Who Is The Greatest Player To Never Win The World Chess Championship?

The voting poll and choices are in the right-hand sidebar.  We will be running the poll through the end of July, 2008.  Feel free to use this sticky post for discussion on the topic or to point out someone that we may have left off of this list.

Here is a classic game between Adolf Anderssen and Jean Dufresne from 1852 in Berlin, Germany.  Anderssen was the 10th unofficial chess champion of the world and was just coming off his victory at the first international tournament in London 1851.  Dufresne was a pupil under Anderssen and was best known for his participation in this famous game, which has been historically referred to as the “Evergreen Game”.

The name was a result of a Wilhelm Steinitz quote that this particular game was an “evergreen in Anderssen’s laurel wreath”.  Steinitz’s notes on this game are also included below.

October 7, 1992

Belgrade, Yugoslavia

After one loss and three draws since moving the match to Belgrade, Fischer picks up his first win in the Yugoslav capital.  Spassky tried a relatively outdated opening in the Accelerated Averbakh Attack (6.Bg5) and was punished for it in a rather dominant game by Fischer. 

The opening gambit was one rarely seen in this particular era of chess play.  Additionally, the sacrificed pawn was quickly returned by Fischer with the intention of increasing the quickness of his own offensive.  The endgame produced a queen, two rooks, and a bishop for Fischer.  He expertly mobilized these pieces for an offensive on his opponent’s king.  Spassky’s pieces had been forced into retreat and he was completely on the defensive.

Fischer’s 32…e5! proved to be fatal, as Spassky could not capture with 33.fxe5 due to the possibility of 33…Qxf3!, which would lose a piece.  His answer of 33.dxe6 (e.p.) resulted in the continuation of 33…Bc6, 34.Kf1 Bxf3.  Spassky immediately resigned after Fischer’s 34th move.  This game reflected the brilliant attacking style and mentality of Fischer over the years, and gave additional hope for future matches by the legendary figure.  Fischer now leads the match by a score of 6-3.

The prestigious Dortmund chess tournament will take place from June 28 to July 6, 2008 in Dortmund, Germany.  The impressive field of competitors is as follows:

Kramnik, Vladimir (RUS) 2788
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE) 2752
Leko, Peter (HUN) 2741
Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR) 2740
Van Wely, Loek (NED) 2676
Nepomniachtchi, Ian (RUS) 2634
Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER) 2623
Gustafsson, Jan (GER) 2603

This tournament dates all the way back to 1928 when Friedrich (Fritz) Samisch edged out Richard Reti for the tournament championship.  Kramnik is the defending champion and has actually won this tournament a record 8 times (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007). 

On a special note, today is Kramnik’s 33rd birthday.  Happy birthday Vladimir and good luck in your upcoming match against Viswanathan Anand.  Shown below is one of Kramnik’s brilliant games from last year’s Dortmund event.

September 30, 1992

Belgrade, Yugoslavia

At the halfway point of the match, Fischer leads 5 games to 2 and the players took a 10-day rest before starting the second half of the match. The rest proved to be especially beneficial for Spassky, who had been somewhat ill during the match and was having kidney problems. To refresh everyone, the match stipulations are the first player to win 10 games takes home the $3.35 million winner’s prize.

The second half of the match was moved from the coastal resort of Sveti Stefan to the Yugoslavian capital of Belgrade. The new playing venue was in the Blue Hall of the Sava Center, where the players were now placed behind a soundproof glass barrier that separated them from the viewing audience. The reasoning behind this was that the crowds at Sveti Stefan were considerably smaller (approximately 30) than the crowds that would be watching in Belgrade (approximately 1,000).

Spassky seemed invigorated in Game # 12 of the match and won a dominating victory with the White pieces. Spassky came out with a Queen’s pawn opening and Fischer defended with the King’s Indian Defense. As he did in Game 8 (which he won), Fischer played the Panno Variation with 6…Nc6 and 7…a6. Spassky changed things up a little by playing 8.h4 instead of the previous 8.Qd2 in an effort to keep the tempo on his side.

Fischer would end up losing a piece as a result of Spassky’s 31.Qh5. He was unable to move his Knight that was under attack because of the threat of 32.g6 and he eventually resigned after Spassky’s 54th move. Fischer now leads the match by a score of 5-3.

Albert Beauregard Hodges (1861-1944) was one of the greatest American chess players in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  He lost a title match for the U.S. Championship early in 1894 to Jackson W. Showalter, but won their re-match later in that same year.  Hodges would then temporarily retire from competitive chess to pursue other ventures. 

Some other notables were his first place victory at New York in 1893, his participation in seven of the famous USA-Great Britain cable matches between 1902 and 1911, and a brief stint as the player behind the Ajeeb chess automation.

One of the very last recorded games by Hodges was at the 9th American Chess Congress in New York in 1923.  His opponent was the great Polish player, David Janowski.  This game shows the brilliance of Hodges, even at the ripe age of 62 years old.

Levon Aronian came from behind to capture the Karen Asrian Memorical chess tournament in Yerevan, Armenia.  With only two rounds remaining, Aronian trailed Peter Leko by a half point.  Leko would lose his round 13 game with Alexander Morozevich, while Aronian defeteated Michael Adams to jump into first place.  Both players settled for draws in the fourteenth and final round.

 Aronian’s final round victory is shown below, as well as the final standings:

Final Standings: 1. Aronian, Levon (ARM) 2763 8½, 2. Leko, Peter (HUN) 2741 8.0, 3. Morozevich, Alexander (RUS) 2774 7½, 4. Gelfand, Boris (ISR) 2723 7½, 5. Bu Xiangzhi (CHN) 2708 7.0, 6. Sargissian, Gabriel (ARM) 2643 6½, 7. Adams, Michael (ENG) 2729 6.0, 8. Akopian, Vladimir (ARM) 2673 5.0

George Henry Mackenzie was one of the strongest chess players in American history.  He won 1st prize in every American tournament he entered (13 tournaments and 7 matches) and had several strong showings in international tournaments.  Some of his more famous victories came at the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th American Chess Congresses.

Mackenzie is also well known for ending Wilhelm Steinitz’s legendary 25-game winning streak by holding him to a draw at the strong Vienna tournament of 1882.  That same tournament was eventually won by Steinitz, with Mackenzie finishing in fifth place.  Below is the third round game between these two great players.

For all games and more information on the 1882 Vienna tournament, visit: http://www.rookhouse.com/events/vienna1882.html

Today we bring you a game from the infamous St. Petersburg International Chess Tournament of 1914.  Then world champion, Emanuel Lasker plays the young up and coming Russian player, Alexander Alekhine.

Lasker was 45 years old at the time of this match and Alekhine was only 22.  The veteran Lasker would win the game and also go on to win the tournament.  Alekhine would place third behind Lasker and Jose Raul Capablanca, but ahead of the impressive group of Bernstein, Blackburne, Gunsberg, Janowsky, Marshall, Nimzowitsch, Rubinstein and Tarrasch.

Also shown is the annotated game as presented in David Mitchell’s 1917 chess publication titled “Chess”.  We are not sure who provided the actual analysis shown below.

The National Open Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) concluded over the weekend and there was a 6-way tie for first place between Gata Kamsky, Laurent Fressinet, Tigran Petrosian, Atanas Kolev, Ben Finegold, and Josh Friedel.  The event was a 6-round Swiss System tournament consisting of 100 players from around the world.  The winners all finished with five out of a possible six points. 

Popular U.S. chess player Hikaru Nakamura finished in a disappointing tie for 10th place with thirteen other players.  Nakamura, with a USCF rating of 2747, lost to IM David Pruess (2471) in the fifth round and settled for draws against IM Josh Friedel (2504) and GM Darwin Laylo (2452) in the third and fourth rounds.

Top results shown below:

Tournament Website: http://www.vegaschessfestival.com/