This Week's ChessBase Show: Steinitz-Zukertort
We’re all enjoying the World Championship in Mexico City, the newest iteration in a series going back to 1886. The game has come a long way since then. Nowadays, we have a champion who utilizes openings like the Slav and the Berlin Defense with the Black pieces, whereas in 1886, Johannes Zukertort, in his match with Wilhelm Steinitz, played openings like…the Slav and the Berlin Defense!
Of course, chess has developed by leaps and bounds the past 121 years, but there are commonalities and things we can still learn from the players of those days and their games. So this week, to supplement the gap left by the first rest day in Mexico City, we’ll look at the crucial sixth game of the Steinitz-Zukertort match. Steinitz won game 1, but then Zukertort won four games in a row to completely take over the momentum. (Draws? What draws? They only split the point five times in twenty games.) Steinitz desperately needed to stop the bleeding, and this game marked the start of a comeback that made him the first official world champion.
The game was a Berlin Defense, but before you all fall asleep, it was a very sharp line, one which sometimes causes trouble to even very strong contemporary players. So one benefit of tuning in is that you can add a very dangerous weapon to your opening arsenal! Second, it’s an excellent game from start to finish: interesting opening play, a well-played middlegame attack, and excellent endgame technique by Steinitz to finish it off. Third, there’s a curious feature of this game that could not have happened nowadays (or at least wouldn’t have). And fourth, I’ll be in Mexico City for about a week, so this will be your last chance for a while to see one of my shows!
Remember, although it’s on an unusual day (Monday night), it’s at the usual time: 9 p.m. ET, 3 a.m. CET. (But remember, European non-night owls, you can watch the shows in the archives starting almost immediately after they finish.) Directions for watching the show, either live (for free) or in the archives (very cheaply, but not quite free) can be found here.
Of course, chess has developed by leaps and bounds the past 121 years, but there are commonalities and things we can still learn from the players of those days and their games. So this week, to supplement the gap left by the first rest day in Mexico City, we’ll look at the crucial sixth game of the Steinitz-Zukertort match. Steinitz won game 1, but then Zukertort won four games in a row to completely take over the momentum. (Draws? What draws? They only split the point five times in twenty games.) Steinitz desperately needed to stop the bleeding, and this game marked the start of a comeback that made him the first official world champion.
The game was a Berlin Defense, but before you all fall asleep, it was a very sharp line, one which sometimes causes trouble to even very strong contemporary players. So one benefit of tuning in is that you can add a very dangerous weapon to your opening arsenal! Second, it’s an excellent game from start to finish: interesting opening play, a well-played middlegame attack, and excellent endgame technique by Steinitz to finish it off. Third, there’s a curious feature of this game that could not have happened nowadays (or at least wouldn’t have). And fourth, I’ll be in Mexico City for about a week, so this will be your last chance for a while to see one of my shows!
Remember, although it’s on an unusual day (Monday night), it’s at the usual time: 9 p.m. ET, 3 a.m. CET. (But remember, European non-night owls, you can watch the shows in the archives starting almost immediately after they finish.) Directions for watching the show, either live (for free) or in the archives (very cheaply, but not quite free) can be found here.
Posted by Dennis Monokroussos on
Saturday September 15, 2007 at 1:20am