Chess
By Lubomir Kavalek
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, December 8, 2008; Page C10
“You have to be at least 35 to understand [Fyodor] Dostoevski,” my professor at George Washington University, Charles Moser, once told me. Such mature appreciation is reserved in chess for Emanuel Lasker, the world champion from 1894 to 1921. He was an extraordinary fighter and playing him always meant a long, difficult struggle. A great defender by nature, Lasker would save bad positions by chipping away at his opponent’s advantage move by move. This was hard to do and not many young chess players picked up Lasker’s opaque playing style. They were much more likely to emulate Alexander Alekhine’s astonishing combinations or Mikhail Tal’s mesmerizing, magical attacks.
Fortunately, Lasker was an excellent writer. The legendary “Lasker’s Manual of Chess” is a marvelous teaching tool, meticulously composed. The new edition is enhanced with photographs, historical references and computer analysis. In a memorable tournament book, “St. Petersburg 1909,” Lasker, who won the event together with Akiva Rubinstein, commented on all 175 games. His clear and concise notes are now presented in algebraic notation. In another book, “Dvoretsky’s Analytical Manual,” the well-known Russian coach pays tribute to Lasker in a special chapter, analyzing five of his games in great depth. Tournament players could benefit from all three books, recently published by Russell Enterprises.
Down Goes Karpov
Another world champion hard to imitate is Anatoly Karpov. In his best years, he was nearly perfect in accumulating small advantages, slowly strangling his opponents. At 57, Karpov does not take part in top events anymore, but can still play well. Last week, he competed in a team of veteran grandmasters that defeated a team of young female players 17 1/2 -14 1/2 in the Czech spa town of Marianske Lazne. There Karpov became famous for the wrong reason. In the first round, he was smashed by the top Czech woman, Jana Jackova. Trying to win with the black pieces, Karpov misplayed the Paulsen Sicilian and left his king vulnerable to Jackova’s brilliant attack.
Here is the full analysis.
Karpov was slaughtered.