Najdorf. Two Games With Notes To Remember.
So, got an unexpected day off. Managed to escape from the garden chores and sorting out our latest adoptee - the local stray ( a fighter like his adopted dad!)
long enough to share what chess I have been looking at this week.
Last time round the comments included stuff, that has disappeared, on the subject of annotators. The name of Tartakower was mentioned by me. If you haven't got a copy of his '500 Master Games', go get one. Still, imho, the best games anthology of it's type. He was a wonderful annotator!
Meanwhile, far away in another part of town' - or internet chat - a friend of mine said that he had just bought Najdorf's book on the 1953 Candidates Tournament. I love Najdorf's notes to games!! In particular - even 40+ years on from first seeing it - I always remember the comment to move 7 in a game of his against Keres in the Tournament book of the event, I think.
Back then Keres
- as I have said before - was one of my great - probably greatest - chess idols, so going through the game was mixed emotions. Joyous and sad at the same time. The above picture is from the tournament the game was played in.
So, I dug out my copy of this lovely book.
and found it.
The Game, with Najdorf's lovely notes.
Digging that one out, I remembered some notes to one of his games by Tartakower - who was a good friend of his by all accounts ( actually, it seems that Tartakower was a good friend of everyone he met!) They played together in the 1939 Olympiad, which resulted in Najdorf staying in South America. Sadly he is not in the team photo from the event.
The two an be found in a team picture from the 1935 event - where Keres exploded onto the World stage.
Well, while I was there I grabbed the picture of the Estonian team from the 1939 Olympiad, with Keres, and the tragic Ilmar Raud - such a sad story.
So, the game in question, with Tartakower in full flow, a la Bronstein. What a writer he was, and what a player Najdorf was!! Great battle.
Two wonderful players, and wonderful human beings.
Thanks for joining me. Feel free to chat - politely!! - in the comments. Take care everyone.
