World Champions - Part - 2: Man who forgets to castle, at times!
Wilhelm Steinitz
"Inspiration is when you find the right theme, one that you really like; that makes the work much easier. Intuition, which is also fundamental to writing fiction, is a special quality that helps you to decipher what is real without needing scientific knowledge or any other special kind of learning. It's a way of having experience without having to struggle through it." - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
This position is from the 1st Official World Championship Game!
Steinitz's last move 11.....h5!? was a nudge, the Austrian Grandmaster laid down his cards, blatantly revealing his intentions to go for the jugular.
The thought process would remain by and large similar in an era, amongst players of same level. Their proclivities may differ, choices may differ, but perceiving chess would be based on the prevailing state of the game in that particular era. And it helps us if we observe from that standpoint of view - all the advancements, defensive and attacking techniques that we boast of now is because every master who appeared in the planet, progressively stood on the shoulders of those who lived before them!
Say, before Copernicus everybody kept only Earth in the center of the circle (elliptical orbit was also not in vogue); before Newton everybody may not have been wondering about why objects fall down and not go up....such thoughts would not even have occurred!
12.h3
Steinitz was threatening .....Ng4! after which this move would not be possible at all as Black Queen will land on h4 making the capture hg4 taboo as the Rook on h1 would be hanging!
12.....Nf8; 13.a4 Ng6; 14.b5!?
This move is interesting in the sense that White attacks the area where Black is bereft of forces. But Zukertort, on the hindsight felt that he should have vacated the "d2" square for his King to take a walk to the Queenside - an idea which is certainly not farfetched.
14.....Nh4; 15.g3
Steinitz felt that White ought to have played 15.Bf1 here and not allow the Knight to land there.
15....Ng2!!
For good or bad, the Knight has landed in a place of no return!
16.Kf1 Ne3; 17.fe3 Bg3; 18.Kg2 Bc7
Black has got two pawns, opened White King cover, has his King's Rook joining the fray shortly; more importantly has made White to worry about all this along with his irrelevant pieces stranded on the other side.
19.Qg1?
The argument and analysis whether this or 19.Qf1 or 18.....Bb8 or 18.....Qc7 instead of Bc7 would be futile. Human mind operates in now and if you believe that such over-analysis would prove to be useful, try and count the number of instances that has happened in your games. By counting so, you will not even be able to complete the digits of your one hand!
Till the advent of engines, games have been analysed by masters which will prolong for years and it remained fluid with the previous thought being bettered by the subsequent analysis!
Yes, the understanding that such and such manoeuvre....scheme of attack or defence has not gone well in a particular game because......, on considering the game holistically and letting some skepticism seep-in while playing through the game helps to better your intuition. But never the over-analysis of a situation.... trying out every available option and its responses....so on and so forth only ends up straining and draining your creativity. Rather you may try playing out similar situations which would be interesting and enriching!
For, when you sit on the board you cannot foretell how your mind will operate; which by and large depends on your state of mind prevailing then and the thought process the tournament or match situation evokes, the mind sitting on the other side of the board.....and the thought process that gets triggered with every passing moment, move....
Chess is understood better holistically along with the mind that plays it and the mind that observes it; and since the former is uncertain and unknown and at best remains as a guess (unless ofcourse the player himself has revealed his mind in his comments to the game), it is the latter that one needs to be aware of while practicing - how your mind appreciates every passing situation over the board and the moves that are played. It's a process and one needs to be patient and not seek external help - by which I mean Mr.Engine: the chief destroyer of creativity!
Then, why that "?" after that move, one might ask! Because, the Queen on g1 not only merely invites Black's response, but sends him transport as well!!
Also, now instead of his King, White has put his Queen in jeopardy!
19.....Rh6; 20.Kf1 Rg6; 21.Qf2 Qd7; 22.bc6 bc6; 23.Rg1 Bh3; 24.Ke1 Ng4! 25.Bg4 Bg4; 26.Ne2 Qe7?!
This move is not difficult to understand; with the Queen on e7 the move ....Rf6 would force White Queen to an undefended 'h4' square with a chance to unleash a discovered attack. But the problem with this is that it gives White a little time to release another square for the Queen, say by playing the Rook to g2 etc.
Also, the immediate .....Rf6 would have also done the same trick!
27.Nf4
27.....Rh6!?
This may be slower than 27.....Rf6! but still that is what Steinitz train of thoughts suggested and we stay with it! The big cats have a tendency to play with their prey a bit before gobbling them, it has its own beauty!
28.Bc3 g5; 29. Ne2 Rf6; 30.Qg2 Rf3;
We shall leave this game here as ominous clouds have surrounded White's King and he will get decimated soon.
The following position occurred in the 1892 World Championship match between Steinitz and Tschigorin; 2nd game of their match to be precise
The father of Soviet School of Chess played here.....
15.....fg4??
Was the great Russian romantic rattled by the earlier g4!? in response to his .....f5 earlier. Surely, the petty trap 16.hg4?? Nf2! would not have been the motive.
Why even great players respond in this fashion!?
.....and this was the final position of this game when Tschigorin resigned!
Look at that unmoved King on e1!! It let everything happen around it!!
Mikhail Tschigorin - Wilhelm Steinitz, WC, Havana, 4th game, 1892
How many of us will have the audacity to play.....
16.....Rf8!!?
.....here!?
17.Nh7 Rh8; 18.Qg5?!
.....and how many of us will resist the temptation of this move!! Having won a pawn, it is very natural to play this move, which incidentally is intending something very serious apart from the belief that the extra pawn might come in handy after the exchange of Queens!
After...
18.....Nf4!! 19.Qe7 Ke7; 20.Ng5 Rh5!
Black got a clear advantage and went on to win the game!
In the concluding part, we shall observe few of his games with his successor - the Great Emanuel Lasker!
"Inspiration is when you find the right theme, one that you really like; that makes the work much easier. Intuition, which is also fundamental to writing fiction, is a special quality that helps you to decipher what is real without needing scientific knowledge or any other special kind of learning. It's a way of having experience without having to struggle through it." - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
This position is from the 1st Official World Championship Game!
Steinitz's last move 11.....h5!? was a nudge, the Austrian Grandmaster laid down his cards, blatantly revealing his intentions to go for the jugular.
The thought process would remain by and large similar in an era, amongst players of same level. Their proclivities may differ, choices may differ, but perceiving chess would be based on the prevailing state of the game in that particular era. And it helps us if we observe from that standpoint of view - all the advancements, defensive and attacking techniques that we boast of now is because every master who appeared in the planet, progressively stood on the shoulders of those who lived before them!
Say, before Copernicus everybody kept only Earth in the center of the circle (elliptical orbit was also not in vogue); before Newton everybody may not have been wondering about why objects fall down and not go up....such thoughts would not even have occurred!
12.h3
Steinitz was threatening .....Ng4! after which this move would not be possible at all as Black Queen will land on h4 making the capture hg4 taboo as the Rook on h1 would be hanging!
12.....Nf8; 13.a4 Ng6; 14.b5!?
This move is interesting in the sense that White attacks the area where Black is bereft of forces. But Zukertort, on the hindsight felt that he should have vacated the "d2" square for his King to take a walk to the Queenside - an idea which is certainly not farfetched.
14.....Nh4; 15.g3
Steinitz felt that White ought to have played 15.Bf1 here and not allow the Knight to land there.
15....Ng2!!
For good or bad, the Knight has landed in a place of no return!
16.Kf1 Ne3; 17.fe3 Bg3; 18.Kg2 Bc7
Black has got two pawns, opened White King cover, has his King's Rook joining the fray shortly; more importantly has made White to worry about all this along with his irrelevant pieces stranded on the other side.
19.Qg1?
The argument and analysis whether this or 19.Qf1 or 18.....Bb8 or 18.....Qc7 instead of Bc7 would be futile. Human mind operates in now and if you believe that such over-analysis would prove to be useful, try and count the number of instances that has happened in your games. By counting so, you will not even be able to complete the digits of your one hand!
Till the advent of engines, games have been analysed by masters which will prolong for years and it remained fluid with the previous thought being bettered by the subsequent analysis!
Yes, the understanding that such and such manoeuvre....scheme of attack or defence has not gone well in a particular game because......, on considering the game holistically and letting some skepticism seep-in while playing through the game helps to better your intuition. But never the over-analysis of a situation.... trying out every available option and its responses....so on and so forth only ends up straining and draining your creativity. Rather you may try playing out similar situations which would be interesting and enriching!
For, when you sit on the board you cannot foretell how your mind will operate; which by and large depends on your state of mind prevailing then and the thought process the tournament or match situation evokes, the mind sitting on the other side of the board.....and the thought process that gets triggered with every passing moment, move....
Chess is understood better holistically along with the mind that plays it and the mind that observes it; and since the former is uncertain and unknown and at best remains as a guess (unless ofcourse the player himself has revealed his mind in his comments to the game), it is the latter that one needs to be aware of while practicing - how your mind appreciates every passing situation over the board and the moves that are played. It's a process and one needs to be patient and not seek external help - by which I mean Mr.Engine: the chief destroyer of creativity!
Then, why that "?" after that move, one might ask! Because, the Queen on g1 not only merely invites Black's response, but sends him transport as well!!
Also, now instead of his King, White has put his Queen in jeopardy!
19.....Rh6; 20.Kf1 Rg6; 21.Qf2 Qd7; 22.bc6 bc6; 23.Rg1 Bh3; 24.Ke1 Ng4! 25.Bg4 Bg4; 26.Ne2 Qe7?!
This move is not difficult to understand; with the Queen on e7 the move ....Rf6 would force White Queen to an undefended 'h4' square with a chance to unleash a discovered attack. But the problem with this is that it gives White a little time to release another square for the Queen, say by playing the Rook to g2 etc.
Also, the immediate .....Rf6 would have also done the same trick!
27.Nf4
27.....Rh6!?
This may be slower than 27.....Rf6! but still that is what Steinitz train of thoughts suggested and we stay with it! The big cats have a tendency to play with their prey a bit before gobbling them, it has its own beauty!
28.Bc3 g5; 29. Ne2 Rf6; 30.Qg2 Rf3;
We shall leave this game here as ominous clouds have surrounded White's King and he will get decimated soon.
The following position occurred in the 1892 World Championship match between Steinitz and Tschigorin; 2nd game of their match to be precise
The father of Soviet School of Chess played here.....
15.....fg4??
Was the great Russian romantic rattled by the earlier g4!? in response to his .....f5 earlier. Surely, the petty trap 16.hg4?? Nf2! would not have been the motive.
Why even great players respond in this fashion!?
.....and this was the final position of this game when Tschigorin resigned!
Look at that unmoved King on e1!! It let everything happen around it!!
Mikhail Tschigorin - Wilhelm Steinitz, WC, Havana, 4th game, 1892
How many of us will have the audacity to play.....
16.....Rf8!!?
.....here!?
17.Nh7 Rh8; 18.Qg5?!
.....and how many of us will resist the temptation of this move!! Having won a pawn, it is very natural to play this move, which incidentally is intending something very serious apart from the belief that the extra pawn might come in handy after the exchange of Queens!
After...
18.....Nf4!! 19.Qe7 Ke7; 20.Ng5 Rh5!
Black got a clear advantage and went on to win the game!
In the concluding part, we shall observe few of his games with his successor - the Great Emanuel Lasker!
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