My Chess Blog

" A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time....for, the fear of death follows from the fear of life !" - Mark Twain .... sixties is not the age to die ....as the cliche goes... but tell me, is there really an age to die!? All that matters is.... how you live and how you die....and it never was " when "! Mr.Browne, you died the way you played.....spectacularly.....spectacular in its lack of thud and pomp....spectacular in its deceptive silence... It was truly a great delight to read and his fabulous book " The Stress of Chess.... and its infinite finesse " In tribute to that departed genius.... a few lines of poetry that he created over the board: they are not finishes....but great finesses - and I shall not taint it with words...and explanation....! Semen Furman - WB, 1975 43....Nf3!! WB - Ljubomir Ljubojevic, 1978 14.Bd5!! WB - Helgi Olafsson, 1980 18.Nf7! WB - Arthur Bisguier, 1974 14.Bh6...

" A prepared forced variation may run into a forced refutation...., as. there are no infallible chess players, and this applies both to over the board play and to analytical homework. This means, as a rule, that this is not the way to obtain an opening advantage.  There is, therefore, another interpretation of opening strategy, which can be formulated thus: it is not necessary to make best moves, but merely good ones ." - David Bronstein A fine artistic shot (courtesy " ai  Arts Illustrated") It reveals as well as projects....., and the dimensions are obscure.... and if what lies on the floor is the actual possibilities 'seen' during home preparation, then, what is projected on to the wall is the one that one 'feels' over the board!  Chess cannot be reduced to formula variations, even in such over-analysed opening variation like Sicilian Najdorf!  One has to play the mind of their opponent in order to confuse him and commit errors.....

"The readers has of course noticed - and will notice again & again - that I avoid detailed description of....variations. The two sides go to battle by various routes and they cannot all be described... " - David Bronstein What is a move? What is a moment? What is that which moves? Can you see a move in isolation without the moment and that which stays in that moment of movement!? If we can do that, then we can find a meaning for a solitary move....by ' meaning ' what I mean is a finite value; finite attribute....and.... ....and if I do that or capable of doing that, then this will be the last sentence that I can write on Chess....! ....if anyone succeeds in finding some finite idea in Chess, Chess will die and so will I....& you! Said, Thomas Merton , " Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another ." Do the words have meaning in isolation....we presume so....preposterously! ...

" Chess is infinite, and chess players, in order not to lose their way in its vastness, are guided in the evaluation of positions and the choosing of plans by certain signposts, such as weak pawns, open lines, advantage in development, good and bad Bishops, poor King positions, and others. It must be said, however, that such signposts are not found in every game, so we cannot always compare the pros and cons of a position as the basis, for choosing the correct plan ." - David Bronstein   After some hide and seek; provoking and avoiding the players entered a well known line in Ruy Lopez.... no no no.... this time it was not the old " dry lopez ", but rather a pleasant win for the Indian. The Norwegian used to wring out every essence of a position that he played in the past few years to tire Vishy out in a dry desert....but not this time! Vishy got a nice position where he could allow his instincts to takeover and registered a fine win! Vishy Anand - Magnus C...

".... and the moment has come to decide a fundamental question: in which way is the game to be won? Sometimes the so-called natural, normal moves are sufficient: occupy open files with the Rooks, get them to the seventh rank, attack a backward pawn, create a protected passed pawn, promote it to a Queen....  Many games are won by such unsophisticated means. "White's simple (logical, clear) moves bring his advantage to victory; White's attack develops by itself" - we read such formulae time and again. But in view of today's considerable advanced defensive technique, it is difficult to expect that the game itself, like a rockinghorse, will bring a player happily to the finish line ." -  David Bronstein If one has to lift their thinking beyond their current level, it is imperative for them to read and re-read this "chess bible" by David Bronstein on Zurich 1953 Candidates tournament.  For you will learn the hitherto unexplored aspect of chess.....

" It is basic chess strategy in all phases of the game to strive to strengthen one's position and to find the correct ideas to accomplish this goal. A great role is played also by the correct order of moves, but even though this is only a technical detail it is one upon which the success of the strategy depends ." - David Bronstein Continuing my desire to have a peep into the minds of players involved in the clash, and peregrinate, standing on the shoulders of the giants -  I've chosen the shoulder of David Bronstein for this tournament and hence adopted the title " Chess Struggle in Practice " - the title of his great book on the 1953 Candidates tournament held in Zurich. Bronstein wrote, " Such general evaluations such as a 'cramped' game or 'free' game, though prevalent in the minds of theoreticians, are far less influential in a practical tournament game than they are thought to be ." Let this stay in the foremost part of...

" What hath God wrought ?" wired Samuel Finley Breese Morse in 1844.  The first telegraphic message transmitted by the inventor of morse code raises  the biblical question that has its relevance then, now, later....as long as human mind tries to invent something in the quest of conquering.... David Bronstein wrote, in the preface to his magnificent book " The Chess Struggle in Practice " on the games of 1953 candidates tournament held in Zurich: " Each game of chess was valuable, that it was a work of art produced by a creative struggle between two masters of the same class. The core of a chess game is a creative battle of plans, a struggle of chess ideas, which reaches its highest form in the middlegame. .." It becomes inevitable to extrapolating that biblical question to the modern day chess struggle...."what have we done with our game?" The words ' creative battle of plans ' - the core of Chess struggle in practice is relevant t...

Forget the forgetting of time control, the result, the shock, aahs and oofs.... the Fox which played 58....f4! in a lost position would claim its due... The presence of queens on the board and the mate in 28 (!! who invented this engine!?) commencing with 60.Qg5 requires at the least... 28 seconds - playing at the "speed of engine"....alas the World Champion forgot that he has not transcended the time yet! But "let the clock be not proud"...for Magnus Carlsen did cast his spell and let us revel in those moments....before the death of time! Magnus Carlsen - Vaselin Topalov 13.b5! He has an uncanny ability not only to make innocuous looking moves an irritant to the opponent, but also to get out of "book" as early as possible! What confuses a human mind!?  Is it a move, or a series of moves, or the stature of human mind sitting across the table?  Whatever be it, it is this - the ability to confuse a fellow human mind - which makes and will ...