice is one of the first, and most useful, "stock" sacrifices we all learn. Here are two examples of this recurring combinational theme. Shamkovich,Leonid - Hunt,D U.S. Amateur Team (ch), 1997 Caro-Kann Panov-Botvinnik [B14] 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Be7 A fashionable move is 6...Bb4!?. 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.0-0 Nxc3?! 9...0-0 10.Re1 Bf6 is better. 10.bxc3 0-0 11.Re1 11.Qe2 and 11.Qc2 are also good for White. 11...b6!? 12.Be4!? 12.Qc2 g6 13.Bh6 Re8 is ECO D41/30; 12.Qe2 is Inf. 2/152. 12...Bb7 13.Ne5!? Na5?! … [Read more...]
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Anatomy of a Disaster
Inside Chess, 1992/9 Anatomy of a Disaster By Yasser Seirawan Since winning the US Championship, Gata Kamsky's chess career seems to be heading straight up. I was anxious to cross swords with him at Belgrade. In this, Anatomy of a Disaster Part II, you'll see that when it rains, it pours. Seirawan,Yasser (2615) - Kamsky,Gata (2595) Belgrade Investbank, 1991 Symmetrical English [A34] 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 Bg4? A bad mistake. Since Black doesn't want to trade this Bishop, it's better left at home. On g4 it's a target. 8.Kc2 Nc6 9.Be3 e6 10.Bb5 Surprisingly, the position is already a technical win. Since a doubling of … [Read more...]
My Memories of Tartakower
Inside Chess, 1989/9 Hungarian journalist and chessplayer Ladislas Lindner met the legendary Dr. Tartakower for the first time in the 1930s. So began a friendship between the two that was to last for decades. In telling the story, Mr. Lindner recreates the events and flavor of a time long past and shows the great Doctor to be a philosopher as well as a chessplayer. My Memories of Tartakower by Ladislas Lindner When a devoted chess enthusiast is a journalist-and, as such, a chronicler of chess events, as I have been - then he feels that he owes a debt to posterity if he fails to share all his remembrances of the great players and the interesting events of his youth. During my youth, … [Read more...]
The Return of Robert James Fischer!?
Inside Chess, 1992/16 The Return of Robert James Fischer!? by Yasser Seirawan Fischer Signs for Match in Yugoslavia Sensational news reports from Belgrade, Yugoslavia confirm that the legendary chess player Robert James Fischer – winner of the 1972 World Championship match has signed a contract to face Boris Spassky in a rematch. Wow! What is one to make of this report? First, a little personal history. I was born March 24,1960. A Child of the Sixties, as it were. It was this generation – born into the "Age of Aquarius" – that was supposed to right the sins of the previous generations. A heady responsibility to be sure. Nonetheless, this generation grew up fully expecting to … [Read more...]
Interview With Yasser Seirawan
Inside Chess, 1989/24 Interview With Yasser Seirawan by Mike Franett Yasser Seirawan was born of an English mother and a Syrian father on March 24, 1960, in Damascus, Syria. In 1964 the Seirawans moved to England. They emigrated to the United States in 1967, and in the spring of 1972 the family moved to the Seattle. In the fall of that year twelve-year-old Yasser began to play chess in the local hang-outs. At-the time, I was the Washington State Champion and soon felt a little like the New Orieans city champion in the 1840s. Something was happening, and I definitely knew what it was. I found it fascinating to watch this talent grow. In a few years, Yasser was a Master and our new … [Read more...]
The Lost Match: Rubinstein – Marshall, Warsaw 1908
Inside Chess, 1988/9 The Lost Match: Rubinstein – Marshall, Warsaw 1908 by IM Nikolay Minev There are many famous and fascinating matches in chess history. This is the strange story about one of them: the match between Akiba Rubinstein and Frank Marshall held in Warsaw, October 25 -November 14, 1908. A match not mentioned anywhere at that time, and even now, after 80 years, one which still remains in shadows. That a match between these two all-time greats is virtually unknown may strain credulity. The facts – rather, the lack of facts – prove otherwise. The match is not reported in The Yearbook of Chess (London, 1907-1917); nor does it appear in the extremely popular series by … [Read more...]
Annotations by GM Yasser Seirawan
Inside Chess, 1995/25-26 Annotations by GM Yasser Seirawan GM Vladimir Kramnik had a nice start at the Investbank tournament at the expense of GM Jan Timman. I've noted that Kramnik's style of play has a wonderful simplicity. His games often flow smoothly from one advantage to another. In this one, Timman doesn't do anything wrong, but is taken apart nonetheless. Kramnik, Vladimir (2730) – Timman, Jan (2590) Investbank Belgrade (1), 1995 QGD Exchange [D35] 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 c6 7.e3 Be7 I, too, have dabbled in this freeing move. Black forces the exchange of a minor piece in order to relieve his slightly cramped position. The question that … [Read more...]
Annotations by GM Mikhail Tseitlin
From Inside Chess, 1995/16 Tseitlin,Mikhail (2440) - Dvoirys,Semen (2550) 10th Cappelle la Grande, 1994 Sicilian Rossolimo [B51] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nc6 3...Bd7 is more often played. 4.0-0 Bd7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Re1 a6 7.Ba4 My view is that neither 7.Bf1 nor 7.Bxc6 gives White any advantage. 7...b5 The most common reply, though 7...c4 has given Black better results for the most part. 8.Bc2 e5 9.a4! b4?! I think that 9..Be7 is stronger. The opening moves were made rather quickly. In our previous game, I played 10.d4 here. 10.h3 Perhaps this move, so typical in the Spanish, is a novelty here. [It is very difficult to say for sure these days what is a novelty and … [Read more...]
Another Casualty Report on the Opening Disasters of 1998
From Inside Chess, 1999/3 by Nikolay Minev Always Risky Development is of the fullest value when it is harmonious. It is always risky when an opening variation is based, first and foremost, on full development of only one of the wings. And it is especially dangerous when only the queenside is developed, while the pieces of the kingside stay frozen, as in the following two instructive debacles. Alexander Ianovsky - Sergey Perun Kiev 1998 Sicilian Closed [B24] 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Rb8 Theory recommends 4...Nf6 followed by ...d7-d5, with an equal game. The idea for early action with only the queenside forces is strategically very risky in this particular case, because … [Read more...]
Interview: Viktor Kortchnoi
Interview: Viktor Kortchnoi by Jules Welling From Inside Chess, 1994/17 I Think I Understand More of the Game "It might sound a bit strange, but I think that my understanding of the game of chess is still growing, although I don't play Candidates-level chess anymore. Even for myself, that is a strange experience. Of course, I am no challenger for the world title anymore, but I do have the feeling that my play is more interesting than at the time I played for the world championship. I do not really follow closely the theoretical developments of today, but nowadays I have more and better ideas." Viktor Kortchnoi and I talked in Antwerp during the Lost Boys tournament, where he finished … [Read more...]