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endswithv6i46 The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia From The Mad Aussie, Graham Clayton Reprinted from past issues of The Chessville Weekly, "The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia", brought to you by the Mad Aussie himself, Graham Clayton. Graham earned his nickname from fellow ChessChatters because of his penchant for playing unusual openings in his correspondence games. Says Graham, "I am a librarian by profession, 37 years old, single, and live on the north-western outskirts of Sydney, Australia. I was taught the moves when I was about 10 or 11, and learnt to play by reading books from the local public library. My only significant OTB play was 4 years of high school chess between 1979 and 1982. I have been a member of the Correspondence Chess League of Australia since 1980, and play both within Australia and overseas." "With my overseas games, I enjoy the social side of meeting new people and making friendships as much as the actual games. Chess is much more than the actual moves on the board. I have always been fascinated by the history of the game - the great players, tournaments, controversies and incidents, as well as the unusual things. Chess for me is fun!" Clayton uses, among other sources, the "Oxford Companion to Chess" by Ken Whyld and David Hooper. See today's additions below, or check out the archives! Concentration Trophy: The trophy for the 3rd Howard Staunton Memorial tournament held in London in 2005 was a chess set which had been used by a Polish player named Sabkowski who was interned in five different concentration camps during World War Two. He settled in England after the war ended. Wandering Queen: British player Jana Malypetrova won the British championship under her maiden name, as well as when she was married to Bill Hartson (1977) and Tony Miles (1979). She is currently married to Robert Bellin. New Technology: When the new Australian Federal Parliament building was opened in the capital city of Canberra in May 1927, a 6-board wireless chess match to celebrate the opening of the building was held between teams representing the British House of Commons and the Australian Parliament. The slowness of the service meant that very few moves were made in any of the games, and the match was abandoned after several hours. It would not be until after World War 2 that the telegraph service between Australia and the rest of the world would be quick enough to make similar matches a reality. New Technology vs Old: Prior to his opening round match against Lev Aronian at the 2005 FIDE World Cup in Siberia, Egyptian player Ali Frhat requested that he be allowed to play with plastic pieces, as he had never played games with the wooden pieces being used in the tournament. The tournament director refused his request, as it was necessary to use the wooden pieces so that the games could be relayed on the Internet. Who Am I? My parents are Brian and Joan and my brother, Andrew. Born in 1963, I did not shine at a prodigy like my contemporaries Short and Hodgson, but built up grandually, becoming a GM in 1989. I have written 15 books and featured in fashion and car advertising. A good guitarist, I was adviser to a Country Music documentary. Bespectacled, I often wear the smartest of suits. I play a little league chess, but seldom travel to tournments outsde the UK these days. Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to see the answer: *** Danny King *** Who Am I? My uncle was a painter, Roland, still displayed at London's Tate Britain. My parents were Emma, half Latvian, and Lionel, geneticist who researched into Down's Syndrome. My three siblings - one of whom is knighted - are all chessplayers. We are descended from Lord Peckover. I am a retired doctor, though not of medicine, and was ranked number one in the world, though not at OTB play. Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to see the answer: *** Dr. Jonathan Penrose *** These "Who Am I?"s are courtesy of James Pratt. Thanks James! Reader Question: Vijay Pandit from Mumbai, India, writes: White- Steinkuhler, Black- J H Blackburne; played at Manchester, 1863. Opening- Giuoco Piano 1 PK4 PK4 2 NKB3 NQB3 3 BB4 BB4 4 PB3 NB3 5 PQ4 PXP 6 PXP BN5+ 7 BQ2 BXB 8 KNXB (A weak move. The other Knight ought to have taken) QNXP 9 O-O PQ3 10 NN3 NXN 11 QXN O-O 12 RK1 NR4 13 PK5 QN4 14 PXP NB5 15 BXP+ (This tempting but unsound move led to all his subsequent troubles) KR1 16 PN3 PXP 17 NB3 NR6+ 18 KN2 QB3 19 BQ5 QXP+ 20 KR1 QN8+ 21 RXQ NB7+ 22 KN2 BR6 mate (In chess language, this is a "clean" mate and is considered one of the most beautiful ever produced in actual play). The above game score (with diagram after 17 NB3) is given in the book "Blackburne's Chess Games" (1979), Page 145, in Chapter III on "Games played off-hand, simultaneously or at odds". Fred Reinfeld uses the position after 20 KR1 as 'Quiz No.179' in his book "Win At Chess" (1958; originally "Chess Quiz" 1945). He, however, states it as "Blackburne blindfold brilliancy". In the book on Blackburne mentioned above there is a separate chapter on "Blackburne's blindfold games" but this particular game is not included there but in Chapter III as mentioned above. To me then it looks to be an off-hand game and not a blindfold one as stated by Reinfeld. Am I right? Regards, Vijay D Pandit. Mumbai, India Can you provide the answer Vijay seeks? Write to the Mad Aussie Championship Draw Rule: When WS Viner and C Watson played a match for the Australian championship in Perth, Western Australia in mid 1906, one of the rules for the match was that the first three drawn games would not count in the match score. Viner easily won the match (+7, -1, =3) Correspondence Draw Rule: In order to eliminate the need for tie-breaks, the USCF uses "weighted scores" for the correspondence tournaments that it organizes, such as the "Golden Knights" and "Grand National". For example, in Round 1 of these tournaments, a win would be worth 1 point, a draw 0.5 of a point and a loss 0 points. For the players who progress to round 2, a win might be worth 2.2 points, a draw 1.1 points with a loss still 0. In the third round, a win may be worth 4.5 points, a draw 2.25 and a loss still 0 points. Correspondence Brevities: Danish CC player A. Laustsen featured in the two shortest decisive games in the history of the ICCF World Correspondence Chess Championship finals. Both games were played in the 2nd Final (1956-1959):
Telegraph Match? When an Australian team played a Great Britain team in a telegraph match in 1948, Australia's top player Lajos Steiner was in Europe preparing for the Saltsjobaden Interzonal tournament. It was decided that his game on Board One against Harry Golombek would be played "face to face" in London, rather than having Steiner not playing in the match. The choice of colours for the game was done by Australian cricketing legend Sir Donald Bradman, who was captaining the Australian cricket team on their unbeaten tour of England at the same time. Double Rook-Sac Miniatures: Back in 1920 Richard Reti defeated Max Euwe in two miniatures where he was able to use the "Two Rooks" tactical sacrifice. Here are the two games in question: Reti - Euwe
Euwe - Reti
Double Round-Robin Championship: The 1900 Western Australian state championship used an unusual format to determine the State champion. As only one week in April was available for the tournament, it was decided that the six players would play a double round-robin amongst themselves, with the proviso that the end of the first round the two players with the lowest score would not participate in the second round. WW Farrington and FJ Domela were the two players who were eliminated after the first round. The remaining four players finished in the following order: 1.WS Viner 6.5/8; 2. J Hilton 5.5/8; 3. W Siebenhaar 4/8; 4. HP Colebatch 3.5/8 This was the first of four WA state championships that Viner would win in the space of five years. He won the title in 1901, 1903 and 1905, with no championships held in 1902 and 1904. His dominance was such that after his victory in 1905 there was no attempt to stage a WA state championship in either 1906 or 1907. It was only when Viner moved to Sydney that the WA State championship was commenced again in 1908. Musical Chess Trivia: Here's a musical chess trivia question for you: What song that has these lyrics? Time flies
-- doesn't seem a minute Drag your cursor over the space between the asterisks to see the answer: *** The song is "One Night In Bangkok", by Murray Head, from the musical "Chess." *** Historic Chess Clubs: Two off the oldest and most famous chess clubs in the USA are the Manhattan and Marshall chess clubs, both of which are (or were) located in New York City. The Manhattan Chess Club was organized in 1877, and was the oldest chess club in the USA. The club organized the 1924 and 1927 New York International tournaments. Famous players from the club included Sammy Reshevsky, Bobby Fischer, William Lombardy and Arnold Denker. Bill Wall reports, however, that in "January 2002, the Manhattan Chess Club closed. It existed for 124 years. Its last president was Jeff Kossak." The Marshall Chess Club was formed with the support of famous player Frank Marshall in 1915. Marshall ran the club until his death in 1944, when his widow Caroline took over. Famous players from the club include Reuben Fine, the Evans brothers, James Sherwin, Edmar Mednis and Larry Soltis. Audio/Video Clips: This week we have some links to just a few of the many interesting and entertaining chess audio and video clips of famous chessplayers that are available on the web:
Chess for Two: Icelandic GM Johann Hjartarson cut short his honeymoon to play in the 1988 Tilburg GM tournament. Chess Second: US master Reuben Fine was Max Euwe's "second" during Euwe's 1937 World Championship match against Alexander Alekhine. Chess In Second: Samuel Reshevshky was refused permission by the US State Department to travel to Hungary to compete in the 1950 World Championship candidates tournament. More Chess Videos: Reader Aben Rudy from Scottsdale Arizona wrote in to pint out an even lengthier clip (19 minutes) from the movie Chess Fever than the one's we recently shared with you in this column. Click here to check out Aben's find. Thanks Aben!! I found on the YouTube site this short video about the outdoor chess set located in the centre of Hyde Park, Sydney Australia. I can remember the set when I first started visiting Sydney in the late 1970's. As you can see, the squares are getting a bit worn, but I don't think they will be replaced in the near future. Unusual Forfeiture: United Arab Emirates GM Taleb Moussa forfeited his 2nd round game at the 2005 Malaysian Open in unusual circumstances. Moussa was involved in a dispute with the taxi driver who was driving him to the playing venue over the fare payable for the trip. The dispute was resolved at the local police station, which meant that Moussa lost the game on time. Unusually Young: One of the youngest female, if not youngest ever CC players of all time is Hungarian teenager Monica Lucian-Hoffmann. Born in June 1994, she played on Board Four for Mediator Gaismata Vii in the recent Hungarian national team CC championship. Original Grandmaster: When FIDE created their inaugural list of Grandmasters in 1950, one of the players who was suggested for the title was ex-USSR player and national champion Fedor Bohatirchuk, who had emigrated to Canada after World War 2. The USSR vehemently opposed his nomination, due to Bohatirchuk having served with German hospital staff in Ukraine during World War 2. He was awarded the IM title as a "compromise". Original Australian International Match: When Spencer Crakanthorp traveled to England to compete in the 1912 British Chess Federation championship, he took the opportunity to play a 3-game match against US champion Frank Marshall, which Marshall won (+1, -0, =2). This was the first time that an Australian player had played a match against a top international player (excluding the 1885 Australian championship "match" between Frederick Esling and visiting English player George Gossip). Mate - en passant: The 1928 Pietzicker Christmas tournament in Melbourne, Australia did not feature a single draw in the 6 player round-robin event. The tournament also featured a very unusual checkmate:
Championship Short-Circuit: The shortest game played in the history of the Australian chess championship was the following brevity played during the tournament held at Melbourne in 1930/31:
No Time To Spare: Alexander Grischuk had a very busy time while competing in the 2005 Main Chess Festival. He competed in the Ordix Open in the afternoon, and then played Vishy Anand in a rapid-play match in the evening. Too Hot To Play: John Kinman withdrew from the 1928/29 Australian Championship tournament in Perth, Western Australia due to the hot weather conditions in which the tournament was conducted. He was offered a cooler playing room and an electronic fan, but still withdrew with a score of 0.5/3.
The player whose turn it is to move wins. Here is the solution, from which the following explanation was excerpted:
Fischer Wasn't the First One: Samuel Reshevshky was refused permission by the US State Department to travel to Hungary to compete in the 1950 World Championship candidates tournament. Fine Was the Second: US master Reuben Fine was Max Euwe's "second" during Euwe's 1937 World Championship match against Alexander Alekhine. Big Brother the Composer: While former Czech and German GM Ludek Pachman (1924-2002) is well known for his OTB career, his brother Vladimir Pachman (1918-84) is well known in the composing field. He created over 900 problems. He was awarded the titles of International Judge of Chess Compositions in 1956, and International Grandmaster for Chess Compositions in 1975. Institutionalized Composer: There have been many cases where players have suffered from mental illness. Many stories have been written about Rubinstein's experiences. Like the time he arrived in Amsterdam by train and gets on to a trolley car and says take me to my friend Mr. Oskam. Perhaps the strangest case is Carel Mann, a problemist of the early 20th century. He was plagued with the notion that a vampire was after him, wanting to suck his red corpuscles. Once, on a boat trip, he saw the vampire and took a shot at him with his pistol. Fortunately he missed and began his stay in mental institutions. He was well known for his problems involving king chases. Unfulfilled Ambition? While Yuri Averbakh played for the USSR in friendly matches against Argentina, Uruguay, France, the United States of America, Great Britain, Sweden and Yugoslavia, he never played for the USSR in a Chess Olympiad. Ambitions Fulfilled? The 1916 Rice Memorial Tournament in New York was delayed so that David Janowski could get permission from the Russian Consul-General in Geneva, Switzerland to travel to the United States to take part. Janowski finished =2nd with Kostich and Kupchik, 3.5 points behind tournament winner Jose Capablanca. Take Your Chances: Chess was played with dice in Europe between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries. The die was thrown before each move, with the number determining which piece was to be moved, i.e.: 1 - Pawn; 2 - Knight; 3 - Bishop; 4 - Rook; 5 - Queen; 6 - King. If a player was unable to move the piece suggested by the die, they would toss the die until they could move. Take Your Best Shot: The 1926 Queensland state championship tournament in Australia used for the only time in the history of the championship a "quadruple knock-out" format, rather than the traditional round-robin format. Each of the 13 contestants started with 4 "lives", and were eliminated after they had lost 4 games (draws were counted as half a loss). The final results were as follows: 1. G Koshnitsky 11.5; 2. J McElligott 7.5; 3. AJ Ansaldo 7; 4. A Field 4. Strong As Steel: The Wijk an Zee International Tournament stated off back in 1938 as a tournament for the employees of the Koninkje steel factory in Hoogoveen. Stronger Than Steel: Canadian IM Frank Anderson (1928-1980) learnt to play chess when he was bedridden with polio/arthritis at the age of 15. Theoretical Investigations - The Soviet School of Chess? In the 1950's the USSR government set up a Department of Graduate Studies in Chess in the Central Research Institute of Physical Culture in Moscow. Several masters, including Vladimir Alatortsev, were appointed to work on theoretical investigations designed to raise the level of play in the USSR. Alatortsev published a book in 1960 on the Department's research, titled "Problemy sovremennoi teorri shakhmat". Who Am I?
I was born in the middle of the 19th century, and studied engineering. It
was during this time that I started to play at the top level. One of my
earliest successes was to finish =1st with Chigorin in a tournament, against
whom I lost the 2 game play-off match. I was at my most active from the
mid-1880's up to the period before World War 1. My best tournament result
was 1st at Munich, ahead of Rotlewi, Spielmann and Fahrni, and 5th at Monte
Carlo. I defeated von Bardeleben in a match and also drew a match against
Schlechter. I was an opening theoretician, and my name features on some
unusual opening variations. I often illustrated my opening analyses with
fictitious games between "Attakinsky" and "Defendarov"
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