Early Hungarian Chess - Some Fun Stuff

Afternoon Everyone! Those of you who have followed my posts for a while will know that I am a big student of the great legacy of Hungarian Chess. Well, this week I managed to get my hands on a book that I have been after for - literally - decades. Happy Days!! It is this one.

The whole series is wonderful. From the second and third volumes I was able to study Breyer and Charousek properly, for example. This one covers the early years of Hungarian chess. A great bonus is that it has a wonderful picture gallery, which I will reproduce here, as I go along.

Knowing that the 'fun game' section of my articles is normally the most popular thing about them, I decided to take the chance to give a whole blog of them with games in the book. ( I know, I can be too serious at times!! Nice to have a bit of harmless chess fun along the way!)

So, let's dive into the chess and pictures. Enjoy!

Szen - who I posted on a while ago - was a tough, and very strong player. However, sometimes he got into the spirit of things against his 'lessers', and enjoyed himself. Three of his losses!

We are lucky to have a number of his games against Recsi - pictured in the header taken from this gallery page. The winner of the previous game is in there too.

What a game that was!
A third loss. It is a mini 'immortal' - albeit not quite as sound as the original!! Great fun though, and proof that even the best can blunder - or was the great man being generous??

O.K. That's enough of making Szen look bad. Time left for three more. I always think 6 games is a good amount for these little articles - opinions welcomed on that subject.

Lets look at one with the other player in the header. The final position is quite wonderful - like something out of a problem. What a thrill it must have been to be able to produce it over the board.

The next game features an unusual combination. The player on the receiving end generously resigned in a position where he could have struggled on for a while - no doubt setting the pieces up for another enjoyable game. A lesson for those who think that flagging thier opponent in a meaningless online blitz game is a big deal!!

O.K. Let's finish with some total madness! If you are obsessed with CAPS and computer generated 'accuracy' percentages, look away now!! 

However, if you want to test out your tactical calculation skills and combination vision, stop at the point indicated in the notes and see how you get on. The final combination is a little gem.

Hope you enjoyed all that. Back after a much needed break. Take care guys. Simaginfan.

Quick question added! Is it just me, or does Kemeny look amazingly similar to the young Emanuel Lasker??