How does the 2020/21 Candidates Tournament compare with the 1953 Candidates Tournament?

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Avatar of KevinOSh

The 1953 Zurich Candidates Tournament is often recommended by chess coaches as a place to study because of the very high quality of the games played in that tournament.

Blunderprone has an introduction here: https://www.chess.com/blog/Blunderprone/zurich-1953-an-introduction

How does that tournament compare with the Candidates Tournament that concluded earlier this year?

Avatar of HorsesGalore

there is a wealth of well annotated games by the actual participants in the Zurich 1953 Candidates Touranament.    Some good amateur players attest to dramatic improvement by reading just that 1 book.

Avatar of XequeYourself

Is there a specific book or collection of annotations that's particularly highly rated?

Avatar of HorsesGalore

https://www.amazon.com/Zurich-International-Chess-Tournament-Dover/dp/0486238008

 

Avatar of KevinOSh

There is also a book by Najdorf, not as famous as the one by Bronstein.

Is it the Bronstein book that is primarily responsible for the very strong reputation of Zurich 1953?

If a top Grandmaster (e.g. Firouzja) wrote a book of annotated games of the 2020/21 Candidate Tournament that sold well, would the last tournament become as highly respected as the 1953 tournament?

Avatar of tygxc

The Zürich 1953 Candidates tournament was 15 players double round  robin i.e. 210 games of 40 moves in 2.5 hours, Yekaterinburg 2020-2021 was only 8 players double round robin i.e. 56 games at the faster time control of 90+30.
You could argue that the 2 players who ended up in last place did not belong at Yekaterinburg and that e.g. Mamedyarov and Radjabov should have been there in their stead, i.e. that the qualification process was not adequate.
Apart from the raw quantity and quality of the games, it are the superb comments by runner-up Bronstein that immortalised the Zürich tournament.

Avatar of KevinOSh

I saw Kasparov did indeed argue the the two weaker players should have not been there and the idea of candidate qualification through Swiss tournaments was not the best way to find the most dangerous world championship challenger.

Avatar of IMKeto

Zurcih '53 was the peak of tournament/playoff/ chess.  Just my .02 obviously. 

Avatar of IMKeto
theendgame3 wrote:
IMBacon wrote:

Zurcih '53 was the peak of tournament/playoff/ chess.  Just my .02 obviously. 

You're undervaluing yourself, Mike my friend. When you post we learn. Hope you're well.

Thank You my friend.  But I wouldn't go that far.  Like i said, its just my opinion.  But I do think that Zurich '53 by Bronstein is a must read book for any serious chess player.  Im doing very well thanks.  Preparing for my first OTB tournament in 2 years.  I hope things are good with you too.

Avatar of KevinOSh
theendgame3 wrote:

I have been looking at some of your posts and your ratings.

You seem to know a lot about chess in all manners but with all due respect Kev, why are you so low?

When I clicked on your bio and read it I was shocked!. I was expecting you to be at least 1600+ due to your knowledge. Imagine what rating you would be if you put all that effort into playing, tactics, lesson etc  rather than reading and researching. 🤔

I have played 254 daily games, 335 rapid, 141 blitz, and done 22 hours of rated puzzles training on here, more than 100 lessons, quite a lot in the space of 7 months.

I'd love to be at 1600 already but Rome wasn't built in a day. 

Avatar of IMKeto
theendgame3 wrote:
IMBacon wrote:
theendgame3 wrote:
IMBacon wrote:

Zurcih '53 was the peak of tournament/playoff/ chess.  Just my .02 obviously. 

You're undervaluing yourself, Mike my friend. When you post we learn. Hope you're well.

Thank You my friend.  But I wouldn't go that far.  Like i said, its just my opinion.  But I do think that Zurich '53 by Bronstein is a must read book for any serious chess player.  Im doing very well thanks.  Preparing for my first OTB tournament in 2 years.  I hope things are good with you too.

will look into the Bronstein book, thanks for the recommendation. And good luck for your tournament- please keep us posted how you get on. 

Thanks but let me clarify what i mean by "prepare and study".  My days of serious chess study are long gone.  At 58 my study is a gymnasium for the mind.  I'm just doing what I can to keep as mentally sharp and focused as I can.  The 3 things im not concerned about are my rating, performance, and money.  I'm going to support the tournament, have fun, mental exercise, and see old friends.

Avatar of KevinOSh
IMBacon wrote:

The 3 things im not concerned about are my rating, performance, and money.  I'm going to support the tournament, have fun, mental exercise, and see old friends.

A good recipe for living an enjoyable life.