Spektrowski's Blog

Spektrowski's Blog

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A Wild Game in Sicilian Najdorf

A Wild Game in Sicilian Najdorf

Spektrowski
| Oct 4, 2022

Hi all, I'm all right in case you've been wondering, still working on chess and non-chess books. Wanted to share a wild game I played at another site. Got three minor pieces for the opponent's queen, but then, as it usually happens with me, blund...

My "Immortal Game"

My "Immortal Game"

Spektrowski
| Jan 2, 2022

I played a positional queen sacrifice, similar geometrically (but not too much positionally) to Lilienthal-Capablanca. Black decided to oblige, even though he very obviously was not forced to, gave White too much compensation and lost the resultin...

The Fate of Dus-Chotimirsky's Son

The Fate of Dus-Chotimirsky's Son

Spektrowski
| Oct 9, 2021

In January last year, I posted Ella Vengerova's memories about Fyodor Dus-Chotimirsky, one of the most original and eccentric players from the older generation of Russian/Soviet masters. In passing, she mentioned his son, who went MIA during the S...

I Missed a Chess Brilliancy

I Missed a Chess Brilliancy

Spektrowski
| Aug 1, 2021

I just won a 3+2 blitz game. Nothing special, especially considering my playing level, but computer analysis showed an incredible brilliancy that I missed at one point. A forced mate in seven, with a queen sacrifice and incredibly rare double-r...

Quickest Classical Losses by World Champions

Quickest Classical Losses by World Champions

Spektrowski
| Jul 11, 2021

Garry Kasparov amazed everyone (and not exactly in a good way) by losing to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in 7 moves yesterday. But what about world champions losing quickly in classical games? This list is compiled from chessgames.com and may be not co...

Years of blogging finally paid off

Years of blogging finally paid off

Spektrowski
| Jan 3, 2021

You probably know me as the guy who posts old Soviet chess articles for fun. Last year, this "fun" finally paid off - I got a job with the chess publisher Elk and Ruby and got to do the same thing and get paid for it. I fully translated thr...

"Komsomol Chess": an obscure Soviet chess variant

"Komsomol Chess": an obscure Soviet chess variant

Spektrowski
| Oct 28, 2020

While reading a huge book about Russian kids' games, I came across two Soviet variants of chess that were introduced in mid-1920s. One of them ("International", developed by Alexander Ilyin-Zhenevsky, among others) had rules more akin to modern ta...

Nikolai Zubarev, "On Chess Strength" (1932)

Nikolai Zubarev, "On Chess Strength" (1932)

Spektrowski
| Jun 15, 2020

Part of a larger book On Qualification, explaining in greater detail the system that was put in place by the 7th All-Union Chess Conference in 1931. On Chess Strength The process of chess improvement is linked with many hardships and tria...

Soviet Stats, Revisited

Soviet Stats, Revisited

Spektrowski
| Jun 13, 2020

I have re-calculated the USSR championship stats (included all the championship play-off matches and tournaments and the 1931 semifinals, which were parts of the same competitions). This is a list of top 50 players who played at least 30 games and...

Clash of the Generations

Clash of the Generations

Spektrowski
| May 26, 2020

In the early 1980s, there was a curious tournament held in USSR - a "clash of generations" of sorts. It featured four national teams: the main team, the reserve team, the "veteran" team (players over 40 not involved with the main or reserve team) ...

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