***** Quiz 17 ***** 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 au