“I got strong ideas about my house. I’m going to hire the best architect and have him build it in the shape of a rook. Yeah, that’s for me. Class. Spiral staircases, parapets, everything. I want to live the rest of my life in a house built exactly like a rook.”
Welcome to the Rook House Chess Blog. This portion of our website was designed to provide instant interaction with chess enthusiasts all over the world. We cover many topics such as chess news, chess history, and the occasional chess puzzle.
Please visit our main website at www.rookhouse.com and view our extensive collection of historical facts and games. Lastly, please remember to be civil and respectful to all users of this site.
During my extensive research on Jackson Showalter, I recently came across this article from 1916 that details an inexplicable eleven move checkmate suffered by then American chess champion Frank Marshall at a Brooklyn, New York simul.
The article is shown below and the moves of the game are also given.
The third Moscow international chess tournament in 1936 had an impressive field of participants, including two former world champions (Jose Raul Capablanca, Emanuel Lasker) and one future world champion (Mikhail Botvinnik). The tournament took place at the Hall of Columns in Moscow, Russia from May 14th to June 8th, 1936.
The solid mix of Western and Soviet competitors were to play a double round-robin, consisting of eighteen total games. Capablanca, nine years removed from being the world champion, was alone in first place at the halfway mark. A point and a half behind him were Botvinnik, Lasker, and Viacheslav Ragozin. The only player to keep within reasonable distance of the leader was Botvinnik, but he eventually finished a full point behind the tournament champion, Capablanca.
The tournament book was written by one of the participants, Gregory Levenfish and later translated to English by Jimmy Adams.
Lastly, the seventh round game between Capablanca and Botvinnik was an instant classic and is shown below. Enjoy.
One year ago today, the greatest chess player of all time passed away in Iceland of kidney failure. Bobby Fischer was 64 years old when he died and despite the fact that he had not played competitive chess since 1992, he was still the most talked about player in the annals of chess history.
There have since been discussions of possible movies about Fischer, an algebraic release of his legendary “My 60 Memorable Games”, and increased conversations about his brilliant chess play and controversial personality. The topic of Fischer never gets old, no matter what spin is put on it. A timeless character, whose name is the very first that comes to mind when the game of chess is mentioned anywhere in the world.
His classic battle with Boris Spassky in 1972 reamains to be the greatest chess match of all time, just as his toppling of the Russian chess machine reamains the most amazing feat of all time.
First he was taken from the chess world too soon, and then ultimately taken from the entire world too soon. His chess theories and novelties continue to amaze, and his contributions of the Fischer clock and Fischer Random Chess are still celebrated today.
Thank you for the memories Bobby, you will definitely be remembered and revered forever. Presented in your honor is game # 14 from your very own classic book, as well as a photo from that same brilliant game.
Can anyone name the individuals in the background?
Stefano Roselli del Turco was a strong international chess player in the 1920’s and 1930’s. He won the Italian Chess Championship in 1920, 1923, and 1931. Even this strong chess master was not immune to bad games or blunders.
At the famous 1925 Baden-Baden tournament, he played a game against the legendary Efim Bogoljubow in which he was playing the black side of a Queen’s Gambit Declined. On the 17th move he inexplicably played 17… Rf4??? and quickly resigned one move later.
Samuel Reshevsky, the legendary chess prodigy who was born in Poland and later immigrated to the United States, made his tournament debut at the age of 10 years old. The site was the Chess Club International in New York City and the date was October 8th, 1922.
The youngster’s opponent was Charles Jaffe, a very accomplished and seasoned American chess player. Reshevsky (then spelled “Rzeschewski”) played the black side of a Ruy Lopez. The game was initially adjourned with little Reshevsky enjoying an advantageous position and an additional pawn. Jaffe would eventally equalize the position after play resumed and the result was a hard fought 59-move draw.
Which Chess Match That Never Took Place Would You Most Like To Have Seen?
Our recent poll poses an interesting question, one of which makes you go back in time and really think about the matchups that never took place. This is one of the most compelling polls that we’ve come up with and one of the most difficult to limit the choices offered.
Please vote for one of the nine choices or pick “other” and comment here. This should hopefully stir up some enjoyable conversation.
The 1983 qualifying cycle to determine a challenger for Anatoly Karpov was filled with chess legends both past and future. In the quarterfinal round, up and coming Russian player Garry Kasparov faced off against fellow Russian, Alexander Beliavsky.
With Kasparov ahead by a full point, Beliavsky turned out a masterpiece in game 4 of their match. A pawn sacrifice on move 13 exposes black’s vulnerable kingside in the Nimzo-Indian defense.
Kasparov would go on to win the match by a score of 6.0-3.0 and eventually earn the right to face Karpov. Beliavsky would play board 6 for Russia in the 1984 USSR vs World match the following year, scoring an impressive 3.5 out of 4.0 points in another victory for the Soviet chess machine.
The London International Chess Congress of 1922 provided us with many memorable games. Jose Raul Capablanca was the reigning world champion at the time and headlined an impressive cast of participants. His first round game was against future world champion Max Euwe, the very first meeting between these two great players.
Capablanca had the black pieces and played the Berlin defense of the Ruy Lopez. His brilliant victory in this game serves as an excellent instructional to anyone wishing to learn the Spanish Opening with black. The game analysis is by Hermann Helms.
SOURCE: Washington Post - October 8th, 1922
[Event "London Int'l Congress"]
[Date "1922.??.??"]
[Round "01"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Euwe, Max"]
[Black "Capablanca, Jose Raul"]
[ECO "C66"]
[PlyCount "76"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 {The so-called Berlin defense to the Ruy Lopez, which has withstood the test of time
and was adopted in four of the Capablanca-Lasker match games at Havana – the third,
sixth, twelfth, and fourteenth.} 4. O-O d6 {Practically the Steinitz defense, although the great Austrian in his development of
the opening made this a move earlier.} 5. d4 Bd7 6. Nc3 exd4
7. Nxd4 {In the fourteenth game of the match at Havana, which was won by Capablanca, Lasker,
playing white, continued with 7.Bxc6 before the exchange of pawns in the center.} Be7 8. Re1 O-O {In this manner, also, did Lasker and Tarrash play in the world’s championship match
of 1908.} 9. Bf1 {Following the cue of Lasker in his twelfth game with Capablanca. Both of these
masters continued with 9.Bxc6 in the third and sixth games of thew match, which, like
the twelfth, were drawn.} Re8 10. f3 Nxd4 {Capablanca, in the twelfth game aforesaid, played 10...Bf8, after which followed
11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 g6 13.Nd5 Bg7. At this point Capablanca, in his book on the match,
remarks: "I can not very highly recommend the system of defense adopted by me in this
variation."} 11. Qxd4 Be6
12. Qf2 c6 {This, at first blush, would appear to leave the queen’s pawn weak, but black is
fully prepared for the advance of d4 if the need arises.} 13. Bd2 Qb6 {As this is the only point at which the queen can be deployed satisfactorily.
Capablanca does not mince matters, but faces the situation squarely, though it
involves an exchange of queens.} 14. Na4 {An invasion which costs him valuable time. Instead, he should have played 14.Qxb6,
followed by 15.a6.} Qxf2+ 15. Kxf2 d5 16. e5 {Somewhat risky, as will be seen presently. On the other hand, if 16.exd5 Nxd5, with
the better position.} Nd7
17. g3 {This loses a pawn; either f4 or Bd3 was necessary as preventive.} Bf5 18. Rac1 b5 19. Nc3 Bc5+
{Disclosing the rook on the king’s pawn, now twice attacked.} 20. Kg2 Nxe5 21. g4 Bg6
22. Kg3 h5 23. Bf4 {The only chance for freeing his game lies in this direction. At best, with a pawn
down, white’s prospects are not at all enviable.} f6 24. Bxe5 fxe5 25. Bd3 Bf7 {Well played; an exchange of bishops would have enabled white to set up a stronger
defensive barrier.} 26. g5 g6
27. Re2 Bd6 28. Kg2 Kg7 29. Rce1 Re7 30. Nd1 Rf8 31. Nf2 Be8
32. b3 {To bring the knight to g1 via h3 would avail nothing as a defense for the king’s
bishop pawn, inasmuch as black, with Bc5, could always dislodge it.} Ref7 33. c4 {It is useless to play 33.Re3 on account of 33...d4.} Rxf3 34. cxd5 cxd5 35. Bb1 Bc6 36. Rd1 R3f4
{With all of black’s force bearing directly upon the king, the end is now close at
hand.} 37. Be4 Bc5 38. Nd3 dxe4 0-1
Hermann Helms, “the dean of American chess”, was an accomplished chess columnist and an attacking chess player of national master caliber. His chess career included wins over American legends Harry Nelson Pillsbury and Frank James Marshall. He also won the New York state championship on two separate occasions (1906, 1925) and represented the United States in five cable matches against Great Britain (1897, 1902, 1903, 1908, 1909), compiling a record of 2 wins, 2 losses, and 1 draw.
Helms is probably most famous for publishing and editing the American Chess Bulletin (along with Hartwig Cassel) from 1904 to 1963. His other notable contributions to chess included writing a chess column for the New York Times (for over 50 years) and for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (for 62 years). He also assisted in organizing the great New York chess tournaments of 1924 and 1927.
In 1951, a woman by the name of Regina Fischer wrote a letter that was received by Helms, asking for chess opponents for her 8-year old son. Helms answered the letter and was promptly responsible for getting him into organized chess. The boy’s name was Bobby Fischer.
Here is one of his games that shows his aggressive attacking style against James F. Smyth in 1915. The notes are by Helms himself:
During Paul Morphy’s famous European adventures in 1858, he made several stops at the infamous Cafe de la Regence in Paris, France. The cafe had always been an important centerpiece in chess history, as most of the previous greats had played there at one time or another. Francois-Andre Danican Philidor, Legall de Kremeur, and Adolf Anderssen are just a few names to play at the famous cafe. It has also been documented that Benjamin Franklin, a noted chess enthusiast, played there on occasion while serving as American ambassador to France during the Revolutionary War.
One of Morphy’s encounters at the cafe involved him playing eight of the strong cafe regulars in a blindfold simul in the presence of approximately 250 chess fans. After ten hours of play, Morphy had amazingly won six games, drawn two, and lost zero. It was reported that Morphy never took a break and did not even appear fatigued at the conclusion of play. One of his games from this event is presented below, as annotated by Johann Jakob Lowenthal.
SOURCE: Harper’s Weekly – November 13th, 1858
[Event "blindfold simul"]
[Site "Paris, France"]
[Date "1858.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Paul Morphy"]
[Black "Henri Baucher"]
[ECO "C41"]
[PlyCount "57"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Qxd4
Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. Bg5 f6 8. Bh4 Nh6 {It is a
question to which square this knight shoulbe played here, to
the one in the text or to e7. Much may be said in favor of
both; played to h6 it can be brought back to f7 and castling
effected; while if to e7 with the object of posting it on g6,
a diagonal is left open which will render castling a less easy
matter. Th relative merit, however, of the two moves can only
be determined by frequently tecting them in actual play.}
9. Nc3 Be7 10. O-O O-O 11. Qc4 Kh8 12. Nd4 Qd7 13. Rad1 Rf7
{Played, it would seem, with a view of occupying the square
vacated with the queen’s rook, though we do not see that
Black’s position would thereby have been much improved.}
14. f4 {In recording games played by Mr. Morphy, we have been
much struck by the skill and judgement with he invariably
times the advance of the f-pawn after castling. An immediate
advantage is immediately apparent. Here it allows the King’s
rook to be brought to bear on the adversary’s intrenchments.}
a5 15. f5 Rff8 {The advance of the f-pawn by white effectually
prevented Black from carrying on his original plan of bringing
his queen’s rook to f8 on account of Ne6; and this retreat of
the king’s rook was no doubt caused by Boucher’s wish to bring
his knight into play, which he now could not do without
leaving this rook ‘en prise’.} 16. Ne6 {White has now a fine
game.} Rg8 17. a4 Ng4 18. Qe2 {Mr Morphy exhibits the true
spirit of chess. From the commencement of the game he makes
such a disposition of his pieces, that, after serving his
purpose to the outmost in their original position, they are
brought at once, and without the least loss of time, to bear
on another weak point in the adversary’s game. the move in the
text is a fair prove of the truth of the assertion; for the
queen, after for some time having maintained a position of
importance, is now brought back and becomes even more powerful
than before. This move is a commencement of a very masterly
combination.} Ne5 19. Bg3 Qc8 {To get rid of the knight by
playing ...Bd7 and to allow the d-pawn to take the bishop if
his knight were captured.} 20. Bxe5 dxe5 21. Rf3 {The key move
to a combination of surprising merit, when it is remenbered
that it takes place in a game contested simultaneously with
seven others against strong players, and all without sight of
board and men.} Bd7 22. Rh3 h6 {If 22...Re8 White would have
won as follows 23 Qh5 h6 24 Nxg7 Bf8 (We see no better move
for if ...Kg8 white would win with Rg3) 25 Qxh6+ Kg8 26 Qh7+
Kf7 and White mates in two moves.} 23. Qd2 {Followed up with
real spirit.} Kh7 {To save the threatened mate.} 24. Qxd7 Bd6
25. Rxh6+ {The position deserves the student’s best
examination. Mr Morphy’s play here is a wonderful exhibition
of brilliancy and correctness.} Kxh6 26. Rd3 Kh5 27. Qf7 Kh4
28. Rh3 Kg4 29. Qh5# 1-0