ICC Chess History and Trivia Quiz #17--By Naisortep
"...If at that time I was already aware that Tarrasch was my
antagonist, I still had no inkling that he was my 'born enemy'. But
our relations were soon destined to become strained. This is how it
happened... Tarrasch granted me the honour of playing a serious game
with him. My opening play, as usual, was most bizarre, partly because,
at that time, as explained above, I was generally ill versed in
'positional play', but partly because I was already consciously
avoiding well-worn paths, and, in particular, regarded the dogmas of
the then dominant school not without a certain scepticism. A lot of
spectators gathered (although the game had an informal character), for,
knowing the richness of my combinative imagination and mistakenly
equating this with playing strength, they expected, if not an equal
contest - for Tarrasch was then at the height of his fame - then, at
any rate, a game full of absorbing interest.
"After the tenth move, Tarrasch, folding his arms across his
chest, suddenly made the following pronouncement: 'Never in my life
have I had such a won game after ten moves as I have now!' The game,
incidentally, ended in a draw. But for a long time I could not forgive
Tarrasch for the 'insult' he inflicted on me in front of all those
onlookers.
"Soon afterwards this game was published, to the great annoyance
of Tarrasch, who considered that in publishing it I was virtually
committing a crime. As it happens, the game was not published by me at
all, but by someone else, a certain von Parisch, and this against my
wish. But the fact remains that we became enemies and remained so
until 1907. Later I shall relate the curious, and for Tarrasch
entirely characteristic episode of our reconciliation. For the
present I declare that, had it not been for a feeling of animosity
towards Tarrasch, I should never have learned to play chess properly.
To play better than Tarrasch - that was the formula of all my yearnings
in the period 1904-1906. To all my readers I can give the pleasant
advice, 'If you wish to achieve results, select a born enemy and
attempt to "chastise" him by toppling him from his pedestal.'
"I believe it is necessary, however, to add the following: if my
feeling of enmity towards Tarrasch was aroused by personal motives, it
was not sustained by them (for, from 1904 onwards, we never had any
further quarrels), but by that profound antagonism of an ideological
nature of which I was so acutely aware right from the very beginning of
our acquaintanceship. Tarrasch, to me, always meant mediocrity; it is
true that he was a very strong player, but all his views, his
sympathies and antipathies, and above all his inability to conceive any
new idea - all this clearly attested to the full mediocrity of his cast
of mind. I myself, who paid homage to genius, could in no way be
reconciled to the fact that mediocrity should stand as the leader of
the dominant school! This fact, for me, was a veritable outrage!
"...At the beginning of 1907 I took part in the master tournament
at Ostend. Tarrasch was playing in the premier tournament. We came
together each day in a caf'e, yet in spite of all my efforts he
absolutely refused to notice me i.e. he simply ignored the fact of my
existence. Meanwhile, I was continuing on my victorious way; in the
first two weeks I scored 7 1/2 points out of 9. Then, suddenly, a
miracle occurred. Tarrasch saw the light! On that day I had beaten W.
Cohn. I went into the caf'e; Tarrasch came rushing up to me, beaming
with delight and holding his arms out. "At long last I've come across
you! How pleased I am with your success! Aren't you going to show me
some of your games? How pleased I am with your success!' The
apothesis of opportunism! Trampling the weak in the dirt and pandering
to the strong! At that moment I perceived, with particular clarity,
the total mediocrity of Tarrasch's nature."
[Extracted from a brief autobiography published by Aron Nimzowitsch as
a Russian booklet in 1929]
Chess Anniversaries This Week (Source: 1996 International Chess
Calendar, P.O. Box 30, Milford, C.T. 06460)
"*" = Birthdates
"+" = Deaths
1/24 Geller and Portisch tie for first at Beverwijk. (1965)
* Teodor Ghitescu (1934)
1/25 Start of 27th U.S.S.R. Championship. Won by Korchnoi over Geller
and Petrosian (1960).
+ Mikhail Chigorin (1908)
1/27 * Capt. William Evans (1790), Philip Sergeant (1872), Fred
Reinfeld (1910), Lodewijk Prins (1913), Hans Berliner (1929)
1/28 Olafsson first at Reyjavik over Vasiukov and O'kelly de Galway.
* Ferdinand Hellers (1969)
1/29 Gipslis and Polugaevsky tie for first at Bad Liebenstein.(1963)
* Irving Chernev (1900), Raymond Keene (1948), Maxim Dlugy (1966)
+ Preston Ware (1890)
1/30 * Sam Loyd (1841), Boris Spassky (1937), Alexi Dreev (1969)
1/31 Polugaevsky and Zaitsev tie for first in 36th U.S.S.R.
Championship. Polugaevsky won playoff 3 1/2 - 2 1/2
+ Curt von Bardeleben (1924), Henry Atkins (1955), Louis Statham
(1983)
2/1 Start of London International Tournament. Won by Alekhine over
Flohr, Kashdan, and Sultan Khan (1932)
* Lionel Kieseritzky (1806)
2/2 * Svetozar Gligoric (1923), Keith Richardson (1942)
+ Alexander Rueb (1959), Yakov Estin (1987)
2/3 Start of Monte Carlo International Tournament. (1901)
* Moshe Czerniak (1910)
+ Albert Hodges (1944)
2/4 Steinitz defeats Chigorin to retain title (1889). Alekhine first
at San Remo over Nimzowitsch and Rubinstein.
* John Cochrane (1798), Bogdan Silwa (1922)
2/5 Ivkov wins European Zonal at Vrnjacka Banja, Yugoslavia over
Matanovic, Barczay and Gheorghiu (1967)
* Jackson Showalter (1860)
+ Jackson Showalter (1935) Saveilly Tartakower (1956)
2/6 Start of Czechoslovakian National Championship at Kosice. Won by
Pachman. (1961)
* Bozidar Kazic (1921), Alexander Chernin (1960), Ilya Gurevich (1972)
2/7 Start of Monte Carlo International Tournament. Won by Maroczy over
Schlechter (1904).
* Karel Opocensky (1892), Mark Taimanov (1926)
2/8 * Gisela Gresser (1906), Yuri Averbakh (1922), Boris Kogan (1940),
Johann Hjartarson (1963)
2/9 * Imre Koenig (1901), Boris Gulko (1947), Tim Taylor (1953)
+ Cecil deVere (1875), Grigori Levenfish (1961)
CHESS TRIVIA QUESTION (Message Naisortep with answers): This Quiz's
question was submitted by Allan -> Who is currently the world's youngest
Grandmaster? At what age did he/she obtain the title?
ANSWER AND WINNERS OF QUIZ #16: Joseph Henry Blackburne was nicknamed
the Black Death. Congratulations: EPOR, PAPADUCKDUCK, MALK, BAFFOON,
TASSILOLASA, NEGADO, RAISTLAN, TOC, PHILIPPLEICK, DFMOUSE, NERUDA,
POPEJOHN
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