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An elite-level scandal
Although chess might have more in common in terms of gameplay with draughts or go, there is a salient similarity it shares with the game of bridge: they are the only ‘mind sports’ recognized by the International Olympic Committee albeit neither of them has been found eligible for the main Olympic program.
Chess and bridge also share that cheating has become a growing preoccupation for fans and organizers of the sport. In the case of bridge, a game in which partners need to convey information in a restricted manner, notable incidents date back to as early as the 1930s, when a scandal led to Willard S. Karn bringing a one million dollar defamation suit against Ely Culbertson, six others and Crockford Inc., accusing them of spreading rumours and conspiring to remove him from the bridge world.
€29.90
The World Championship Match Mikhail Botvinnik vs Mihail Tal, Moscow 1961
Some World Championship matches receive a lot of attention, others less. The 1960 World Championship match between Tal and Botvinnik received a lot of attention, their return match in 1961 created less interest and a lot of people thought that the wrong player won.
Tal won the 1960 match to become the then youngest world champion of all time. His bold dynamic play thrilled fans all over the world and his victory against Botvinnik seemed to be a victory of fearless imagination against cold and rational logic and promised to be the beginning of a new era. But only a year later, in the 1961 return match, disillusionment followed: Botvinnik won 13 to 8 (+10, -5, =6) and reclaimed the world title. But the second match was played under unequal conditions.
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International German Championship 1981
In 1981, as is well known, the Iron Curtain was still up, and the ‘Wall’ still had a few years of life ahead of it. Moreover, the Cold War was ‘hotter’ than ever. But the Iron Curtain was not equally impermeable to every citizen of an Eastern bloc country.
While citizens of the German Democratic Republic were indeed hermetically sealed off from the West, Romanian or Bulgarian grandmasters could travel to tournaments in capitalist countries. Victor Ciocaltea (on the teaser picture, the Romanian grandmaster is the one getting up from his chair) finished sixth in Bochum, just two years before his death. His compatriot IM Mihail Ghinda (born 1949) also played, as he often did in Western territory.
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By José Luis Barrio
Josik had gone out for a few minutes, on an errand. Miguel knocked on the door. Only Mr. Friederbaum, his friend’s father, apparently with a cold, a violinist for the Warsaw Philharmonic, was at home.
Miguel came in. To make conversation, the providential violinist asked him if he knew how to play chess and got upset when the visitor confessed that he did not. He showed him a chessboard. He told him about the pieces, the queen, the jumping knights, the sturdy rooks, the pawns which always serve as bait. And he also showed the young boy the flowing movement of the cunning bishop, and told him about the king’s solemnity and pride.
€29.90
Chess culture!
Chess is a game with a long history. Its origins go back to 6th century India and it has fascinated people all over the world for centuries. Chess also unites people, even in politically difficult circumstances.
A large variety of different people love and play the game. They all have stories to share. Vlastimil Hort tells these stories.
Vlastimil Hort was born in 1944, during WW II, in Kladno, which at that time was in Czechoslovakia and is now part of the Czech Republic. Hort started his tournament career at the age of 16, and for more than half a century he has been a keen observer of his fellow players.