Mistakes in Books

From Shaul Hon, reviewing the book Amanut ha'Sachmat ba'Krav uba'Kompositzia [Chess Art in Games and Compositions] by Mordechai Rosenfeld (Sorce: Maariv, 26/1/66, p. 20):

We find many mistakes in M. Rosenfeld's book... we shall not note all of them but here is one of the major ones: 

On p. 86 the book says that "in the same year [1922] Alekhine met with the chess player 'Consultants' (קונסולטנטס) and defeated him [sic - A.P.] in a short and beautiful game". Who is this mysterious chess player "Consultants"? You shall look in vain in the history books -- he doesn't exist! The word means "consluting players" in English, when a master plays three of four players who consult among each other. Mr. Rosenfeld transcribed the word into Hebrew believing it's some player's name...

On the same page it says the game took place in the city of "Balle" (באל). Here, too, Mr. Rosenfeld transcribed from the foreign script without realizing that "Balle" is the French name of the city known [in English and Hebrew] of Basel (בזל). 

Najdorf's Love Affair with Chess...

Historia de Amor [a love story] by Jose Criado

The above cartoon, by Jose Angel Diaz Criado, was sent to me by Herbert Perez Garcia (used by permission). Criado is a fried of Garcia, and they presented this cartoon to Najdorf on his birthday in 1987. Garcia notes that Najdorf loved it...

There are many cartoons of chess players -- see here, for example -- but cartoons presented personally as a birthday present to players are much rarer.

But Daaaaaaaaad....!

From Ha'sachmat. ca. 1970 [unfortunately I do not have a good copy of the journal's cover!], by Zvi bar- Shira:

What counts as force majeure in chess? The head of the league committee, Yoel Aloni, was puzzled when he received the following question from the western Galilee: Natan Bronstein won [on time] in a league game because his opponent, the boy Shaul Har-El, was forcibly taken from the tournament hall by his father to prepare his homework. 

Aloni, report bar-Shira, decided that, after all, dad doesn't count as force majeure.

Czerniak the Honest

The following game appeared in the letter section of the Israeli chess magazine, Shachmat, in 1983. The author of the letter, Uriel Zak, notes how he defeated the Moshe Czerniak in 12 moves, adding before the game itself that he hopes this letter will help the student of opening traps by showing that even a "seasoned international master" might fall into such a trap.

The game is notable for a few things:

1). Zak is quite respectful of Czerniak, mentioning his glorious past (a draw with Botvinnik) in the same variation.
2). The game does not appear in the "standard" databases.
3). It is not every day that an IM loses in 12 moves.
4). The editor of the game section of Shachmat at the time -- less than a year before his death? The man who who published this game? The same Moshe Czerniak. 

Czerniak,Moshe - Zak,Uriel [A04]

Be'er Sheva, 1979

[Annotations: Uriel Zak]

Source: Shachmat, 1983, 11-12 [Nov. - Dec.]. Letters to the editor section. 

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 

Closed Sicilian. By the way, with this opening Czerniak drew with the great Botvinnik. 

3...g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.0–0 e6 

Botvinnik played  5...e5 

6.d3 Nge7 7.c3 0–0 

Who would believe the game would end in six moves? 

8.Be3 b6! 9.Qc1 Ba6 10.Rd1 d5 11.Bh6 

Sets a trap, since after 11...Bxh6 12.Qxh6 dxe4 13.Ng5 mates 

11. ... dxe4 12.dxe4?? 

A natural move that loses immediately.  12.Bxg7! Kxg7 13.dxe4 Qc7= 

12...Bxh6! 0–1

A Draw with Death

A Draw with Death, by Isaac Mares. Tarmil: Tel Aviv, 1983.

In this book, the holocaust survivor Isaac Mares tells us of a diabolical deal made by a young ghetto inmate with a sadistic SS officer. If he wins a chess game with him, all the ghetto will be spared -- except him. If he loses, the entire ghetto will be killed -- except him. Only if he draws, will both survive.

This, more or less, happened in reality. Efraim Kishon had his life saved in a camp by becoming the camp's commandant's chess coach. As he said in an interview many years later, he had to play well enough to remain coach, but on the other hand not too well so that the commandant won't "fire", and probably simply liquidate, him at a moment of anger. (Can anybody refer me to the source for this interview?)

Update, 30 5 2012: the original interview, which is often re-quoted (i.e., in www.chessbase.com) is from -- of all places -- the interview, "What Pains Efraim Kishon?" (מה כואב לאפרים קישון) from Monitin [in Hebrew], Feb. 1983 (no. 54). 

For those who think they know what playing under severe mental pressure is.

P.S.

Even here, the illustrator had been a victim of the evil "black square on lower right corner" mafia (see Item #30 in the link). Tim Krabbe says, 'people think it looks better that way'. I believe the reason is that when the h1 corner is shown in illustrations (as it usually is, since it's closest to the white king, the piece non-chessplayers think all the game constantly revolved around), the illustrator -- or the person who sets up the board -- thinks it's wrong to leave this "important" square blank; so naturally he colors it black, for emphasis.

50 Years to Eichmann's Trial -- and Chess

Fifty years have now passed since the opening of the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Israel. It had been mention before in this blog. Only in Israel, however, is it possible to see in the blog of the Tel Aviv Chess club [in Hebrew] that one of the upcoming events will be 'a meeting on holocaust memorial day with ex-minister Rafi Eitan, one of the squad which abducted Eichmann'.

Smyslov Singing and Najdorf Speaking

Hebert Pérez García, from the Netherlands, had put online another excellent video of the 1996 reunification tournament, held 50 years after the 1946 Groningen tournament, with all surviving contestants. This video has Najdorf giving a moving speech, in particular giving a tribute to Euwe; and Smyslov doing what he did best (after chess) -- operatic singing. 


The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper and Whyld (2nd Ed., 1992) notes in their entry for Smyslov that he 'narrowly missed' a place in the Bolshoi Opera in 1950. This would not be the first time Smyslov sang at a chess event: the same source notes he 'sang operatric extracts on Swiss radio' in the 1953 Neuhausen-Zurich tournament, and sang to the audience in the interval during a game of living chess with Botvinnik. 

In Memorium

Photo: A.P.

In the Rishon Le'Tziyon chess club, [link in Hebrew] there is an old an battered chess set. The set is not expensive or special. It is a rather ordinary wooden set. It was donated in 2005 by the Israeli chess player, coach, and overall Rishon Le'Tziyon club "character", Shmuel "Dugo" Friedman. One can find many photos of him in the 'history' section of Rishon Le'Tziyon's chess club's web site [link in Hebrew].  It is dedicated to the memory of his parents and family.

Why would he donate an old chess set to the memory of his parents and family? Because, the signs in the photo explain (the bottom sign is illegible in this picture) this is the very set they played on until they were shipped to Auschwitz, where they were murdered in 1944.

P.S.

"Dugo" (b. 1919) should not be confused with the other Israeli player named Shmuel Friedman (b. 1951).

Jeremy Gaige, 1927 - 2011

The recent death of Jeremy Gaige, the world's best chess archivist, is deeply felt by the chess historians' world community. Edward Winter notes, in his usual meticulous style, that Gaige had (inter alia) a 'thoroughly international' style in his collection of data, by no means limiting himself to English-language sources.

This is indeed so. Very often I relied on Gaige for information about many Israeli (or Palestinian, or Jewish) chess players, including ones that are extremely obscure and unknown by most Israeli players today. May he rest in peace.