Chess Writing GOATs: David Bronstein
No fantasy, however rich, no technique, however masterly, no penetration into the psychology of the opponent, however deep, can make a chess game a work of art, if these qualities do not lead to the main goal – the search for truth. – Vasily Smyslov
This is my take on the greatest chess authors of all time, and my first-ever post as a Top Blogger (thanks, chess.com!). Today I present the second in the series, presented one at a time and in alphabetical order...mostly...unless I add someone midway through, or just felt like mixing things up.
Other GOAT Blogs in the Series
So, who are the chess writing GOATs? Who didn't quite make the cut, but certainly merited consideration? Do you have an opinion? What about those who wrote prolifically, but not necessarily great stuff? Or perhaps their subject matter just didn't appeal to me or thee, or at least to peers of mine when I was a rising teen.
Hey, it's no problem if you haven't considered the issue! I'm more than willing to fill that particular void in your thoughts with my own opinions!! An opinion informed by decades of chess and a (diminished) chess library that takes up multiple shelves in my library. And if you don't fully agree with my opinions (though I can hardly imagine such a contumacious state of mind) then chess.com generously provided a comments section so you can express your agreements, disagreements, quibbles, corrections, expansions, nominations, and questions. Some of which I will respond to!
Heads up! Some of these authors are NOT the nicest or most ethical people. Over the course of this series, you'll encounter a multiple plagiarizer and at least one famous player who altered history to present brilliant analytic lines as though they were played in the game. Furthermore, it cannot be known which ancient authors made up games out of whole cloth. They certainly didn't adhere to modern considerations about plagiarism, as those notions didn't have much if any moral traction at the time those individuals wrote.
P.S. Would you really trust a magician who told you, "Pick a card, any card." when he could see the faces of the cards?
It's time to introduce our second Chess Author GOAT. We'll be meeting them in alphabetical order, so...
#25 chess.com Hall of Fame - David Bronstein
Chess QuoteMasters Hall of Fame #7
David Bronstein (Russian: Дави́д Ио́нович Бронште́йн; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet GM and two-time joint Soviet CC. He almost became the World CC in 1951 after tying Botvinnik 12 -12, 5W-14D-5L each, but the reigning champion prevailed in the case of a tied match. Bronstein managed to lose four equal endgames after adjournment. Ow!!
Because FIDE’s rating system did not go into effect until 1970, Bronstein’s peak rating is cited as 2595 in May 1974 with a peak ranking of #17 in July 1971. Just another case where ChessMetrics offers more useful measurements! That site suggests the most accurate quantitative measurement of his rating was 2792 in June 1951 and they placed him #1 in the world in 19 different months between June 1950 and December 1951. Some of you will no doubt note that is all of the months during that timeframe. Consider it a test of your observational powers. 😉
Bronstein had numerous tournament and Interzonal victories and played for the Soviet team in four Olympiads in the 1950s, winning board prizes each time, losing only one game, and securing four team golds.
I will not be providing a list of all the works written by most of the authors. Some of them penned nigh on a hundred books, and I find myself disinclined to fit that many images together in a single page, or to bore the casual reader with a bulleted list.
Bronstein was a leading figure in renovating the KID and King’s Gambit. There are variations named after him in the Caro-Kann and the Scandinavian Defence. A creative genius OTB, with endgames perceived as his greatest weakness (cf. the note above about losing equal games in the World CC after adjournment), Bronstein was also a phenomenal writer with two particularly revered books imo, the Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953 and The Chess Struggle in Practice.
In this instance, I only have the two middle books. But (it was inevitable I'd start a sentence this way), I have played through every game in those two books!
What others had to say about Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953:
It’s a journey into the minds of chess legends, revealing their strategies, thought processes, and the evolving landscape of mid-20th-century chess. 40 Best Chess Books [Your Ultimate Guide to Chess Mastery]
Unlike typical tournament recollections, this work stands out for its deep, accessible insights. It balances technical analysis with engaging narratives, making it enlightening for both chess enthusiasts and newcomers. [Ibid]
Bronstein’s commentary offers invaluable lessons in chess, decision-making, and psychological warfare, making it a must-read for anyone interested in strategy. [Ibid]
As an educational resource, the book offers complex chess scenarios and their solutions, aiding skill improvement. [Ibid]
The book does not introduce the players or summarize the tournament, leaving readers without much context. [Ibid]
It overlooks the players’ personal stories and backgrounds, possibly disappointing those interested in the human aspect of chess. [Ibid]
More than a half of a century has passed since David Bronstein wrote probably one of the best chess books that have ever been written. What made the book so famous is the style in which Bronstein wrote it. You can read it as a piece of literature: it does not have many long chess variations, it has concepts and ideas explained in words. WIM @energia Bronstein- Creator of the Chess Classic
Other insights into Bronstein's writing:
In 1975, together with Master Candidate and Master of Philosophy G. L. Smolian, he published a book entitled "The Beautiful and the Fierce World", in which he presented his views on a variety of themes. The book contains hardly any games. It consists almost entirely of reflections (his own and those of his co-author) on different aspects of chess. Naturally, he later deepened and expanded these ideas so that virtually all his subsequent works addressed chess as an art form. Yes — for Bronstein, chess was art, and he never hesitated to say so. He repeated this conviction many times and never renounced it until the very end of his career. IM Zoran Petronijevic
Personally, this is one of my favorite books, mainly because of the wonderful evocative atmosphere Bronstein creates and the poetic way he relates chess games to real life. The introductory stories bring to mind far-off places and times and often include strange allegories where the pieces assume human thoughts. On the surface this book is not aimed at instruction, but rather entertainment. My favorite books are like that. I think - if you are not a professional player - then the purpose of chess should be enjoyment. Even if you are a professional, it should still be that way. GM Bryan Smith, reviewing "200 Open Games" by Bronstein
Some of Bronstein’s most famous quotes can be found everywhere, all at once. That doesn't detract from his thoughts, nor even dilute them, but it renders one discontent to pretend that some single online source deserves more credit than the ten thousand tee-shirts found in casual chess settings dispensing the same advice.
If you'd like to see more of his quotes and a few quotes about him, I'll refer you to my post, Chess QuoteMasters Hall of Fame #7: GM David Bronstein.
That's a wrap!! I'm intending to keep these relatively short. Hope you enjoyed it! If you'd like to read more about Bronstein, I've provided a few links below. Well, more than a "few" if you're going to be pedantic about my not infrequent abuses of the King's English (not the opening, the language).
It's an alphabetic list...who do you think will be next? Another GOAT? Or someone who didn't quite fit onto my list of the greatest?
Care for a journey down memory lane? Just pick your path! The whole purpose of this section is to address some obvious questions that might pop into your head. How come Kevin didn't talk about this? Or that? Not to mention the other thing! Well, just call me lazy! Or you could appreciate the fact I'm limiting the word count that is imposed on you😏.
Nonetheless, in the series I'll be using this little section to provide links to more fulsome discussions that revolve around some well-known and lesser-known facets of the featured chess giant. That might range from videos to links to other chess.com articles and blogs, usually by Top Bloggers. Enjoy or skip, it's your call, as always.
- GM @Gserper Learning from Masters: David Bronstein in which he relates a dozen hours he got to spend with Bronstein in 1994 at a tournament Serper had just won in 1994. BONUS! You get to solve some puzzles in the KID!
- IM @zoranpe (Zoran Petronijevic) David Bronstein, One of the Greatest Attackers in History – Part 6 Links are provided at the top of his post leading to the first five parts. I quoted one of his statements above in the Books.
- GM@BryanSmith "200 Open Games" by David Bronstein is the full-length review of 200 Open Games by Bronstein. It's a unique book, as Bryan points out in his opening paragraph, "Rather than fully annotated games, this book presents 200 short vignettes, each followed by an un-annotated game, with one diagram. In most cases, the introductory text tells some story associated with the game and sets a mood. "
- WIM @energia Bronstein- Creator of the Chess Classic. She goes on to provide a specific example of how simple "calculational" analysis overlooks the human element!
- Top Blogger @simaginfan's My Favourite Annotators. Part Four. David Bronstein
- Top Blogger @Spektrowski David Bronstein. "Grandmaster, what is chess?" digs 50 years into the past and provides the text of an interview that was conducted back in 1969 and 1970 and talks about the way chess is and the way it should be...good stuff.
- Top Blogger @Spektrowski David Bronstein, Georgy Smolian. "Chess of the Third Millennium" (1978) talks about a VERY different way to conceive of chess.
- @ThummimS offers the following 2021 post The Legacy and Later Years of David Bronstein
- @RoaringPawn provided a translation of a 2003 interview with Bronstein you might not be aware of! An Unknown/Forgotten Interview with GM David Bronstein
- David Bronstein | Top Chess Players - Chess.com
- The Best Chess Games of David Bronstein - Chess.com
SOURCES:
Data on the authors was compiled from sources in Wikipedia, my chess library, chess.com, chessable.com, Chess Notes by Edward Winter, archived news articles, individual's websites, FIDE, and my faulty memories. Any and all errors should be deemed the fault of gremlins in the system or glitches in the matrix.
