What is your favorite chess story?
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This story is about Rubinstein, you probably heard it already: During a game, Rubinstein got up, went to his opponent's side, calculated his opponent's move and made it for him. I would call that , Dedication at its best.
Once a novice chess player of ranking 1000, but very cunning, bet a small fortune that he could make Gary Kasparov resign in one move. Kasparov heard of this and went to play with him. Feeling pity for the novice, Kasparov decided to let him play White. The novice played 1.a3 and as Kasparov was about to move his pawn, the novice broke Kasparov's nose in one punch. Kasparov resigned in disgust and the novice won the money.
@helltank its the best one i ever heard..can't stop myself.. Realy wonderful.. Please post more if you have more.
My favourite (probably untrue) is about a well known GM who agreed to play a 10 board blindfold simul at a small chess club.
The GM played White, on some boards e4, some d4, some Nf3, some c4..
To his surprise, all his opponents played b6.
On all boards, he made a sensible 2nd move. Half his opponents moved Ba6, the other half Bb7.
He made his 3rd move. Some who played Ba6 now played Bc8, some played Bb7. Some who played Bb7, played Bc8, and some played Ba6. For 2 more moves, this Bishop shuffling continued, and the poor GM saw bishops everywhere. On move 6 he excused himself to go to the loo. When he didn't return and went looking for him, all they found was an open window.
@rooperi Ahahahahahahhhaahaha really nice..keep posting..thanks ya..
@melvin Ahahahahahahahaha..wateva it mayb d stury is really funny..didnt u laughed?..
Seirawan and another Master were reviewing a game with Fischer and both of them thought that this one move would be a great move and Fischer would not even consider it. They asked him why not and all he would say is that it was a bad move. Finally the two persuaded him to play it out and upon a few minutes thought, Fischer was able to come up with the move that refuted the move Seirawan and the other Master thought was winning.
nice ..
Really inspirational..
melvinbluestone wrote:
One of my favorite Fischer stories is the account given by Brad Darrasch in his often hilarious book "Bobby Fischer vs The Rest of the World". Fischer, Lothar Schmidt, and the writer, Darrasch, who was at the match as a reporter, were in a hotel room in Reykjavic working out some of the sticking points in the arrangements. At one one point, Schmidt stood up abruptly and hit his head on a low-hanging overhead lamp. Bobby said, "Wow, are you OK, Lothar?!" Afterwards, Schmidt often defended Fischer in discussions about all the difficulties of the match. "Say what you will about Bobby, but he really cares about people!" But Darrasch claims after they left the room, Bobby laughed hysterically about Schmidt's mishap: "Did you see Lothar whack his head! Ha-Ha-Ha!" ......... I guess this is just human nature, and certainly not much of an indication of Bobby's personality flaws. I just like slapstick!
Can’t remember where I read this one, but I’d sure like to think it’s true. :)
Alekhine was riding on a train to a tournament, and it was late at night. he had his chess board out and was studying positions. A train occupant happened to notice, and approached Alekhine, claiming he was a player himself. He asked Alekhine if he’d like to play a game. Alekhine agreed.
He set the board up and took a rook off of his side. The train-rider was a bit offended, and told Alekhine that he didn’t even know him! How could he be so brazen as to remove a heavy piece?
Alekhine replied that he could lose the rook precisely *because* he didn’t know him. Had Alekhine heard of him, he would need the full set.
I’ve always liked that one. so much gangster chess. :D
When Morphy was a young lad, he was watching his father and his uncle play a complex middlegame. after about 50 some odd moves the elder gentlemen quietly walk out of the room satisfied with a draw, Morphy quickly called them back into the room took it to the postion 20 some odd moves before, and showed a forced win. His family had no Idea that he even knew how the pieces moved let alone complex ideas such as tactics and stratagy.
when General Winfield Scott was travling through New Orleans to Texas he asked for the best player in town, In to the ball room was brought nine year old Paul Morphy. General Scott was very displeased, however the citizens claimed they had acutely followed directions. Morphy won two games decisively and Scott never returned for a rematch.
@jetfighter nice one..
They're all the same.
Boy meets girl. Boy plays chess with girl. Boy wins girl. Boy meets girls no more.
Well, this little story is quite well known but every story on this thread is quite well known so I will relate mine.
Its Capablanca's famous loss to Saemisch at Carlsbad 1929.
Kasparov explains it in vol I of "My Great Predeccessors".
Winters discusses it in his chess notes. Here is the story---
Capablanca came to Carlsbad 1929 alone---he left his wife at home. Capablanca, being a ladies man, selected a local beauty for his mistress---to help him enjoy the tournament.
On the day he played Saemisch he happened to see his wife coming down the aisle, paying him a surprise visit and sitting within a few feet of his mistress. Capa started sweating bullets. He was thinking---bad things are going to happen today. Anxiety was attacking him, he was finding it difficult to breathe---he was sweating bullets and hung a piece to Saemisch who was a tail-ender in the tournament.
Capablanca, a piece down, kept playing for hours. Was he thinking---when the games is over and I go greet my wife will the mistress create a scene. If I greet my mistress, will my wife boil my ass in oil. What to do---is there a back door to this place---
Reuben Fine's " Psychology of the Chess Player" has many interesting stories. Take the Carlos Torre incident. In 1926, he was 22 yrs of age, and a serious contender for the championship---Torre snapped on a NYC bus. He stripped off his clothes, and ran up and down the aisles mumbling something. One guy said he thought Torre was saying---"My tamale. my tamale, where is my tamale!"
Unfortunately Torre never played chess in the big leagues again.
melvinbluestone wrote:
Wait a minute, raul72! Who won?? Who won the game? Capablanca or Saemisch?! Well, one of my favorites concerns the British master Joseph Henry Blackburne. This is also a pretty well-known tale, so if you've heard it, change the channel. Blackburne was one of the strongest players of his time, and also a heavy drinker. In those days (the 19th and early 20th century) players often drank even during the course of a tournament or match game. In this instance, Blackburne grabbed his opponent's drink when he wasn't looking, and quickly downed it. After the game, which Blackburne won, he commented "My opponent left a glass of whisky en prise, and I took it en passant."
But that would leave his queenside undefended.
bjazz wrote:
They're all the same.
Boy meets girl. Boy plays chess with girl. Boy wins girl. Boy meets girls no more.
no its boy meets girl, boy plays chess with girl, boy mates girl, boy meets girl no more
jetfighter13 wrote:
bjazz wrote:
They're all the same.
Boy meets girl. Boy plays chess with girl. Boy wins girl. Boy meets girls no more.
no its boy meets girl, boy plays chess with girl, boy mates girl, boy meets girl no more
No, its boy plays chess, boy meets girl, boy plays with girl and plays chess no more
I'm not sure that I remember this story exactly as I read it, but I certainly remember the punch line!
I believe it was at some banquet that Alexander Alekhine was asked to speak. Here's his story:
He dreamed he had died and went to the Pearly Gates where Saint Peter told him he couldn't enter heaven because he was a chess player. While looking through those gates Alekhine spotted Efim Bogolubov, so he replied to Saint Peter, "but there's Bogolubov, he's a chess player!" And Peter said, "NO, he only thinks he's a chess player!"
Alekhine really didn't like Bogolubov, obviously...