Hall of Fame #32: Reuben Fine
Sometimes Fine gets facts right: ‘Paul Morphy (1837-1884)’, page 3. Sometimes he gets them wrong: ‘Paul Morphy (1836-1883)’, page 89. His judgements are equally schizophrenic. Reuben Fine, Chess and Psychology by Edward Winter
[A note for my regular readers: The intro has not changed (except for a new image and accompanying caption). Feel free to jump to the Table of Contents or even to the Biography.]
[A note for my new readers: I believe it is useful to read the full introduction your first time. Cheers!]
This blog is a celebration that leverages an outstanding concept of GMs Nielsen and Gustafsson, but offers my unique takes and different material. The two GMs produced videos and multiple lessons regarding their top 50 chess players of all time. Although I freely accept their rankings and provide a link (below) to their work, my focus is different.
How does my work differ? Well, first off, I'm not a titled player. Second, I wrote brief biographies for each player and offer limited discussion and pictures of some of their works (if they wrote). Third, if they were eminently quotable, I'll throw in a few of those! I may have found occasion to add quotes from other famous (or even unknown) chess names regarding the Hall of Famer. Fourth, I'll toss in the occasional caricature😏.
Fifth, and most difficult, I will include at least two games analyzed by the individual, if such games exist. After all, the greatest of the great should be able to explain what they were thinking during a game, shouldn't they? (Spoiler alert: perhaps, except when there is no evidence that they ever had analyses published. Also, many of them analyzed games, but the ones available to me only offer some alternative lines, with symbolic indications but no textual explanations.)
Plus, I attempt to provide links to other relevant materials regarding these grandmasters of the game.
We've reached #32!
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#32 chess.com Hall of Fame: Reuben Fine
Reuben Fine was an American GM, psychologist, university professor, and the author of innumerable books. Born October 11, 1914, his best lifetime result was a tie for first with the legendary Paul Keres in the incredibly strong 1938 AVRO tournament. Fine declined an opportunity to compete for the World CC in 1948. He also won four gold medals in Chess Olympiads and won the US Open seven times—every time he entered—but never managed to win the US CC. ChessMetrics lists his peak rating as 2762 in July 1941 and ranks him #1 globally from Oct 1940 – March 1941.
How did he fare against his peers? Well, they didn't play each other as often, and then a second world war intervened. Still, I did some research...and concluded that the evidence clearly placed him in the Top Ten globally, but it would be silly to extrapolate trends from a data set limited by outside events, plus the fact there weren't as many tournaments in those days. Draw your own conclusions, I'll just note that his stats are reflective of a player who may have been the best in the world for a brief period of time.
Fine’s Basic Chess Endings was the endgame book for several generations of players. But any book of that length inevitably contained flaws. A compatriot of mine, NM Curtis Carlson, almost seemed to make a career in the 1970s out of submitting corrections to Fine’s lines in Chess Life & Review magazine. That was well before the advent of computers that could point out nuances humans normally miss.
A Freudian by training, Fine's book The Psychology of the Chess Player was considered a bit of a clunker by journalist Gilbert Cant because of the dark Freudian approach to the players and the playing environment. I’d suggest not reading it!
Some of Fine's most famous quotes were:
Discovered check is the dive bomber of the Chessboard. Chess Quotes - Tactics
Chess is a contest between two men which lends itself particularly to the conflicts surrounding aggression. Chess Quotes - Chess
Combinations have always been the most intriguing aspect of Chess. The masters look for them, the public applauds them, the critics praise them. It is because combinations are possible that Chess is more than a lifeless mathematical exercise. They are the poetry of the game; they are to Chess what melody is to music. They represent the triumph of mind over matter. Chess Quotes - Combinations
A plan is made for a few moves only, not for the whole game. Chess Quotes - Strategy
The first principle of attack - don't let the enemy develop! Chess Quotes - Strategy
Believe firmly that in chess there are no rules without exceptions.
The king is a strong piece - use it! Chess Quotes - Endings
I'd rather have a Pawn than a finger. Chess Quotes - Pawns
Among players of equal strength, it is always the last blunder, and the ability to see it, that determines who will win. At every level of chess skill, including the world championship class, it is still true that tactics is 99 per cent of the game. The Middle Game in Chess, p.3
Up to that time [Pasadena, 1932] I had not read any chess books. My knowledge of the game came from intensive over-the-board play. One reason was that there was so little worthwhile literature in English. A few books by Marshall and Capablanca were too elementary. I had picked up a tournament book of St Petersburg, 1914, but the notes contained many errors. When I found these errors, I thought that I must be wrong, and that I was not really good enough to play over such games yet; only later did I discover how sloppy many chess authors can be. Lessons from My Games (New York, 1958), p. xi
Tartakower I found very amusing but shallow. Capablanca had little to teach the serious student; the same was true of Marshall and Lasker. Fine regarding various writers. Lessons from My Games (New York, 1958), p. 19
Now, let's listen to what others had to say about Reuben Fine, author.
When Fine switched his major interest from chess to psychoanalysis, the result was a loss for chess – and a draw, at best, for psychoanalysis. - Gilbert Cant, Why They Play: The Psychology of Chess, Time magazine, 4 Sep 1972, p. 44-45.
We do believe that game annotations, including !s and ?s, should tell a coherent story of mistakes and their exploitation – unless the writer admits that he does not know what is going on. The thought comes to mind after recent perusal of Fine’s (mediocre) book Bobby Fischer’s Conquest of the World Chess Championship. Games 5 and 6 of the 1972 match will suffice as examples. Spassky is alleged to have made a string of bad moves, yet somehow he still has a draw available many moves later. Reuben Fine, Chess and Psychology by Edward Winter
An old yarn repeated by Fine (page 79) and also given by Chernev in Curious Chess Facts (page 10) and Wonders and Curiosities of Chess (page 7) is that a German ‘chess book’ once appeared which was completely blank except for the words ‘Halt's Maul’ (Keep your mouth shut/Keep quiet). ‘Three hundred blank pages’, wrote Fine. True? Many of Fine’s pages would have been better off blank. Ibid
So, despite my enjoyment of Fine's books in my innocent youth, I cannot bring myself to list him among the best chess authors. An important chess author? Yes. One of the best of all time? Sorry, some of his works failed to pass a few critical tests, such as value.
The kind of overly deep analysis that often suits my desires. It's not useful for all. Not even for me at times.
Given these are fifty of the greatest players of all time, how were they as annotators? Well, for those who wrote books we could truly explore that question in depth. But to keep the playing field even, I had been including only games taken from a DB. Why that limitation? Well, I didn't want to burden myself with transcribing comments from a book into a pgn file. Or increase my debt burden by buying books of those who did not yet offer free access to books released to the public domain. Besides, far easier and faster to look for annotated games in an online database.
Eventually, I changed my position on that for the reasons given in Hall of Fame #41: Jan Timman (The Best of the West!). There was nothing useful in the DBs I explored. So, books were now in. Then #35: Vasyl Ivanchuk forced me to revisit my thinking yet again! No DB analyses, no obscure sites providing analysis, no books available to me. Sigh. Roll the tape and go for a video review of the action!!
Fortunately, I did manage to find several DB games with annotations by Reuben Fine, and I didn't have to crack open one of the few books of his I can find in my library.
Bergkvist, Nils - Fine, Reuben, Wasa SK 20th Anniversary, 19.01.1937
Nils Valentin Bergkvist, or Nils Bergqvist, was a Swedish master born in 1900. He earned an individual bronze on board four in the 1950 Olympiad. ChessMetrics estimates his peak rating at 2484 in April 1951 and placed his peak rank at #142 in May 1941, near IM strength. I found no ChessMetrics estimate at the time of this game, but EDO historical data placed him at approximately 2330 for 1937, so the equivalent of a FIDE Master. ChessMetrics placed Reuben Fine at 2718 and #8 globally when this game was played. Hmm, a bit of a mismatch, eh? To offer similar historical and mathematical comparisons, EDO placed Fine at approximately 2610 in January 1937...still a mismatch of over three hundred rating points. (EDO lists Fine's peak rating at around 2625, a hundred points lower than ChessMetrics.)
Thought I'd do something a bit different in this issue of HoFers. Here's a puzzle you can attempt before playing through the game to see Fine's analysis.
Now, here's the full game, so you can better understand how White got in such dire straits. My synopsis? Too many silly, one-move threats and too much waffling, trying to decide where the white pieces belonged.
I'm going to summarize this game by noting that GMs play with purpose, while the rest of us tend to wander aimlessly, seeking a point in our play, but often merely shifting our aimpoint to an ultimately ill effect.
Euwe, Max - Van Steenis, Hendrik Jan, Amsterdam ENPS 6-players, 07.09.1941
Machgielis "Max" Euwe (May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch GM, fifth World CC (1935-37), world amateur CC (1928), 12-time Dutch CC (winning every time he played), author, PhD Mathematics, professor, and former FIDE President. FIDE lists his peak rating at 2530 in May 1974, #50 globally. Not bad for a guy who was 59 when FIDE instituted a rating system. ChessMetrics places his peak rating at 2769 in January 1936 and ranked him #1 for fourteen different months in 1936 – 37. EDO placed his peak at 2593 in 1928.
Hendrik Van Steenis did not appear in the ChessMetrics DB, probably because he was a lower-tier player. EDO placed him at 2124 at the time of this game, with a peak rating of 2206 in 1947. That's the last year covered in the DB.
Fine demonstrates just how skillful he was at wordplay in his analysis of a lovely attacking game by Euwe. There were a few spots where Stockfish reminds us why it is infallible, but this is a delicious game. [The assessment of the opening was no doubt in line with the theory of that time, but that understanding has been supplanted over time.]
I can't begin to imagine you wouldn't have enjoyed that game!!
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 will range from videos to links to other chess.com blogs, usually by Top Bloggers. Enjoy or skip, it's your call, as always.
- GM Julio_Becerra Everything is Fine! circa 2010, is a brief bio with five fun puzzles.
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Top Blogger @DonMcKim A Fine Chess Player offers a review of a book of Fine's career from 1929 - 1951, with 882 games.
- @billwall A Fine Draw Okay, the title is a play on words that draws a groan. Then there's the ignominious "chopped-off head" thumbnail. But this was written in 2008, when people weren't as concerned about word walls in a blog. Despite all that, Bill Wall is a good source.
- Top Blogger @batgirl Reuben Fine: Speed Demon discusses his skill in Rapid Transit chess, an older version of blitz that allows only 10s per move.
- Top Blogger @batgirl Nothing Could Be Finer is a look at his fatally flawed psychoanalysis of World CCs.
- Reuben Fine, Chess and Psychology by Edward Winter
- Reuben Fine - Wikipedia
- Reuben Fine | Top Chess Players - Chess.com
- The Best Chess Games of Reuben Fine - Chess.com
- Reuben Fine - World Chess Hall of Fame & Galleries
As so often, I'm able to include a GM Ben Finegold video for your viewing pleasure.
That's it for the 19th installment of my own take on chess.com's 50 greatest players of all time. Hope you enjoyed the blog. The good GMs below have a full selection of videos and puzzles dedicated to each of the fifty.
Cheers!
If you enjoy reading "greatest of" lists then you might also enjoy chess.com's Every Chess 'Player Of The Decade' (From Morphy To Magnus).
Sources for this information included chess.com, wikipedia.com, ChessBase, FIDE, individuals' websites, YouTube.com, news articles, books, and other sources. Plus, my faulty memories. I mixed, matched, cut, and pasted so much that separation is implausible, and I apologize for misattributions. Particularly with quotes which are found in a thousand repositories, not to mention book covers, t-shirts, and the rantings of chess coaches of whom I've had more than a few thanks to Chess University and @AttilaTurzo (my primary instructor and co-author of three books, for different chess strengths, we are writing on how to analyze during a game and after.)
HoF #49: Karjakin–"The Minister of Defense"
HoF #48: Portisch–"The Hungarian Botvinnik"
HoF #47: Polugaevsky–"The Great Poluga"
HoF #46: Kamsky–"London's King"
HoF #44: Leko–"The Cement Meister"
HoF #43: Winawer (The French King)
HoF #42: Najdorf–"Happy-Go-Lucky"
HoF #41: Jan Timman (The Best of the West!)
HoF #40: Mikhail Chigorin (Father of the Russian School of Chess)
HoF #39: Boris Gelfand (The Piece Twirler)
HoF #38: Efim Geller (The Giant Killer)
Hall of Fame #37: Harry Pillsbury
HoF #36: Carl Schlechter (The Viennese Drawing Master)
Hall of Fame #35: Vasyl Ivanchuk (Chuckie)
