Chigorin, as I pointed out earlier in this chapter, was a magnificent master of attack. But there were times, as in this game, where he was simply unrecognizable. He began by playing a miserable opening which had been discredited for three centuries. He went from bad to worse, losing his queen on the 12th move.
Schiffers, one of the leading players of the day, should certainly have had no trouble winning. But now he began to play very carelessly; probably the idea of having a queen for only a minor piece must have gone to his head. Meanwhile, Chigorin, instead of resigning, kept right on playing, just out of pure cussedness. Certainly this doesn’t sound like a game between two masters. Finally they arrived at the astonishing position of the diagram. (D)
Here Schiffers, apparently unaware of the dangers surrounding him in this position, played:
Schiffers – Chigorin
White to move
1.Q×a7?? ...
This must be just about the worst blunder ever played in a master game! For now Black has a checkmate which is not only forced but extraordinarily brilliant.
1...Rh1+!! (D)
2.N×h1 Bh2+!! 3.K×h2 Rh8+ 4.Bh6 R×h6+ 5.Kg3 Nf5+ 6.Kf4 Rh4 mate! (D)
Of course, this mate which is so beautiful and subtle could be found by only a few players. But Chigorin, that immortal genius of brilliant attacking play, was one of the few who should have found this striking finish. (What makes it possible is that White’s queen is so hopelessly out of play.) Instead, from the starting diagram, he answered 1.Q×a7?? with this totally uninspired reply:
1...b6??
Missing his chance for glory.
But now that White has had such a narrow escape from disaster, you might expect him to see the threat – at least. But, instead, what happens?
2.Be3?? ...
Again allowing Black to force mate by ...Rh1+!! etc.
2...Nf5?? (D)
And again Chigorin misses the opportunity of a lifetime.
It would lead us too far afield to trace the rest of this comedy of errors. Eventually the players agreed to a draw – in a position which was won for White! Thus this comedy was topped off with one last joke.
Strange as it may seem, master chess contains one move mistakes even crasser than this one. Here, for example, is a double case of bad oversights from the 1953 world championship candidates tournament: (D)
Szabo – Reshevsky
White to move
White, who has built up a very powerful position, now plays:
1.Nf6+ ... (D)
Black has two possible replies to this move. He sees that on 1...Kh8 White gets a terrific attack by 2.g4! for example, 2...h×g4 3.h5! and the pawn cannot be captured because of 4.Qh7 mate.
Naturally Reshevsky doesn’t like this possibility. He thinks and thinks and finally plays the alternative move:
1...B×f6 (D)
Black’s last move, played by one of the world’s greatest masters, allows White to mate in two moves.
And now Szabo, himself a leading master, completely overlooks that he can play 2.Q×g6+ followed by mate next move. (Black’s f7-pawn is pinned!)
Several moves later the following position arose in this important game: (D)
Szabo – Reshevsky
White to move
Again Szabo has a grand opportunity on the long diagonal and again he botches it. The right way is:
1.Bh6! ...
Threatens mate.
1...f6
The only defense against the menace of 2.Qg7 mate.
2.Qg3! ... (D)
Double attack: White threatens mate in two beginning with 3.Q×g6+. But he also attacks Black’s undefended rook. Black must of course play to stop the mate, and then he loses his rook by 3.Q×b8.
Actually nothing of the sort happened. In the diagrammed position Szabo played the obvious but weaker 1.B×f8, Black replied 1...K×f8, and the game ended in a draw.
Of course, these blunders happened in the severest kind of time pressure, when both players had only a few seconds left to make their moves. Yet, whatever the cause, these blunders broke Szabo’s spirit.
“At first,” one correspondent reported, “he refused to believe that these possibilities actually existed. Then, after accepting the obvious truth, he nearly cried. He seemed to feel that Sammy had done him dirt by subjecting him to ridicule. He said, “Of course I didn’t see it – or look for it. You don’t look for a two-move mate on Reshevsky.”
A foolish comment indeed, for if you have to look for the best move against a weak opponent, how much more necessary is it to find the best move against a Reshevsky!
And yet Szabo’s pathetic remark explains why the blunders of a master often go unpunished. Who would expect a master to blunder?
However, the point of this chapter has been made, and made emphatically: the masters do blunder on occasion. And that leads us to a very delightful idea – that once in a while, once in a very great while, an amateur has been known to beat a master.
As I’ve said, it’s a very rare occurrence, worthy of recording by Ripley. Still, it’s enough to make you think that some day you might beat a master. Why not? Let’s turn to the next chapter and see how it’s done.
Chapter Six
Once in a Lifetime
When Amateurs Beat Masters
There are all sorts of ways for an amateur to beat a master – by hokum, by trickery, and even by outplaying him. In this book we shall study only the third method, but to satisfy your curiosity, I’ll illustrate the first two methods for you.
The story is told of Emanuel Lasker – and just about every other world champion – that he once found himself stranded in a small town between trains. To while away the time he sat down to play a game of chess with a local yokel. After a mere twenty moves Lasker had to resign.
“Nice work,” the world champion commented grudgingly. “But tell me, why don’t you move your knights. “My knights? said the yokel. “Oh, you mean those funny ones with the horses’ heads? As a matter of fact I still don’t know how to move them!”
It’s a good story, even if it’s not true. The odds in favor of this method are about one in a hundred quadrillion. To illustrate the use of trickery there’s this story, which may well be a true one.
When Steinitz was a young man in Vienna he was very poor. (Later on, when he became world champion, he was even poorer.) To have enough to live on he would play amateurs for trifling side bets. One of his opponents, an amateur, was a dependable loser for a long time. But then, after another player began to sit at their table, the steady loser improved to a startling degree.
Steinitz was baffled. There seemed to be no communication between the two, and yet, when the steady loser reached out his hand to play a palpable blunder, he would suddenly stop in mid-air, see the error of his ways, and play a different move. It was uncanny. Steinitz was sure the third man was offering advice – but how?
One day, during the course of a game, Steinitz happened to look under the table and saw that the method of communication was a slight pressure of the third man’s foot on the “customer” foot. That was all that Steinitz needed. He set a cunning trap and sure enough, when the customer was about to fall into it, he paused. Steinitz pressed his own foot down heavily on the customer’s foot. At this the customer was completely rattled. He was getting more “information” than he needed or wanted. The “system” was smashed, and Steinitz continued to win game after game.
I can’t offer odds on this method, nor do I recommend it. The wear and tear on the shinbones is too great. There are, however, a number of legitimate ways to beat a master. Let’s see what they are.
Odds Games
In this type of play the master removes one of his units from the board before play starts. By conceding the weaker player a handicap of this sort, he helps to make the fight a fairer and harder one.
At least that’s the theory of odds play. In practice it doesn’t work out too well – as you can gather from the Tarrasch-Schroeder game (page 6
2). The better player is still the better player, and after a blunder or two by his opponent the master asserts his superior strength and goes right on to win the game.
There are other drawbacks to odds play. It is an affront to the weaker player’s pride to be publically treated like a baby and have his inferiority paraded openly by receiving a handicap.
The final objection to odds play is that by disturbing the basic equality of forces it is really a sin against the spirit of chess. A player might be able to beat a master by receiving really substantial odds, but this would prove nothing and would still leave him in the position of losing constantly when starting off on an even basis.
It’s true that about a century ago odds play was very popular. In those days there was hardly any chess literature to speak of, and the only way for a poor player to improve was to match himself against top-notch masters. But, since the games were generally slaughters, it seemed an unavoidable necessity for the master to give odds.
The great Paul Morphy was very skillful in this department. He regularly scored elegant wins in games where he conceded odds of the queen knight, or even queen rook, to players well above the duffer class. It is an art requiring sublime self-confidence and an unruffled spirit. Judging by the results Morphy achieved, the odds were about 40 to 1 in his favor.
One of his most frequent opponents was Charles Maurian, a close friend from boyhood. Maurian was a gifted player, but Morphy had the Indian sign on him. Yet one day Maurian played that elusive masterpiece of a lifetime of which we all dream.
Morphy – Maurian Bishop’s Gambit Odds of a1-rook
1.e4 e5 2.f4 ... (D)
Morphy plays the famous King’s Gambit – a sign that he means to mow Maurian down with a brilliant attack.
2...e×f4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 b5!? (D)
Black’s last move is just a gesture. It doesn’t matter much whether White takes the offered pawn or not.
Actually the move has a much more subtle meaning. Morphy is the great master who’s supposed to be doing the sacrificing in this game. To make up for the enormous odds he’s giving he must maintain the initiative. Instead we find Black stealing the initiative at this very early stage. If the odds-receiver can manage to play aggressively, he must win, as his material is so considerable.
5.Bd5 Nc6! (D)
Here again Maurian is stealing Morphy’s thunder. Most players would react automatically with 5...c6, but Maurian copies Morphy’s tactic of always seeking to develop pieces.
6.Nf3 Qh5 7.d4 Nf6 8.Bb3 Ba6 (D)
Think of it! Black is a rook ahead – in perfect safety – and is bringing out his pieces so efficiently that he is even ahead in development. With his last move Black contemplates ...b4+, driving White’s king to g1 and making it virtually impossible for White to ever develop his king rook.
Morphy is desperate, as well he might be, and he now plays unwittingly into a magnificent combination.
9.Qe2 ...
To stop ...b4+ But Black has an extraordinarily brilliant reply. What follows is chess of a very high order.
9...N×d4!! (D)
Very fine. This move is so deep that at first sight it looks like a blunder. But it isn’t – as the master discovers soon to his sorrow.
10.N×d4 b4!! (D)
And this beautiful move, which looks even more foolhardy, really tops off Black’s plan. His subtle idea is to draw White’s queen away from the defense.
11.Q×a6 ...
Poor Morphy! If he doesn’t capture the bishop he loses his pinned queen. The whole combination is based on the power of Black’s (unprotected) bishop pinning the white queen.
11...Qd1+
Now that he’s removed White’s queen from the main theater of action, Black can wind up the game as planned.
12.Kf2 Ng4 mate! (D)
And there you have it: the most beautiful odds game ever won by an amateur against a master! It’s a beautiful game by any standard – one that any master would be proud of.
Simultaneous Play
As I pointed out earlier, simultaneous play no longer has the vogue it once had. However, opportunities for meeting the master in simultaneous exhibitions still exist. For the ambitious amateur they are the thrill of a lifetime.
When you stop to consider it, the master plays his twenty or forty or so simultaneous games surprisingly well. At the most he can devote an average of a minute to each move. The scene shifts continually and new problems face him at every board. His technique, his memory, his quick sight of the board, and even his feet, are subjected to a grueling test.
So, under the circumstances, the master does surprisingly well. Even when he blunders at one board or another, he nurses the position along patiently and eventually makes a good recovery, finally scoring another victory after a dubious beginning. As in the case of odds play one might figure the odds in favor of the master as about 40 to 1.
Once in a great while, however, it happens that the master catches a Tartar. The element of surprise plays a role, of course. All or most of his opponents in an exhibition are strangers to the master. Here and there an unknown may turn out to be an unexpectedly powerful player. When that happens, the result may be catastrophe, as in the following game:
Dake – Amateur French Defense
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 (D)
The pin on the knight is a favorite motif in the French Defense.
4.Nge2 ...
A “temporary” pawn sacrifice which turns out to be permanent.
4...d×e4 (D)
5.a3 B×c3+ 6.N×c3 Nc6
Black strives for counterattack. (D)
If White captures the king pawn, Black remains a pawn ahead by capturing the queen pawn.
White’s proper course is now 7.Bb5, pinning Black’s queen knight and thus putting it out of commission. Instead, he decides to “mix it” with Black. This policy of going in for technically dubious complications is usually good policy, as experience shows that the amateur is bound to stumble in a maze of possibilities. However, in this particular game we have the proverbial exception that proves the rule.
7.Qg4? N×d4! 8.Q×g7?? ... (D)
He sees the coming check but he thinks he can endure it because he has Black’s rook under attack. In his haste he overlooks that Black has a forced mate. In justice to the masters, it must be emphasized that despite the rapidity of their simultaneous play they rarely succumb in this way.
When they do lose a game, it is after forty, fifty moves or so. But to play over such a game would be a dreary business. For our purpose it is much more entertaining to see a quick, dramatic finish.
8...N×c2+ 9.Ke2 ...
Forced.
9...Qd3 mate! (D)
A game in a million.
But, you may say, this game is something of a freak. White’s grievous oversight cost him the game before he was really started. Let’s see a game where the master does his best and gets beaten just the same.
Mieses – Amateur Scotch Game
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 e×d4 4.N×d4 Nf6 (D)
Even at this early stage Black plays for counterattack. The question is: can he keep it up?
5.N×c6 b×c6 6.Bd3 d5 5.e5 Ng4 6.Bf4 Bc5 7.0-0 g5! (D)
One attacking move after another. The experienced master soon recognizes such an opponent as dangerous. There’s no telling what wild combination may turn up when you have an enterprising opponent.
10.Bd2 Qe7 11.Bc3 Be6 12.h3? ... (D)
Here the master badly underestimates his opponent. The right way is 12.Nd2, getting more development for his pieces. The comparatively weak next move is a challenge which Black readily accepts.
12...h5! (D)
A move which plainly says: “I dare you to capture my knight!”
The master feels he must accept the challenge if he’s not to “lose face.”
However, this is a case where discretion is the better part of valor.
13.h×g4? h×g4
Now we see the point of Black’s sacrifice: he intends to menac
e White’s castled king along the newly opened h-file.
14.g3 ...
Mieses takes the usual precautionary measures with a practiced hand, but he misses a fine point.
14...Qf8!
Black has eye on the open h-file. He threatens ...Qh6 followed by checkmate.
15.Kg2 ... (D)
Mieses is not afraid of 15...Qh6, which he will answer satisfactorily with 16.Rh1. Now it’s all over, he thinks, with a sardonic glance at his opponent.
15...Rh2+!!
A magnificent inspiration! And what fun to play such a move against a great master!
16.K×h2 Qh6+ 17.Kg1 Qh3 (D)
As we look at the diagram position we have to ask ourselves: what’s it all about? What does Black have to show for sacrificing a whole rook?
The answer is this: Black has sacrificed a rook in order to gain time to get this position. The important point is that the white f2-pawn is pinned by Black’s bishop at c5. Black is therefore able to threaten 18...Q×g3+ 19.Kh1 Qh3+ 20.Kg1 g3 followed by ...Qh2 mate.
And Black has still another threat: simply to castle, followed by ...Rh8 and ...Qh2 mate or ...Qh1 mate. Mieses finds a tricky resource which he hopes will give him a fighting chance.
18.Bd4!? ...
How to Play Chess like a Champion Page 9