Afternoon everyone. Sadly we have just lost one of the good guys of chess - Fridrik Olafsson. A man who took on the job of FIDE president to try to make things better for chess players. Back when I did my articles on Malcolm Barker I intended ...
Afternoon everyone. Back with some more wonderful games from the match. Only notes to one - the last one - to save time all round. ( there are lots of game notes in Griffin's wonderful blog linked to in Part One) I finished last time with Salo F...
Good afternoon everyone. A big bag of games and some pictures to enjoy. In 1949 Moscow and Budapest contested a team match in two parts - one in each city. It produced an absolute mass of wonderful chess! I have games in at least a dozen books. ...
Afternoon everyone! I'm back with a big bag of goodies - should have been two blogs, but I wanted to get the material on the page while it is in my head. So grab a beer - pack of Guinness here! - and enjoy the journey. So, the project I mentione...
Afternoon everyone. I won't be posting for a few weeks. I have been asked to do a little project for a chess historian friend of mine, and then - my wife's health permitting - will be away for a week. I have been posting games on bluesky u...
Afternoon everyone. My long time readers will understand the title. Huge amount here, so, as usual, just pop in and out, cherry pick, etc. Just enjoy whatever of the material you choose to enjoy! I am snowed under with books at the momen...
So, having looked at Tarrasch, I will go to someone who could be seen as almost the antithesis of Tarrasch - Gyula Breyer. Actually, the two were opposites in some things whilst similar in others. Breyer would beat Tarrasch in a 'dogma' contest! A...
Afternoon everyone. Siegbert Tarrasch. Indisputably one of the most important players ever! Not only was he the strongest player in the world for a time, he was undoubtably one of the most influential annotators ever. Well, I have discus...
Afternoon everyone. This one is a contrast to last time! Well, those few who have been my friends here over the years will know that I only started playing chess as a substitute for other sports - notably cricket. I got injured at a young age an...
Afternoon everyone. It's been a while. You will see why when you get to the game!! So, Milan Vidmar. kvarkadabra.net Amazing man, World leader in his field - Botvinnik studied his academic work - and also number 4 chess player in the Worl...
Afternoon everyone. Welcome to 2025. I hope it is a good year for you all. So, Wilhelm ( Wolf' William) Steinitz the annotator. IMHO he basically invented the art of annotating chess games ( other opinions are available!) His column in 'The Fiel...
Afternoon everyone, and seasonal greetings to all. Yes, it's been a while. Been having major house renovation work done. . However, now all done and I can get at my library again! Before I forget, I have started posting games over on bluesky if ...
Afternoon everyone. I am back with another look at a master of the art of annotating a chess game. Mark Taimanov. In passing, I must say that many Soviet players of the era were outstanding annotators - perhaps it was all to do with the training t...
Afternoon everyone. I am off on holiday in a couple of days so back more quickly than intended with this part of the series. Before I begin, let's throw in a wonderful picture I have just come across researching this - I guess it is from the Not...
Afternoon everyone, and welcome along to some chess joy! Last time round I mentioned that one of many projects which I have never gotten round to doing is to write about my favourite annotators. So let's do a series! You get one game in each. ...
Good afternoon everyone. An off-hand conversation a few days ago brought to mind a quite extraordinary chess tournament result. Keres at Semmering/Baden ( it was played in two parts) back in 1937. The tournament where Keres felt that he had beco...
Afternoon everyone. I get into a lot of chess discussions in different places, which always throw various games out of my mental database. So three today for you to just enjoy looking at. Some simple chess pleasure! Let's do them chr...
London busses, as we say. No blog for ages, then two come along at once! . One for my dear friend @AstroTheoretical_Physics He has just done a wonderful blog about the artist/chess player Marcel Duchamp. You can find it here :- https...
Good Afternoon everyone. Apologies for my absence - it has been a busy time here. @Shakhmati3 has asked me about a simultaneous exhibition of Lasker's in 1926. His grandfather C.M. Fitzgerald took part. Nice! So I have been doing a little diggin...
Afternoon everyone. Some good news - the Lasker project which I mentioned so long ago has finally been published. Some of my friends already have their copies, which is good to see. Carl Portman - who is doing amazing work for chess in prisons...
Afternoon everyone. Although I post chess from the past, I very definitely keep up to date with what is going on in the chess world. I am not one of those who thinks that everything in the past was better, or everything today is better. Goat lists...
Afternoon everyone. Back with part two of my humble tribute to one of the forgotten. Part one here :- https://www.chess.com/blog/simaginfan/ilmar-raud-a-chess-tragedy-not-forgotten-part-one As said last time, no time to do this pr...
Firstly a genuine apology. The real world has intervened. Having done the research work for this post - one I have been meaning to do for many years - it turned out that I would not be able to do it properly for a number of weeks, so I have put th...
Afternoon everyone. Back with part three. A lot less text this time, but my usual bagful of games and pictures. Same rules as the last two - drop in and out when you have 10 minutes. So last time I mentioned Theo Tylor and Rupert Cross. You can ...
O.K. so I am back with part two - a mass of stuff here, so same rules as last time!! Dip in and out when you have time and I hope you enjoy what is here. I have decided to make it three parts, so more next time, with a lot of games. Mainly text th...
