Tiger's-eye Opera
Western chess is often called International chess and this reflects the status this game has been accorded.....and Western chess is sometimes called the Royal Game and indeed many such as Kings and Queens have played and been enthusiasts of this game and its precursors for centuries, and still are:*
*There are a few minor changes to some of the quotes and other that follows
Mystery Quest: a Magic-carpet Ride
Contents
Iraq 847: The Arabian chess World Championship Match
and
Momentous Times
Brooklyn 1876: The English draughts World Championship Match
and
St Petersburg 1914: The Western chess Grandmaster Tournament
and
A Mystery Opening
Return to Reykjavík 1972: The Western chess World Championship Match
and
Back to Slovenia
also
A Simulation
New York 1997: A Different chess World Championship Match
and
Back to Slovenia II
Note
At the moment this is very much ‘bits and pieces’ in process of being put together (some – indeed all, may not be included) and will likely be given its own page as a short book
Iraq 847: The Arabian chess World Championship Match
Extract from: www.arabamerica.com/Arab Contributions To The Game Of Chess
Posted on: May 15, 2019
By Habeeb Salloum/Arab America Contributing Writer:
‘The Arabs were also responsible for dividing the game into the three parts we know today: opening, middle and end games. According to C. Alexander in his A Book of Chess, the Arabs not only invented the World Chess Championship but also the Grandmasters. He states that in 820 A.D. there were four ‘aliyat’ or ‘players of the highest class’, and in 847 the Persian ar-Razi defeated al-‘Adli in the presence of the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil – an international contest that seems to carry a hint of the classic Fisher/Spassky clashes.’*
*The 1974 book Alexander on Chess (a fine Western chess primer) by C. H. O’D Alexander indeed states: ‘In 847 there was what sounded like the equivalent to the Boris Spassky v Bobby Fischer world championship match – a great master, the Persian ar-Razi, appeared and in the presence of the Caliph Al-Mutawakkil, defeated the champion al-‘Adli’…..and Bobby Fischer defeated the champion Boris Spassky in Reykjavík in a match that many say is the most famous Chess match ever played (it made headline news all over the world for weeks) after losing the first game following an apparent beginner’s mistake – a move sometimes called the biggest blunder ever made in Chess…..or was it, I’m not so sure – there is footage of him actually making this move and other footage on the match in the 2011 DVD Bobby Fischer against the World - the move was 29… Bxh2 and Boris replied 30. g3 trapping the Bishop, but Bobby at first seems to think he can save it with 30... h5 (30… Ke7! threating the b5 pawn – a tiny initiative that may have given Bobby practical chances to hold the game, if not so in theory – or does it, see A Simulation), and I wonder if he simply overlooked 31. Ke2 (a backwards move of the King, though 31. Ke4 followed by Kf3 – another backwards move of the King, may have been as good), then again see Return to Reykjavík…..anyway, there is much information available about this match that took place in 1972 - over a thousand years after the al-‘Adli v ar-Razi match.
But unfortunately there is, of course, nothing like as much information about the match as the Boris Spassky v Bobby Fischer clash…..
Momentous Times
From Grandmasters of Chess by Harold C. Schonberg, 1972, 1973:
‘But chess in AD 847 was altogether different from chess today.’
From Alexander on Chess by C. H. O’D Alexander, 1974:
‘Towards the end of the fifteenth century, however, a change took place that revolutionized the game: the modern moves of the Queen and Bishop were introduced.’
Brooklyn 1876: The English draughts World Championship Match
Not so Bonnie over the Ocean
From a Traditional Scottish folk song:
‘Bring back my Bonnie to me’
St Petersburg 1914: The Western chess Grandmaster Tournament
Extracts from Grandmasters of Chess by Harold C. Schonberg, 1972, 1973:
‘In 1914, Nicholas II, Czar of all the Russians, was host to a great chess tournament instigated by the St Petersburg Chess Society*…..The world’s most important players took part…..At the banquet concluding the match, the Czar named the first five players the Grandmasters of Chess: Emanuel Lasker, Jose Raul Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Siegbert Tarrasch, and Frank Marshall.’
*Spectator receipts were a record at the time.
And the tournament seems to have had everything you could ask for…..
Return to Reykjavík 1972: The Western chess World Championship Match
From Bobby Fischer: A Study of his approach to Chess by Elie Agur, 1992:
‘Quick as a flash came Bobby’s move. (24. C6!)’ - Tigran Petrosian reflecting on a Slovenia, 1961 game
From Grandmasters of Chess by Harold C. Schonberg, 1972, 1973:
‘Then, without thinking very long over it, Bobby made his notorious twenty-ninth move (29… Bxh2?)…..’
!?.....But are things what they seem…..
Back to Slovenia
A Simulation
New York 1997: A Different chess World Championship Match
From Bobby Fischer: A Study of his approach to Chess by Elie Agur, 1992:
‘I still remember the days of the world championship match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in 1972.’ – Garry Kasparov in the forward
Back to Slovenia II
To be continued (possibly)
Setup
Opening shots and the Quickfire gambit.....and statistics
When looking at the Traditional and Accelerated placements it can be seen that it is possible to make captures with the Cannons at the very start of the game:
With the Traditional placement South can start the game by exchanging both his Cannons for both opposing Horses, but the recapturing Chariots then come more quickly into the game and the Cannons are likely to be an advantage for the coming middle game – this opening possibility may scarcely have been played and were South to play it he would, I think, find himself at a disadvantage if playing against an equally strong North…..but this opening could be played by inexperienced players as practice games where South must make the most of his Horses and North the most of his Cannons – perhaps useful learning experience made more so by the focus on different pieces…..and perhaps it should have a name – ‘Opening shots’ seems passable.
With the Accelerated placement South also has possibilities to make immediate captures with his Cannons, but these are of a different type from the above Opening shots and the possibilities can collectively be named the ‘Quickfire gambit’ where the object is to use the Cannons to leave the opposing Princess with less defence and open to a subsequent attack, particularly by South’s Chariots…..so, keeping symmetry in mind, some moves are:
1. Cannon x Attendant f10 (One shot variation)
The very first move is a gambit by South – Quickfire indeed
1… Princess x Cannon f10
This leaves North’s other Attendant undefended, and so
2. Cannon x Attendant d10 (Two shot variation)
At first glance it appears South has captured both of North’s Attendants for the loss of one of his Cannons, and his second Cannon on d10 attacks both North’s Horse on b10 (though defended by the a10 Chariot) and his undefended Protector on g10…..but the Cannon cannot simply be extricated and escape being captured
2… Princess e10
North attacks the Cannon immediately
3. Cannon x Protector g10 (Three shot variation)
The Cannon now forks the Chariot on i10 and the Protector on c10 – both are undefended
3… Chariot i8
North moves his Chariot out of the line of fire
4. Cannon x Protector c10 (Four shot variation)
South has captured all four of North’s defensive pieces after four moves and his Cannon now forks the a10 Chariot and the h10 Horse…..and both are undefended
4… Chariot a9
North moves his a10 Chariot out of the line of fire - the Chariots have full control of their second and third ranks
5. Cannon x Horse h10 (Five shot variation)
The Cannon captures the undefended h10 Horse and attacks North’s remaining Horse on b10 who is now himself undefended, and in addition also has a possible escape route back along the h file…..North here has a choice of moving or defending his remaining Horse, or cutting off the Cannon’s escape route
5… Chariot h8
North cuts off the Cannon’s escape route and attacks it while taking control of the open h file
6. Cannon x Horse b10 (Six shot variation)
The Cannon captures North’s undefended remaining Horse and also now has a new possible escape route, this time back along the b file
6… Chariot b9
North cuts off the new escape route and attacks the Cannon and also takes control of the open b file
7. Cannon c10
South moves his Cannon out of attack
This is probably the most radical line (perhaps rather an extreme one) of this opening and has led to the opposite of gambits generally with South here having a material advantage but not an initiative as all his pieces other than the Cannon are unmoved, whereas North has both his Chariots fully active, but North has lost all his defensive pieces and his Princess could be very vulnerable if South can bring his Chariots into the vicinity of her Palace.....but whatever of the above mentioned choices North continues with on his fifth move I think he would need to make full use of his more active Chariots with the support of his Cannons before South can use his own Chariots in an attack on the Northern Princess…..but there are other possible moves besides those shown.....first though it may be worth saying something of Initiative and Tempi:
It is widely considered that at the start of a game of both Western and Chinese chess the first moving side has an advantage – how much of an advantage though…..well, there are now databases of many high level games of Western chess going back well over a hundred years and the statistics suggest an advantage to the first moving player of perhaps around 55%.....but I am not aware of such an amount of information being readily available for Chinese chess – however in his 1974 book Hsiang Ch'i (a fine introduction to the game) Terence Donnelly states that having first move in Chinese chess probably gives a greater advantage than in Western chess, and gives an example of a 50 game collection where First move won 33 and Second move 13, with the remaining 4 being draws (at 8% a much lower percentage of draws than in high level Western chess – over 50%)…..this gives a First move advantage of 70%*, but the number of games are far less than the Western chess numbers here – nevertheless I think it is worth keeping these figures in mind…..
*The calculation for this is: add the number of wins to half the number of draws, then divide this by the total number of games, finally - multiply this by a hundred for a percentage…..and for Second move subtract this from a hundred – giving a 30% disadvantage here.
To be continued
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By Glenn Nicholls.
Last revised by Glenn Nicholls.
Web page created: 2015-11-16. Web page last updated: 2015-11-16