The Chess Mind

New York 1924 was one of the greatest chess tournaments of the first half of the 20th century. Three world champions (Lasker, Capablanca and Alekhine) participated, three world championship match losers (Marshall, Janowski and Bogoljubow) joined in as well, and the rest of the supporting cast was impressive, too. Many games from that event are famous (flip through the games from that event in your database or in the outstanding, recently republished book of the tournament by Alexander Alekhine, and you're liable to find some you've seen before) and deservedly so. This week, however, we'll look at a game from that event which you probably have not seen.

The participants in this particular battle are Dawid Janowski (1868-1927) and Edward Lasker (1885-1981). The former, as noted above, played in a world championship match, losing badly to Emanuel Lasker. As for Edward Lasker (a distant relative of his namesake), he's reasonably well-known in American chess circles, as he lived the vast majority of his life in the U.S.A., but he's not as well known elsewhere. In 1924, neither player was a threat to win the championship, but both were elite players - neither man was there out of charity.

As for the game: I first saw it when I was in my early teens and maybe sooner, and I haven't forgotten it to this day. More than the games that won brilliancy prizes or the Capablanca-Tartakower rook ending (the one that's in almost every book on rook endings ever written), this game has stuck in my mind. That's because the players (especially Janowski) were operating in the realm of fantasy. Forget about correct, "professional" chess; these guys decided to go on an adventure. See it for yourself tonight - Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET (that's Thursday at 3 a.m. CET) - and join in the adventure. You'll be glad you did.

(To watch, show up at the scheduled time, go to the Broadcast Room and look up Janowski-Lasker under the Games tab. Double-click on it and you're ready to watch.)

When it comes to mastery in attack and in utilizing the initiative, few players in chess history can hold a candle to the Russian-French great Alexander Alekhine, the fourth world chess champion. An inspiration to Kasparov, Shirov and many others, Alekhine's ability to whip up complications was without parallel in his day, and equaled by few after him.



Alekhine produced sparkling games against opponents of all levels, from local players who couldn't hold a candle to him all the way up to the best of the best. Case in point: Alekhine's game from the 1923 Carlsbad tournament against the legendary Akiba Rubinstein. Rubinstein was among the very best for well over a decade, and at one point was probably the strongest player in the world. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to play for the title, but he is rightly famous even today as one of the all-time greats.

Rubinstein defeated Alekhine in some beautiful games too, but not this time. Here we see Alekhine at his finest: creative play in the opening, middlegame play all over the board (this is an Alekhine trademark), and brilliant combinations leading to a decisive advantage. It's a power performance, and like many of Alekhine's games it offers a little clinic on attacking chess.

I hope you're curious about this game; if so, you're heartily encouraged to tune in about 19 and a half hours from now when I present it on the Playchess server. The show begins at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday night (that's 3 a.m. Thursday morning, CET) and is free to Playchess members. To watch, log on at the right time, go to the Broadcast room, find Alekhine-Rubinstein under the Games tab, double-click and you're there. See you soon!

Linares (no longer Morelia/Linares) starts next week, and Magnus Carlsen is among the participants. Even though he is already one of the world's absolute elite, currently #4 on the FIDE rating list and #3 on the Live Top List, he is just 18 years of age. (Be very afraid, chess world!)



2008 was a banner year for the young Norwegian, and we'll take a look at one of his many great games from that time period. He finished tied for second in the season-ending Bilbao Masters, and among his three victories was a power win over Levon Aronian. In a theoretically significant Semi-Slav (that's a redundancy nowadays) Carlsen introduced a dynamic, even shocking pawn sacrifice for the initiative. Aronian defended well for quite a while, but not long enough! It is very difficult to hold up against a prolonged initiative, and Carlsen did well by never allowing his opponent to come in reach of a stable position.

Ultimately, Aronian cracked. Carlsen had a neat tactic prepared, and Aronian's first slip was fatal. Yet it's the game as a whole that is impressive: a fine opening concept, a lively middlegame involving play all over the board, and a nice tactic to bring home the point. This is how contemporary chess is played, and Carlsen is one of its leaders.

We'll look at this game tomorrow night - Wednesday night - on ChessBase's Playchess.com server, and I hope I'll see you there. The show is free for Playchess members; just log on at 9 p.m. ET (that's Thursday morning at 3 a.m. CET for my European viewers), go to the Broadcast room, look up Carlsen-Aronian in the Games list, double-click, sit back and enjoy!

It's a very old game, going back to 1872, but the remarkable contest between Carl Hamppe and Philipp Meitner has not lost its power to amaze chess fans. Almost immediately the game goes into full action mode as Meitner, with Black, sacrifices a piece on move 3(!!). That's just for starters, too. Black throws more wood on the fire - a queen, a knight, and a bishop all offer their lives for the sake of the attack. White chips in as well, giving up a piece, but the main hero for White is the intrepid king. All alone, it ventures as far as c6, and yet somehow it does not die. Astonishing!

Even more surprising is just how well this game holds up, 137 years later. Analysts and their "assistants" have gone deeper, but almost every move has stood the test of time. Computer have therefore given this game a double benefit: a confirmation of its class, and, thanks to the wonderful variations that have been discovered in recent times, the opportunity to increase fans' enjoyment. You'll get to see some beautiful lines tonight, lines I hope will inspire you to create your own masterpieces in the 19th century mode.

So you're invited to join me tonight on the Playchess.com server. We begin at 9 p.m. ET (3 a.m. CET). The show is free for Playchess members; all you have to do is go to the broadcast room at the starting time, click the games tab and double-click on Hamppe-Meitner. See you there!