Chess thread

[Tal]

In the past, I have done a few 'player profile'-type articles for some of the game's historic greats. One of the many I've omitted/yet to cover is Emanuel Lasker. We have mentioned him in passing, of course, as he is a figure impossible to ignore when discussing his contemporaries, but I haven't got round to discussing him in much detail.

In truth, he isn't someone whose games I've studied to any real extent, but it is just one of those things. Can't cover 'em all.

A Lasker lover (my title, not theirs) has written a piece about the great man's chess abilities. It's very good and ends with a few nice puzzles for you to play around with (or play through; no one is watching. Judging, yes, but not watching).

http://www.chess.com/article/view/emanuel-lasker-tactical-monster



Dr Emanuel Lasker
(1868-1941)

[Tal]

Some lovely examples of recent well-played endgames:

http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4010446/karsten-mller-endgames-from-current-events-120713.aspx

Play through them and you will see how precise these chaps have to be. It is a common misconception that the endgame is easy because there are fewer pieces. Not a bit of it.

[The Camel]

This is exactly what I thought about what happened

[Tal]

Could you imagine asking a premiership footballer a question and getting an answer with such clarity of analysis?

"Y'know like at the end of the day..."

Brilliant clip, that, Camel.

[titaniumbean]

I wasn't sure if he was speaking foreign at first.


so many just blase references to knight e5 queen d4.


so ridiculously lost, guess it does showcase well what listening to a nlh hand from an online reg would sound like to the real world.


interesting bit in bet raise fold, where they get the same hh described by 10-15 of the guys and interlace all the bits together to show just how overwhelming and detailed and abbreviation filled it all is.

[Tal]

The thing is, Radjabov wasn't going into much detail; it was essentially just a commentary on where he felt the game changed. There was very little by way of actual analysis. It was more observation and initial impressions.

He was as high as world number 4 until about six months ago, but has struggled for form of late.

Such incredible clarity of thought and recollection, let alone on camera in a foreign language.

[cambridgealex]

Remember poker players, this is how we sound to the general public!

[Tal]

Precisely

[kinboshi]

He must be using performance-enhancing drugs

[theprawnidentity]

Remember poker players, this is how we sound to the general public!

Unless you're YEAHMAN, then you sound more like this:

[YEAHMAN123]

Remember poker players, this is how we sound to the general public!

Unless you're YEAHMAN, then you sound more like this:

Nothing wrong with a passionate rant Tomo lol, I'm considering doing short interview after my busto's as a joke but I'll be totally serious at the time of course

[theprawnidentity]

Nothing wrong with a passionate rant Tomo lol, I'm considering doing short interview after my busto's as a joke but I'll be totally serious at the time of course

So Ross, how do you feel the game went this afternoon?

Well what happened was that last hand I got my ass totally kicked.  We couldn't do diddly...   poo offensively.  We didn't c.bet, we didn't even try to c.bet, we couldn't play our hand, we couldn't even play our range, is was horse shit.  My coach did a horrible job, the dealers did a horrible job, the other players did a horrible job and worst of all the floor did a horrible job.  It sucked, it stunk.


*Sorry for derail Tal, as you were.....

[Tal]

I can hardly moan when I derail pretty much every thread I post in. As long as you're not posting open-minded looking lady pics, you may interpret the thread title with some degree of flexibility. Just try to visit the topic of chess every few posts

[Tal]

Yesterday was the 85th birthday of Hungary’s most famous sons, Pal Benko.  This is a country rich in chess history, with Laszlo Szabo and the Polgar sisters making Hungarian chess prominent for the last 60 years.

Benko is best known for his eponymous opening, The Benko Gambit...

Click to see full-size image.

(This is Mr Benko with his opening – 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 – it immediately looks to undermine White’s pawn structure, without which White can end up exposed and having no obvious base for an attack.  If White takes the pawn on b5, Black will play 4...a6 and give away a pawn for the space it leaves behind and the momentum he’ll get from developing his pieces quickly)

...but this is the tip of the iceberg, as his real legacy is in his endgame products, where he has contributed any number of studies, articles and a revision of Reuben Fine’s masterpiece Basic Chess Endgames.

He moved to the USA in 1958. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this was for political reasons and he was awarded the title of Grandmaster the same year. It is worth pointing out that titles weren’t earned in the same way back then. In fact, this was rather a mess until at least the mid-sixties, but perhaps more of that another time.

Benko was not a World Champion but was a prominent player for decades, twice making the Candidates tournament in what could fairly be labelled a Golden Age of chess in 1959 (won by Tal) and 1962 (won by Petrosian).

He was a bit of an Ian Poulter in that his best chess was usually in a team environment and he performed excellently in Olympiads for the USA and, when he was younger, for Hungary.

Here is the first example of the Benko Gambit:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1153868,

In this game, he trounces a young Bobby Fischer with strong tactics:

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044461,

Part one of a nice article on how the man lives these days in Budapest is available on Chessbase’s website today: http://chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4010458/the-life-gambit--la-benko-150713.aspx

[kinboshi]

Looks like he's borrowed one of tikay's jackets for that photo.