Jose Raul Capablanca

Capablanca had a gift for chess that may never be seen again. He was able to play beautiful positional games, spiced with deadly tactics, and all at breathtaking speed, at least in his early years. He could see at a glance what other masters struggled with.

I have included a couple of his elegant combinations, and two smooth endgames in the style for which he was best known. Both endgames have a crisp tactic, but the tactics are there to win positional goals, not material.

Click [...] to see list of games

Emanuel Lasker

Steinitz could do everything well, and Lasker beat Steinitz.  So what was Lasker doing?

We are used to seeing the many photos of Lasker taken when he was an old man, but we must notice that Lasker was a young man when he beat Steinitz in 1894.  So age may have had something to do with it.

But there are a couple of other things: 

1. He won five games in a row in the middle of the match, in part because he steered for positions that he thought Steinitz didn't handle so well -- queenless middlegames (where the Queens have been swapped and not much else).

Thought for the day

DrDave's picture

Submitted by DrDave on

"Some part of a mistake is always correct" 

Xsawery (Saveilly) Tartakower

 

The World Champions of Chess

Before the official World Champions  
Giaochino Greco 1620-34 Italy

(Western) chess existed a long while before Greco came along, but he was pretty clearly the best chess player of his time and worth knowing about. 

There were all sorts of players after that who might have been the best in the world, like Philidor, Saint-Amant, and Staunton.

How Good is Your Chess? Quiz 1

We will go through a game of chess, as if you are playing.

You have to choose the moves for WHITE.

Questions13
Attempts allowedUnlimited
AvailableAlways
Pass rate66 %
Backwards navigationAllowed
Start Quiz

What have we learned today? "Bronstein is cool"

DrDave's picture

Submitted by DrDave on 

[Event "Hastings 1975/76"]
[Site "Hastings ENG"]
[Date "1975.12.29"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "1"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Julio Kaplan"]
[Black "David Bronstein"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "52"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6
gxf6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. Qd2 c5 9. d5 f5 10. dxe6 fxe4 11. exd7+
Qxd7 12. Qc3 O-O 13. Nd2 Qf5 14. O-O-O Qxf2 15. Nxe4 Qf4+
16. Nd2 Bg4 17. Re1 Bg5 18. Bd3 Rae8 19. Ref1 Qe3 20. h3 Be2
21. Rf5 Bh6 22. Bxe2 Qxc3 23. bxc3 Rxe2 24. Rd5 Rxd2 25. Rxd2
Rd8 26. Rhd1 c4 0-1
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David Regis, 71 Mary Street, Bovey Tracey, Devon TQ13 9HQ  

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