This Week's ChessBase Show: Kovacevic-Seirawan
You know him as the driving force behind the Prague Agreement, which eventually led to the reunification of the world championship title(s), and before that, he was a leading member of the very important GMA. He has written some excellent chess books, founded and wrote for the sadly missed Inside Chess, and serves as a regular commentator for ChessBase during big events like Wijk aan Zee. But did you know that he has actually WON the tournament? Yasser Seirawan has been an elite grandmaster for almost 30 years, and in the 80s, in his heyday, he was one of the very few players who was thought to have a chance to challenge the Karpov/Kasparov dynasty.
As mentioned above, one of Seirawan’s great successes was his win in the prestigious Wijk aan Zee tournament. In 1980, while still just 19 years old, he tied for first with Walter Browne. Scoring an outstanding 10/13, he finished ahead of superstars like Korchnoi and Timman, and thereby showed the world that a new star had appeared in the firmament. To get an idea of his play, we’ll take a look at one of his wins from that event, against then-Yugoslav GM Vlatko Kovacevic (who once defeated Bobby Fischer in 30 moves). Seirawan used the Pirc, as he often did, and Kovacevic played the “Spike”, a very aggressive line with a quick g4. Such an attacking scheme can scare many players, and with good reason. GM Donner had lost to a then-unknown Chinese player in just 20 moves a couple of years prior to our game (Liu Wenzhe, now best known as the author of The Chinese School of Chess), and Kovacevic probably hoped for an equally brutal finish.
They say be careful what you wish for, as you might get it. And Kovacevic got it, alright, as Seirawan found a brilliant and unexpected way of taking over the initiative. At one point, around move 10, White had a lead in development, space, and apparently the attacking prospects as well. Five moves later, the momentum had shifted, and Seirawan kept increasing his control until White’s position was simply pitiful. It’s a beautiful, instructive, and most unusual game, and I invite you to join me later today – Wednesday! – as we examine it.
Note again: the show will be at the usual time, 9 p.m. ET, but not the usual day. We’re moving to Wednesdays, so re-set your weekly chess calendars for our great games series. Hope to see you tonight!
Directions for watching the show can be found here.
As mentioned above, one of Seirawan’s great successes was his win in the prestigious Wijk aan Zee tournament. In 1980, while still just 19 years old, he tied for first with Walter Browne. Scoring an outstanding 10/13, he finished ahead of superstars like Korchnoi and Timman, and thereby showed the world that a new star had appeared in the firmament. To get an idea of his play, we’ll take a look at one of his wins from that event, against then-Yugoslav GM Vlatko Kovacevic (who once defeated Bobby Fischer in 30 moves). Seirawan used the Pirc, as he often did, and Kovacevic played the “Spike”, a very aggressive line with a quick g4. Such an attacking scheme can scare many players, and with good reason. GM Donner had lost to a then-unknown Chinese player in just 20 moves a couple of years prior to our game (Liu Wenzhe, now best known as the author of The Chinese School of Chess), and Kovacevic probably hoped for an equally brutal finish.
They say be careful what you wish for, as you might get it. And Kovacevic got it, alright, as Seirawan found a brilliant and unexpected way of taking over the initiative. At one point, around move 10, White had a lead in development, space, and apparently the attacking prospects as well. Five moves later, the momentum had shifted, and Seirawan kept increasing his control until White’s position was simply pitiful. It’s a beautiful, instructive, and most unusual game, and I invite you to join me later today – Wednesday! – as we examine it.
Note again: the show will be at the usual time, 9 p.m. ET, but not the usual day. We’re moving to Wednesdays, so re-set your weekly chess calendars for our great games series. Hope to see you tonight!
Directions for watching the show can be found here.
Posted by Dennis Monokroussos on
Wednesday November 14, 2007 at 12:52am