Capa's Brilliant Maneuver

     I have posted on this game before after seeing it in Yermolinsky's The Road to Chess Improvement, but the other day I stumbled on a fragment of the game in Purdy's The Search for Chess Perfection and as a result have re-annotated it because it was worth a second look.
     Marovic and Purdy praised Capa's maneuver with his c8B as brilliant.  Yermolinsky didn't, but he may have been somewhat prejudiced against the game because he tells how as a 15-year old kid, he discovered the game and was impressed with Capa's handling of the confrontation of Q's on b3 and b6 and came to the conclusion that all black has to do is let white capture Qxb6 then play ...b5 and place his N on c4. It turned out things weren't quite so simple and he lost badly on his first attempt at duplicating Capa's strategy.
     In 1915 Isaac Rice began planning the Rice Jubilee Tournament to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of his discovery of the Rice Gambit but he died on November 2nd before he could complete the plans. Fortunately for chess his widow donated the money so the tournament could be held.
     Rice originally had planned to invite US masters and European players who might be able to compete despite the war. Invitations were sent to Alekhine, Capablanca, Marshall, Showalter, Kostic, Edward Lasker, Chajes, Kupchik, and Norman T. Whitaker. No reply was received from Alekhine and Marshall refused to compete after a dispute over his appearance fee and both Lasker and Whitaker declined their invitations.
     The result was a disappointing turnout as the only foreigners in the event were Capablanca, then of Havana, Borislav Kostic from Budapest and Janowsky from France. The others were all from the US: Albert Fox (Washington DC), Newell Banks (a chess master, but primarily a champion checker player from Detroit), Albert B. Hodges (Staten Island, NY), Abraham Kupchik and Jacob Rosenthal (Manhattan Chess Club), Oscar Chajes, Jacob Bernsteinn and Edward Tennewurzel (all representing the Isaac L. Rice Progressive Chess Club), Roy T. Black, Frank Perkins and Alfred Schroeder (all from the Brooklyn Chess Club). There was a round robin preliminary with a 5-player final in which the preliminary scores carried over (Capablanca, Janowski, Chajes, Kostic and Kupchik). It was as no surprise that Capa won. For complete details see chessgamesdot com HERE.
     In this game, which was critical in the final standings, on his 10th move Capa made a move that seems to make no sense. On move 4 he played his c8 Bishop to f5 in order to develop it outside the P-chain, then on move 10 he retreats it to d7 and follows that up by playing 11...e6, blocking the B behind the P-chain.
     According to some annotators the odd maneuvering was all part of a brilliant plan. What's a plan? Purdy described it as the visualization of a future position of some or all your pieces. You then try to play for that position; you do not worry much about your opponent's replies except to make sure that your plan is feasible and that you are not leaving yourself open to any combination, or missing one for yourself. 
     Who is right?  Was Capa's plan a brilliant one or was it an admission that his 4th move was a poor choice?  One can understand Yermo's comments because if Capa played 4...Bf5 then a few moves later was compelled to move it back to d7 does that not indicate that 4...Bf5 was not a good idea? Perhaps Yermolinsky is right...most annotations of this game have been based on Capa's reputation and the result.  Actually, Janowsky was doing OK until he played 21.e5? after which he was lost. Maybe that's why 4...Bf5 is rarely seen these days. In my database in games with both players rated over 2400 white scored +7 -0 =9 against 4...Bf4.

Bletchley Park and Chess Players

     Reader Alistair mentioned chess players at Bletchley Park during WW2. This is a fascinating subject especially if you play chess and are a history buff! I was first informed of this interesting connection a few years back by some of the British players at Chessworld when I was playing there.
     I have read Gordon Welchman's The Hut Six Story: Breaking the Enigma Codes and found it quite interesting as some of the players are mentioned. Gordon was in charge of this group which included famous players: C.H.O'D. Alexander, Stuart Milner-Barry and James M. Aitken. It was also closely associated with Hut 8 which was headed by Alan Turing and also Harry Golombek.  Golombek played chess against Alan Turing in quiet moments at Bletchley Park, giving the computer pioneer a queen and still winning.

 

Another good book is Station X: The Codebreakers of Bletchley Park:

Some additional reading:
Bill Wall Article at Chessdotcom
The Telegraph has a nice article HERE. C.H.O'D. Alexander is mentioned.
Roy Stevenson article about the Museum
Mathemeticians and Chess Players Who Cracked the Enigma Code  
 Bio of C.H.O'D. Alexander at St. Andrews  
Visit Bletchley Park 

Kingscrusher has a 47-1/2 minute Youtube video featuring games by some of the players: Bletchley Park Chess Codebreakers

Some book excerpts from Google:
Colossus: The secrets of Bletchley Park's code-breaking computers by B. Jack Copeland and The Bletchley Park Codebreakers By Michael Smith

Salo Flohr

I came across an excellent article by Jeremy Silman at Chessdotcom on one of the lesser known greats of yesteryear that you should read.  Article on Flohr  In the following game he makes quick work of Milner-Barry.

Blown Ending

     Back in the mid-1970's I was playing quite a bit of OTB chess and the other day was going through some of my old games and came across this one that was played in the state championship. Sometimes I have a compulsion to look at my old games, sort of like people have when they see some gory scene..it's repulsive, but you just can't look away.
     The scoresheets used to be stored in an old box but when I got my first engine I decided to put them all in a database titled "My Best Games." It was a horrifying experience because some of them that I thought were well played were actually riddled with errors, but there were a few good ones and this game was one of my better efforts.
     I am not sure what my opponent's rating was at the time this game was played but he went on to become a USCF Senior Master with a rating of over 2400. Today his rating has fallen off a lot, but he has a USCF Life Master title. For many years he earned a living playing chess and tutoring. What I do remember is that he irritated a lot of people but I found him to be a really nice guy when we looked at the game afterward. These days I think he is pretty much retired and lives in Texas. This game turned out to be a pleasant surprise because it was fairly well played except for my blunder at move 48 which threw away the win.

What Chess Books Should You Read?

     Back in January Chessdotcom had a list of chess books by IM Jeremy Silman in which he listed the ones he considered the best of all time as well as those that were considered by GM Yasser Seirawan, IM John Donaldson, IM Dr. Anthony Saidy, IM Daniel Rensch, IM John Peters, IM Cyrus Lakdawaka, IM David Pruess, IM John Watson and IM Jeremy Silman.
     The list is quite diverse, but I noticed some universal selections: My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer, Zurich 1953 by David Bronstein and My Best Games (Vol 1 and 2) by Alekhine. I might also add that there is also available Zurich 1953 by Miguel Najdorf; I have both and personally prefer Najdorf's. C.H.O'D Alexander wrote a slim book that was intended to be part of a trilogy of Alekhine's games that covered the period 1938-1945, but naturally the number of games and their quality was nowhere near approaching the two books by Alekhine himself.
     These titled players also included books that contained the games by their favorite players such as Tahl, Keres, Botvinnik, Marshall, Capablanca, Korchnoi, Bronstein, Shirov, Larsen, Rubinstein, Smyslov, Petrosian and Karpov.
     Diverse books on tactics, strategy and the endings were also mentioned and a few of the players also enjoyed books on chess in general such as Masters of the Chessboard by Reti, The Human Side of Chess by Reinfeld, Soviet Chess by Soltis and even Blindfold Chess by Hearst and Knott were just a few that were mentioned.  The thing that struck me in the list of the favorites of these players who went on to gain international titles was the absence of books that lower rated players seem to flock to: openings.

Geller vs. Euwe

     Reader Paul Gottlieb mentions this game in his reply to my last post on Euwe when he wrote, "Geller - Euwe from the 1953 Zurich Tournament will always be a source of joy to lovers of chess. I can still remember the jolt of surprise and pleasure I got when I saw Euwe's wonderful 22...Rh8! and then understood its purpose."
     I had forgotten about that game and it is also a favorite of IM Daniel Rensch who annotates it on Youtube. Thank you Mr. Gottlieb for reminding me of this game!

Botvinnik vs. Euwe

     They say Euwe was the weakest World Champion in history of chess. I'm not so sure that dubious distinction applies any more. It depends on how seriously one takes the title World Champion during the years 1993 to 2005 when the "World Champions" included Khalifman, Ponomariov and Kasimdzhanov. Somehow mentioning them in the same breath as Lasker, Capa, Alekhine, Fischer et al just doesn't seem right.
     In his book The Great Chess Masters and Their Games by Fred Reinfeld wrote "Dr. Euwe is the most underrated player in the world. Reuben Fine was absolutely correct when he made that flat statement in 1940." Fine observed that the opinion that Euwe won the first championship match in 1935 because Alekhine drank too heavily and that he lost the return match because Alekhine had restored his health was not true. Fine claimed Alekhine’s play in the first match was no worse than the quality he had played before the match. In the second match Euwe made a number of incredible blunders.
     Chessmetrics assigns Euwe an all time high rating of 2769 on the January 1936 rating list and he was #1 on the list 14 months January 1936 and November 1937. True Chess analyzed world champions blunder percentages and on their list the author says the numbers say that Euwe was better than his reputation but, at the same time, his reputation as a player who blundered often is, sadly, richly deserved.

     Lasker said of Euwe that he probably knew everything that was ever played or printed and that he was familiar with the teachings of Steinitz, Reti, Tartakower and Nimzovich. Botvinnik called him an impetuous, active player who liked to play on the flanks and was always looking for counterplay when defending. Euwe liked positions without weaknesses and 'makes disconcerting long moves,' aims for development, is satisfied with a better endgame, is subtle, has excellent technique, knows openings well and in general was a very good tactician. Smyslov, Tahl, Petrosian, Spassky and Karpov all had praise for his play and stated that early in their careers they learned from Euwe's books and games. Not a bad testimony about a "weak" world champion!  I liked the following game...it's not full of tactical fireworks, but shows fine positional sense and was played with great precision and technique by Euwe.

TopChess

Here's yet another new site on which to play chess...endorsed by Kramnik.

Particulars from the site's page:

TopChess is a club for people who love and enjoy playing chess. TopChess.com offers two levels of membership – Associate (Free) Membership or Full Membership

Associate (Free) Membership privileges are:
1. Play locally rated blitz games with other TopChess.com members.

Full Membership privileges are:
1. Play locally rated blitz games with other TopChess.com members.
2. Play blitz tournaments, with compulsory participation fee.
3. Play blitz games with Grandmasters, play simultaneous exhibition games.
4. Observe and comment on live blitz games.
5. Observe and comment on live simultaneous exhibitions between top Grandmasters and other members of TopChess.com website.
6. Depositing and/or withdrawing funds from their personal TopChess.com account, through the various payment options offered by TopChess.com.

The registration process is easy and free:
Simply complete the online registration form to receive an e-mail with an activation link. The TopChess.com Full Membership fee is EUR 16 (plus VAT for EU residents) per annum. Part of an annual membership fee of EUR 4 will automatically be transferred to the member's account as the initial credit for playing tournaments or matches. Chess professionals (holding FIDE title GM, IM and FM) are entitled to free full membership at TopChess.com

Each member is represented on-line only with his/her real name. TopChess.com members are not allowed to use any artificial aid/s during the game to gain unfair advantage. To ensure fair play TopChess employs proprietary state of the art advanced logarithms capable of detecting computer generated moves.

Gematria and Chess

     What?! I stumbled on an article on this subject the other day and had no idea what is was. According to Wikipedia Gematria is an Assyro-Babylonian system of numerology later adopted by Jews that assigns numerical value to a word or phrase in the belief that words or phrases with identical numerical values bear some relation to each other or bear some relation to the number itself as it may apply to a person's age, the calendar year, or the like.
     The best-known example of Gematria is the Hebrew word Chai ("alive"), which is composed of two letters that add up to 18. This has made 18 a "lucky number" among Jews, and gifts in multiples of 18 are very popular.
     Some identify two forms of gematria: the "revealed" form, which is prevalent in many hermeneutic methods found throughout Rabbinic literature and the "mystical" form, a largely Kabbalistic practice.
     Though gematria is most often used to calculate the values of individual words, Biblical verses, Talmudical aphorisms, sentences from the standard Jewish prayers, personal, angelic and Godly names, and other religiously significant material, Kabbalists use them often for arbitrary phrases and, occasionally, for various languages. The primary language for gematria calculations has always been Hebrew and, to a lesser degree, Aramaic.
     Another source described Gematriot as the numerical values of the Holy Hebrew Letters that reveals the deeper meaning of what the Torah wants to convey. Gematriot are mentioned in virtually every section of Jewish literature - Talmud, Midrash, Zohar, and Halacha. One thing I was aware of was that the use of gematria was widespread in Judaism at the time the New Testament was written.
     I could be wrong, but this sounds similar to the "Bible Code." The Bible Code, also known as the Torah Code, is a set of secret messages encoded within the Hebrew text of the Torah. This hidden code has been described as a method by which specific letters from the text can be selected to reveal an otherwise obscured message. Although Bible codes have been postulated and studied for centuries, the subject has been popularized in modern times by Michael Drosnin's book The Bible Code and the movie The Omega Code.
     Computers have been used to search for similar patterns and more complex variants and it has been published as a "challenging puzzle" in a peer-reviewed academic journal in 1994. While both proponents and skeptics accept that such sequences can arise by chance alone in any text, the proponents argue that the examples found in biblical texts are more numerous or more impressive in some manner than those found in secular texts, to a degree that chance cannot explain. According to the article I read there is a relationship to this Gematroit and chess.
     A chess board consists of 64 squares, eight by eight. The claim is that the word chess is very similar to the name of the Hebrew letter Cheis which is the numerical value of eight.
     Some people considered Bobby Fischer, his protests to the contrary, a Jew and the greatest player of all time. Of course, chess history is full of Jewish players but three examples used in the article were Bobby Fischer, Samuel Herman (Shmuel Chaim) Reshevsky, who was an observant Jew throughout his life and Daniel Abraham (Abe) Yanofsky who passed away at the age of 74 in 2000 and has a street named after him in Jerusalem.
     The article points out that there were major differences between Fischer and Reshevsky and Yanofsky. Fischer was a professional player who never worked at any other profession and his formal education ended when he dropped out of high school at age 16. On the other hand, Reshevsky and Yanofsky didn't let chess be the overriding factor in their lives; both attended college and became professionals and they both accomplished things in their lives other than being successful chess players.
     Fischer didn't have a stable family life and even after his death the courts had a hard time figuring out his estate. On the other hand, Reshevsky and Yanofsky were married and had children and family life was important to them. Reshevsky's son is a Rabbi and one daughter, Shaindel, is a nutritionist. I am not sure about his first daughter, Sylvia. In any case, both Reshevsky and Yanofsky had things in their lives that they deemed more important than chess. Not so for Fischer.
     Fischer craved to be the best player in the world. At some point he became anti-American and anti-Semitic. He never missed a chance to make vulgar rants against Jews. In addition to his rants against Jews he praised the terrorist actions of 9/11 and hated the U.S. Government.
     Hebrew Scripture condemns haughtiness which is defined as having or showing the insulting attitude of people who think they are better, smarter, or more important than other people. Haughtiness, the opposite of humility, has caused the downfall of many people with otherwise good qualities. The author of the article seemed to be making the point that Fischer was haughty while Reshevsky and Yanofsky weren't. It's not clear to me how chess was involved in making Fischer haughty but not Reshevsky and Yanofsky. Maybe I missed something.
     Chess has eight pieces that represent various ranks from the pawn to the king and queen and pawns, if they advance all the way to the other side of the board, can become queens. Supposedly this is based on a concept found in the Torah. The idea is that if people overcome their temptations, urges, and addictions while desiring to be spiritually close to God, they can be on a higher spiritual level than the angels. Angels can be compared to the other pieces between the pawns and the king/queen.
     What's this have to do with chess? As I understand it, according to the article chess, with so many number eights in it, means we can learn something from it. In Gematria, 8 is significant and teaches that as long as we know how to utilize our self worth without letting haughtiness and arrogance get in the way, with God's help one can be successful because it is God's desire that we use our talents to benefit the world. When we forget that our talents are God given and think they are our talents we are doomed to failure.
     Seriously, I still don't know what all that has to do with chess, Fischer, Reshevsky and Yanofsky. The Chabad has an article recounting how Reshevsky’s Rabbi told him he should try to mentor Fischer because Bobby didn’t have an upbringing that was conducive to appreciating his religion. Supposedly at one tournament they were seen walking together and discussing religion. When asked about it Reshevsky said, “He has his views. I have mine.”
     I'm not into Gematria or Bible Codes and the whole concept of numerology in any form is something I personally do not care to pursue. Like Reshevsky, I have my views; its proponents have theirs.

John L. McCutcheon

 

    Everybody has heard of the McCutcheon Variation of the French Defense, but how many know anything of the man behind the variation? I discovered a really good 6-part online bio of McCutcheon by James O'Fee which is listed at the bottom.
     A few minutes after midnight on July 16, 1905, at his residence on Homewood Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania attorney John Lindsay McCutcheon passed away. McCutcheon was born in Allegheny, PA on May 28, 1857 and was the oldest son of James McCutcheon of the firm Lindsay and McCutcheon, iron and steel manufacturers. His mother, Rebecca Lindsey McCutcheon died in 1898.
     His early education was received from tutors and at Newell's Institute in Pittsburgh. In 1875 McCutcheon went to Germany where he entered the University of Bonn for two years. On his return to the US he attended Harvard and Columbia law schools, graduating from the latter in 1881 and he was admitted to the bar on November 15, 1881. On November 16, 1882 he married Miss Louise Taylor of New York and they had three children, James, Elsie and Louise.
     From the date of his admission to the bar until his father's death in 1895 McCutcheon was an active and successful lawyer and won respect from his peers. After his father's death he turned himself almost entirely to the management of his father's estate where he acquired talent in business and finance and greatly increased his father's business.
     He was recognize by his associates as honest but at times exhibiting certain peculiarities of manner which caused adverse criticism from those who did not know him well. He possessed remarkably sound judgment and keen insight, qualities that contributed to his success as both an attorney and a businessman. As an attorney his aim was always justice and he was upset when he felt the courts failed to produce it.
     McCutcheon was an a strong chessplayer and the McCutcheon Variation of the French Defense was named for him. He was also a great lover of art and music and his art gallery had paintings by many famous artists. In music he was the author of compositions which were deemed as quite good. He was most admired by those who knew him as a friend, being described as a "prince of entertainers" and "one of the most hospitable men who ever lived." Genial, warmhearted, charitable, clever, companionable, loving and lovable were the words used to describe him. It was said he had a certain innocence about him that was not contaminated by the world and his temperament was described as "sweet and gracious." In a resolution upon his death that's how his peers of the Philadelphia Bar described him.

O'Fee's Biography of McCutcheon:  Part 1  Part 2   Part 3   Part 4   Part 5   Part 6

His win over Steinitz in a simul using his McCutcheon Variation can be played over HERE.

Botvinnik and Politics

    It was Botvinnik who, as a result of the 1948 world championship tournament at The Hague and Moscow, established Soviet domination of world chess. Botvinnik became the darling of Stalin and the second most powerful man in Soviet politics at the time, Andrei Zhdanov. Part of Zhdanov's empire was propaganda and culture and that included chess.
     Before the Moscow half of the tournament started Botvinnik was summoned to Zhdanov's office for questioning. It seems Zhdanov was afraid Reshevsky would win the tournament and become world champion, but Botvinnik assured him it wouldn't happen because of a) Reshevsky's chromic time troubles and b) Reshevsky lacked deep positional understanding. By the way, many people think Reshevsky was a positional player, but all his peers pointed out he was really a superb tactician, especially in the endgame. Assured that there was no danger of Reshevsky winning the tournament, Zhdanov sent Botvinnik on his way.
     In the meantime Paul Keres was under suspicion because he had spent the war years playing in Nazi tournaments and rumor had it that as part of his "rehabilitation" he was forced to lose to Botvinnik.
     At the outbreak of World War II, Keres was in Buenos Aires for the Olympiad and he remained there to play in a tournament where he tied for first with Najdorf. His next event was a 14-game match with former World Champion Euwe in the Netherlands which Keres won.
     When the Nazi-Soviet Pact was signed in 1939 Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union the following year and Keres began playing in Soviet tournaments. The Nazis invaded Estonia in 1941 and the 25-year old Keres then began playing in Nazi tournaments. That put Keres in danger at the end of World War 2. Estonia had been under Russian control when Keres was born in 1916, but it was an independent nation between the two world wars.
     Not only had he played in Nazi tournaments, but in 1942 he had done an interview for a Nazi newspaper that had been used for anti-Soviet propaganda. As a consequence, he was suspected of collaboration with the Nazis and questioned by the Soviet authorities. Keres managed to avoid the fate of his countryman, Vladimirs Petrovs.
     When the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Petrovs was in Russia and was unable to return to his wife and daughter at home in Latvia. He remained in Russia and was arrested where on 31 August 1942 under Article 58 for criticizing the decreased living standards in Latvia after the Soviet annexation of 1940 and he was sentenced to ten years in a corrective labor camp. In 1989 it became known that he had died at Kotlas in 1943 from pneumonia. At least that's the official version. Once in the 1970's in a conversation with GM Edmar Mednis, when asked what happened to Petrovs, Mednis' comment was, "The Russians shot him."
     After the War Keres' return to the international chess was delayed, possibly for political reasons. Keres returned to international play in 1946 in the Soviet radio match against Great Britain, but even after he resumed a relatively normal life and chess career, his play at the highest level appears to have been affected.     Fifty years later in an interview Botvinnik claimed that unbeknownst to him both Keres and Smyslov, on orders of Stalin himself, had been instructed to lose to him. In an interview GM Yuri Averbach said he didn't believe it, claiming it was too farfetched, but he did concede that officials lower down in the hierarchy may have ordered them to lose.  For more information on the Keres-Botvinnik controversy, read the article HERE.
      I was reading Russian Silhouettes by Genna Sosonko and came across the following quote by Botvinnik concerning blitz:  'Young man,' replied Botvinnik, not looking at him, 'Remember this: I never played chess for pleasure.' Botvinnik did not play for pleasure, but was believed that he was fulfilling his life's work, work which had been entrusted to him by his country.
     Sosonko wrote, "On many pages of Botvinnik's books one finds situations where it is suggested that the outcome of a game was not decided at the chess board, because the prestige of Soviet chess, and hence of the entire Soviet state was at stake."
     In the book Sosonko wrote that when Botvinnik was summoned to a meeting with Zhdanov, the meeting went like this: "How would you regard it if the Soviet participants were to lose to you deliberately?' I lost the power of speech. Why did Zhdanov want to humiliate me? During the previous few years I had played in seven tournaments and in all of them I had finished first, demonstrating a clear superiority over my rivals. On again acquiring the power of speech, I refused point-blank. But Zhdanov continued to insist, and I to refuse. The conversation reached an impasse. In order to conclude the argument, I offered a compromise: 'Very well, let's leave the question open. Perhaps it won't be needed? 'Zhdanov was clearly pleased with the possibility of such a decision. 'Agreed' said Zhdanov, 'We are behind YOU' - he emphasised this word - 'we wish you victory.' 
     So, the Russians were afraid that Reshevsky would win the world championship...that's how good he was. The players named to compete for the championship in 1948 were Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Paul Keres, Samuel Reshevsky, Reuben Fine and Miguel Najdorf.
     Many difficulties plagued the tournament. FIDE convened in 1947 with the result being that Najdorf was dropped from the list since the Prague tournament that that he won and originally qualified him was too weak to merit his inclusion. Fine dropped out for personal reasons. So, the final players were: Botvinnik, Euwe, Keres, Reshevsky and Smyslov.
     The Hague and Moscow match/tournament, was to be held from March 2 to May 16, 1948 to determine the new World Champion. The winner was, of course, Botvinnik (14 points out of 20), followed by Smyslov (11); Reshevsky and Keres tied (10 ½); and Euwe (4)—the disappointment of the tournament, trailing far behind. Botvinnik thus ushered in the era of Russian chess dominance. Reshevsky was the only player to put Botvinnik in serious danger of losing on three occasions." Always plagued by time trouble, Reshevsky managed to throw away his chances in those games and, as Botvinnik had predicted, Reshevsky lost.
     The last round of the tournament was considered the most exciting because of two games...Keres’ win over Botvinnik, and a move by Botvinnik that Euwe described as "Incomprehensible."
     The Reshevsky versus Euwe game was important because, since Keres defeated Botvinnik (already the champion), Reshevsky had to defeat Euwe, the former World Champion, in order not to drop into fourth place. After the Keres victory cheering spectators stormed forward, the spotlights were turned on and the photographers began snapping pictures. This elicited a criticism of Dr. Milan Vidmar, the tournament director, for not stopping the Reshevsky-Euwe game so things could return to normal and the spectators could be quieted The result was that Reshevsky defeated Euwe when Euwe blundered on move 28 which led to his resignation a few moves later. With their wins, Keres and Reshevsky tied for third and fourth place. 
     Bronstein, in his last book, Secret Notes, published in 2007 just after his death the previous year, confirmed long-standing rumors by writing that the nine Soviet grandmasters (out of a field of 15 players) at Zurich 1952 (candidate's tournament won by Smyslov) were under orders from both their chess leadership and the KGB to not let Reshevsky win the tournament under any circumstances, with Smyslov being the preferred victor.
     When Reshevsky maintained his strong contention late in the tournament, Bronstein claims that the Soviets prearranged several results in games amongst themselves to prevent Reshevsky's victory and at the same time ensuring that Reshevsky faced the maximum test in his own games against the Soviet players.
     Bronstein had earlier written that he was ordered by the Soviets to win as Black against Reshevsky in the second cycle at Zurich and managed to do so after a very hard struggle. Several other writers, including GM Alexei Suetin (who was the second of Petrosian at Zurich 1953), also confirmed the Soviet collusion in Zurich.    
     Back to the 1948 Hague/Moscow tournament: In one incident during the Moscow portion Botvinnik was defeated by Reshevsky and after the game they shook hands. The handshake got Botvinnik in trouble. The next day he was ordered to report to the office of the chairman of the Sports Committee, Lieutenant General Arkady Apollonov who asked him how he, a communist, could shake hands with an American after he had defeated a Soviet player. Botvinnik was peeved and asked if that was the reason he had been invited to see the chairman and told him, "Excuse me. I have to prepare for my next game." and then walked out.
     After winning the world championship, Botvinnik's success went to his head and on at least two occasions he tried telling party leaders how he thought they should run things. He was ignored, but not punished. He still ruled Soviet chess and chess politics and he was not above taking advantage of all the perks and wielding his influence when it came to consolidating his position as champion and gaining rematches if he lost.
     Many chess players had been executed or sent to gulags, but not Botvinnik; he survived because he made himself indispensable. Even the top dog of the Soviet chess organization, Nikolai Krylenko, became a victim of Stalin's purges in the late 1930's when he was accused of spending too much time climbing mountains and playing chess. It had been Krylenko's goal to export chess as part of Soviet culture and to dominate the chess world, but he got purged before he could see it happen.
     Botvinnik was the most important chess player of Krylenko's legacy and he knew how to play the system and that enabled him to survive a revolution, a civil war, collectivization and famine, a reign of terror, a second world war, a cold war, the end of Stalin and a "thaw", the turbulent 1960's and 1970's, the Gorbachev reforms of glasnost and perestroika and the shakeup of the entire Soviet Union.
     I don't remember when, where I read it or who said it, but one person opined that one of the reasons Botvinnik continued to remain so deeply involved in his career as an electrical engineer was because he believed he needed a profession to fall back on in the event that he ever fell out of favor with the Soviet chess political machine.  We'll never know what really happened in those days, I guess.  Was chess deprived of a Reshevsky - Botvinnik match for the world championship and if so, who would have won?  

Botvinnik's Log Dacha

     Back in 1949 Botvinnik wanted to design and build his own log dacha, so he and Yakhov Rokhlin (1903-1995), a master, coach and author who was one of the first organizers of the Soviet chess movement at the time, made a trip to a place called Nikolina Gora to check out the possibilities. Nikolina Gora was an elite colony on the north bank of the Moscow River, west of the capital and it was the haunt of artists, writers and scientists. In fact, it's still an elite location today. Nikolina Gora Luxury Estates for Sale   

4.5 million and it's yours

     Lavrenti Beria was the longest and most influential of Stalin's secret police chiefs (Stalin referred to Beria as "my Himmler"), wielded his most substantial influence during and after World War II. He simultaneously administered numerous political offices and served as de facto Marshal of the Soviet Union in command of the NKVD field units. These units were responsible for anti-partisan operations on the Eastern Front during World War II and they apprehened thousands who were designated as turncoats, deserters, cowards and suspected malingerers.
     Beria administered the vast expansion of the Gulag labor camps and was responsible for overseeing the secret defense institutions critical to the war effort. He also played the decisive role coordinating and developing an impressive intelligence and sabotage network behind German lines. After the war, he organized the takeover of the state institutions of Central and Eastern Europe.
     Beria's uncompromising ruthlessness in his duties and skill at producing results caused him to oversee the Soviet atomic bomb project. The project was completed in under five years in no small part due to Soviet espionage against the West organized by Beria's NKVD.
     When Nikita Khrushchev took over, Beria was arrested on charges of treason during a meeting in which the full Politburo condemned him. The compliance of the NKVD was ensured by Zhukov's troops and after interrogation Beria was taken to the basement of the Lubyanka prison and shot by General Pavel Batitsky. Fate is funny sometimes.
     Botvinnik enlisted the help of his friends with political connections and as a result Dimitry Postnikov, who was later to become head of the Soviet chess federation, was ordered by meet with Botviinik and inform him that Beria had refused his purchase request. When Postnikov broke the news to him, Botviinik was undaunted. He went to a telephone and dialed a number. Postnikov overheard a conversation between Botvinnik and Gerogy Malenkov.  Botvinnik requested a meeting with Malenkov and within a week the Sports Committee received a telegram approving his request for his purchase at Nikolina Gora; the approval had been signed by Stalin himself.
     Botvinnik was friends with his neighbors and is reported to even have played chess with some of them. He described scientist Pyotr Kapista as "weak" but had "great respect" for Sergei Prokofiev's play noting that he displayed an aggressive style, creativity and a dislike for defense. Prokofiev was a composer, pianist and conductor.
     He was able to furnish his home thanks to a new Soviet custom. When Soviet players travelled abroad they earned fees from simuls and exhibitions, but were expected to turn half the money over to the State.  That sounds harsh, but in reality it could be described as a government tax on income earned outside the country, although 50 percent is pretty steep. However, as usual with tax laws, there was a loophole: if they spent the money before they returned home there was no tax.  During his trips abroad he bought furniture for his dacha. A couple of things he bought were central heating equipment and...an ironing board. In addition to his preparation for his world championship matches many of his training games were played in his home.
     Yuri Averbach's impression of Botvinnik's character was that at first he made a fantastically good impression on him and it was very interesting to spend time with Botvinnik because his views on many topics were original. The transition from the Stalin era to Khrushchev’s was a troubled time in the Soviet Union and they frequently talked about politics and literature.
     David Bronstein referred to Botvinnik as a "good Communist" but Averbach stated Botvinnik wasn’t “a confirmed Stalinist” as he had his own views on everything.  Averbach, and later Alexi Shirov, commented that if you disagreed with Botvinnik, there was no point in discussing it; your words simply fell on deaf ears and, as Averbach put it, it was like talking to a brick wall. If he’d decided on something then nothing and noone could make him change his mind.
     Averbach described a dialogue with Botvinnik as essentially being a monologue: he would speak and others would listen. Ilya Kan once said, “Botvinnik thinks he’s the World Champion in everything! But he’s only the World Champion in chess, while in everything else, he’s a normal man…”.

Some Cool Articles

While browsing Chessbase I discovered some interesting old articles on a variety of subjects.

Alekhine's death-an unresolved mystery?
Opening of the Lasker Exhibition in Berlin 
The true secret of intuition in chess 
The surealistic art of chess Dieter Nisipeanu
In the Heart of Transylvania

The Huffington Post also has some interesting reading:
All articles with the word “chess”

Chess History Articles:
Capablanca's death
Capablanca's Widow

Miscellaneous:
Jack Lummus Article on Capablanca's Widow
Obituary of John Littlewood  
Reuben Fine's NY Times Obituary