World Champions - Part - 1: Man who forgets to castle, at times!
Wilhelm Steinitz
NOW, this now as you read this, we are in 1886....1894, 96 and the takeaways are different if we transport ourselves to that now and observe in 'this now'..... and rigidly remain in this today and observe 'that past...'
.....I always remain.....wish to remain....in the now and therefore it doesn't make any difference whether it is "now of now" or the "now of 1886"...!
In normal sense, there are always two ways of looking at the same thing....event. Good or bad; right or wrong...., they are contextual, of course. But, when one deals with the 'thing' called CREATION these ill-perceived boundaries....the two extremes get blurred.....for they do not exist as separate entities but merge into one....the whole....the creation!
And what gives us joy and thrill is 'the act of creation', that which is unfurled in the present - remember, there is no past; for when we play out 'that game' played in 1886, we relive 'that moment' and the pieces that move over the board, as played then, bring us joy of 'that present' to our present.....this moment.....as I write.....as you read!
"A thing of beauty is joy for ever" - chess games are beautiful and if we can spot and understand this beauty, we become John Keats of Chess!
And how do you define "beauty"?.....behold, behold....!
Aren't every damn thing - I certainly mean EVERY DAMN THING that is happening in this planet - a creation....and therefore a beauty and why chaff out and stamp only a very few acts with the label "creative"!? Well, that will take us to an altogether different subject, arena and if you so wish to call it philosophical confabulations.....so be it - but rest assured, no one can hope to escape it!
I am not going to redocument the history nor pretend analysing the games with 'what ifs'; but just going to show 'WHAT IS' and let you join me in the act of enjoying and plausibly let you discover......in the process!
I shall be dealing with the games played by the champions in the world championships.
Because, the games played in the World championships are not only unfamiliar to many, but are studded with stunning ideas and has the power to arrest our attention and take us to unforeseen realms.....provided we are willing! Educate - yes possibly..... and I say so because, education or more precisely 'learning' means differently to different people......and for some blasphemous!
More importantly, I wish to have this free flowing and therefore, I won't be following a particular order, chronology, pattern etc. At times, we may even go forth and back between a later position in the game and back track it to an earlier position - such will be the extent of disorder!
On most occasions, we shall deal with only game fragments as our aim is only to observe the mind and its choices in certain critical phases.... and if possible, further our understanding of those great players and their ways!
Shall we!?
The final game of the first world championship!
Wilhelm Steinitz partly belonged to the romantic era and therefore never shied away from stripping his King at times ....and make him take few steps in defence and reach the war front too, at times! He firmly believed that the King can take care of himself!
6.....Qe7; 7.Kf2 Qh4; 8.g3 fg3; 9.Kg2 Nd4; 10.hg3 Qg4; 11.Qe1 Be7; 12.Bd3!
Now White threatens Rh4
12.....Nf5?!
Steinitz would not have winked his eyes to play 12....Kf8!? Refusing to move a square to the left, his majesty has put his consort in grave difficulty.
13.Nf3 Bd7; 14.Bf4! f6
15.Ne5 was threatened
15.Ne4 Ngh6?
This can best be termed as 'self administered euthanasia' - for, Black's position is beyond repair!
16.Bh6 Nh6; 17.Rh6 gh6; 18.Nf6 Kf7; 19.Ng4 Black Resigned
Before the 8th game between Anand - Gelfand, Moscow 2012, this was the shortest loss in World Championship matches!
"We agree in the main with the authorities who recommend that the King should as a rule castle early on the Kingside, but this refuge of the King is sometimes fraught with danger when one of the pawns on the King's wing more especially the King's Knight pawn (g-pawn) or King's Rook pawn (h-pawn) have been previously moved or may soon be compelled to advance. Likewise, when the opponent has obtained the majority of pawns on the Queen's side, it is generally better not to widen the distance between the King and the adverse majority, as the King is a powerful piece in the ending for stopping the hostile pawns. In either of these cases, it is desirable to aim first at an exchange of Queens and some minor pieces and to postpone castling or not to castle at all. The King is sometimes brought into play at Q2 (d2 or d7) after developing the minor pieces on the Queen's side, or at KB2 (f2 or f7) after the advance of the King's Bishop pawn."
Steinitz followed his dictum literally as well as in spirit.
Steinitz - Zukertort, 18th game, 1886
Steinitz was fond of this move f3 as White and ....f6 as Black to reinforce his center. In this instance, it nudged Zukertort to play a hasty.....
11.....a5?!
.....anticipating Steinitz to castle on the Queenside.
12.Bd3 Qe7; 13.Nf1 Be6; 14.g4!?
After all, the center is secured!
14....Rfd8; 15.h4 Qd7!; 16.Bc2 h5!?
Zukertort has responded well and has fended Steinitz overtures on the Kingside so far.
17.g5 Ne8; 18.Ne3 Qc6?!
Not sure if this is the right square for the Queen, for, it deprives of the option to drive the White Knight when it lands on 'd5' with the move ....c6.
19.c4 Nd6; 20.Bd3!
The success of a strategy is generally known by the flow of moves in appropriate places at appropriate times. As can be seen, White moves flow harmoniously than that of Black's and therefore the balance must probably be tilting in his favour, though slightly.
20.....Rab8?! 21.Nd5 Bd5?
Definitely 21.....Qd7 followed by .....c6 deserved to be tried. Black's light squared Bishop is quite strong and no way inferior to that Knight on d5, which has only assumed a strong position momentarily.
This is the most interesting aspect in Chess: why even great players, at critical phases, not only fail to respond in the best manner possible, but also fail to perceive the relative value of the forces and their role importance....which of course is very dynamic.
This aspect alone makes no one invincible.
22.cd5 Qd7; 23.Bd2!
Steinitz also has the tendency to leave this Bishop on c1 till he finds it a suitable role! Till then, the Queen Rook can wait or it may find an alternate route via a-file! Many of the later masters adopted this strategy and the latest among them is Magnus Carlsen!
23.....Ra8; 24.Rc1
Just in time when he was needed!
24.....c6; 25.Rc5! cd5; 26.Rd5 Qa4?! 27.a3 b6; 28.Bc3 Qe8; 29.Qf2!
Geometrically beautiful! the Queen having secured the light squares on the Queenside, now turns it attention to prepare a final assault by advancing the f-pawn and storm the Black's King cover, and the attack on the b6-pawn fetches him a birdie!
29.....Nc8; 30.Bb5 Qe7; 31.Rd8 Qd8; 32.OO!!
Steinitz Castles!!
Only because, he needed the Rook on the f-file.....by and by he takes his King away and castling is only a facade!
32....Na7; 33.Bc4 Nc6; 34.Bd5 Rc8; 35.f4! Qd7; 36.f5 Ne7; 37.Ba2!
The White Bishops have turned into dynamites!
37.....gf5; 38.gf5 Bf8; 39.Qf3! e4; 40.Qh5 White Resigned
I wouldn't be doing justice to the chosen subject if I rush with examples, and therefore shall deal in multiple parts, not make it lengthy and weary!
.....to be continued!
NOW, this now as you read this, we are in 1886....1894, 96 and the takeaways are different if we transport ourselves to that now and observe in 'this now'..... and rigidly remain in this today and observe 'that past...'
.....I always remain.....wish to remain....in the now and therefore it doesn't make any difference whether it is "now of now" or the "now of 1886"...!
In normal sense, there are always two ways of looking at the same thing....event. Good or bad; right or wrong...., they are contextual, of course. But, when one deals with the 'thing' called CREATION these ill-perceived boundaries....the two extremes get blurred.....for they do not exist as separate entities but merge into one....the whole....the creation!
And what gives us joy and thrill is 'the act of creation', that which is unfurled in the present - remember, there is no past; for when we play out 'that game' played in 1886, we relive 'that moment' and the pieces that move over the board, as played then, bring us joy of 'that present' to our present.....this moment.....as I write.....as you read!
"A thing of beauty is joy for ever" - chess games are beautiful and if we can spot and understand this beauty, we become John Keats of Chess!
And how do you define "beauty"?.....behold, behold....!
Aren't every damn thing - I certainly mean EVERY DAMN THING that is happening in this planet - a creation....and therefore a beauty and why chaff out and stamp only a very few acts with the label "creative"!? Well, that will take us to an altogether different subject, arena and if you so wish to call it philosophical confabulations.....so be it - but rest assured, no one can hope to escape it!
I shall be dealing with the games played by the champions in the world championships.
Because, the games played in the World championships are not only unfamiliar to many, but are studded with stunning ideas and has the power to arrest our attention and take us to unforeseen realms.....provided we are willing! Educate - yes possibly..... and I say so because, education or more precisely 'learning' means differently to different people......and for some blasphemous!
More importantly, I wish to have this free flowing and therefore, I won't be following a particular order, chronology, pattern etc. At times, we may even go forth and back between a later position in the game and back track it to an earlier position - such will be the extent of disorder!
On most occasions, we shall deal with only game fragments as our aim is only to observe the mind and its choices in certain critical phases.... and if possible, further our understanding of those great players and their ways!
Shall we!?
Wilhelm Steinitz - Johannes Hermann Zukertort,
New Orleans, 1886
New Orleans, 1886
The final game of the first world championship!
Wilhelm Steinitz partly belonged to the romantic era and therefore never shied away from stripping his King at times ....and make him take few steps in defence and reach the war front too, at times! He firmly believed that the King can take care of himself!
6.....Qe7; 7.Kf2 Qh4; 8.g3 fg3; 9.Kg2 Nd4; 10.hg3 Qg4; 11.Qe1 Be7; 12.Bd3!
Now White threatens Rh4
12.....Nf5?!
Steinitz would not have winked his eyes to play 12....Kf8!? Refusing to move a square to the left, his majesty has put his consort in grave difficulty.
13.Nf3 Bd7; 14.Bf4! f6
15.Ne5 was threatened
15.Ne4 Ngh6?
This can best be termed as 'self administered euthanasia' - for, Black's position is beyond repair!
16.Bh6 Nh6; 17.Rh6 gh6; 18.Nf6 Kf7; 19.Ng4 Black Resigned
Before the 8th game between Anand - Gelfand, Moscow 2012, this was the shortest loss in World Championship matches!
"We agree in the main with the authorities who recommend that the King should as a rule castle early on the Kingside, but this refuge of the King is sometimes fraught with danger when one of the pawns on the King's wing more especially the King's Knight pawn (g-pawn) or King's Rook pawn (h-pawn) have been previously moved or may soon be compelled to advance. Likewise, when the opponent has obtained the majority of pawns on the Queen's side, it is generally better not to widen the distance between the King and the adverse majority, as the King is a powerful piece in the ending for stopping the hostile pawns. In either of these cases, it is desirable to aim first at an exchange of Queens and some minor pieces and to postpone castling or not to castle at all. The King is sometimes brought into play at Q2 (d2 or d7) after developing the minor pieces on the Queen's side, or at KB2 (f2 or f7) after the advance of the King's Bishop pawn."
Steinitz followed his dictum literally as well as in spirit.
Steinitz - Zukertort, 18th game, 1886
Steinitz was fond of this move f3 as White and ....f6 as Black to reinforce his center. In this instance, it nudged Zukertort to play a hasty.....
11.....a5?!
.....anticipating Steinitz to castle on the Queenside.
12.Bd3 Qe7; 13.Nf1 Be6; 14.g4!?
After all, the center is secured!
14....Rfd8; 15.h4 Qd7!; 16.Bc2 h5!?
Zukertort has responded well and has fended Steinitz overtures on the Kingside so far.
17.g5 Ne8; 18.Ne3 Qc6?!
Not sure if this is the right square for the Queen, for, it deprives of the option to drive the White Knight when it lands on 'd5' with the move ....c6.
19.c4 Nd6; 20.Bd3!
The success of a strategy is generally known by the flow of moves in appropriate places at appropriate times. As can be seen, White moves flow harmoniously than that of Black's and therefore the balance must probably be tilting in his favour, though slightly.
20.....Rab8?! 21.Nd5 Bd5?
Definitely 21.....Qd7 followed by .....c6 deserved to be tried. Black's light squared Bishop is quite strong and no way inferior to that Knight on d5, which has only assumed a strong position momentarily.
This is the most interesting aspect in Chess: why even great players, at critical phases, not only fail to respond in the best manner possible, but also fail to perceive the relative value of the forces and their role importance....which of course is very dynamic.
This aspect alone makes no one invincible.
22.cd5 Qd7; 23.Bd2!
Steinitz also has the tendency to leave this Bishop on c1 till he finds it a suitable role! Till then, the Queen Rook can wait or it may find an alternate route via a-file! Many of the later masters adopted this strategy and the latest among them is Magnus Carlsen!
23.....Ra8; 24.Rc1
Just in time when he was needed!
24.....c6; 25.Rc5! cd5; 26.Rd5 Qa4?! 27.a3 b6; 28.Bc3 Qe8; 29.Qf2!
Geometrically beautiful! the Queen having secured the light squares on the Queenside, now turns it attention to prepare a final assault by advancing the f-pawn and storm the Black's King cover, and the attack on the b6-pawn fetches him a birdie!
29.....Nc8; 30.Bb5 Qe7; 31.Rd8 Qd8; 32.OO!!
Steinitz Castles!!
Only because, he needed the Rook on the f-file.....by and by he takes his King away and castling is only a facade!
32....Na7; 33.Bc4 Nc6; 34.Bd5 Rc8; 35.f4! Qd7; 36.f5 Ne7; 37.Ba2!
The White Bishops have turned into dynamites!
37.....gf5; 38.gf5 Bf8; 39.Qf3! e4; 40.Qh5 White Resigned
I wouldn't be doing justice to the chosen subject if I rush with examples, and therefore shall deal in multiple parts, not make it lengthy and weary!
.....to be continued!
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