Giving Them Their Due

Okay this is the wonderful Dr. Savielly Tartakower, and Sultan Khan, Semmering 1931.

Mr. Khan won this the final game and defeated one of the great wits of chess, the good Doctor Tartakower.

Sultan Khan was neither a sultan or a khan, which means king. It was simply his name. In life he worked as manservant for a well to do gentleman from India/Pakistan. Although his results put him in the top ten chess players of his time, and despite winning the British championship three out of the four times he entered, and despite playing first board for England three times, the World Chess Federation never granted him a title. He was neither a Grandmaster or International master. It sucks to be a dark skinned man in a white racist world.

Dr. Savielly Tartakower on the other hand has a variation of the Queen's Gambit declined, and a variation of the Caro-Kann named after him. But I rather remember him for his sweet quotes like, "The mistakes are all there, waiting to be made." "It is important that all chess players have a hobby." "I had a toothache during the first game. In the second game, I had a headache. In the third game, it was an attack of rheumatism. In the forth game, I wasn't feeling well. And in the fifth game? Well, must one have to win every game?" "A chess game is divided into three stages: The first, when you hope you have the advantage, the second, when you believe you have an advantage, and the third... when you know you are going to lose."

Therefore, by the authority vested in me as a blogger of the Internet, I hearby confer the title of Grandmaster to Mr. Sultan Khan. I confer the title Grandmaster of Chess Aphorisms to the good Doctor Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower. And I confer first place to Grandmaster Sultan Khan for best hat.

Toledo Tuesday Night Chess

Tuesday Night is weenie night for the Coffee House Chess League.

I had two dogs and a diet pop. Mike had eggs and toast and all the coffee he could drink.

I had black and was out of my book by move two!

1.c4 c6 2.b3 (What?) d5 3.cd cd 4.e3 Bf5 (I am thinking Slav exchange with b3 for white) 5.Bb2 e6 6.Bb5 Nc6 7.Nf3 a6 8.Bc6 bc (Okay, I have the Bishop pair, but the c pawn is backward. Perhaps I should have pushed it earlier) 9.d3 Nf6 10.h3 Bb4 11.Nbd2 (To take or not to take? I don't like 12.Ne5!) Bd3?! 12.a3 Bd2 13.Qd2 Bg6 14.Bf6 Qf6 15.Rc1 0-0 16.0-0 a5 17.Nd4 Rfb8

(Now I am hoping to just get back to even.) 18.Rc6 Qe7 19.a4 e5 (I am hoping to stir up everything I can, particularly my Bishop. Otherwise I think I am just going to be ground down.) 20.Nb5 d4 (Hoping to open things up even if it costs me another pawn.) 21.ed ed 22.Re1 Qh4

23.Nd4 Rd8 24.Rfc1 h6 25.R6c4 Qf6 26.Qc3 Be4 27.f3 Bd5 28.Rc5 Bb7 29.Rd1 Rac8 30.Rc4 Rc4 31.Qc4 Ba6 32.Qc3 Qe5 33.Kf2 Kf8?? (A clunker. I stared at my hands and rejoiced when Mike didn't play 34.Ne6+ Qe6 32.Rd8) 34.Qa1 Kg8 35.g4?? (Mike said he was tired of messing around and thought a general space gain was in order. However it was a most unfortunate move.) Qh2+ 36.Ke3 Re8+ 37.Ne6 Re6+ 38.Kd4 Qe5#

We both could do better. It was skittles without a clock and we went from around 6PM -9PM perhaps. That is too slow for our G60s and G90s that we have around here.

Next time I show up, I will bring my clock.

Maslow and Chess

That is Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs.

Chess has little to do with food, shelter, or safety. But it can provide a way to belong, and even to gain in self and other esteem.

I think more important than the esteem that comes from victories, is the esteem that comes from, friendliness, honesty, kindness, generosity, and things like these.

Being the soul master is actually better than being the chess master.

Chess when practiced with this greater aim in mind can then even be a tool in "self actualization."

It is better to win at life and lose at chess, than to win at chess and lose at life. Life is more than chess.

...But better yet, win at life, and chess too!

That is what I am trying to do.

Chubby Chessers

Ah the sweet beauty of chess.! What is the attraction for us old silverbacks?

I think it is the joy of victory if I win. And it is the joy of sharing the love and culture of the game otherwise.

I know with chess that I can go anywhere in the world and find a game. And if I play reasonably well, I may even get some respect.

There is a saying that, "The only thing chess players have in common is chess."

That may be true, but chess is enough. Through chess I have met many wonderful people.

Many chubby, older, manly, wonderful people.

Colonel Moreau and Ulf Andersson

Sisyphus (Colonel Moreau) Ulf Andersson

This is a learning moment. I have just added my first pictures to my blog. They are two of my chess heroes Colonel Moreau (as Sisyphus) and Ulf Andersson.

Why do I like them?

I like Ulf's gentle ways. I admire his skill. I like his way of playing chess.

I have a few challenges ahead of me before I can be like Ulf. I need a lifetime of endgame study and love. I need high level practice. I need to have the time and talent.

Strike one, two and three, the chess cellar for me.

I am far more likely to be like Colonel Moreau at the 1903 Monte Carlo tournament. Which according to Fox and James in the "Even More Complete Chess Addict" went...

C. Moreau: 00000000000000000000000000

Twenty six straight losses. I admire his tenacity.

And with the patience of Ulf Andersson and the tenacity of Colonel Moreau, I have added pictures to my blog.