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Chess Chats 05 Apr 1959, Sun The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California) Newspapers.com
Chess Chats by George Koltanowski
International Chess Master
The Press Democrat Chess Chats by George Koltanowski, Sunday, April 05, 1959, Santa Rosa, California Problem No....
Posted by Bobby Fischer's True History on Tuesday, March 15, 2022
Problem No. 174
White to play and mate in two moves.
FEN 8/8/1pB1N3/1Ppn2p1/2R3P1/3k4/p2P4/K2QB3 w - - 0 1
Solution: 1. Re4 Kxe4 2. Qe2#
STICKLER FOR PUNCTUALITY
“He certainly was, and particularly at meal-times,” my old friend Jacques Mieses used to tell us when in a reminiscent mood. “Never varied them—breakfast at 7, lunch at 12, supper at 8.” And then, with a chuckle, he would add that breakfast, of course, was at 7 p.m., lunch at midnight, and supper at 8 a.m.
The man he referred to was Mikhail Ivanovitch Tchigorin, who died 50 years ago. He was undoubtedly one of the most interesting personalities in the history of chess. It is by no means for merely sentimental reasons that the only Russian grandmaster of the 19th Century is revered by contemporary Soviet players. More so, because he was the great tactician to hold his own against a hyperdogmatic interpretation of the “Steinitz School.”
Correspondence Games
To prove the point, nothing could be more significant than the two correspondence games he won against Steinitz in 1890-91, both of them arranged to test certain opening variations. Here's the first one, with some of Steinitz's comments while the game was still in progress.
Mikhail Chigorin vs Wilhelm Steinitz
Steinitz - Chigorin Telegraph Match (1890), Telegraphic match, rd 2
Italian Game: Evans Gambit. Slow Variation (C52) 1-0
13. N-B4 Q-B1; (Here Steinitz wrote: “I prefer Black's game against anybody, and I certainly would refuse a draw here”)
17. B-B1 N-N1; (Here Steinitz was willing to bet anyone 2-1 that he would win.)
38. P-Q6 … Black resigns. After the game Steinitz gave lavish praise to his opponent's 12th, 14th, and 17th moves.
Boy's Talent
In Taschent (USSR) there's a five-year-old boy who is becoming a legend in Russian chess. His name is Ernest Kim, and he is beating a good number of B players already. He shows combinational talent. Visitors to the city insist on playing with the boy, and recently the editor of the “Michigan Telegraph” got beaten soundly in 15 moves. Here is a recent game by Kim.
Ernest Kim (white) vs. Suworow (black)
French Defense: Two Knights Variation
(a) Well played. If 15. BxB; 16. Q-N4ch and 17. RxQ.
(b) Black could resign here. He didn't because he had boasted that he would beat “the kid” and if he would lose by accident, he would never play chess anymore.
(c) About time. Wonder if Suworow is still playing chess?
Vacaville Chess Club invites all chess fans to the chess festival on Sunday, April 12 at 2 p.m. at the Monte Vista School. George Koltanowski will play all comers after a match between visitors versus hometowners.
