7636. Sculpture (C.N. 7614)
The position provided by Michael McDowell for David
Goode’s sculpture was the composition by Stamma on page
269 of Praktische Sammlung bester und höchst
interessanter Schachspiel-Probleme by A. Alexandre
(Leipzig, 1846):
7637. Seconds
From page 320 of the October 1866 Chess Player’s
Magazine:
‘Not having been furnished till recently with the
names of the seconds and umpire in the late match
between Anderssen and Steinitz, we were unable to
state that Messrs Staunton and Hewitt acted as seconds
for the former, and Messrs Strode and Boden for the
latter. Earl Dartry [sic – Dartrey] was the
umpire.’
7638. Steinitz v von Bardeleben
Concerning Steinitz
v von Bardeleben (Hastings, 1895) Olimpiu G. Urcan
sends this cutting from page 2 of the 8 September 1900
edition of the Newcastle Weekly Courant:
What is the source of the claimed dialogue?
7639. Steinitz and 1 d4
A question from Mr Urcan is thrown open to readers:
‘Is it possible to establish, with reliable
historical sources, the first known occasion when
Steinitz played 1 d4?’
7640. Veteranitis
From page 148 of the April 1929 Chess Amateur:
7641. King’s-side attack
From the same issue of the Chess Amateur (pages
153-154) comes this game played at the Liverpool Chess
Club:
Frederick Dewhurst Yates – Allies (‘members of the
Liverpool Chess Club consulting’)
Liverpool, 1929 (?)
Queen’s Gambit Declined
1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Nbd7 5 e3 Be7 6 Nf3 O-O
7 Rc1 c6 8 a3 Ne4 9 Bf4 Nxc3 10 Rxc3 Nf6 11 Bd3 dxc4 12
Rxc4 Qa5+ 13 Nd2 b6 14 O-O Bb7 15 Be5 Qd5 16 e4 Qd7 17
Rc3 Ne8 18 Bc4 Bf6 19 Bxf6 Nxf6
20 e5 Nd5 21 Rg3 Ne7 22 Ne4 Ng6 23 Ng5 Rfd8 24 Qh5 Nf8
25 Nxh7 Nxh7 26 Qh6 g6 27 Rh3 Qe8 28 Qxh7+ Kf8 29 Qh4
Resigns.
Are further details available?
7642. Alekhine in Paris, 1941 (C.N.s
7629 & 7634)
Peter Anderberg (Harmstorf, Germany) notes that the
first page of the Lower Saxony supplement to the
February 1993 issue of Rochade Europa had a
second photograph of Alekhine’s simultaneous exhibition:
7643. For solving
White to move
7644. From Zurich to Copenhagen
From Thomas Niessen (Aachen, Germany) comes an item in
the chess column of the Aachener
Anzeiger/Politisches Tageblatt of 7 September
1934. It states that after that year’s Zurich tournament
Nimzowitsch travelled home to Copenhagen via France,
Belgium and England, instead of through Germany, because
he feared that the German authorities might be aware of
negative remarks that he had made about ‘Neudeutschland’
during the tournament:
7645. ‘The Mozart of chess’
Page 317 of People
(London, 1954)
Christian Sánchez (Rosario, Argentina) enquires
about the origins of a nickname given to Capablanca,
‘The Mozart of chess’, and wonders when it was first
used. We plan to revert to that matter later on, and
readers’ assistance with citations will be welcomed.
Firstly, though, we would point out that the term has
been applied to many masters. Some examples:
‘Morphy was the Mozart of chess.’
Page 228 of the Columbia Chess Chronicle, 29
December 1888 (article by G.H.D. Gossip).
Page 305 of the August-September 1884 BCM
had stated: ‘What Mozart, as to innate, natural
ability, was to music, Morphy likewise was to chess.’
‘The Mozart of chess’
Page 45 of White King and Red Queen by D.
Johnson (London, 2007).
‘El Mozart del ajedrez’
Page 113 of El campeonato mundial de ajedrez
by E. Gufeld and E.M. Lazarev (Barcelona, 2003).
‘Spassky has been called the Mozart of
chess.’
Page 65 of Bobby Fischer Goes to War by D.
Edmonds and J. Eidinow (London, 2004).
‘Fourteen-year-old “Mozart of Chess”’
Page SM38 of the New York Times, 23 February
1958 (article by H.C. Schonberg – see C.N. 5491).
Schonberg referred to Capablanca as ‘the Mozart of
chess’ on page 181 of Grandmasters of Chess
(Philadelphia and New York, 1973).
‘He is the Mozart of the chessboard ...’
Page 21 of Karpov-Korchnoi 1978 by R. Keene
(London, 1978).
‘In January 2004, I called Magnus Carlsen
the Mozart of chess for the first time. It was a
spontaneous, last-minute decision to meet a deadline
for my column in the Washington Post. The name
was picked up immediately and spread around quickly.
It was used, misused, overused.’
Lubomir Kavalek, article
dated 23 February 2012.
7646. Nimzowitsch in Copenhagen (C.N.
4307)
Philippe Kesmaecker (Maintenon, France) has found the
above document at the Danish Politietsregisterblade
website.
Per Skjoldager (Fredericia, Denmark), the co-author of
a forthcoming book on Nimzowitsch (see C.N.s 7108 and
7310), informs us:
‘This record is of great importance. It shows the
dates when Nimzowitsch registered his arrival with
the Danish police and specifies:
- Full name: Aron Nimzowitsch. Occupation: chess
master. Born in Riga on 7 November 1886.
- On 29 November 1922 he moved to Nansensgade 32,
first floor, his landlord being named Nielsen.
- On 11 June 1923 he moved to the
Missionshotellet (Missionary Hotel) at
Løngangstræde 27.
- On 28 August 1923 he moved to Øster
Farimagsgade 11, second floor, where his landlady
was Miss Juul.’
Mr Skjoldager has provided two photographs:
Nansensgade 32 is on the
left of the Café Stjernen
Øster
Farimagsgade 11 is on the right, behind the
pedestrian.
7647. The Italics are Mine
(C.N. 5415)
John Roycroft (London) sends this passage from pages
35-36 of The Italics are Mine by Nina Berberova
(London, 1969), an autobiographical work translated from
the Russian by Philippe Radley:
‘... I remember one of my dreams about Dostoevsky. I
am playing chess with someone. There are many people
in the room. Dostoevsky stands near me and looks
attentively at the board. And I say to him, “Well,
Fedor Mikhailovich, in chess you can foresee
everything and allow for it. If we move here, then all
25 or 35 moves to the very end of the game are
foreordained and known beforehand. If we move there, a
whole chain of causalities again unfolds, a chain from
which there is no escape. But in human life even you
cannot foresee what will happen. You can be given a
heap of data about two people and you will still not
be able to tell us today what they, either together or
alone, will do tomorrow. The law of cause and effect
is not operative when you talk about men.”
He smiles, squints with one eye, is silent for about
a minute, and then says:
“Yes, very likely this is so. Twenty-five or 35 moves
you can, of course, foresee, but only on the condition
that the ceiling does not collapse during the game and
that one of the players does not die of a stroke. If
this happens, then chess becomes like life, it moves
into a dimension where there are neither social nor
biological laws, nor the possibility for the smartest
mind to figure out the ‘pattern’ of the future.”
“What! No social or biological laws? Is there really
such a place on earth?”
“In the meeting of two people and in man’s
creativity”, he answers. “There these laws are not
operative.”
I see my opponent take my pawn. Suddenly I notice
that Dostoevsky has small, exquisite, well-cared-for
hands.’
7648. Pillsbury’s umbrella (C.N.
5209)
From Olimpiu G. Urcan (Singapore) come a report and a
cartoon published on page 4 of The World (New
York), 20 June 1896:
Larger
version
of the cartoon
7649. Monte Carlo, 1902 (C.N.
7159)
Mr Urcan has also submitted this photograph taken at
Monte Carlo in 1902, from Caras y Caretas, 26
April 1902:
A copy of better quality is sought.
7650. Aphorisms and observations
C.N. 775 gave, from James J. Walsh (Dublin), a
selection of aphorisms and observations on the game:
- Rook endings a pawn up are generally drawn – but
rook endings a pawn down are usually lost.
- The most attractive combinations are usually just
one tempo short of being sound.
- The popular press believes that chess congresses are
composed exclusively of child prodigies and
octogenarians.
- Players indicate an increasing maturity at the game
by not automatically making the en passant
capture.
- Players with the greatest theoretical opening
knowledge are most likely to get into time-trouble.
- The weakest players in a tournament are generally
first to enquire about the prizes.
- Annotations attempt to prove that a game had only
one logical sequence.
7651. Morphy positions (C.N.
7408)
Further to the reference in C.N. 7408 to an alleged
Morphy position against Bousserolle, Bonserolle or
Bousserolles, we add that the conclusion of a different
game (against Busserolles) was published on page 129 of
the April 1859 Chess Monthly:
Page 132 of the same issue had the following regarding
Morphy:
‘The Duke Decazes had given him a dinner, at which a
number of grave senators and warlike generals
assembled to do honor to the young hero. Mr Morphy, at
the request of the company, played two simultaneous
blindfold games and took part, at the same time, in an
animated conversation.’
7652. Lipschütz’s death in
Hamburg
From page 208 of the July-August 1906 Wiener
Schachzeitung:
‘S. Lipschütz, der bekannte amerikanische
Schachmeister, ist Ende November 1905 im Hamburger
Krankenhause im Alter von 42 Jahren gestorben. Seine
Leiche wurde im Hamburger Krematorium verbrannt.’
Is it really impossible to find anything about Lipschütz (and,
in particular, his forename) in archives or other
reference sources in Hamburg?
7653. Steinitz and 1 d4 (C.N. 7639)
The question raised in C.N. 7639 was when Steinitz
first played 1 d4.
Roland Kensdale (Aberdeen, Scotland) notes the move in
Steinitz’s tenth match-game against Zukertort (London,
31 August 1872). The opening 1 d4 f5 2 g3 recurred in
the twelfth game. (Westminster Papers, 1 October
1872, page 85.)
Our correspondent also points out Steinitz v Jeney,
Vienna, 4 September 1860, which opened 1 c4 e6 2 Nc3 d5
3 e3 Nf6 4 Nf3 Nc6 5 d4. See, for instance, page 383 of
volume one of Schachmeister Steinitz by L.
Bachmann (Ansbach, 1925).
Finally, Mr Kensdale remarks, a game between Steinitz
and Healey (London, 1864), played at king’s knight’s
odds, began 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6. It is on page 88 of the
Bachmann book.
7654. Steinitz photographs
Below are two photographs which appeared, courtesy of
David Lawson, on pages 31 and 82 respectively of the Weltgeschichte
des Schachs volume on Steinitz by D. Hooper
(Hamburg, 1968):
‘Steinitz beim
Simultan-Spiel mit 18 Teilnehmern (Hamburg, 1896?)’
7655. Translating Fischer
C.N. 867 (see page 149 of Chess Explorations)
noted the flavourless and inaccurate French translation
(by Parviz M. Abolgassemi) in Fischer’s Mes 60
meilleures parties (Paris, 1972). The examples
given were:
- ‘Once again, time-pressure had Sherwin burying his
thumbs in his ears.’ ‘Une fois de plus à
court de temps, Sherwin ne veut rien entendre.’ (Game
1)
- ‘Alekhine said, in his prime, ...’ ‘Alékhine
disait, au début de sa carrière ...’ (Game
8)
- ‘A good last-ditch try.’ ‘Un excellent coup.’ (Game
16)
- ‘I was informed that Gligorich thought I had
blundered a Pawn ...’ ‘Je savais que Gligoric
pensait que je m’étais trompé, ...’ (Game
30)
- ‘Relieving the suspense.’ ‘Gardant le suspense.’
(Game 60).
C.N. 867 was published in 1984. Just over a decade
later Editions Editéchecs, Paris reissued
Fischer’s book, without any attempt to correct the
translation.
7656. Najdorf v Che Guevara (C.N.s
4803 & 4809)
Mike Salter (Sydney, Australia) notes that whereas a
16-move draw between Najdorf and Che Guevara at a
simultaneous exhibition in Havana in 1962 has been
given, an unsourced quote on page 44 of Najdorf:
Life and Games by T. Lissowski and A.
Mikhalchishin (London, 2005) has Najdorf claiming that
he won on that occasion, after refusing a draw because
he wanted revenge for a loss to Che Guevara in a display
at Mar del Plata in 1947.
How is the discrepancy to be explained?
7657. Lipschütz’s death in
Hamburg (C.N. 7652)
From Stephen Davies (Kallista, Australia) comes the
registration of Lipschütz’s death, which has been
found for him by Mr Ralf Stullich of the website beyond-history.com:
Below is the translation by Mr Stullich:
‘No. 2652
Hamburg, 1 December 1905
Before the undersigned registrar there appeared
today, personally known, the deaconess, Sister Anna
Johanna Siegrist, residing in Hamburg, at
Martinistrasse 46, and reported that Salomon
Lipschütz, insurance agent, 42 years and 4 months
old, no religion, residing in Hamburg at the address
mentioned, born in Ungvaa [sic] in Hungary, on
4 July 1863, unmarried, son of Nathan Lipschütz,
residing in New York (profession unknown), and his
wife Sallie Nebenzahl, deceased in Hungary, died in
the Bethanien Hospital on 30 November in the year 1905
in the afternoon at one p.m, as she, the reporting
person, reported from her own knowledge.
Read out, accepted and signed
Johanna Siegrist
The Registrar [signature].’
7658. Capablanca v Lasker
footage
Further to this well-known photograph of Capablanca and
Lasker in Moscow in 1925 (see, for instance, page 310 of
Chess Facts and Fables), Christian Sánchez
(Rosario, Argentina) notes a brief
sequence of moving pictures of the two champions
(at about 15:40:40).
Chess Notes Archives
Factfinder
Copyright: Edward Winter. All rights reserved.
|