From: hwr@intercal.com (Hanon W. Russell)
Newsgroups: rec.games.chess
Subject: Gleanings '92 Part 3
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 00:32:48 GMT
Organization: Chessnews list (chessnews-request@tssi.com)
NNTP-Posting-Host: helios.unl.edu


Quips and quotes from the major chess publications have been 
posted throughout the year on the USA Today Sports Center. About 
six months ago, we put together a collection of these items from 
the first half of 1992. We have collected the items from the 
second half of 1992 into two articles and present...

                          GLEANINGS '92
                              Part 3

                             Rotten?
"Botvinnik held the title for 13 years, which is testament to 
the  iniquity of a rotten system." -British GM and Candidates 
Cycle semi-finalist Nigel Short criticizing the former world 
title match qualification systems

                     So Much For Preparation
"Vasily Ivanchuk, whose eyebrows appear to have been painted 
onto his head by a child drawing the stretched v-shape of a 
bird, really raised them in surprise when he arrived for his 
game against Gelfand and discovered that he was due to play with 
the white pieces. His second and analyst had prepared him to 
play with Black! Ivanchuk sat down at the board, brandished a 
fist  (I presume at his second), cast aside his several hours of 
ChessBase preparation and annihilated Gelfand with a variation 
on the previous day's game against Kasparov." -Kevin O'Connell & 
Bernard Cafferty in their report on the Linares tournament in 
the May, 1992 issue of "British Chess Magazine"

                        We Shall See.... 
"I'm told that Jan Timman was recently quoted as saying that 
'the  English don't understand anything about chess, but they 
are good practical players.'" -GM Murray Chandler reported on 
the Cannes Team Tournament in the April, 1992, issue of "British 
Chess Magazine"

                          Chicken Shiva 
"Their style of chess is, to a certain extent, an expression of 
this attitude. They play without fear or angst: what will be, 
will be. Draw offers - in Western chess so often a sign that a 
player is chickening out, rather than that the position is level 
- occur about as often as Shiva is reincarnated." -British GM 
Daniel King reporting on the Goodricke Open, Calcutta, in the 
March, 1992 issue of the "British Chess Magazine"

                       What's In A Rule!? 
"Few positions resembled the one you thought you had left when 
you arrived back at each child's board for the next move. The 
logical Dr. Nunn was shocked to learn that a position with a 
black pawn on g6 and white bishop on h6 did not stop kingside 
castling, but merely won an exchange. Later the kiddies refined 
their technique and would castle putting the rook on e8." -GM 
Murray Chandler reporting in the April, 1992, issue of "British 
Chess Magazine" on the simul given by the participating 
grandmasters at Cannes with over 1,000 French schoolchildren.

                         A Real Monster 
"I don't care what Oscar Panno's score was, he will always be a 
strategical genius to me. Back in Lone Pine circa 1980, Panno 
impressed wild-eyed teens Benjamin and Wilder with his deep 
understanding. He showed me a thing or two in our post-mortem. 
If you could mix Panno's strategy with Polgar's tactics, you 
would have a real monster." -GM Joel Benjamin reporting on the 
Najdorf's Birthday Tournament in Buenos Aires in the April/May 
issue of "Chess Chow"

                       Linguistic Linguini 
"The post-mortem of the game between the two Spanish players was 
conducted in English, but then one of them is a Catalan, and he 
has a second who is Russian! While the one who now lives in 
Linares (Valery Salov) scores his games in English Algebraic 
notation." -Kevin O'Connell & Bernard Cafferty in the report on the 
Linares tournament in the May, 1992 issue of "British Chess 
Magazine"

                            Four-Zip! 
"An interesting feature of the tournament was the participation 
of the four Candidates' semi-finalists. Comparing such a 
tournament to a match is of course a hazardous affair, but at 
least some statistical conclusions could be drawn. For example, 
Kasparov's score against the Candidates was a clean 4-0!" -Dirk 
Jan ten Geuzendam reporting on the Linares tournament in "New In 
Chess" Issue 3, 1992

                       Gata's Big Problem 
"Does Kamsky have more a chance of becoming world champion than 
I? I think not. Let's look at the facts: Kamsky knows Russian; 
I'm learning Russian. Kamsky probably knows very little  
Hungarian; I know it damn well! Kamsky's USCF rating is very 
high; so is mine! Kamsky plays in big-time European tournaments; 
I just played in Goichberg's Chicago thing! To sum up: Gata has 
a big problem before he reaches the top, and that problem is 
me." -IM Alex Sherzer in the April/May issue of "Chess Chow"

                     Grandmaster Kibbitzing 
"Najdorf has one interesting habit. To get a better look at the 
games, he would occasionally sit in the chair of a player who 
had gotten up for a stroll. Normally this might be a bit 
off-putting, but everyone took it in stride. This practice did, 
however, lead to a comedic moment during the Panno-Granda game. 
Panno returned to the board to find Najdorf in his chair. Seeing 
that his chair was already occupied, Panno sat down in Granda's 
chair! The two old friends laughed heartily." -GM Joel Benjamin 
reporting on Najdorf's Birthday Tournament in Buenos Aires in 
the April/May issue of "Chess Chow"

                       Sicilian Breakfast 
"[The final round games at Dortmund] started at ten o'clock in 
the morning, five hours earlier than on the other days. Perhaps 
some players were jet-lagged by this difference, which at least 
would account for some of the errors that determined the course 
of the round. In view of the early hour Kasparov played 3 Bb5 
against Salov's Sicilian ('I would have preferred to play 3 
d4, but this move is not playable at 10 a.m.') and soon reached 
an overwhelming position." -Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam in his report 
on Dortmund in "New In Chess" No. 4, 1992

                          Spanish Snack 
"Illescas' invitation to Linares was rather a strange story. The 
organizers declared that they were willing to invite Illescas on 
condition that the Spanish Chess Federation paid an entrance fee 
for him of one million pesetas, i.e., ten thousand dollars. At a 
general meeting of the federation the request was honored and 
Illescas received his invitation. Of course, the Spanish 
grandmaster felt a bit embarrassed by this procedure. 'Yes, it 
is a bit embarrassing, especially as I don't think that Linares 
needs this money, whereas the  federation could easily have put 
it to some other use.'" -Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam reporting on the 
Linares tournament in "New In Chess" Issue 3, 1992

             Hollywood Chess Films We'd Like to See 
INVASION OF THE PAWN SNATCHERS Gripping 50's sci-fi adventure 
concerning a group of overaggressive outsiders causing havoc at 
all the local tournaments. -Robert W. Basalla in the May, 1992 
issue of the "Cleveland Chess Bulletin"

                          Flying Pieces 
"There is a world of difference between playing next to players 
like Kasparov and Beliavsky and next to a ladies' team in which 
the pieces are sent flying around the board." -Judit Polgar, 
interviewed in the May 11, 1992 issue of "Inside Chess" on her 
insistence on playing on the Hungarian Men's Team in the 
upcoming Olympiad.

                        A Woman's Lament 
"Being a woman chess player has its advantages. Tournament 
organizers recognize you the moment you walk in the door, 
because you're one of only a handful of women entered. The 
occasional misogynistic opponent is lulled into a false sense of 
security and gives you an easy point. Getting your opponent to 
go over a game with you is rarely a problem, though getting rid 
of him afterward sometimes is. "But, as any other women reading 
this column know, there are disadvantages as well. Other players 
assume you're someone's wife or girlfriend and ignore you. You 
can't travel to tournaments because you can't find someone to 
share a room and you can't afford to pay the cost alone. Lunch 
between rounds takes on the aura of last call at a singles 
bar...[and] if you blunder...you confirm Kasparov's comment that 
'women can't maintain their attention.'" -Katherine Williams in 
the July/August, 1992 issue of "Chess Horizons"

                       The Longest Career 
"It may be said that [Reshevsky] played competitive chess longer 
than any man who ever lived, for he understood the game from 
about the age of four, before he could read or write, and never 
retired." -Bernard Cafferty in the June, 1992 issue of the 
"British Chess Magazine"  Blackburne, Mieses & Reshevsky
Blackburne and Mieses certainly had long careers, but all the evidence points 
to Reshevsky's career being longer. The English Grandmaster 
Joseph Blackburne's career, in terms of longevity versus 
Reshevsky, can be dealt with most easily. Blackburne (1841-1924) 
did not even learn the moves until he was 18.

The German (and later English) Grandmaster Jacques Mieses 
(1865-1954) certainly did have an long and illustrious career. 
It appears, however, that Reshevsky did have a longer 
professional career than he, although probably not by much.

While the determination of Blackburne's career was fairly easy 
to make in view of when he learned the moves, sorting the matter 
out as far as Mieses is concerned is a bit more sticky, since 
his playing days began well before the turn of the century. We 
have used Jeremy Gaige's excellently researched "Chess 
Tournament Crosstables" as our source; we feel it is very 
accurate, though will gladly give way to anyone who can 
demonstrate additional reliable information from any other 
source.

The first tournament of record for Mieses in CTC, v. I, is 
Hauptturnier C, Hamburg 1885. This was a tournament where the 
players were divided into four preliminary divisions and the top 
two finishers in each moved into a final section. Mieses, at age 
20, finished sixth; Harmonist and Zimmerman won the section. 
Harmonist won the finals (Siegergruppe) ahead of Bauer and 
Neustadtl.

The first record in CTC of Reshevsky (1911-1992) playing  
appears in Volume IV, New York 1922. This was the tournament in 
which he defeated Janowski. It was held about six weeks before 
Sammy's 11th birthday. In the six-man round robin, Edward Lasker 
finished first ahead of Jaffe, while, Reshevsky tied with the 
other three (Bernstein, Bigelow and Janowski) for 3rd-6th places 
(+1 -2 =2).

Of course, Reshevsky was already known internationally for his 
simuls and chess prowess in general as a boy prodigy. Using 
Gaige's works as the standard, Reshevsky's official career 
exceeded Mieses' by 12 to 24 months. However, Reshevsky was 
clearly at master strength several years before his New York 
debut; his simultaneous exhibitions fairly well demonstrated 
that. There is no reason that this time should not also be 
counted as part of his career (although we do admit that this 
may be somewhat more subjective).

At any rate, one way or another, the great American Grandmaster 
seems to have had the longest known chess career.

                        Alex's Dedication 
"Some readers have accused 'Chow' contributors of being flippant 
or worse yet, immature. In my monologue I'll try something 
different: sharing with the readers my hopes and dreams. First 
off, I'm getting tired of reading about Kamsky's ambition to  
become World Champion. Listen here: I have *just as much 
ambition* toward *the same goal.* To prove my insane dedication, 
I will drop out of college soon." -IM Alex Sherzer in the 
April/May issue of "Chess Chow"

                          Fun, Fun, Fun 
"Suddenly I saw that maybe I could make some great sacrifice. 
Just to have some fun. Yes, I had some fun. For three moves." 
-World Champion Gary Kasparov as reported in "New In Chess" 
No.4, 1992, about his unsound sacrifice in his game against 
Kamsky at Dortmund.

                          Short Shorts 
"'20 Short things about chess's king of castle' as a typically 
high-energy piece of 'Sun' journalism, April 30, and was very 
revealing:

* Nigel never plays chess for fun and is hooked on winning. 
Before tournaments he goes through shattering concentration 
sessions with his travelling 'mind guru.'

* His amazing chess career nearly ended as an eighteen year old 
when he was attacked by a gang of muggers. He was kicked 
unconscious and left bleeding in a Manchester street.

*Unlike many young geniuses, Nigel was an ordinary child, 
popular with pals, he loved soccer and constantly came bottom of 
the class in maths.

*Nigel now lives in a 250,000 pound flat in West Hampstead. His 
favorite restaurant in Simpsons-in-the-Strand where chess 
masters meet." -Jimmy Adams in the June, 1992 issue of "Maxwell 
Macmillan Chess"

                           Blitz Rules 
WBCA Blitz Chess Rules Supplement - In order to standardize the 
treatment of situations that are now arising with increasing 
frequency in tournament play the WBCA has promulgated the 
following new blitz chess rules:

(1) If one player should accidentally punch the wrong chess 
clock the player whose clock has been started may immediately 
then make a move but only if he does so on the board of the 
player who punched the clock.

(2) If in time pressure a player should accidentally promote a 
pawn to a King the opponent may win by checkmating either or 
both Kings on the next move. However, capturing only of the two 
Kings is not a win.

(3) A player who has a King in check may checkmate his opponent 
and win the game by moving a piece or pawn that is pinned to yet 
another King provided that the move is not illegal in any other 
respects.

(4) If a player should punch the clock while the chessman just 
moved is still airborne then the opponent may elect to capture 
that piece in flight.

(5) If a chessman should land on another chessboard it may be 
played where it lands.

(6) If a move piece should roll into the enemy position, 
knocking down all of the opposing chessmen, the move shall be 
recorded as either a strike or a spare and the game will 
continue.

(7) If a chessman should land on the table or the floor the 
player will take one penalty stroke and drop a new chessman on 
the board over his shoulder.

(8) If a pawn should in the course of play become lodged in the 
throat of a tournament participant then the tournament direct 
should immediately make efforts to clear the pawn from the 
player's windpipe and only after this effort has proven not to 
be immediately successful may the pawn be replaced from another 
set. -Philip Dorsey in the April, 1992 issue of "The Center 
Files"

                       Six Pairs of Hands 
"When Nigel Short forced Anatoly Karpov to resign after 41 moves 
in an almost empty hall in an out-of-the-way corner of Spain on 
Tuesday, just six pairs of hands applauded him. 'It didn't 
really seem an adequate response' said 'Spectator' editor 
Dominic Lawson, who was one of the clappers. Especially since 
Short had just become the first Briton to reach the challenger's 
final of the world chess championship." -Jimmy Adams in the 
June, 1992 issue of "Maxwell Macmillan Chess"

                       Hanging Two Pieces 
"Only two wins in the final two rounds could help Kasparov, and 
even in that case he would be dependent on the results of his 
rivals. The only consolation he could think of was the news from 
Linares about the impending elimination of Karpov. 'That's at 
least some compensation for hanging two pieces.'" -Dirk Jan ten 
Geuzendam reporting on the finish of the Dortmund tournament in 
"New In Chess" No. 4, 1992

                    Kramnik Is Playing Chess 
"The most talented player I have seen here is (Vladimir) 
Kramnik. He is definitely the number one talent. I think he is 
the only player I have ever seen who does not play worse than I 
did when I was sixteen. I never said this before. I always 
smiled about Judit Polgar. I didn't believe in other players. I 
laughed about Kamsky. But at sixteen Kramnik is playing great 
chess. He has a very good natural talent. And, you know, there 
is substance. Real chess substance. He's a chess player. Many 
players, they're not playing chess, they're playing moves. 
Kramnik is playing chess." -World Champion Gary Kasparov as 
reported by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam in "New In Chess" No. 4, 1992

                              Tal I 
"For the record: Tal was Soviet Champion six times and made very 
high scores in a series of olympiads. He was a very fine 
journalist and broadcaster, and a well educated person with a 
facility in many languages including Yiddish. He was also the 
friendliest of men, making no distinction between amateur and 
professional. For him every chess fan was a fellow worshipper at 
the shrine of Caissa. We will not see his like again." -Bernard 
Cafferty in the August, 1992 issue of "British Chess Magazine"

                             Tal II 
"[Tal] was amazingly resistant to the effects of alcohol and 
chain smoking and would have easily won the World Hangover 
Championship. Perhaps his greatest achievement in this area was 
a game against Kasparov in the 1988 World Cup Tournament at 
Reykjavik. Tal had been drinking pretty heavily the night before 
and was sobering up at the board - but he still made an easy 
draw with Black! Later in the tournament he was hospitalized but 
he discharged himself and carried on blitzing and drinking. He 
had to be dragged back to his bed!" -Editor & IM Malcom Pein in the 
August, 1992 issue of "Chess"

                             Tal III 
"Mikhail Tal was more than a former World Champion whose genius 
captivated millions of chessplayers. For, as all who knew or met 
him will testify, he was a warm and gentle man, whose devotion 
to chess was total. He was also, even under the oppressive 
Soviet  regime, a most untypically independent citizen. It is 
sadly ironic that his final illness prevented him taking up his 
place in the Latvian team, playing once again as an autonomous 
republic in the Manila Olympiad. Misha's legacy is a collection 
of attacking masterpieces without parallel, many involving 
sacrifices of unfathomable depth. Playing him required more than 
dark glasses: his openings were first class and his pieces did 
things that no-one else's could. If there is a heaven, Misha is 
there sacrificing pawns and pieces." -Editorial in the August, 
1992 issue of the "British Chess Magazine"

                        Boris and the QGA 
Former World Champion Boris Spassky is, of course, no stranger  
to the Queen's Gambit Accepted. We found the following game in  
the March, 1951 issue of "Chess World" which was edited by the  
great C.J.S. Purdy. We reproduce the bare game score with the  
introduction to the game given by M.E. Goldstein...

"Capablanca, when at the peak of his powers as World Champion,  
gave a simultaneous display at Moscow on November 26th, 1925.  
One of the four winners was a self-possessed youngster of  
fourteen named Mischa Botvinnik, for whom Capa predicted a  
bright future. We all know how 23 years later, Botvinnik assumed  
the mantle of World Champion, held previously by Capa, Alekhine,  
Euwe and once again Alekhine until his untimely death in 1946.

"Will history repeat itself and will 14-year old Boris Spassky  
become World Champion round about 1975? Here is a game won by  
Spassky at the ripe age of twelve.

"Spassky-Aftonomov Leningrad Boys Championship 1949 Queen's 
Gambit Accepted 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dc4 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 e3 c5 5 Bc4 e6 6 
O-O a6 7 Qe2 b5 8  Bb3 Nc6 9 Nc3 cd4 10 Rd1 Bb7 11 ed4 Nb4 12 d5 
Nbd5 13 Bg5 Be7 14  Bf6 gf6 15 Nd5 Bd5 16 Bd5 ed5 17 Nd4 Kf8 18 
Nf5 h6 19 Rd5 Qd5 20  Qe7 Kg8 21 Qf6 1-0"

                             Tal IV 
"[Tal] is gone forever, but his immortality was assured long 
ago. I imagine him seated at a celestial chessboard, mirthfully 
regaling the heavenly host, indulging all his vices with 
impunity while playing blitz with the Almighty. And winning." 
-Anthony Saidy in his tribute to Mikhail Tal in the October, 
1992 issue of "Chess Life"

                           Party Time 
"It was a pleasant summer evening and there was a happy 
expectant atmosphere. Jon Speelman, Julian Hodgson, Sheila 
Jackson, and Susan Arkell were competing in the Commonwealth 
chess championship in Kuala Lumpar, so were not able to attend. 
Peter Wells, the ladies' captain, lost the key to Jon Mestel's 
bicycle lock, so both he and Natasha Regan arrived late. Nigel 
Short was in a jolly mood and tried successfully to write what 
seemed to be his phone number on the forehead of Nimet Chandler 
(Murray Chandler's wife.)" -Mark Huba reporting on the party 
held in honor of the English Olympiad team's departure to Manila 
in the August, 1992 issue of "Chess"

                              Tal V 
"When Tal became World Champion they gave him a Volga, actually 
the best Soviet car at the time. But he game the car to his 
brother. He was completely indifferent to every form of 
technology and never even considered learning to drive a car. It 
was only towards the end of his life that electric shavers 
started to play a role ... He did not like ties and only wore 
them under duress. Needless to say that he never learned how to 
knot one. Nor did he ever wear a watch." -Genna Sosonko in his 
tribute to Tal in "New In Chess" No.5, 1992

                           Pawn Power 
"Some said my predecessor could have survived by sacrificing his 
most powerful piece, the queen. We won by not underestimating 
the power of the lowly pawn. We created pawn power which you 
which you know now as people power." -Philippine President 
Corazon Aquino quoted in the August, 1992 issue of "Chess" 
addressing the opening ceremonies audience at the Manila 
Olympiad

                          Phantom Rook 
One of our favorite chess books is Tim Krabbe's "Chess 
Curiosities" (George Allen & Unwin, 1985). Browsing through it recently 
we came upon the following anecdote: "When a player,
who had conceded QR-odds, moved his king from e1 to c1, his opponent 
protested, asking what that move meant. The player said that in 
giving rook odds, one did not lose the right to castle. By 
playing Ke1-c1 he had castled with the phantom of his rook. "In 
the next game, Black made mysterious bishop's moves: from g7 to 
a1, and back to g7. When White again played Ke1-c1, Black argued 
that phantom castling was out, since he had captured the rook's 
phantom at a1."

                             Tal VI 
"Misha played his last tournament in Barcelona. There were young 
and talented players. He joked about these promising people: 'At 
that age I was already ex-World Champion...' Half the tournament 
he was ill and ran a temperature. In the last game, which he  
assumed would be a quick draw, with him as White, he played 3 
Bb5 in the Sicilian Defense and a few moves later offered a 
draw, which his young opponent declined. A few hours later, in a 
lost position and with his King under attack, his opponent 
himself offered a draw. This was the last tournament game Misha 
played, and won." -Genna Sosonko in his tribute to Tal in "New 
In Chess" No.5, 1992