Chess
Fascinating chess prodigies
With Errol Tiwari
Sunday, May 13th 2007
The most important gift that a great chess player must have, is, in my opinion, a fertile imagination. – Dr Reuben Fine, grandmaster, psychologist and author
We are fascinated by chess prodigies, and marvel at their intellectual capabilities. Quickly, we realize, they think differently from others. They rattle us with their tactics and their strategies, in games that can result in gigantic conceptions.
They have this ability to synthesize and come up with an unexpected, unflawed sequence that separates them from others. Even though they are children, they can be beaten only by persons who are great chess players themselves.
Prodigies can see certain inherent positions in a situation that less gifted intellects cannot begin to envisage. All of a sudden comes the unexpected thrust, the flash of vision, and it is a moment of intellectual and aesthetic beauty.
A chess prodigy or a chess genius is allied to a genius in any art form. He aims for beauty; he takes a situation that is composed of materials available to everybody and by sheer imagination creates something unique and perfect, something that nobody could duplicate.
Psychologists have been unable to explain such strokes of genius, but there it is-that combination of logic plus technique, plus intuition leading to a “coup de theatre” that stands in unflawed perfection.
Experts say the four greatest prodigies in chess history have been Paul Morphy, Jose Raul Capablanca, Samuel Reshevsky and Bobby Fischer. But many others are in, or almost in that class. Henry Mecking for example, was champion of Brazil at 13, and at 14, he was the best player in South America.
Here is the full article.
I dont see why white resigned on this game. Can somebody explain please.
Rudolf Spielmann – Elaine Saunders
Sicilian Defence
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 d6 5 c4 Nf6 6 Nc3 g6 7 Be2 Bg7 8 Be3 O-O 9 Nxc6 bxc6 10 h4 Qa5 11 Qd2 Ng4
12 h5 Nxe3 13 Qxe3 Qb4 14 Qd2 Be6 15 hxg6 fxg6 16 a3 Qc5 17 O-O-O Rxf2 18 b4 Qe5 19 White resigns.
The most important gift that a great chess player must have, is, in my opinion, a fertile imagination. – Dr Reuben Fine, grandmaster, psychologist and author
Here’s what psychologist Mr. Fine got his Dr. for: The Psychology of the Chess Player
About the Spielmann – Saunders game…in the final position, White is down a pawn, and will lose at least another pawn, as the knight on c3 and pawn on g2 are attacked. The pawn on e4 looks weak, too. Black’s queen-bishop battery on the long diagonal gives rise to a lot of tactical threats, too. For example, this is what can happen if White tries to defend the knight with his king:
19.Kc2 Rxe2! 20.Nxe2 (20.Qxe2 Qxc3+ 21.Kb1 Qa1+ 22.Kc2 Qb2+ 23.Kd3 Qc3 mate) Qb2+ 21.Kd3 Qb3+ 22.Nc3 Bxc4 23.Bxc3 with a deadly discovered check forthcoming.
History’s best chess prodigy? Magnus Carlsen. Beyond any doubts.
Do workaholics Fischer & Carlsen, great as they were as adolescent players (both probably much stronger than the 15-year-old Capa) count as true prodigies? Strength before 12th birthday matters for assessing raw talent….
By that measure, A. Pomar & Spassky should be on the list.
The most important gift that a great chess player must have, is, in my opinion, a fertile imagination. – Dr Reuben Fine, grandmaster, psychologist and author
I thought the Polgar experiment proved that serious training from a young age can produce chess prodigies with more consistency than natural talent.
I suspect that, as with languages, one is able to learn chess much easier at a young age.