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| Posted by andy94 beck-web.com 10/30/2008 10:42:19 Play online chess |  Subject: The Magician from Riga.Message: I know some quotations on chess by him. "There are two kinds of sacrifices: sound ones and mine." "To play for a draw, at any rate with White, is to some degree a crime against chess." "They compare me to Lasker, which is an exaggerated honor. He made mistakes in every game and I only in every second one!" Referring to his piece sacrifices: "They can only take them one at a time!" "If playing chess were made illegal by law, I would become an outlaw." And about Bobby Fischer: "It is also important to remember that Bobby Fischer was a real chess gentleman during games. He was always very fair and very correct." Unfortunately he suffered from bad health. He was a heavy drinker and a chain smoker. In 1962, in Curaçao, while he was admitted to hospital, he received a famous visit by Bobby Fischer. Anyway, I'm sure health problems destroyed Tal's career, but the question is: how much? | ||||||||||
| Posted by ionadowman beck-web.com 10/30/2008 12:18:47 Play online chess | I have long thought... Message: Ever since back in 1971 when I read P.H. Clarke's book "Tal's Best Games of Chess (1951-1960)" I have been a Tal fan. Over 100 years ago, H. N. Pillsbury once remarked that when making combinations, you make sure that "when the fire was out, it isn't out!" Well, Tal seemed to be able to ignite the dampest lump of vegetable matter at will. How I wish I could play as he did! I liked what little I've heard of his sense of humour as well. Sometime during the 1980s, Mischa won the World Blitz Championship. In receiving his prize, Tal welcomed the opportunity once more of becoming "ex-World Champion". In an interview for a chess magazine on one occasion, the subject of Tal's fondness for fiery fluids was touched upon, though rather obliquely. When asked whether he would play for a Russian team or the "Vodka" team, Tal rather thought he would choose the latter. Tal's caveat notwithstanding, probably he stands best in comparison with Em. Lasker than with anyone else. In Lasker's view, Chess was neither a science, nor an art, but a fight. I'm sure Tal approached the game in the same way. Such are my impressions of my all-time favorite player. Cheers, Ion | ||||||||||
| Posted by tag1153 beck-web.com 10/31/2008 12:14:34 Play online chess | An example of his magic..... Message:  gameknot.com ——— Chess: Ulf Andersson, positional master — Andersson rarely makes a direct attack: he wins by subtle improvements in position. DK: I've been wanting to tackle positional play in this column for some time, but couldn't think of a good way into a topic that is just too vast – until inspiration came with the arrival of Grandmaster Chess Strategy, by Jurgen Kaufeld and Guido Kern (New In Chess, £19.95). The title is bland, but the strapline reveals the content: "What amateurs can learn from Ulf Andersson's positional masterpieces". Andersson is, for me, an enigmatic chess player: he rarely makes a direct attack on his opponent's king, preferring to exchange pieces and gently improve his position – and against strong chess players this frequently leads to ... Posted by ionadowman | beck-web.com 10/31/2008 14:18:25 Play online chess Hi Thomas...Message: 'Just one round after the positional triumph over Khasin came one from a different mould. It amonf the first of Tal's games that I ever saw, and I well remember being amazed by its sheer ferocity. 'Furthermore it illustrates very clearly, even starkly, ... practical approach to the opening, attacking inclination, and wonderful skill on one side; on the other carelessness, lack of technique and overindulgence in combinative play and fantasy. And all the time you can feel [Tal's] spirit, determination and exuberance coming through. A game full of life and excitement.' P.H.Clarke "Mikhail Tal's Best Games of Chess". One regrets that a long time addiction to alcohol and tobacco - and morphine as well it seems - did so much to depreciate Tal's talent, finally to cut it short well before Tal reached 60 years of age. I recall with horror Tal crashing and burning at the Leningrad Interzonal in 1973, after having posted a record to rival Fischer's contemporaneous 20 World Championship cycle wins in a row. Tal had gone 80+ (83 I think) Master level games without a defeat. But then, maybe the sort of person who plays chess like that is the sort of person who is going to ply himself with dangerous organic chemicals. Who knows? Just as an aside, I guess in the world of sport we sometimes have to take the rough with the smooth. Though never a John McInroe fan, I could not help but admire his fighting qualities. Sure, his ranting and raving on the court was embarrassing and unpleasant to watch and hear. Yet it has always seemed to me that what within McInroe that made him capable of extraordinary winning or saving shots was also responsible for his flying off the handle when he misliked an umpire's call. McInroe called on a good deal of emotion in his play. That was his style. What the connection might be between Tal's fiery chess play, fantasy and imagination and his overindulgences, I wouldn't have the foggiest. I'll leave that to the psychoanalysts. Cheers, Ion ——— Bobby Fischer Against the World (movie review) — A riveting documentary about the troubled US chess champion and his battle with Boris Spassky. Liz Garbus's gripping documentary about the life and times of the troubled American chess genius Bobby Fischer asks a number of questions. Did Bobby's missing dad create an emotional void which was neurotically filled with chess? Is there something in the game that encourages immersive obsession and ultimate madness? Would Fischer have gone the same way if he had been a plumber or a welder? And why is it that antisemitism is the bigotry of choice for mentally ill people? Non-chessers like me are already basically aware of the second and third acts of this American life. The middle act was ... Posted by ionadowman | beck-web.com 11/02/2008 01:06:35 Play online chess In a game I recently annotated... Message: For a game just as wild and of the same stamp, I would commend you to an earlier annotated game in my list: "Die Hard: It's always too early to resign" between ian_want and nathanman22. To be sure there are several mistakes in the game, but there are some brilliant moves as well that shine all the brighter(especially White's astonishing endgame Q sac that ought at least to have saved the game). But for sheer overall entertainment it's a hard game to go past. Cheers, Ion ——— On Chess: Game wading into waves of change — Like so much in contemporary life, chess - like an onrushing river - is characterized by constant change. Bobby Fischer had the equivalent of a dozen or more doctorates in chess. He studied and assimilated - like no one else before him - what seemed at the time to be a massive classical chess heritage. Grandmasters today have access to a minimum database of more than 4 million games, far eclipsing the chess legacy that Fischer inherited - and that database is increasing at an accelerating rate. Setting up the pieces, playing through a game or games and reviewing relevant positions are painfully time-consuming. Fortunately, chess software and the computer screen speed ... Posted by ccmcacollister | beck-web.com 11/02/2008 13:56:14 Play online chess ION .... Message: Tobacco? Well its nice to relax after a day of someone poking a cold plastic tube ... lets rephrase that and just say you'd just about rather have the stones stay IN, even if it is like sliding a jagged jellybean .... well never mind again there. Suffice to say, the steady knaw may be ignored, its those totally untimed stilletto-like pokes of back to front joy that play havoc with the analysis tree :)) ——— After Decades in Top Ranks, a Shot at the Title, Finally — Chess players usually reach their peak in their 20s, so how is it that the grandmaster Boris Gelfand is getting his first crack at becoming world chess champion when he is 43? Gelfand, whose Candidates Matches victory in May earned him the right to play Viswanathan Anand for the title next year, said he was encouraged by the example of Viktor Korchnoi. When he was in his late 40s, Korchnoi, now 80, played for the chess championship twice. “Korchnoi is kind of inspiration for me and for all of us,” Gelfand said in a recent telephone interview, quoting Korchnoi’s advice that “if you want to improve, you have to learn new things all the time.” Gelfand said he changed his opening repertory before ... Posted by ccmcacollister | beck-web.com 11/02/2008 14:12:58 Play online chess PS ... Message: ——— Chennai make bid to host 2012 world title match — Chennai, India, has made a bid, backed by the Tamil Nadu state government, to host the 2012 Vishy Anand (India) verses Boris Gelfand (Israel) world title match. The world chess governing body Fide will now decide between Chennai and an earlier bid from Moscow. Magnus Carlsen, world No1 at 20, and Sergey Karjakin, No4 at 21, are exceptional for their age, yet they now face a challenge from two still younger chess grandmasters who are advancing fast up the rankings. Italy's Fabiano Caruana, 18, took first prize at New Delhi last month and is ranked in the top 20 GMs, while Anish Giri, 17, won the Dutch chess championship by a two-point margin. Giri is reaching his rating targets at a younger age than ... Posted by ionadowman | beck-web.com 11/02/2008 20:38:31 Play online chess Craig...Message: But what you say does seem to confirm my earlier guess about why Tal seemed sometimes to lose control of his pieces. Cheers, Ion |