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Meet the masters: Eight great chess players and their most characteristic games
Arguably the strongest tournament of all time was AVRO 1938, held in The Netherlands. This competition contained no fewer than four past present and future world champions, while the players in this event continuously held the supreme title with just two one year breaks from 1921 to 1963. In this book the Dutch World Champion Dr Max Euwe previews the AVRO Tournament and gives his insights into the particular strengths and weaknesses of such titans as Fine, Keres, Botvinnik, Alekhine, Capablanca and Reshevsky.
279 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1940
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December 13, 2019
A wonderful book about the strengths and weaknesses of seven great chess players, with an appendix on another.
In 1938, the Dutch broadcasting company, A.V.R.O. sponsored the greatest chess tournament held to that time. It included the three active present or former world champions,: Alekhine, Capablanca, and Euwe, and the five outstanding young challengers; the official F.I.D.E. challenger, that 'rock of safety and correctness" (As Stahlberg called him.), the "drawing master",Salomon Flohr, of Czechoslovakia,who had probably been one of the top four or five players the world from 1931 to 1935, but who had declined slightly, probably from excessive caution,the two outstanding young American grandmasters-and bitter rivals- the dour and determined ex-prodigy, Samuel Reshevsky and the clever tactician, Reuben Fine, the brilliant ''scientific" player from the U.S.S.R, Mikhail Botvinnik. who had drawn a match with Flohr in 1933,and who boasted outstanding results three major tournaments; Moscow, 1935( Equal first with Flohr, ) Moscow 1936;, (Second to Capablanca, ), and Nottingham, 1936 (equal first with Capablanca), And, finally the most unlikely grandmaster of all, the "neo-romantic", Paul Keres, who had come out of one of the world's tiniest countries, Estonia, and enthralled chess lovers with his opening gambits and middle game sacrifices. He had emerged as a clear challenger to the title by brilliantly winning a tournament almost as strong as AVRO, Semmering 1937, head of Fine, Capablanca, Reshevsky, Flohr and three strong slightly lesser lights: Eliskases, Ragozin and Petrov.
Euwe , seeking to introduce his fellow grandmasters to the Dutch chess public by looking the sort of positions they liked. Capablanca liked "clear" positions, where his astonishing technique and clear and precise,, yet often beautiful tactics, could precede unimpeded. Alekhine liked "favorable" positions-that is, unbalanced and dynamic ones,-where his astounding imagination could run free. Then came the five young men, in order of birth. Flohr, the national hero of Czechoslovakia, liked "quiet" positions, again relying on technique and- some times- clear and simple, but deadly, tactics. The American pragmatist, Reshevsky usually liked seemingly "boring" positions, where he could , in effect, roll up his sleeves and get to work. Fine, a somewhat more flamboyant pragmatist, liked 'sharp' positions, full of the sort of tactical tricks that he had perfected during his years of playing speed chess. Botvinnik loved "complicated" positions, which he would master with all of the scientific skill of the engineer he was. Finally, Keres loved "wild' positions., where he could attack-or counterattack-to his hearts content.
That left Euwe, who preferred not to comment on himself. However, the English translation, by B.H.Wood and Hans Kmoch, remedied the deficiency. Euwe loved 'methodical" positions, whether complicated or simple, in which he could formulate -and carry out a precise plan. Unfortunately, where no method wad readily apparent, he had a sad tendency to blunder.
In 1938, the Dutch broadcasting company, A.V.R.O. sponsored the greatest chess tournament held to that time. It included the three active present or former world champions,: Alekhine, Capablanca, and Euwe, and the five outstanding young challengers; the official F.I.D.E. challenger, that 'rock of safety and correctness" (As Stahlberg called him.), the "drawing master",Salomon Flohr, of Czechoslovakia,who had probably been one of the top four or five players the world from 1931 to 1935, but who had declined slightly, probably from excessive caution,the two outstanding young American grandmasters-and bitter rivals- the dour and determined ex-prodigy, Samuel Reshevsky and the clever tactician, Reuben Fine, the brilliant ''scientific" player from the U.S.S.R, Mikhail Botvinnik. who had drawn a match with Flohr in 1933,and who boasted outstanding results three major tournaments; Moscow, 1935( Equal first with Flohr, ) Moscow 1936;, (Second to Capablanca, ), and Nottingham, 1936 (equal first with Capablanca), And, finally the most unlikely grandmaster of all, the "neo-romantic", Paul Keres, who had come out of one of the world's tiniest countries, Estonia, and enthralled chess lovers with his opening gambits and middle game sacrifices. He had emerged as a clear challenger to the title by brilliantly winning a tournament almost as strong as AVRO, Semmering 1937, head of Fine, Capablanca, Reshevsky, Flohr and three strong slightly lesser lights: Eliskases, Ragozin and Petrov.
Euwe , seeking to introduce his fellow grandmasters to the Dutch chess public by looking the sort of positions they liked. Capablanca liked "clear" positions, where his astonishing technique and clear and precise,, yet often beautiful tactics, could precede unimpeded. Alekhine liked "favorable" positions-that is, unbalanced and dynamic ones,-where his astounding imagination could run free. Then came the five young men, in order of birth. Flohr, the national hero of Czechoslovakia, liked "quiet" positions, again relying on technique and- some times- clear and simple, but deadly, tactics. The American pragmatist, Reshevsky usually liked seemingly "boring" positions, where he could , in effect, roll up his sleeves and get to work. Fine, a somewhat more flamboyant pragmatist, liked 'sharp' positions, full of the sort of tactical tricks that he had perfected during his years of playing speed chess. Botvinnik loved "complicated" positions, which he would master with all of the scientific skill of the engineer he was. Finally, Keres loved "wild' positions., where he could attack-or counterattack-to his hearts content.
That left Euwe, who preferred not to comment on himself. However, the English translation, by B.H.Wood and Hans Kmoch, remedied the deficiency. Euwe loved 'methodical" positions, whether complicated or simple, in which he could formulate -and carry out a precise plan. Unfortunately, where no method wad readily apparent, he had a sad tendency to blunder.
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