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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!

Trivia

Chess-Playing Brothers:  Alexander Alekhine's elder brother Aleksei was also a competent chess player in his own right.  As the two brothers shared the same first initial, Alexander was given the nickname of "Tischa" to identify him from his brother.  In the 1907 Moscow Chess Club Autumn Tournament, Aleksei scored 8.5/14, while Alexander scored 4.5/14.  The two brothers played correspondence chess as well. While Alexander gave up playing by correspondence in 1909, Aleksei continued playing up to 1913.

The two strongest pairs of chess-playing brothers that I could think off in terms of playing strength were the following:

Donald and Robert Byrne (United States).  Donald was 1st 1953 US Open, =1st 1957 US Open.  Robert was =1st 1960 US Open, 1st 1972 US Closed Championship, and also played in the 1974 Candidates matches.

Paul and Hans Johner (Switzerland).  The two brothers between themselves won the Swiss Championship 14 times between 1907 and 1950.

Another example of a pair of chess-playing brothers is Paul and Harald Keres.

D.A.H. Kruyt adds:  Paulsen, Louis, (1833-1891) had a brother, Wilfried (1826 - 1901) who also was a very strong chess player.  His main importance was his analytical work (in chess).  Wilfried made a name for himself in potatoes.  Slightly off topic: still in this thread mention must be made of the Polgar sisters.

Brothers in Chess:  As part of the opening proceedings for the 1932 Pasadena California international tournament, American players Isaac Kashdan and Arthur Dake played an exhibition game in an airship that was floating above the Hotel Maryland, the venue for the tournament.  A move by move account of the game was relayed by radio back to the hotel, where the moves were displayed to the general public on a large demonstration board.  Alexander Alekhine gave expert commentary on the game, which finished in a draw.  Alekhine won the tournament with a score of 8/5.11.  Here is the miniature he played against San Fransisco player and problem composer A.J. Fink, who finished last:

AJ Fink-A Alekhine, Pasadena, 1932
Ponziani's Opening

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Qa4 Nf6 5. Ne5 Bd6 6. Nc6 bc6 7. e5 Be5 8. d4 Bd6 9. Qc6+ Bd7 10. Qa6 0-0 11. Be2 Re8 12. Nd2 Rb8 (threat 13...Bb5) 13. a4 Qe7 14. Nf1 Bb5 0-1 (15. ab5 Qe2#)

"I believed beforehand that I was getting him into a strange variation, but he knew more about the Ponziani than anybody", was Fink's rueful quote after the game.

A Rose By Any Other Name:  Max Euwe's real first name is Machgielis.

Location, Location, Location:  The venue for the 1978 Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires was the River Plate football stadium (aka soccer, for my American friends), which 6 months earlier had hosted the World Cup football final between Argentina and Holland (Argentna won 3-1).

Very Few Tournaments:  In the 14 years between the turn of the 20th century and the commencement of World War One, World Champion Emanuel Lasker only competed in the following four international tournaments during that time:

Paris 1900  (1st:  +14, =1, -1)
Cambridge Springs 1909  (2nd:  +9, =4, -2)
St Petersburg 1909  (=1st:  +13, =3, -2)
St Petersburg 1914  (1st:  +10, =7, -1)

Even Fewer Tournaments:  Paul Morphy had planned to enter the 1858 Birmingham International tournament as part of his tour of England and Europe.  Due to various factors, he withdrew from the tournament, and played only matches, displays and casual games during his tour.  The 1857 New York Tournament (1st:  +14 -1 =3) was the only tournament that Morphy competed in during his brief and spectacular career.

Rough Couple of Tournaments:  Bobby Fischer's worst performance in an international tournament was the 1960 Buenos Aires event.  He scored +3, =11, -5 to finish 13th.  His worst performance in a tournament prior to this was the 1957 North Central Open in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Fischer scored +4, =2, -1 to finish =5th-11th.

Rough Couple of Rounds:  The 1938 Plymouth international tournament featured two rounds in each day of the tournament.  In the course of one of those rounds, English player Ronald Bruce achieved the unusual feat of playing against the Women's World Champion (Vera Menchik) and the Men's World Champion (Alexander Alekhine) on the same day.  Unfortunately Bruce lost both of his games to the two World Champions.

A Christmas Card:  with season's greetings from Graham:

A Fine Performance:  From June 1936 up to the end of 1937, US master Reuben Fine went on an 18 month chess tour of Europe.  He played in thirteen tournaments and won the following eight tournaments: Zandvoort 1936; Oslo 1936; Amsterdam 1936 ;Stockholm 1937; Moscow 1937; Leningrad 1937; Margate 1937; Ostend 1937.  He finished 3rd at the strong Nottingham 1936 tournament, and 2nd at Semmering-Baden in 1937.  Fine won a match against Gideon Stahlberg in 1937 (+4, =2, -1).  Fine also made the highest 2nd board score while playing for the US team at the 1937 Stockholm Olympiad.  Fine was also the "second" for Max Euwe during the 1937 World Championship match against Alexander Alekhine.  Fine also gave numerous simultaneous displays during his tour as well.  Away from chess, he also found time to get married and have an operation for appendicitis!

Fine Performances:  Another interesting character was Alexander Kevitz.  He was one of the top OTB players of the 1930's.  There were too many great players in the 30's and Kevitz got tired of being pushed around.  He left competitive OTB chess and went full time into the pharmacy business.  Here is an example of Kevitz beating the great Jose Capablanca in a 1924 simul in New York conducted by the Cuban:

JR Capabalanca- A Kevitz
Simultaneous exhibition, New York 1924

1.b4 d5 2.Bb2 Bf5 3.e3 e6 4.f4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bb4 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.Ne2 Ng4 8.c3 Be7 9.h3 Nc5 (threatening mate) 10.Ng3 Bh4 11.Nh4 Qh4 12.Qf3 Ne3 13.Qf2 Nf1 0-1

This is not Capablanca's shortest loss in a simultaneous exhibition. The following game holds this record:

JR Capablanca - A Kramer
Simultaneous exhibition, Yurev, 1914

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 d6 5.f4 Ng4 6.fe5 Nf2 7.Qf3 0-0 8.Qg3 Nh1 9.Qf3 Qh4+ 0-1

In Capa's defence, it was reported that during the display the Cuban had been suffering from a cold.

Who Am I?  I was considered one of the Top 10 players in the world in the mid to late 19th century, but I am not very well known because I had a very short tournament career.  I was co-editor of the "Neue Berliner SchachZeitung" with Adolf Anderssen from 1864 to 1867, during which time I played games against players such as Anderssen, Mayet, Suhle and Schallopp.  I defeated Winawer and Rosenthal in short matches.  My greatest tournament success was winning 1st place in a tournament ahead of players such as Steinitz, MacDonnell and De Vere.  I was a fine positional player, and I retired from chess prematurely in the mid 1870's due to the ongoing effect of a head injury that I suffered when I was a boy.  Who am I?  Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer!     ***  Gustav Neumann  ***

Who Am I?  I was one of the strongest players in my country in the 20 or so years after the end of World War 2.  I competed in my national championship 16 times, winning the title 3 times.  I also represented my country in 11 Olympiads, and competed in 4 Interzonal tournaments.  I won 3 major international tournaments as well.  My main claim to fame is in the area of chess publishing.  In the mid 1960s' I founded the multi-lingual "Chess Informant", which is more commonly known as the "Informator".  I was also involved in the production of the 5-Volume "Encyclopedia of Chess Openings".  Who am I?  Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer!     ***  Aleksandar Matanovic  ***

Olympian Shutouts:  Argentina, France, Ecuador and Venezuela submitted late applications to compete in the 1970 Chess Olympiad, which was being held in Siegen, West Germany.  However, the maximum number of teams that could compete at an Olympiad (60), had been reached, so the 4 teams were unable to compete.

Olympian Double-Headers:  The Philippines and Italy were the only 2 countries to compete at both the 1976 FIDE Chess Olympiad at Haifa, Israel, and the "Against Chess Olympiad" that was held at Tripoli, Libya in the same year.

Twice the Champions:  Boris Spassky (1955 & 1969), Anatoly Karpov (1969 & 1975), Garry Kasaprov (1908 & 1985) and Vishwanathan Anand (1987 & 2000) are the only four players who have won the FIDE World Junior Championship and the FIDE World Championship titles.

1932 Pan American Chess Congress, Hollywood California:  I recently came across the following references to this tournament, about which I knew nothing:
     http://www.chessdryad.com/articles/spence/spence.htm
     http://www.chessdryad.com/articles/cr/vol13no08/pg_01.htm

It is well worth having a look.  My favorite images are the pictures of the "living chess" match that was played, and the picture of a bandaged Herman Pilnik playing after being injured in a car crash on the way to the tournament.

Simple to Play:  I have listed below 25 "scrambled" surnames of players from history of chess. All you have to do is unscramble them!  To reveal the answers, drag your mouse across the corresponding line in the right-hand column.  (The left-hand column gives only the scrambled surname, while the right-hand column includes the given name as well.)

Displaced:  One of the more unusual tournaments held in Europe in the immediate post-World War Two period was the "Baltic Displaced Persons" championship, which was held in Blomberg, Germany.  The tournament was open to players from the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) who had ended up in displaced persons camps in Germany at the end of World War Two.  The place-getters in the tournament were:

Replaced:  GM Alexander Moiseenko attempted to retract a move that he had legally made while playing in the 2004 Monarch Assurance Open on the Isle of Man.  Moiseenko had reached the following position as White against Ghaem Maghami in Round 5 after 30 moves:

Who am I?  I once shared a landing with the heir to the British throne at University, my wife is a retired ballerina, my son is called Alexander, my brother in law co-wrote a book about the Alekhine.  I have a 100% score against Botvinnik.  Who am I?     *** Raymond Keene ***

Who am I?  I live in a caravan and have played little in recent years, although in 1973-1975 I was about number four in England.  Some of my black piece opening ideas - in the Sicilian and Leningrad Dutch - stemmed from Louis Paulsen.  My son is called Anthony and my wife once dated Vasyukov, the Soviet GM.  I have a degree in History and a half brother who is disabled.  Away from the chessboard I am interested in philosophy and a little gentle cycling.  Who am I?     *** Mike Basman.  His Paulsenite systems were 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 and in the Leningrad Dutch 1... f5, ...g6, ...Bg7 and characteristically, ...Nh6. ***

To reveal the answers, use your mouse to highlight the space between the asterisks.
Today's last two Who Am I? questions come courtesy of James Pratt in postings to the Chess Chat group.

Fighting for the Top:  When the English dance/techno band "The Orb" appeared on the "Top Of The Pops" program in mid-1992 to promote their new single "Blue Room", their performance consisted of the band members playing a game of chess while a video clip of the song was shown in the background.

Just Plain Fighting:  A fight between two players marred the 2000 Doeberl Cup tournament, held in the Australian capital city of Canberra over the Easter long weekend.  The fight occurred during round four, when David Beaumont complained that Alexander Gaft, who had already completed his own game, was disrupting him while his game was still in progress.  The pair started trading punches and grappling with each other until they were pulled apart by other players.  Both players were disqualified from the tournament.

Out of this World:  Playing chess has been a favourite pastime of many USSR cosmonauts who have spent time in outer space either on Soyuz missions or working in the MIR space station.  Because objects float in space due to zero gravity, special chess sets were used for these games, with pegs and grooves which keep the pieces in place.

Cosmonauts are discouraged from playing against each other . If they want to play, they have to play with one of the ground controllers or with members of a visiting crew. This is done to eliminate the possibility of any tension or stress from the games, which could impact of the performance of the crew.  (This page has a picture of the chess set used by the Soyuz 3 and Soyuz 4 cosmonauts in the late 1960's)

Really Out of this World:  The 1984/85 World Championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov featured one of the more unusual adjournments seen in the history of World Championship matches.  The match was being held in the Hall of Columns in Moscow.  When Marshal Ustinov, the Minister of Defence dies during the match, his body was laid-in-state in the hall, which necessitated an adjournment of over a week in the match.

Booked Up:  When Jonathan Rowson was due to play with the White pieces against Simon Williams in Round 6 of the 2004 British championship, he purchased from the bookstall at the tournament a copy of the book on the Dutch Defence that Williams had wrote, assuming that Williams would play that opening.  He was correct, and possibly due to his study of the book, Rowson won the game in 26 moves.

Dressed Up:  USSR masters Gavrill Veresov and Alexander Tolush served in the Red Army during WW2. They both competed in the 13th USSR championship at Moscow in June 1994, and played their games while wearing their military uniforms.

"Immortal" Immortalized:  In October 1985 the Swedish postal authorities released a special 3-kroner stamp which featured the final mating position of the "Immortal" Correspondence Chess game between Arvid Sundin and Erik Andersson, played in the ICCF WT/M/974 tournament in 1964-65.  At the end of the game, Andersson has a queen and a rook more than Sundin, but is about to be mated by a rook and knight combination.  Here is the game, and the final position:

Last of An Immortal:  Alexander Alekhine's last recorded game of chess was played on the 9th of March 1946.  He played against English problem composer Gerald Anderson, who was working in the British Foreign Office in Lisbon at the time.  Here is the game, and the final position:

Olympic Persistence:  Milton Ioannidis of Cyprus holds the unfortunate record for the worst all-time playing record in the history of the Chess Olympiads. Competing in the 1962 and 1964 Olympiads, Ioannidis finished up with a woeful record of  +0, =0, -24.

Persistently Saturday:  The "1st Saturday" monthly tournaments which have been held in Budapest, Hungary since 1992 are so named because the first round is always held on the first Saturday of each month of the year.

Best in Both Worlds:  The only player, male or female to hold both the FIDE & ICCF World Championship titles is Soviet player Olga Rubtsova.  Rubstova was FIDE Women's World Champion between 1956 and 1958, and also won the inaugural ICCF Women's World Correspondence Championship, which finished in 1972.

Best in the West:  To coincide with the 1904 World's Fair in St Louis, a tournament for the "US Chess Championship" was held.  At that time in US chess history, the US championship was decided by a match, with Harry Pillsbury being the reigning champion.  Pillsbury was too sick to compete in the tournament, which meant that the strength and credibility of the event were severely weakened.  Frank Marshall won the tournament with a score of 8.5/9, and received a medal with the inscription "Frank J Marshall, Champion."  After the tournament was completed, Marshall publicly stated that he still believed that Pillsbury was still the champion.  The US championship would continue to be settled by matches until the death of Marshall in 1936, after which a tournament was held to find a new champion. Apart from several challenge matches in the late 1930's and early 1940's, the US championship since then has always been decided by a tournament.

Legend's Legacy:  The Max-Euweplein square in central Amsterdam is named after the Dutch player who was world champion between 1935 and 1937.  In late 2004, a statue of Euwe was erected in the square.

Living Legacy:  In the course of his long career, Viktor Korchnoi has won the USSR, Dutch and Swiss chess championships.

On the World Stage:  The first Australian chess player to compete in either an English or European tournament was Mrs. CJ Mayfield of Adelaide, South Australia.  Mrs. Mayfield competed in the 1905 British Ladies championship tournament in Stockport, finishing with a score of 6/11 (+6, =0, -5).

On the Australian Stage:  The 1930 New South Wales (Australia) championship tournament ended in a triple tie for first between ME Golstein, G Koshnitsky and GR Lamparter.  A triangular play-off match was organised to find an outright winner.  This resulted in a tie between Goldstein and Koshnitsky, so a 4-game match was organised to once again find an outright winner.  When all four games were drawn, Goldstein and Koshnitsky were declared co-champions.

Who Am I?  I was born in Siberia during World War Two, but moved to Leningrad when I was a baby.  I became junior champion of that city, and studied the economic geography of capitalist countries at university.  As well as playing, I had become a chess trainer, with both Mikhail Tal and Viktor Korchnoi using my services at various times.  I am still a trainer, and I am on the recently established FIDE Trainers Commission.  I was not in the top rank of Soviet players, which made it easier for me to emigrate to Israel in the early 1970's.  I then moved to the Netherlands, where I am still living today.  I have won the Dutch championship twice, and have played in two Olympiads.  My best tournament results have been two shared first place finishes at the Wijk an Zee tournament. Who Am I?   Highlight the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer:  *** Gennadi Sosonko ***

Who Am I?  I competed in 15 of the 24 strongest tournaments that were held in the decade prior to World War One.  My results established me as one of the best 10 to 12 players in the world at this time.  My main successes were =1st with Maroczy and Schlechter in one tournament, =1st with Schlechter in another tournament, and also =1st with Rubinstein.  I also won my country's national championship three times as well during this period.  Emanuel Lasker predicted that I would eventually play him in a match for the world championship, but this match never happened.  My job as a civil servant limited my opportunities to play international chess.  I married just prior to the outbreak of World War One, and withdrew from international competition.  I continued my interest in chess through the composition of endgames studies and problems until my death in the 1950's.  Who Am I?  Highlight the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer:  *** Oldrich Duras (Czechoslovakia, 1882-1957) ***

Alekhine, A.J., and the Airship:  As part of the opening proceedings for the 1932 Pasadena, California international tournament, American players Isaac Kashdan and Arthur Dake played an exhibition game in an airship that was floating above the Hotel Maryland, the venue for the tournament.  A move by move account of the game was relayed by radio back to the hotel, where the moves were displayed to the general public on a large demonstration board.  Alexander Alekhine gave expert commentary on the game, which finished in a draw.  Alekhine won the tournament with a score of 8/5.11.  Here is the miniature he played against San Francisco player and problem composer AJ Fink, who finished last:

More AJ:  Adds IM John Donaldson:  "...you might be interested to know that a photo of Fink analyzing with Capablanca in 1916 at the [Mechanics Institute] can be found [here].  Below is some more information on Fink and the simul game between him and Capa:"

The California Chess Reporter Obituary
A. J. Fink (1890-1956)

A.J.Fink was born on July 19, 1890 and died on December 15, 1956, at the age of 66 in San Francisco.  An internationally-known problem composer, Fink had more than a thousand problems published during his lifetime and won on the order of one hundred prizes.  His first problem was published in 1908; and between that date and 1922 he published more than 300 problems, of which approximately 40 were prize-winners.

Fink was one of the top over-the-board chessplayers at the Mechanics' Institute until his recent illness.  During the last three or four years he was necessarily inactive because of the effects of a cerebral hemorrhage.  He was a Life Master of the United States Chess Federation.  He first won the Master title in the Chicago Masters' Tournament of 1922; the requirement was to score 40% against a strong field which included Frank Marshall, Isaac Kashdan, Edward Lasker and Carlos Torre.  Fink scored 42%.

Fink won the California State Championship three times (1922, 1928,1929) and was a co-champion once (1945, with Herman Steiner).  Twice he was second to S. Mlotkowski, who then was residing in Los Angeles.  In 1923 when the Western Chess Association tournament was played in San Francisco, Fink was fourth behind Mlotkowski, N.T.Whitaker (the two tied for first) and S.Factor of Chicago, but ahead of other Californians.  In 1925 Fink was second with a score of 6.5-1.5, behind Mlotkowski, who won the title with 7.5-.5.  In 1926 Fink tied with Elmer W.Gruer of Oakland but lost the play-off; in 1928 he tied with Henry Gross of San Francisco and won the play-off.  Fink was invited to the international tournament at Pasadena, 1932, where finished last, but with the creditable score of 3-8 against Alexander Alekhine, Isaac Kashdan, Arthur Dake, Sammy Reshevsky, Herman Steiner, Harry Borochow, J.Bernstein, Samuel Factor, Reuben Fine, Fred Reinfeld and J.J. Araiza.

Adolph was a collector of stray bits of analytical chess positions.  There was nothing he liked better than to find a missed opportunity in someone's published game, and we wish we possessed a tenth of the remarkable collection of problem-like moves he presented almost daily to his fellow-members of the Mechanics' Institute, for they would make a book.  He also was available for consultation on anybody's post-mortem - in which he delighted in defending so-called "lost positions" and reviving attacks which had supposedly gone astray.

An endgame wizard as most problemists are, Fink served as adjudication expert for all Northern California team matches and tournaments for many years.  "Send it to Fink" was the way to settle the argument - in Sacramento and San Luis Obispo as well as in San Francisco.  He never required payment and, as far as we know, he never made a mistake in his decisions.

Fink was kind to the California Chess Reporter.  When we started out we were repeatedly balked in our search for chess diagram type.  Fink quietly waylaid us one day in the Mechanics' Institute, a small but heavy box held out in his hand.  "I heard you were looking for chess characters," he said, "here is a set you can have."  He had saved the type from the days when he was problem editor of E.J.Clarke's chess column in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Jose Capablanca - A.J. Fink
San Francisco (simul) 1916
Queen's Gambit [D07]

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 Nf6 6.e3 a6 7.Rc1 0-0 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Na5 10.Bd3 c5 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.0-0 Nc6 13.Ne4 Be7 14.Qc2 Nb4 15.Nxf6 gxf6 16.Bxh7 Kg7 17.Qb1 f5 18.Rfd1 Qe8 19.Bxf5 exf5 20.Nd4 Nd5 21.Nxf5+ Bxf5 22.Qxf5 Nxf4 23.Qxf4 Rh8 24.Rc7 Rd8 25.Rxd8 Qxd8 26.Qg4 Bg5 27.Rxb7 Rh4 28.Qf3 Be7 29.b3 Rh6 30.g3 Qd6 31.h4 Rf6 32.Qg4+ Rg6 33.Qf4 Qd1 34.Kg2 Bxh4 35.Qf3 Qxf3 36.Kxf3 Bf6 37.Rb6 Bc3 38.Rxg6 Kxg6 39.Kg4 Kf6 40.f4 Ke6 41.e4 f6 42.Kf3 a5 43.Ke3 Be1 44.g4 Kd6 45.g5 fxg5 46.fxg5 Ke5 47.g6 1/2-1/2

Who Am I?  I was born in Europe in the early 1950's, and commenced my international career in the early 1970's.  I won several tournaments around this time, including Dortmund and Camaguey.  In 1974 I was Henrique Mecking's "second" during his 1974 Candidates match with Viktor Korchnoi.  In 1975 I married a Cuban woman and moved to Cuba, where I spent a year as a chess trainer.  I recommenced my tournament career from the late 1970's, and up to the mid to late 1980's I was one of the best dozen or so players in the world.  My style is based on the accumulation of advantages.  This sound and non-committed approach sometimes encourages my opponents to overreach, but it also leads to a high proportion of drawn games.  By the mid to late 1990's I started to cut back on my OTB, and started to take a greater interest in CC.  I achieved a CC GM title to go with my OTB GM title.  I am currently the second highest rated CC player in the world, with an ICCF rating of 2737.  Who Am I?  Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer:    ***  Ulf Andersson (Sweden, 1951-)  ***

Who Am I?  I was born in Budapest, but moved to Vienna in 1860, before settling in Paris.  I soon realized that I was an average player, so I turned to chess administration.  I was the organizing secretary for the 1867 Paris international tournament.  Due to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, I fled to England, penniless and with no command of the language.  Wilhelm Steinitz looked after me until I established myself.  In 1879 I founded the "Chess Monthly" magazine and remained editor until the magazine ceased publication in 1896.  Despite being given assistance by Steinitz, I used the pages of "Chess Monthly" to mount a fierce and libelous campaign against him.  When Steinitz went to the United States in 1882, I took over from him as the chess columnist for the "Field", a post which I held until my death just prior to World War One.  I was a regular umpire and adjudicator for the annual Cambridge-Oxford chess match.  My physical appearance was very striking, with a large and powerful head on a slight body, as well as deformed feet.  I had a fiery temper, but I was respected for my work as an administrator, referee and journalist.  Who am I?  Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer:    ***  Leopold Hoffer (1842-1913, Hun/Eng)  ***

Moiseenko's Retraction Gambit:  Russian GM Alexander Moiseenko attempted to retract a move that he had legally made while playing in the 2004 Monarch Assurance Open on the Isle of Man.  Moiseenko had reached the following position as White against Ghaem Maghami in Round 5 after 30 moves:

Who Am I?  I had been the first Soviet GM; I have won vs. Capablanca, Bogoljubow, Spielmann, Saemisch, Rubinstein...  Who Am I?  Drag your cursor across the space between the asterisks to reveal the answer:    ***  Boris Markovich Verlinsky was born on the 8th of January 1888 in Bakhmut, Ukraine. He was Moscow Champion in 1928 and USSR Champion in 1929. Because of this Verlinsky was awarded the title of Soviet Grandmaster, but this was taken away from him in 1931 when the title was abolished. Later it was thought more politically correct to make Mikhail Botvinnik the first Soviet GM. In recognition of his past achievements Verlinsky was awarded the IM title in 1950.  ***

Where Do I Castle?  By the end of the 16th century, castling had been established as one of the moves in chess.  There were were many variations as to where the king and rook would finish after the castling move, e.g. Kf1/Re1, Kg1/Re1, Kg1/Rf1, Kh1/Re1, Kh1/Rf1, Kh1/Rg1, plus similar variations for Q-side castling.  While the arrangement of Kg1/Rf1 became standard, "free castling" remained popular in Italy up until the 20th century.

Exchanging Pieces:  The third game of the match between CA Walbrodt and E Delmar in New York in 1893 featured a very unusual incident.  Walbrodt, who was playing White, noticed after 8 moves that he reversed the position of his king and queen when setting up the board.  Delmar insisted that the game not be restarted, but continued with the White King and Queen on the "wrong" squares.  Walbrodt went on to win the game.  The players used Howard Staunton's "Chess Players' Handbook" as a guide to determine what they should do.  According to the "Handbook", once 4 moves had been completed before the error was discovered, the game would continue.  Under Rule 8.5 of the FIDE laws of chess if it discovered that the initial position of the pieces was incorrect, the game is annulled and a new game played.

Exchanging Moves:  In March, April and May of 1933, Sydney chess players Frank Vaughan and Garry Koshnitsky played an unusual "correspondence" game of chess.  Radio station 2UW broadcast each day a move from the game.  Vaughan, playing White would make his move in the morning, and Koshnitsky would then make his move in the evening, with both players informing the radio station of their move.  After each Black move, the position was printed in the top left corner of the front page of the "Daily Telegraph" newspaper.  Here is the game score:

F Vaughan-G Koshnitsky
Four Knights Opening

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bb5 Nf6 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 Bxc3 7.bxc3 d6 8.Bg5 Qe7 9.Re1 Nd8 10.d4 Ne6 11.Bc1 c5 12.g3 Nc7 13.Bf1 Bg4 14.d5 Qd7 15.Qd3 c4 16.Qe3 Qa4 17.Nh4 b5 18.h3 Bd7 19.Re2 Rfe8 20.g4 Re7 21.Qf3 Nfe8 22.Nf5 Bxf5 23.Qxf5 b4 24.Re3 Nb5 25.Bxc4 Nxc3 26.Qf3 Nc7 27.Bb2 N7b5 28.Bb3 Nd4 29.Qg2 Qb5 30.a3 Nce2+ 31.Kh2 Nf4 32.Qf1 Qxf1 33.Rxf1 a5 34.axb4 ½-½

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