Chess History:
By: Matt Pedraza
History:
Francois
Andre
Philidor
Adolf
Anderssen
Paul Morphy
Before the official World Championship title was
created, there were three players who could have held
the title. Philidor, an early French master said, “The
pawns are the soul of chess.” Anderssen, a brilliant
attacker, played “The Immortal Game”. Morphy, the
brilliant American, outclassed all of his European
rivals in matches before his early retirement.
First World Champions:
Wilhelm
Steinitz
Emmanuel
Lasker
Jose Raul
Capablanca
Alexander
Alekhine
Wilhelm Steinitz was the first official “world champion”,
as he called himself after beating Zukertort in a match. The
title stayed with him until Lasker defeated him. Lasker held the
title for a record 27 years! Capablanca defeated the aging Lasker
without losing a single game in the match, but lost his title to
Alexander Alekhine in a marathon match several years later.
Capablanca’s pure, classical style should have been an
interesting match with Alekhine’s attacking style, but the match
itself was dull with 30 games in the Queen’s Gambit Declined!
Soviet World Champions:
Mikhail
Botvinnik
Vassily
Smyslov
Mikhail Tal
Tigran
Petrosian
After the sudden death of Alekhine, Botvinnik calmly
assumed the title of FIDE(Federacion Internacional du Echecs)
World Champion after winning the Candidates Tournament of 1946.
He was briefly over taken by Smyslov for a year before regaining
his title only to lose it to Tal. However, he also regained the
title after a year. Finally, after losing the title to Petrosian,
he retired from competitive chess to research in computer design.
Botvinnik’s style is the result of uncompromising and efficient
Soviet training techniques. He also created the Soviet School of
Chess which was the training ground for countless Grandmasters.
Modern World Champions:
Boris
Spassky
Bobby
Fischer
Anatoly
Karpov
Garry
Kasparov
Spassky defeated his old rival Petrosian in 1969. In 1972,
the most publicized chess match ever occurred, in which Fischer
beat Spassky at the height of the Cold War. After Fischer’s
abrupt retirement, Karpov became World Champion by default. After
winning many top tournaments by convincing margins, he barely
escaped defeat by Kasparov in their 1984 match. The following
year, Kasparov managed to win and defended his title 3 more
times. During this period, professionals began to protest the
regulations enforced by FIDE, and in 1997 Kasparov split from
FIDE altogether. This caused a schism in the line of champions.
Disupted World Champions:
Vladimir
Kramnik
Viswanathan
Rustam
Anand
Kasimdzhanov
Peter Leko
In 2000, Kramnik defeated Kasparov in a match to become the
“Brain Games World Champion”. This organization quickly collapsed
however. Anand has been one of the strongest players in the world
and was FIDE world champion for a while, but has not won any
World Championship matches. Kasimdzhanov is the current FIDE
World Champion, but this title is meaningless today as he won it
in a Rapid tournament in Dubai which he won on blitz tiebreaks.
Leko drew Kramnik in the 2004 Classical World Championship match,
but this title is also likely to not last long. The current state
of chess politics is a mess with no remedy in sight. Kasparov is
still #1 on the ratings list, even after his retirement.
The Evolution of Chess
Style and Theory:
King’s Gambit Accepted
Giuoco Piano
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5
The oldest chess style is the Romantic style. The first diagram
is the position resulting after the King’s Bishop Gambit, a very
aggressive and attacking opening in which white will frequently
give away material for a tremendous initiative. Chigorin was a
master of this style. The second style was the refined Romantic
style. In it, the game took on a more logical course with less
material sacrifice and more standard maneuvers. The attacks still
came though! Morphy and Steinitz were the masters of this style.
The Classical School:
Queen’s Gambit Declined
The Ideal Classical setup.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6
Steinitz’s pupil, Tarrasch, devised the Classical School. This
approach stressed the harmonious development of the pieces and
the creation of a full pawn center. It also emphasized the
principles of a “good” piece and a “bad” piece. “If a piece
stands badly, the whole game stands badly,” was one of the
axioms of the day. Through Tarrasch’s teachings, countless
amateurs played much better chess. Unfortunately, Tarrasch was
too dogmatic in his beliefs and certain “sacred” beliefs would
be soon contested…
The Hypermodern School:
Alekhine’s Defense
Nimzo-Indian Defense
1.e4 Nf6
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4
Led by Nimzowitsch and Reti, the hypermodern school
defied many of the principles held by the classicalists. They
argued that a pawn center was only an advantage if it could be
maintained. An unmaintained pawn center would be destroyed by
the active enemy pieces. Their concepts of blockade,
restraint, and prophylaxis revolutionized chess thought.
Today, many of their concepts are held in as high esteem as
those laid down by Tarrasch.
The Dynamic School:
Modern Benoni
Sicilian Najdorf
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6
4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6
As a result of Soviet studies, the Dynamic school was
born. They created the concepts of static factors versus
dynamic factors. One side would play classically and
“correctly” while the dynamic side would accept positional
weaknesses in favor of dynamic strengths. This concept led to
many lively games and new ideas. Tal and Spassky were the
masters of this uncompromising style.
Chess Theory Today:
Ruy Lopez, Zatisev
King’s Indian, Bayonet Attack
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6
5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0
9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4
d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6
8.d5 Ne7 9.b4
Chess theory today is an always changing creature. With the aid
of computers, new theoretical novelties and ideas and being
created all the time. Openings are become deeper in length, with
many players not getting out of book until after the 25th move!
Today’s masters of preparation are Garry Kasparov and Vladimir
Kramnik. The emphasis today is on flexibility and restraint; a
balance has been reached between the old feuding schools.