@ UCPB Calapan Branch

At

2013 UCPB Officer's Meeting

Warrior meets Stags

Kuya Abram's 15th Birthday at Max's Calapan

Happy Birthday Kuya Abram!  We love you!!!

Faith

Faith without action is dead!

2014 Southern Luzon Sportsfest

2014 UCPB SOUTHERN LUZON SPORTSFEST

An  atmosphere  of excitement fills the morning air! Officers and staff  donning  their   different  colored  shirts. Some associates secretly and eagerly practiced in the covered courts and halls  chanting  cheers  while others…,  still  clouded  by drowsiness, await the official start of the event. What’s the fuss about?  It’s  the  2014  UCPB  Southern Luzon Sportsfest, an event in which clusters are tested for their patience, perseverance and unity  in  the  teambuilding;  while grace, pride and honor in the singing  and  dance  contests  and  the  search for 2014 Mr. & Ms. Southern Luzon.

VENUE
The Sportsfest was held in The Splash Mountain Resort Complex located at Km.58 Brgy. Lalakay (along the National Highway), Los Banos, Laguna on August 2 – 3, 2014. This resort complex has 19 natural hot spring pools.  It has three hotels, the most affordable is the Splash hotel with 44 rooms, 8 dorms and 10 pools. Their most popular attraction is the Giant Waterslides that is open during summer weekends only.

SHOUT OUT

It was a fun filled activity fostering camaraderie and goodwill among associates led by ever vibrant Region Head Jocelyn Gomez.  Five clusters, namely Batangas (Batangas, Bigben, Lemery, Lipa, Sto. Tomas and Tanauan branches)- Blue Team; Bicol (Naga, Legaspi, Masbate and Sorsogon branches)- Green Team; Laguna-Mindoro (Sta. Cruz, San Pablo, Calapan and San Jose branches)- Red Team ; Quezon (Daet, Centro, Lucena and Gumaca branches) – Yellow Team; and CSU-CFBC – Orange Team; vied for the coveted championship in different disciplines.  But before the activities even started, the clusters had a SHOUT OUT each expressing their desire to win ... a way of saying they can't be intimidated, and ready to face the battle and be on top.

TEAM BUILDING
The Sportsfest is an avenue for the clusters to display teamwork. More than winning is the ability of each cluster to face any given challenge like mine field, air lock and marble transfer.   The most important lesson learned in the end is the test of unity. A test to determine if indeed the groups have bound together as one class or are still fragmented. Obvious signs of a united class are teamwork, communication, heart and the will to win. Without any of these signs, unity in any team will not be present.  The same is true in our branches, day in day out. Unison is the binding force of a class. It is the secret ingredient of success shown by the winner Batangas Cluster.

Everybody had fun and already looking forward in next year’s indoor activities.  

SINGING CONTEST

Markmel Padolina and Karen Morales of Quezon Cluster sing their hearts out in their way to becoming the singing champion, the 1^stever for the region.

DANCE COMPETITION

Batangas Cluster after so many years of trying, finally, was hailed this year's Winner! They put up a magnificent performance before besting equally entertaining numbers from Laguna-Mindoro, Bicol and Quezon Clusters.

MR. AND MS. SOUTHERN LUZON

Joel Brioso of Bicol Cluster performed like a Gladiator while Maan Santiago of Laguna-Mindoro Cluster descended from heaven to win this year's search for the prestigious Mr.& Ms. Southern Luzon title.

INTERMISSION NUMBERS

It was a night to remember for it’s non-stop entertainment.  Apart from the competition, associates volunteered themselves to take an active participation in the event.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We feel honored by the presence of the following Senior Officers as we celebrate lasting victory in our levelled up 2014 Southern Luzon Sportsfest empowered by our people, driven by passion:

BBG Head - EVP Edmond E. Bernardo
HRG Head - VP Stella A. Fulgencio
BBSD Head – VP Noel T. Calalang
MM1 RH VP Evan A. Lluch
MM2 RH Erma M. Espiritu

MM4 RH Monette A. Sunga

NCL RH Sam L. Santos
TBG FVP Stephen S. Sevidal
CBD Head VP Philip S. Pabelico
RELD Head VP Smile B. Wambangco
CFBC Head Jon P. Fajardo

SBLD Head Bong C. Dela Cruz

PLD Head Kris G. Cuevas
Officers and staff of Ayala Branch
         

See you in the 2015 Southern Luzon Sportsfest!

KASABIHAN

Ako ay naniniwala sa kasabihang:

Hindi masama ang magtanim ng galit sa iba

Ang masama ay magtanim ng bata sa hindi mo syota.

Matibay na Kalooban

Ang matibay na kalooban ang panlaban sa kabiguan.

Alekhine and Lasker

Alekhine and Lasker

Emanuel Lasker and Alexander Alekhine met eight times in their career. Seven of the games were from tournament games. Their first game was considered an exhibition game.
In 1908, Alexander Alekhine, age 15, traveled to Dusseldorf and Munich to observer world champion Emanuel Lasker defend his title against Siegbert Tarrasch.
Lasker and Alekhine first met in an exhibition game in Moscow on March 28, 1914. The game was drawn in 16 moves as it led to perpetual check Alekhine had White and played a Scotch Game. Lasker proposed the draw and Alekhine accepted. In 1914 Lasker was 45 (born in 1868) and world champion (1894-1921). Alekhine was 21 (born in 1892) and was world champion from 1927 to 1935 and from 1937 to 1946.
Alekhine – Lasker, Moscow 1914
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O d5 9.exd5 cxd5 10.Bg5 Be6 11.Qf3 Be7 12.Rfe1 h6 13.Bxh6 gxh6 14.Rxe6 fxe6 15.Qg3 Kh8 16.Qg6 ½-1/2
Lasker played Alekhine before he played Capablanca.
The two then met in the great St. Petersberg International tournament in April-May, 1914. Their first encounter in the preliminary section of the tournament on April 30, 1914, was a draw in 25 moves. Lasker had White and Alekhine played a Center Counter Defense.
Lasker – Alekhine, St. Petersburg 1914
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Nxd5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.c4 Nb6 6.Nc3 e5 7.c5 exd4 8.Ne4 N6d7 9.Qxd4 Qe7 10.Bb5 Nc6 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.O-O Bxf3 13.gxf3 O-O-O 14.Qa4 Ne5 15.Kg2 Qe6 16.Qxa7 Qf5 17.Qa8 Kd7 18.Rd1 Ke6 19.Qxd8 Qxf3 20.Kg1 Be7 21.Qd4 Qg4 22.Kh1 Qf3 23.Kg1 Qg4 24.Kh1 Qf3 25.Kg1 1/2-1/2
Capablanca won the preliminary section with a score of 8 out of 10. Lasker and Tarrasch had a score of 6.5 out of 10. Alekhine and Marshall had a score of 6 out of 10. These five players would play in the Finals.
Their next game was played in the finals or Winner’s Group on May 10, 1914. Lasker had White and won in 35 moves. Alekhine, as Black, played 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5, the Albin Countergambit, and lost.
A week later, on May 17, 1914, Lasker won again with the Black pieces in a Ruy Lopez, Exchange variation that lasted 89 moves. Lasker had two rooks and a pawn against Alekhine’s rook, knight, and pawn. Lasker won the tournament, followed by Capablanca. Alekhine took 3rd place, Tarrasch took 4th place, and Marshall took 5th place.
In July 1914, Alekhine played in the main tournament in Mannheim, the 19th German Chess Federation Congress. Lasker was a guest of honor at the event and was there to make plans for an International Chess Federation. Lasker left the event before World War I broke out on August 1, 1914.
The two did not play each other for another 10 years. World War I interrupted most major chess tournaments and Lasker played little until 1923.
Then in March-April, 1924, they both played in the New York 1924 International tournament. On March 18, 1924, Lasker (age 55) won again with the Black pieces in 36 moves in a Queen’s Gambit Declined. Alekhine was 31 years old.
Their next game in the same tournament occurred on April 10, 1924, and the game was drawn in 30 moves. Lasker had the White pieces and played a Queen’s Pawn opening. The event was won by Lasker (16 out of 20), followed by Capablanca (14.5) and Alekhine (12). Alekhine would become world champion three years later.
Up to 1925, Lasker was the stronger player. Alekhine was in his prome from 1926 to 1936.
In 1925, the tournament organizers in Moscow invited Lasker, but not Alekhine.
The two waited another 10 years before they played again. Lasker was now 65 and Alekhine was 41. On July 25, 1934, Alekhine had the White pieces and finally won in brilliant style in Zurich, Switzerland (37th Swiss Championship). The game lasted 26 moves with a queen sacrifice offer. Alekhine was current world champion (1927-1935 and 1937-1946). The opening was a Queen’s Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Alekhine Variation.
Alekhine – Lasker, Zurich (Rd 12), 1934
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 O-O 7.Rc1 c6 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Ne4 N5f6 12.Ng3 e5 13.O-O exd4 14.Nf5 Qd8 15.N3xd4 Ne5 16.Bb3 Bxf5 17.Nxf5 Qb6 18.Qd6 Ned7 19.Rfd1 Rad8 20.Qg3 g6 21.Qg5 Kh8 22.Nd6 Kg7 23.e4 Ng8 24.Rd2 f6 25.Nf5+! Kh8 26.Qxg6! [26…hxg6 27.Rh3+ or 26…h6 27.Qg7 mate] Black resigns 0-1
In 1935, Lasker went to Holland to cover the world chess championship match between Alekhine and Euwe for the Russian newspapers.
The organizers of the 1935 and 1936 Moscow tournaments invited Lasker, but not Alekhine.
Their final encounter occurred on August 13, 1936 in Nottingham, England. Lasker had White and the game was drawn in 18 moves. Alekhine played the Nimzo-Indian Defense. At the time, both players were former world chess champions. The event was won by Capablanca and Botvinnik, who tied. Alekhine was 6th and Lasker tied for 7th.
Lasker – Alekhine, Nottingham 1936
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.a3 Bxc3 7.Qxc3 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.e3 O-O 11.Be2 e5 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.O-O Bg4 14.h3 Bh5 15.Rfd1 Rfe8 16.Rd5 Bg6 17.Rad1 Bf5 18.R5d2 1/2-1/2
Alekhine said this of Lasker, “Lasker was my teacher, and without him I could not have become whom I became. The idea of chess art is unthinkable without Emanuel Lasker.”
– Bill Wall

Searching for Bobby Fisher

Searching for Bobby Fischer

Searching for Bobby Fischer is a book written by Fred Waitzkin written in 1988 and turned into a movie in 1993 (screenplay written by Steven Zaillian). The story is of Fred Waitzkin and his son, who became a chess prodigy. The movie is based on Josh Waitzkin’s early life.
Searching for Bobby Fischer really begins in 1972 when Bobby Fischer defeated Boris Spassky in the World Chess Championship Match in Reykjavik, Iceland, then disappeared from chess. Many people got interested in chess and picked up the game, even became grandmasters, because of Fischer popularizing the game. PBS (WNET) covered the match, which starred Grandmaster Edmar Mednis, National Master Shelby Lyman, and National Master Bruce Pandolfini, manager of the Manhattan Chess Club (which no longer exists). Fischer died in Iceland on January 17, 2008, at the age of 64.
Joshua (Josh) Waitzkin (pronoucned WAYT-zkin) was born on December 4, 1976 in New York City.
Josh learned how to play chess from his father, Fred Waitzkin (born in 1943), at age 6 in early 1983. He later started playing at the Marshall Chess Club on 10th Street. He later discovered chess players in Washington Square (a few blocks above Greenwich Village) in March of 1983. Washington Square had its chess hustlers such as Vincent (Vinnie) Livermore and Israel (the Sheriff) Zilber, an International Master rated over 2400. Zilber once defeated Tal in the 1952 Latvian Championship. For a time, Grandmaster Roman Dzindzichashvili played chess at Washington Square.
In the spring of 1984, Josh was playing at the National Elementary Chess Championship in Syracuse, New York. He lost in the 7th round. The event was won by Evan Turtel. The primary championship went to Oliver Tai.
In 1984, Josh played in the New York City Primary Championship at the Manhattan chess club. He won that event.
In 1984 Josh began taking lessons from Bruce Pandolfini ($60/hour).
The 1984 Greater New York Open was held at the Bar Point game room. The tournament included Joel Benjamin, Dmitry Gurevich, and Asa Hoffmann.
During the summer of 1984, Josh traveled with his father and Bruce Pandolfini to Moscow for the Karpov-Kasparov match.
The 1985 National Primary Championship was held in Charlotte, North Carolina. Josh was the number-one seeded player. In the final round (round 7) he lost to David Arnett. Arnett and Matt Goldman tied for 1st-2nd, with 6.5 out of 7 points. Arnett and Waitzkin went to Dalton. Dalton captured its first national team title at Charlotte.
In 1985, Fred Waitzkin wrote, “Fathering a Chess Prodigy,” for the New York Times.
In the fall of 1985 Josh was transferred to Dalton Primary School in New York. Dalton has won 23 National championships, more than any other school in the country. The Dalton School Chess Academy was National Elementary Chess Champions from 1987 through 1990, 1992, and 1993. They were the Primary Team Champions from 1985 through 1991. They were the National Junior High School Tournament Champions from 1988 through 1990, 1993, and 1994. They were the National High School Tournament Champions in 1995. Their chess instructor was Svetozar Jovanovic.
In September, 1985, Josh first played and was defeated by Jeff Sarwer at the Manhattan Chess Club. In November, Josh returned to the Manhattan Chess Club and beat Jeff in a rematch.
In 1985 Josh was seeded first in the 1985 New York City Primary Championship, held at the Manhattan Chess Club. Morgan Pehme won on tie-breaks over Josh, each scoring 5-1.
Josh Waitzkin and Jeff Sarwer tied for 1st place in the National Primary Championship in May 1986, held in Charlotte at the Quality Inn. Josh took 1st place on tie-breaks. There were complaints about Sarwer participating because he did not attend school. Alex Chang won the Elementary championship.
Jeff Sarwer went on to win the 1986 World Championship Under-10.
Bobby Seltzer won the National Elementary championship, followed by Josh Waitzkin, who took 2nd place. Dalton won the national team championship.
Josh won the National Junior High Championship in 1988 while in the 5th grade.
In 1988 Fred Waitzkin wrote “Searching for Bobby Fischer.”
Josh won the National Elementary Championship in 1989.
In 1990, at the age of 13, he earned the title of National Master. His highest rating in 1990 was 2229.
In 1990 he won the Junior High Championship for the second time.
In 1991 he won the Senior High Championship. His highest rating in 1991 was 2301.
In 1991 he won the Cadet Championship (under-16).
In 1992 his rating was 2424.
On April 4, 1992 auditions began for the movie, Searching for Bobby Fischer.
In 1993, at the age of 16, he became an International Master, with a rating of 2447.
In 1993 he was the U.S. Junior Co-Champion.
In 1994 he won the Under-21 U.S. Junior Championship and placed 4th in the Under-18 World Championship. His rating was 2492.
Searching for Bobby Fischer was released on August 11, 1993. It made a little over $7 million. It was given a rating of 7.6 out of 10 by the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four.
The video/DVD release date was July 11, 2000.
Josh Waitzkin (age 7) was played by Max Pomeranc.
Fred Waitzkin was played by Joe Mantegna.
Bonnie Waitzkin was played by Joan Allen.
Vinnie the chess hustler (Vincent Livermore) was played by Laurence Fishburne.
Bruce Pandolfini was played by Ben Kingsley.
Jonathan Poe (Jeff Sarwer) was played by Michael Nirenberg
Poe’s teacher was played by Robert Stephens (Jeff Sarwer’s dad)
Kalev Pehme, the nervous chess dad, was played by David Paymer
Morgan Pehme, Josh’s best chess friend, was played by Hal Scardino
Tunafish sandwich father was played by William Macy (a bad guy in the book)
the tournament director was played by Dan Hedaya
the school teacher was played by Laura Linney
the fighting parent was played by Anthony Heald
the chess club regular was played by Josh Mostel
the chess club regular #2 was played by Josn Kornbluth
the chess club member was played by Tony Shaloub
Asa Hoffmann was played by Austin Pendleton
the Russian Park player (Israel Zilber) was played by Vasek Simek
the man of many signals at the school was played by Steven Randazzo
Katya Waitzkin, Josh’s younger sister, was played by Chelsea Moore
the reporter was played by Tom McGowan
the report #2 was played by Ona Fletcher
the park player was played by Jerry Poe McClinton
the night park player was played by Matt Reines
the Washington Square patzer was played by Vincent Smith
the Washington Square patzer #2 was played by Jerry Rakow
the statistician was played by William Colgate
the journalist was played by Tony DeSantis
the final tournament director (Nationals) was played by R.D. Reid
the park dealer was played by Anthony McGowen
the 82nd ranked girl at the Nationals was played by Katya Waitzkin
Produced by Scott Rudin and William Horberg
Executive producer was Sydney Pollack
Co-producer was David Wisnievitz
music by James Horner
cinematographer by Conrad Hall (died Jan 6, 2003 at the age of 76)
costume design by Julie Weiss
casting by Amy Kaufman
edited by Wayne Wahrman
technical editor was Bruce Pandolfini
special mention to Patrick Lewis and Hanon Russell
Running time was 110 minutes.
Classified PG (mild profanity)
Paramount Pictures (Mirage)
Fishburne identifies the man he is playing speed chess as “grandmaster Shirazi.” Kamran Shirazi was “only” an International Master.
Early in the movie a man in a blue jacket with glasses says, “Young Fischer” to Ben Kingsley as they watch Josh play Vinnie. The man who says this is the real Bruce Pandolfini.
Josh’s real mother, Bonnie Waitzkin, appears at the beginning of the film as a parent outside the school when Joan Allen (as Bonnie) picks up Max (as Josh). Bonnie has dark hair and is standing right next to Joan.
In one of the scenes, Josh (Max Pomeranc) plays against Vinnie in the park while his father looks on from the bench next to Vinnie. The dark haired teenager in the black sweatshirt playing chess (he has the White pieces) behind Vinnie is the real Josh Waitzkin.
In the movie Josh Waitzkin (Max Pomeranc) is seen playing in the Nationals tournament with Josh’s actual sister, Katya Waitzkin. He defeats her in the first round of the National Championships to “ranked 82nd.”
Vinnie’s character came from Vincent Livermore, a 34-year old black man and chess hustler who died of AIDS in 1993.
The final position in the movie is the following:
White: Ke6, Re5, Bg5, Ne4, Pf6, Ph4
Black: Kc2, Rc7, Bd8, Nb6, Pa7, Pg7
Black to move.
1…gxf6 2.Bxf6? (2.Nxf6 should draw) 2…Bxf6 3.Nxf6 (3.Kxf6? Nd7+) 3…Rc6+ 4.Kf7 Rxf6+! 5.Kxf6 Nd7 6.Ke6 Nxe5 7.Kxe5 a5 8.h5 a4 9.h6 a3 10.h7 a2 11.h8=Q a1=Q+ and 12…Qxh8 wins the Queen and the game. 0-1
In the real game in 1986, the game was a draw in Sarwer-Waitzkin as all the pieces and pawns were traded, leaving just lone kings. The opening was a King’s Indian, Saemisch variation. The score sheets of the game have been lost.
The Nationals in the movie was filmed at the Hart House at the University of Toronto.
Pal Benko was supposed to be in the movie, but it was cut out.
FIDE Master Asa Hoffmann refused to play himself as the script showed him as a demeaning person. The movie version of Hoffmann is not like the real Asa Hoffmann.
In the movie, Max’s mom was a spectator at a baseball game.
The original casting was supposed to have Tom Hanks play the father, Fred Waitzkin.
No actor except Max Pomeranc (born March 21, 1984) could play chess. At the time, Pomeranc was one of the top 100 chess players in his age group. Later, Joe Mantegna learned how to play chess.
Cameos by Grandmaster Joel Benjamin, Grandmaster Roman Dzindzihasvili, woman grandmaster Anjelina Belakovskaia, FIDE Master Bruce Pandolfini, Katya Waitzkin, Josh Waitzkin, International Master Kamran Shirazi, and Max Pomeranc’s mom. Cameos cut include Grandmaster Pal Benko and FIDE master Svetozar Jovanovic.
The Bobby Fischer scenes include black and white footage of him at Reykjavik, New York (getting the key to the city from Mayor John Lindsey), on the Dick Cavett show, being interviewed in the park and asked when he took chess seriously (age 7), giving a simultaneous exhibition, and many still pictures of him including on Life magazine and with Jack Collins.
Technical errors include the setting of the chess clock times not accurate, nobody keeping score on a score sheet, too noisy in the tournaments, smoked filled room at the prestigious chess tournament, offering of the draw was improper, never say check in speed chess or any other time, wrong title for Shirazi (International Master not Grandmaster), writing the chess notation, parent lock-out.
Accurate chess terms and scenes include j’adoube, Schliemann Attack, pawn islands, patzer, Fischer scenes and pictures, good advice not to bring the Queen out early, 2-minute blitz chess.
The screenplay was written and directed by Steven Zaillian, based on Fred Waitzkin’s autobiographical book. Zaillian won the MTV Movie Award in 1994 as best new filmmaker.
Zaillian wrote the screenplay Awakenings and Schindler’s List.
Academy Award Nomination: Best Cinematography – Conrad Hall
British Title: Innocent Moves
At 18 Josh wrote “Attacking Chess.”
In 1997 Josh released an instructional video “Chess Starts Here.”
Josh was a spokesman for Chessmaster, the largest computer chess program in the world.
Bobby Fischer was interviewed on a radio show in the Philippines, and had the Searching for Bobby Fischer DVD in front of him, watching or had just watched it. Fischer denounced the movie, claiming that it was part of a “Jewish conspiracy” to use his name and make money off him at the same time.
In February 2003, Hikaru Nakamura (born Dec 9, 1987) broke Bobby Fischer’s 1958 record of the youngest American grandmaster ever. He became a GM at the age of 15 years and 58 days. Fischer (born March 9, 1943) became a grandmaster at 15 years, 185 days. Fischer earned his Grandmaster title at the Portoroz Intersonal in September 1958.
Josh Waitzkin is the only person to have won the National Primary, Elementary, Junior High School, High School, U.S. Cadet, and U.S. Junior Closed chess championships in his career.
Trivia Questions about the movie
01. What game is first shown in the movie?
02. What did Fishburne want to trade with Josh when they first met?
03. What did the Russian player in the park advertise for $5.
04. Who was the first person that Josh played chess with?
05. What did Josh want to do when he grew up?
06. What game did Josh compare chess with when he was talking on the phone?
07. What was the city chess club name that Josh joined?
08. What was the title of the Life magazine with Fischer on the cover?
09. How much did Bruce Pandolfini charge for a lecture?
10. How much did Bruce charge for chess lessons?
11. What did Josh offer the player he first played chess with in the club?
12. Where was the prestigious chess tournament held that Fred first visited?
13. How much did Asa Hofmann earn at chess in a year?
14. What was Bruce’s final answer to Clue?
15. What was Josh’s baseball team called?
16. What did Fred think his son’s first rating was?
17. What was Morgan’s rating in his first tournament with Josh?
18. What school did Morgan attend?
19. Where was the State primary championship held?
20. Where was the National primary championship held?
21. What did Josh’s school teacher compare this “chess thing” with?
22. What was Poe’s and Josh’s favorite line to say when they had a good move?
23. What age did Jonathan Poe learn chess?
24. What was Josh’s nickname used by Bruce and his father?
25. How many moves did it take for Josh to lose in the NY Elementary finals?
26. What opening did Josh use against Vinnie when he returned to the park?
27. What grandmaster was Morgan’s father trying to show a game of to his son?
28. What was Josh’s secret that he told to Morgan in the end?
Trivia Answers:
01. Backgammon.
02. baseball for the Lewis chess piece (a knight).
03. For $5 a photo or a game with the man who beat Tal in 1953 (true).
04. The Russian chess player in the park advertising a game for $5.
05. Play 2nd base for the New York Yankees.
06. Monopoly.
07. Metropolitan Chess Club (Manhattan Chess Club)
08. The Deadly Gamesman.
09. $30.
10. $60 an hour.
11. Gummy Bears.
12. House of Backgammon (Bar Point).
13. $2,000 a year.
14. Mr Green in the Conservatory with a candlestick (answer was a wrench)
15. The Falcons, who defeated the Eagles.
16. 15 (interpreted as 1500) from reading the Emergency Dial number.
17. Morgan had not broken 1000 yet, making him higher rated than Josh (who
was unrated at the time and ranked 80th).
18. Dalton.
19. Syracuse, New York.
20. Chicago (in reality it was Charlotte; in the film, filmed in Toronto).
21. Pinochle.
22. Trick or Treat.
23. Age 4.
24. Tiger.
25. Lost in 7 moves.
26. Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Attack (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5)
27. Capablanca.
28. That Morgan was a much stronger player than Josh was at his age.
The script of the movie is located here:
http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/s/searching-for-bobby-fischer-script.html
– Bill Wall

Staunton chessmen

Staunton chessmen

The Staunton chessmen is the standard pattern for chess pieces used in all world chess federation and United States Chess Federation events.
The increased interest in chess in the 19th century brought about a renewed demand for a more universal model for chess pieces. The variety and styles of the conventional form begun in the fifteenth century had expanded tremendously by the beginning of the nineteenth century. Some of the more common conventional types popular during the period included the English Barleycorn, the St. George, the French Regence and the central European Selenus styles. Most pieces were tall, easily tipped and cumbersome during play. But their target sin was the uniformity of the pieces within a set. A player’s unfamiliarity with an opponent’s set could tragically alter the outcome of a game. By the early decades of the nineteenth century, it was all too clear that there was a great need for a playing set with pieces that were easy to use and universally recognized by players of diverse backgrounds. The solution, first released in 1849 by John Jaques of London, sport and games manufacturers since 1795, of Hatton Garden, London, England, was to become known as the Staunton chess set after the Shakespearean scholar, author and the world champion, Howard Staunton ( 1810 – 1874).
On March 1, 1849 the Staunton pattern was first registered by Nathaniel Cook (patent number 58607). At the time, there was no provision for the registration of any design or articles of ivory. Registration was limited to Class 2 articles made chiefly of wood. Prior to that, the pieces most commonly used were called the St. George design, followed by the Calvert, Edinburgh, Lund and Merrifield designs. Cook registered his wooden chess pattern under the Ornamental Designs Act of 1842. Although Nathaniel Cook has been credited with the design, it may have been conceived by his brother-in-law, John Jaques.
The design of the knight came from the Greek horse of the Eglin Marbles in the British Museum (brought to the museum in 1806).
The appearance of the new chessmen was based on the neoclassical style of the time, and the pieces were symbols of “respectable” Victorian society: a distinguished bishop’s miter, a queen’s coronet and king’s crown, a knight carved as a stallion’s head from the ancient Greek Elgin Marbles and a rook streamlined into clean classical lines, projecting an aura of strength and security. The form of the pawns may have been based on the Freemasons square and compasses. However, another theory of the pawns form is derived from the balconies of London Victorian buildings. There were also practical innovations: for the first time a crown emblem was stamped onto a rook and knight of each side, to identify their positioning on to the king’s side of the board.
In September 1849 the manufacturing rights were bought by John Jaques of London, workers of ivory and fine woods. The sets were made in wood and ivory. The unweighted king was 3.5 inches in size. The weighted king was 4.4 inches in size. Jaques removed much of the decorative features that topped earlier chess patterns, and was able to manufacture the new design at less cost. The king was represented by a crown and the queen was represented by a coronet.
Some of the ebony and boxwood sets were weighted with lead to provide added stability and the underside of each piece was covered with felt. This afforded the players the illusion that the chessmen were floating across the board. Some ivory sets were made from African ivory. The sets typically came in a caron-pierre case, each one bearing a facsimile of Staunton’s signature under the lid.
On September 8, 1849 the first wooden chess sets from Jaques was available. The first sets actually had a different pattern to the King’s Rook and King’s Knight that distinguished it from the Queen’s Rook and the Queen’s Knight.
On the same day that the Jaques chess sets were available, Howard Staunton recommended and endorsed the sets in the Illustrated London News. Nathaniel Cook was Staunton’s editor at the Illustrated London News. The ad that appeared in the newspaper called it Mr. STAUNTON’s pattern. The ad that first appeared in the Illustrated London News, September 8, 1849 read:
“A set of Chessmen, of a pattern combining elegance and solidity to a degree hitherto unknown, has recently appeared under the auspices of the celebrated player Mr. STAUNTON. A guiding principle has been to give by their form a signification to the various pieces – thus the king is represented by a crown, the Queen by a coronet, &c. The pieces generally are fashioned with convenience to the hand; and it is to be remarked, that while there is so great an accession to elegance of form, it is not attained at the expense of practical utility. Mr. STAUNTON’S pattern adopts but elevates the conventional form; and the base of the Pieces being of a large diameter, they are more steady than ordinary sets.”
Later, Staunton began endorsing the set and had his signature on the box of Staunton chess pieces. One of Staunton’s chess books was given free with every box of Staunton chess set. The first 500 sets were numbered and signed by Howard Staunton.
The Staunton set obtained the stamp of approval of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), when in 1924 it was selected as their choice of set, for use in all future international chess tournaments.
In 1935 the Jaques company no longer made ivory Staunton sets.
During World War II Jacques was asked by the British government to mass produce chess sets for the troops. The factory was later bombed by the Germans and destroyed.
At the start of the 1978 World Championship match in Baguio, Philippines there wasn’t a Staunton chess set in the city. Someone had to drive to Manila to find a Staunton chess set, which arrived just 15 minutes before the start of the scheduled match.
– Bill Wall

Chess Team Names

Here are a few chess team names that have been used in team chess.
1…KxQ+N: The Simpson Defense
4 Quartz 4 Sale
4.5 Mil Or the Preacher Gets It
9 Inch Pawns on Tour
A Day at the Pawn Races
Adam’s Family
Aging Chess Nuts (Senior Team)
A Knight in Capablanca
A Little Knight Music
All Chessed Up With No Mates to Go
Altered Mates
A Rook with a View
Any Portisch in a Storm
Arch Bishops (St. Louis team)
AT&T True Moves
Attackamania
B2-G2
Bad Bishops
Baked Elasker
Beavis and Butt-vinik
Bedtime for Pawnzo
Bent on Larseny
Be Reti With a Crying Tal
Better Bishop Bureau
Billy Jean’s Queens
Bishop Tolstoy and his Warrin’ Pieces
Board Lords
Bobby Boomers
Bogo Knows Chess
Bouncing Checks
Boutrous Boutrous Ghali Piece Keepers
Bust Line Developers
C4 Good Rooking Guys
Cambridge Springers
Campo’s Hit Squad
Capture in the Ruy
Caro Kayne West
Castle Long Hoppity and the Reinfeld Cowboys
Cheap Thought
Check Bouncers
Check This
Chess b4Ne1
Chess in the Kramnik of Time
Chess is Like a Box of Chocolates
Chess Nuts Roasting on an Open File
Chessnik Cleansers
Chessnuts Roasting on an Open Foyer
Chessperadoes
Closet Queens
Compromising Positions
Conquest of Space
Crouching Tigran, Hidden Dragon
Dances with Knights
Dark Horses
Dawn of the Living Pawn
Dead of Knight
Dead Pawns Tell No Tales
Deep Blues Brothers
Deep Thoughtless
Defrocked Bishops
Diagonally Challenged
Digging for Bobby Fischer
Discovered Czechs
Don’t Fork the Horse
Don’t Throw in the Tal
Dr. Kevorkian’s Helpmates
Dr. Quark and the Passed Pions
E.P. – The Extra Potential
E4 Effort
Edwin Moses & the Broad Jumpers
Ehlvest Impersonators
Elo Mates, Arpad or Yours
Fast Draws
Fischermen
Fish Saemisch and Tartakower Sauce
Five Easy Pieces
Flying Knights (Air Force team)
Foreclosing Your Castle
Fork You
Forking Geniuses
Four Fits
Four Good Mates
Four Horsemen
Four Knights Looking for a Mate
Four on the Flohr
Four Playing Knights
Friday Knights
From Dusk till Pawn
Future Schach
Gata Winski
Geller’s Kids
Give ‘em the Bird
Go Ahead, Mate My Day
Got to Rook the Knight Away
Great Sacs All Knight Long
Hannibal Schlechter
Harharhartarson
Harry Patzer
Hey Judit
Here’s Rooking At You
Hillary Keeps Bill in Check
Horse Maneuver
Horsepower
Hyperkanndriacs
I Am Not a Rook
If Rooks Could Kill
I Saw Ehlvest
I.M. Possibles
Invasion of the Pawn Snatchers
Is That a Fianchettoed Bishop Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?
J’Adoubie Brothers
J’Adoubie-Double-Doo
Jack’s Rippers
John Paul’s Hard On Bishops
Johnnie Cochrane’s Contemptable Defense
Joy of Sacs
Kann’t b2 Reti for Mating
Karpovbaggers
Khomeini’s School of Diplomacy
Kibitz and Blitz
King’s Indiana Jones and the Last Attack
Knight Crawlers
Knight-Knight
Knight Mare on G-Street – Freddie Spikes Back
Knight Mares to Pawnder
Knights of the Crosstable
Knights of the Square Table
Knightstalkers
Kogan’s Zeroes
Kortchnoi’s Complaint
Kotov’s Napkins
Ladies of the Knight (all female team)
Larsenic and Old Age
Lein Brains
Let’s Get Tactical
Levin Fish
Lewinsky Knights
Little Bishop of Horrors
Little Karpov Horrors
Loch Chess Monsters
Lord of the Kings
Madonna’s Flank Openings
Maroczy Morons
Marshall Artists
Master Beaters
Master Maters
Masterminds
Mate is Enough
Material Girls (all girl team)
Maters of the Lost Art
Mating Material (all female team)
Mating’s the Best Way to Score
Mecking Out
Men at Work
Men of the First Rank
Men Over Board
Michael Rohde the Boat Ashore
Mieses Pieces
Mighty Morphy Pawn Arrangers
Miles Short of Fine
Monica: Insufficient Mating Material
Monica’s Mates
Natural Pawn Killers
Navy SEALED Moves
Neon Knights
Nerds of Steel
Never Stale Maters
No Bad Checks
No Bawls (all female team)
No Longer Searching for Bobby Fischer
No Pawn Intended
Not Reti A’Tal
OJ’s Favorite Play: Cut Left, Slash Right
OJ’s Forked Bronco
OJ’s Queen Sacrifice
Old Indians
On Anand and On
On Golden Pawn
Once a Ponamariov
One For All and All Four Won
Ouch That Hort
Overdrawn Checks
Overworked and Underpromoted
Pawnographers
Pawn Chop
Pawn Scum
Pawn Shop
PAWNED!!!!!
Phi Beta Capa’s
Phorque U
Pillsbury Mates It Best
Planned Net of the Prime Mates
Poison Ivory
Poison Pawns
Premature Attack Elation
Preparation H-File
Queen Louganis and the Rear Entry Divers
Queens for a Day (all female team)
R to D2
Raiders of the Lost Fork
Reagan’s El Salvadorian “Piece” Team
Reagan’s Peacekeeping Force
Reti for Fine Moves
Reti for Mating
Reti or Not
Rg3: Offensive Rook of the Year
Ripe Ter-Maters
Roasting Chess Nuts
Romanishin the Stone
Rook and Roll
Rook b4 You Leap
Rook, Line and Sinker
Rook of Gibraltar
Rook Shields
Sac a Big One
Schach Therapy
Scotch on the Rooks
Second to Nunn
Seirawanee River
Shake & Mate
Shakmatny Byullet Dodgers
Shallow Blue
Shaq-Mate Magic
Shirovfullness
Silent Move (by Mel Rooks)
Slaughterhouse 4
Sleepless Knights
Smart Alekhines
Sons of Bishops
Spassky’s Drawers
Spasstic Fischermen
Starcheck: the Wrath of Kann
Stick That Pawn Up Your a-file
Stormy Knights
Sufficient Mating Material
Sugar Sacs
Svidler on the Roof
Take This Pawn and Kramnik
Take This Pawn and Shove It
Tal in the Saddle
Tals From the Crypt
Tarrasch Collectors
Tarrasch Compactors
Tartar-Kower Control League Fights Dzindzi-Vitis
Tarzan and his Mate
Ted Bundy’s Fried Liver
Teddy Kennedy’s Driving School
The “A” Team
The Barack Attack
The Chess X-Ray Unit
The Co-Horts
The Curse of Frankensteinitz
The Donner Partie
The Fischer Kings
The Flohr Boards
The Four Players
The Gang of Four (Chinese Team)
The Gaping Holes
The Happy Rookers
The Hung Knights
The Itches: Nimzo-ITCH, Port-ITCH, Saem-ITCH, and Jacques-ITCH
The Joy of Sacs
The Ko’s: Ben, Gul, Soson, and T
The Materialists
The NeanderTals
The Polgar Brothers
The Rook Canals
The Short and the Tal
The Team Formerly Known as Queens
The White Square Supremacists
The Wrath of Pawns
Three Men and a Baby
Throw in the Tal
Tickle Me Elo
Torre Torre Torre
Touch Move with Dr. Joycelyn Elders
Toxic Schach Syndrome
Travelling Wilkes-Barres
Two I.M.s and Two I Aint’s
Two Knights, Let It Be Lowenthal
U-Knighted
Urine Czech
Walking Tal
War and Piece
We Don’t Ivanchuk a Pawn
We Will, We Will Rook You
We’re Going to Tarrasch You
Weapons of Mass Deduction
Who Keres
Woman on Top (Board)
You Rook Mahvelous
You’ve Got Mate
– Bill Wall

Mikhail Chigorin

1914 – One Hundred Years Ago in Chess

In 1914, the term fairy chess used for heterodox problems was first used. It was introduced by Henry Tate (1873-1926) of Australia.
In January 1914, the All-Russian Chess Federation founded (865 members).
In January 1914, Eduard (Edward) Lasker won 24th City of London championship.
In 1914, Constant Ferdinand Burille died in Boston. He operated Ajeeb in the United States.
In January 1914, Abraham Kupchik won the Manhattan Chess Club championship.
On Jan 8, 1914, Herman Pilnik , Argentine GM, was born in Stuttgart, Germany. IM 1950. GM 1952. Died in 1981.
On Jan 31, 1914, Alekhine and Nimzovich tied at the 8th All-Russian Ch, St Petersburg.
On Feb 21, 1914, Arnold Denker was born in New York City. US ch 1944. IM 1950. HGM 1981. Died on Jan 2, 2005, age 90.
On Mar 6, 1914, Theo van Scheltinga was born in Amsterdam. Dutch IM 1965. Died in 1994.
On Mar 8, 1914, Oleg Neikirch was born. Bulgarian champion in 1937,1938,1948,1953,1957. IM 1952. Died in 1985.
On April 14, 1914, Sandor Banfalvi (ne Brilla) was born in Cehal, Romania. IMC 1967; GMC 1979.
On April 21, 1914, the St Petersburg International starts. The tournament celebrated the 10th anniversary of the St. Petersburg Chess Society.
On April 23, 1914, Nicolai Jasnogrodsky, an American master, died in Baltimore.
On May 2, 1914, Rudolf Spielmann won the Baden, Austria Gambit tournament.
On May 11, 1914, Anatoly Ufimtsev was born. Developed the Pirc in 1934. Died on July 10, 2000.
On May 22, 1914, Lasker won the St. Petersburg International, followed by Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch, and Marshall. Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia, conferred the grandmaster title to the five finalists. Lasker was paid an appearance fee, the 1st time this ever happened.
On June 27, 1914, Victor Baturinsky was born in Russia. He died on Dec 21, 2002. He was Vice President of the USSR Chess Federation and director of the Moscow Chess Club.
On July 20, 1914, Mannheim hosted the 19th congress of the German Chess Federation.
On July 20, 1914, the Norwegian Chess Federation was founded.
On July 31, 1914 Alphonse Goetz won the 1st French championship in Lyon.
On Aug 2, 1914, the last round of Mannheim tournament, 19th German Chess Federation Ch was played. Alekhine led by 9.5 – 1.5, followed by Vidmar and Spielmann. After the declaration of war, eleven “Russian” players (Alekhine, Bogoljubov, Bogatyrchuk, Flamberg, Koppelman, Maljutin, Rabinovich, Romanovsky, Saburov, Selezniev, Weinstein) were interned in Rastatt, Germany. On September 14, 17, and 29, 1914, four of them (Alekhine, Bogatyrchuk, Saburov, and Koppelman) were freed and allowed to return home via Switzerland. Romanovsky was freed and went back to Petrograd in 1915, and a sixth one, Flamberg was allowed to return to Warsaw in 1916.
On Aug 21, 1914, Blackburne tied for 1st at the British championship, held in Chester. He was72. He tied with Yates. Yates won the playoff on forfeit.
On Aug 26, 1914, the 15th Western Chess Association (US Open) was held in Memphis. Bradford Jefferson took 1st in the playoff against George Wolbrecht.
On Oct 7, 1914, Alexandar Tsvetkov was born in Topolovgrad, Bulgaria. IM 1950.
On Oct 11, 11914, Reuben Fine was born in Manhattan. 1st at AVRO 1938. GM 1950. He died 1993.
On Oct 20, 1914, David Hay died in Melbourne, Australia. 1879 New Zealand co-champ.
On Oct 20, 1914, Mona May Karff was born in Bessarabia. Challenger 1937, 1939, 1949. WIM 1950. She died in 1998.
On Oct 26, 1914, Adriaan de Groot was born in Santpoort, Netherlands. Chess master and author.
On Nov 14, 1914, the film The Wishing Ring was released. It was the first time that chess had appeared in film. Sally, the parson’s daughter, plays chess with the Earl as part of a distraction.
On Dec 16, 1914 Sonja Graf-Stevenson was born in Germany. WIM 1950. US Women’s ch 1964. She died 1965.
On Dec 31, 1914, Carl Schlechter won the 6th Trebitsch Memorial in Vienna, Austria.
Bernstein – Gunsberg, St Petersburg 1914
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 d6 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.d4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Bd7 10.Nc3 O-O 11.Bg5 Ne8 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Qd3 Qe5 14.Rad1 Qc5 15.e5 d5 16.Nb3 Qb4 17.a3 Qg4 18.Qe3 g6 19.Rd4 Qf5 20.Nc5 Be6 21.g4 Qxc2 22.Rd2, and the queen is trapped 1-0
– Bill Wall

Emanuel Lasker - 2nd World Chess Champion

Emanuel Lasker – 2nd World Chess Champion

Immanuel (later changed to Emanuel) Lasker was born in Berlinchen (now Barlinck, Poland as of 1945), the Prussian province of Brandenberg, on December 24, 1868. He was the second son of Michaelis Aaron Lasker (who later changed his name to Adolf), a Jewish cantor (musician that leads the congregation in songful prayer) in a synagogue. His mother was Rosalie Israelssohn. Emanuel was the second of four children. He had an older brother, Berthold (born Dec 31, 1860), and two younger sisters (Theophilia and Amalia). One of his sisters later died in a Nazi gas chamber.
In 1879, at the age of 11, Emanuel was sent to Berlin to attend school. There, he was taught how to play chess by his older brother, who was a medical student and later became a medical doctor. Emanuel displayed unusual mathematical abilities and wanted to be a mathematician. His father wanted him to be a cantor. Emanuel studied the Talmud with his father and his grandfather, a rabbi.
Emanuel Lasker was accepted into one of Berlin’s best high schools and was advanced two class years ahead of his peers after scoring very high on all his exams. Soon, however, Emanuel fell ill with measles and had to be sent to a hospital. It was this period that Berthold began teaching Emanuel how to play chess to help Emanuel pass the time while in the hospital.
In the early 1880s, Emanuel began visiting the “Tea Salon” with his brother. Berthold was making extra money by hustling chess and Emanuel observed chess play at the master level for the first time. It was here that Emanuel first met and played Siegbert Tarrasch (1862-1934), who was a medical student in Berlin. Tarrasch was also a daily visitor of the Café Kaiserhof.
In 1884 Emanuel Lasker became a serious chess player. He was soon a frequent visitor at the Cafe Kaiserhof, a chess meeting-place. He was spending so much time studying and playing chess, that is parents told Berthold to find another school for Emanuel. Berthold did find a new school for Emanuel, in the small town of Landsberg (now Gorzow Wielkopolski, Poland). However, the head of the new school was president of the local chess club and Lasker’s math teacher, Kevitz, was the local chess champion. This encouraged Emanuel even more to play chess.
In 1888 he was the best chess player at the Cafe Kaiserhof, the gathering place of the strongest chessplayers in Berlin. Berthold had graduated from the University of Berlin Medical School and moved to Elberfeld to set up his medical practice.
In the spring of 1888, Lasker finished high school at Landsberg-on-the-Warthe, Prussia, and attended the university of Berlin and Gottingen to study mathematics and philosophy.
In the winter of 1888-89, Emanuel Lasker won his first tournament, the Kaiserhof Café championship, with the score of 20-0. His victory now attracted friends and supporters. One supporter was Jakob Bamberger (1822-1907), a banker, who sent Emanuel 10 marks every month. Years later, Emanuel married Jackob’s daughter, Martha (born Nov 19, 1867). Lasker did not marry until he was 42 and Martha had been a widow.
In July, 1889, he gained the German master title (schachmeister) in the Hauptturnier A section of the German Chess League at Breslau. Tarrasch won the International Masters’ section. This was part of the 6th Congress of the German Chess Federation. Lasker won this tournament by accident. Another competitor, Emil Ritter von Feyerfeil (died Feb 28, 1917), had lost his final game to Paul Lipke (1870-1955) after 121 moves. If von Feyerfeil would have drawn or won, he would have won the event and the master title. It was later discovered that one of his pawns was knocked off the board just before sealing the adjourned move. They had sealed a position (rook + knight + pawn against 2 bishops + knight + 2 pawns) with a missing pawn that would have given Von Feyerfeil a drawing or winning game. Lasker, who told his brother that he would give up serious chess if he did not win, won the event and the master title. Lasker won the Hauptturnier 1 section with 7 wins and 2 draws. He tied in the final section (with von Feyerfeil) with 4 wins and 2 losses. In the play-off, Lasker beat von Feyerfeil.
After winning his master title, he was invited to the master tourney in Amsterdam, where he took 2nd, behind Amos Burn (1848-1925). The event was held Aug 26-31, 1889. Lasker won 5, drew 2, and lost 1. It was the 20-year old Lasker’s first foreign chess tournament.
In November, 1889, Lasker defeated Curt Von Bardeleben (1861-1924) in a match in Berlin. Lasker won 2, drew1, and lost 1.
In February 1890, Lasker defeated Henry Bird (1830-1908) in a match, held in Liverpool. Lasker won 7, drew 3, and lost 2.
In March 1890, Lasker defeated Nicholas Miniati (1860-1909) in a match held in Manchester. He won 3, drew 2, with no losses.
In July 1890, Emanuel Lasker and his brother, Berthold Lasker, tied at a tournament in Berlin. Emanuel Lasker’s score was 5 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss. Emanuel than had a play-off with his brother and won win 1 win and 1 draw.
In Aug-Sep 1890, Lasker took 3rd at Graz, Austria, behind Gyula Makovetz and Johann Bauer. Lasker won 3, drew 2, and lost 1.
In 1890, Lasker defeated Berthold Englisch in a match, held in Vienna. He won 2, drew 3, and lost none.
Lasker travelled to London in 1891 to run a chess pavilion at a German exhibition. He accepted the invitation so that he could make enough money for his sisters to move to Berlin. After the exhibition ended, Lasker decided to remain in England and take up chess professionally. He stayed in England from 1891 to 1893, then from 1895 to 1904, and from 1934 to 1935.
In 1891, he defeated Francis Lee in London with 1 win, 1 draw, and no losses.
In March 1892, Lasker finished 1st at the 7th British Chess Association Tournament, held in London. He won 8, drew 2, and lost 1. He finished 1.5 points ahead of second place prize winner – James Mason. Joseph Blackburne objected to inviting a German master to this national event. He boycotted the event and did not play.
In April 1892, Lasker won the British Chess Club Invitational with 5 wins, 3 draws, and no losses. The event has held in London. Blackburne took 2nd.
In June 1892, Lasker defeated Henry Blackburne in a match held in London. Lasker won 6, drew 4, and lost none.
From August 1892 to July 1893 Lasker published his first chess magazine, 19 issues of The London Chess Fortnightly chess magazine.
In September 1892, Lasker defeated Henry Bird in a match, held at Newcastler on Tyne. Lasker won 5-0.
During the two years that Lasker stayed in London, Lasker lost only one game (to Bird) in four events against the strongest masters in the country. It gave hims confidence to try to play for the world championship.
He moved to New York in 1892 in hopes of playing Wilhelm Steinitz for the world chess championship.
In April 1893, Lasker defeated Jackson Whipps Showalter in a match held in Kokomo. Lasker won 6, drew 2, and lost 2. Lasker received $375 for his efforts.
In September 1893, he won all his games (13-0) at the Manhattan Chess Club in New York.
In late 1893, Lasker lectured on differential equations at Tulane University in New Orleans.
On March 15, 1894 Lasker began his world chess championship match with Wilhelm Steinitz in New York. On May 26, 1894, he defeated Steinitz (14 wins, 3 draws, 4 losses) for the world championship. The match was held in New York, Philadelphia, and Montreal. He became the second world chess champion and held the title from 1894 to 1921 (27 years). Lasker was 25 and Steinitz was 58. Lasker received $2,000 for his efforts. Lasker then returned to Germany in late 1894. There, he contracted typhoid fever and almost died. (Henry Buckle died of typhoid fever in 1862 and Samuel Boden died of typhoid fever in 1882).
In 1894, Berthold Lasker married Else Schuler. They divorced in 1899.
In 1895, Lasker moved back to England, this time as world chess champion. He first lived in London, where he was the resident master of the Divan Chess Association. He later moved to Manchester where he wrote a chess column for the local newspaper, gave lectures at the Manchester Chess Club, and performed simuls.
In 1895, world champion Lasker came in 3rd place (behind Pillsbury and Chigorin) at Hastings, despite recovering from typhoid fever. Lasker won 13, drew 3, and lost 4. Lasker stayed in England and gave a series of lectures on chess.
Lasker gave a series of chess lectures in London in 1895. The lectures were later published as Common Sense In Chess.
In January 1896, Lasker won at St. Petersburg with 8 wins, 7 draws, and 3 losses.
In 1896 he wrote Common Sense in Chess, based on a series of 12 chess lectures that he gave in London. The German edition was published in 1896 and the English edition was published in 1897.
In August 1896, Lasker won at Nuremberg with 12 wins, 3 draws, and 3 losses.
Lasker defeated Steinitz in a return world championship (6th official world chess championship) match held in Moscow in 1896-97 with 10 wins, 5 draws, and 2 losses.
In 1897 Lasker enrolled at Heidelberg University and transferred to Erlangen University in 1900.
In 1898, Lasker gave many simultaneous exhibitions throughout the Netherlands.
In 1899, Lasker won a tournament in London with 20 wins, 1 loss, and 7 draws. He won with 4.5 points more than the 2nd place finisher.
In June 1900, Lasker won at Paris with 14 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss.
In 1901 Lasker was a mathematics lecturer at Victoria University in Manchester, England.
In 1901 Lasker presented his doctoral thesis Uber Reihen auf der Convergengrenze to Erlangen University, which was published in Philosophical Transactions.
In December 1901, Lasker defeated Dawid Janowski in a match held in Manchester. Lasker won 1 game and drew 1 game, with no losses.
In January 1902, he gained his doctorate degree in mathematics and philosophy from Erlangen University. His dissertation was titled, Uber Reihen auf der Convergenzgrenze (“On Series at Convergence Boundaries”). His mathematical researches were based upon his studies at the universities of Berlin, Gottingen, and Heidelberg. His advisor was the famous mathematician David Hilbert.
After he defended his dissertation, he went to a Wiesbaden resort for some rest. He played chess with the director of its opera theater.
From April to June 1902, Lasker gave simultaneous exhibitions throughout the United States.
In 1902, Lasker met Martha Cohn at the home of Ludwig Metzger, editor of the Berliner Lokalanzeiger newspaper. Martha was an employee of the newspaper, and had not interest in mathematics, philosophy, or chess. She said that chess must be terribly boring and was not to her tastes. Martha’s husband, Emil, died in 1910 and Emanuel married Martha in 1911.
After obtaining his PhD, he moved to New York, where he stayed until 1907.
From 1901 to 1914, Lasker played in only three chess tournaments. He demanded high appearance fees that tournament organizers could not afford. Lasker was also using his time to study mathematics and philosophy.
In 1903, Lasker lost a Rice Gambit match against Mikhail Chigorin, held in Brighton. Lasker won 1, drew 3, and lost 2.
In 1904, Lasker played at Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania where he took 2nd place (tied with David Janowski), behind Frank Marshall. Lasker won 9, drew 4, and lost 2. World champion Lasker came from Berlin to play in the event. He had not played in a chess tournament in four years. His last tournament was in Paris in 1900, which he won with 14 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss. After Cambridge Springs, Lasker would not play in a chess tournament for another 5 years (St Petersburg 1909), which he tied for 1st place with Akiba Rubinstein.
In November 1904, Lasker started Lasker’s Chess Magazine. It ran until 1907 in 8 volumes.
In 1905 Lasker introduced the notion of a primary ideal (ring theory), and proved the primary decomposition theorem for an ideal of a polynomial ring in terms of primary ideals. This proof was published in volume 60 of Mathematische Annalen in 1905. This is now known as the Lasker-Noether theorem. Emmy Noether was a distinguished lady mathematician from Gottingen who refined Lasker’s work on polynomial rings in 1919. She built an abstract theory which developed ring theory into a major mathematical topic. A communitive ring R is now called a Lasker ring if every ideal of R can be represented as an intersection of a finite number of primary ideals. A theorem in the theory of vector spaces is known as the Lasker theorem. His work provided the foundation of modern algebraic geometry.
In 1906 Lasker became secretary of the Rice Gambit Association. In July, 1906, Lasker won the 19th New York State Chess Championship at Trenton Falls with 4 wins, 2 draws, and no losses.
In Jan-April 1907, Lasker beat Frank Marshall in the 7th world championship match and won with 8 wins, 7 draws and no losses. The match was played in New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Memphis, Chicago, and Baltimore. After the match, Lasker returned to Germany. He would not play another game of chess until the next world championship match.
In 1907 Lasker wrote Kampf in German and re-wrote Struggle in English, which was published in New York by Lasker’s Publishing Company. This is a book on philosophy and the laws governing struggles in general.
In May 1908, Lasker performed several simuls throughout the Netherlands.
In September, 1908, Lasker defeated Siegbert Tarrasch with 8 wins, 5 draws, and 3 losses (first one to win 8 games, draws not counting, was the winner). The match was held in Dusseldorf and Munich. Lasker was convinced that Tarrasch had hypnotic powers and wanted to play the match from a different room. Lasker received 4,000 marks for his winnings and 7,500 marks for the appearance fee.
In December 1908, Lasker defeated the strongest Dutch master, Abraham Speijer, in a match held in Amsterdam. Lasker won 2, drew 1, and lost none.
In March 1909, Lasker, representing the United States, tied for 1st place with Akiba Rubinstein at St. Petersburg (Chigorin Memorial). He won 13, drew 3, and lost 2. He then published a book on the tournament.
In May 1909, Lasker played David Janowski in an exhibition match held in Paris. The match was drawn with 2 wins and 2 losses each.
In Oct-Nov 1909, Lasker played David Janowski in another exhibition match held in Paris. The match was sponsored by the Dutch painter Leo Nardus, who paid Lasker 7,000 francs to play. Lasker won the match with 7 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss. Nardus continued to support Janowski, until one day, Nardus suggested an alternate move or analysis in one of Janowski’s post-mortem games. Janowski called Nardus an idiot in front of the crowd. Nardus never gave Janowski any financial support after that.
In Jan-Feb 1910, Lasker played Carl Schlechter in a match of 10 games (9th world championship match). It was supposed to be a match of 30 games, but lack of funds kept it shorter. Lasker won 1 game, drew 8 games, and lost one game to tie the match. Schlechter needed only a draw in the last round to win the match. During that last game, he was winning, but eventually lost the game in 71 moves and the match. The match was held in Vienna and Berlin. Lasker received 1,000 marks for each game played. After the match, the public decided to call this match a world chess championship match. There is little evidence that Lasker considered this a world championship match where he would lose his title if he lost this short match. No contract has ever been found to prove this was a world championship match. The American Chess Bulletin of 1910 stated that the two players agreed to play a series of games, but the result would not affect the world championship title.
In June 1910, Lasker gave two lectures in Buenos Aires, one devoted to Paul Morphy, and the other to William Stienitz. The lectures were later published in one of the local newspapers.
In November 1910, Lasker defeated Janowski with 8 wins, 3 draws, and no losses in the 10th world championship match in Berlin. He had defended his world championship title 6 times in 4 years. Lasker would not play serious chess for another 3 ½ years.
On March 1, 1911, at the age of 42, Emanuel Lasker married Martha Bamberger Cohn in Berline and became a husband, father, and grandfather at the same time. His wife was a year older than Lasker, widowed (Emil Cohn owned the Trautweins’s piano factory and died on Dec 18, 1909), rich, and already a grandmother. Martha had a daughter, Lotta, from her previous marriage. Lotta later moved to Chicago. The Laskers lived in Thyrow, an hour’s journey from Berlin where he acquired a house, a garden, and a big dog. It was here, in 1913, that he wrote Das Begreifen die Wielt (Understanding the World).
In 1911, Lasker invented a games called Lasca (Laska) and took a patent out on the game. It is played with checker pieces played on a 7×7 board. The game was derived from American Checkers and a Russian game called Bashni (Tower).
In 1914 Lasker took 1st place at St. Petersburg. In the preliminary rounds, Lasker won 4, drew 5, and lost 1. In the final, Lasker won 6, drew 2, and lost none. Nicholas II, Czar of Russia, conferred the title of Grandmaster of Chess to Lasker, Alekhine, Capablanca, Tarrasch, and Marshall. These were the original five grandmasters. Lasker was paid 4,000 roubles as an appearance fee. This was the first time a chess player received an appearance fee.
Just before World War I, Lasker was supposed to play Rubinstein for the World Championship. Capablanca planned to play the winner. World War I interrupted these matches.
During World War I, Lasker (along with Rubinstein) invested all of his money in German war bonds. At the end of the war, he had lost all his money and savings. During that period, he wrote a book declaring that Germany had to win the war if civilization were to be saved, and he applauded the politics of Wilhelm II.
After the War, Lasker tried to breed pigeons for the Berlin Pigeon Fair, He had studied many books about the breeding of pigeons and thought he could win medals at the Berlin Poulty show. However, all the pigeons Lasker bought were male.
In Nov 1916, Lasker defeated Siegbert Tarrasch in a match held in Berlin. He won 5, drew 1, and lost none.
In Oct 1918, Lasker won at Berlin with 3 wins, 3 draws, and no losses.
In 1919, he wrote Die Philosophie des Unvollendbaren (The Philosophy of the Unattainable). Albert Einstein expressed interest in Lasker’s work, calling the book, “a lively interest in all the problems that bedevil mankind,” and “a most original work.”
In January 1920, Lasker met with Capablanca at The Hague in the Netherlands. An agreement was drawn up to play half the world championship in the Netherlands and the other half in the United States. The deal later fell through because of insufficient finances.
In 1920 Lasker wrote to Capablanca in Spanish and resigned his title to Capablanca without playing a game. However, he needed the money and agreed to play Capablanca in 1921 for the world championship for $11,000.
In March-April 1921, Lasker was defeated by Capablanca in the 11th world chess championship, held in Havana. Lasker did not win a game, had 10 draws, and 4 losses. Lasker then claimed ill health and quit playing after 14 games of the 24 games scheduled, and he resigned the title.Capablanca’s prize fund was $12,000. He had played in 8 world championship matches for 27 years, 337 days (from May 26, 1894 to April 21, 1921), the longest reign of any world chess champion. Lasker then retired from chess until 1923.
In 1922, London hosted the “Victors’ Tournament.” It invited all the strongest players in the world except Lasker, due to his politics during World War I. The tournament included Capablanca, Alekhine, Vidmar, Rubinstein, Bogoljubow, Reti, Tartakower, Maroczy, Yates, Atkins, Euwe, Znosko-Borovsky, and a few others, but not Lasker.
In 1922, Lasker wrote My Match with Capablanca. In it, he believed that chess would exhaust itself in short order and that draws would kill chess. A few years later, he changed his mind, regarding the future of chess more optimistically. He did not think chess was close to being played out to a draw.
In July 1923, ex-world champion Lasker won at Moravska Ostrava with 8 wins, 5 draws, and no losses.
From 1895 to 1924 he won or tied for first place in eight of the 10 major chess championships he played in. The other two, he took 2nd place and 3rd place.
In April 1924, Lasker, age 55, won the New York International, ahead of world champion Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine. He won 13, drew 6, and lost 1. Lasker now took up bridge and Go.
In Nov-Dec 1925, Lasker took 2nd, behind Bogoljuvow, at Moscow. He won 10, drew 8, and lost 2. Lasker was the first foreign master to make a guest appearance in Soviet Russia after the October Revolution. Lasker would not play serious chess for another 9 years.
In 1926 he wrote Lehrbuch des Schachspiels. He re-wrote it in English in 1927 as Lasker’s Manual of Chess. He dedicated the book to his wife, Martha. It read, “To me dear wife, who has shared with me everything in life, together with her, with a sense of humor.”
In 1927, Lasker was not invited the strongest tournament of the year, New York 1927.
On October 19,1928, Emanuel Lasker’s brother, Berthold died.
In the early 1930s Lasker became an international bridge player, representing Germany in international events. He became a Life Master in bridge and was the team leader of the German team at the Bridge Olympics.
In 1931, Lasker wrote a book called Popular Board Games.
Lasker was a good friend of Dr. Albert Einstein (1879-1955), but did not believe that the speed of light was constant.
In 1933 he was driven out of Germany beause he was a Jew. He was the grandson of a rabbi. All of his property in Berlin was confiscated as well as a farm he owned. In 1933 he moved to England.
In 1934, after 9 years of retirement, Lasker took 5th at Zurich. He won 9, drew 2, and lost 4. Lasker had now taken up golf.
In 1935 Lasker moved to the USSR. He had been invited to the Second Moscow International Tournament by Krylenko and took 3rd place at the age of 67. He won 6, drew 13, and lost none. He was then invited to become an honorary member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, which he accepted, and took permanent residence in Moscow. He became involved in mathematical studies and was offered a professorship at a university. He played chess with Ivan Vinogradov, the director of the Institute of Mathematics, and with David Oistrakh, the famous violinist.
At the end of 1935 he went to Holland to cover the world championship match between Alekhine and Euwe for Russian newspapers.
In 1936, Lasker gave a short talk in Russian at the Young Pioneers’ Club about the studies of chess composer A.A. Troitsky. Lasker inspired several boys to become strong chess players at that meeting, including Yuri Averbakh and Vladimir Simagin.
In August 1936, Lasker played in the Nottingham International, which he took 7th place. He won 6, drew 5, and lost 3. Lasker played under the Soviet sickle-and-hammer flag, representing the USSR.
In late 1937 Lasker moved to Manhattan, New York. His patron in the USSR, Krylenko, was condemned as a traitor and later executed in a purge. Lasker feared for his life and left the USSR, despite doctors telling him that his wife was too sick to travel. He was able to immigrate to the United States by telling the authorities that his step daughter, who was living in Chicago, wanted to be re-united with her mother. On Nov 19, 1937, the Laskers celebrated Martha’s 70th birthday in Chicago with her daughter and grandchildren.
In 1938, Lasker was upset at not being invited to participate in the AVRO tournament in the Netherlands.
In 1939 Lasker was suffering from ill health.
In 1940, Lasker wrote his last book, The Community of the Future.
In May 1940, Lasker agreed to play an exhibition match with Frank Marshall. After two games, both players had won one game each. But Lasker had to cancel the rest of the match due to illness.
Lasker died of a kidney infection in New York on January 11, 1941. He was 72. He had been a charity patient at Mount Sinai hospital. About the same time, his sister died in a Nazi gas chamber. A condolence letter was sent to Martha Lasker by Albert Einstein, when Emanuel Lasker died.
From 1892 to 1924, he won 12 of 14 tournaments, placing 2nd and 3rd in the other two. From 1889 to 1916, he won 20 of 21 matches (the other one drawn).
Lasker’s winning percentage is the highest of any world chess champion: 66%. He won 52 games, drew 44, and lost 16 in world championship play. His calculated ELO rating is 2720.
Lasker played in more chess tournaments in Russia than in any other country. Lasker visited Russia 10 times between 1895 and 1937, playing in all the strongest chess tournaments.
Lasker’s wife died on October 18, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois.
Dr. Albert Einstein contributed a forward about Lasker in the book Emanuel Lasker: The Life of a Chess Master by Jacques Hannak, published in 1952.
In 1968 East Germany issued a stamp with Lasker’s portrait in honor of the 100th anniversary of Lasker’s birth.
Tournament Record:
Year City Place Won Lost Drawn
1889 Breslau 1st 7 0 2
1889 Breslau 1st-2nd 4 2 0
1889 Amsterdam 2nd 5 1 2
1890 Berlin 1st-2nd 5 1 1
1890 Graz 3rd 3 0 3
1892 London 1st 8 1 2
1892 London 1st 5 0 3
1893 New York 1st 13 0 0
1895 Hastings 3rd 14 4 3
1895-6 St. Petersburg 1st 8 3 7
1896 Nuremberg 1st 12 3 3
1899 London 1st 20 1 7
1900 Paris 1st 14 1 3
1904 Cambridge Springs 2nd-3rd 9 2 4
1906 Trenton Falls 1st 4 0 2
1909 St. Petersburg 1st-2nd 13 2 3
1914 St. Petersburg 1st 10 1 7
1918 Berlin 1st 3 0 3
1923 Mahrisch-Ostrau 1st 8 0 5
1924 New York 1st 13 1 6
1925 Moscow 2nd 10 2 8
1934 Zurich 5th 9 4 2
1935 Moscow 3rd 6 0 13
1936 Moscow 6th 3 5 10
1936 Nottingham 7th-8th 6 3 5
25 tournaments, 353 games, 212 wins, 37 losses, 104 draws
Match Record:
Year Opponent W L D
1889 Bardeleben 2 1 1
1890 Mieses 5 0 3
1890 Bird 7 2 3
1890 Miniati 3 0 2
1890 Englisch 2 0 3
1892 Blackburne 6 0 4
1892 Bird 5 0 0
1892-3 Showalter 6 2 1
1893 Golmayo 2 0 1
1893 Vasquez 3 0 0
1893 Ettinger 5 0 0
1894 Steinitz 10 5 4
1896-7 Steinitz 10 2 5
1907 Marshall 8 0 7
1908 Tarrasch 8 3 5
1909 Speijer 2 0 1
1909 Janowski 2 2 0
1909 Janowski 8 0 3
1910 Schlechter 1 1 8
1916 Tarrasch 5 0 1
1921 Capablanca 0 4 10
22 matches, 194 games, 107 wins, 23 losses, 64 draws
Bibliography:
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Capablanca, Lasker-Capablanca
Charushin, Lasker’s Combinations
Cunningham, The Games in the Steinitz-Lasker Championship, 1894
Fine & Reinfeld, Lasker’s Greatest Chess Games, 1889-1914, 1963
Forster & Hansen & Negele, Emanuel Lasker, 2009
Fox, Chess Match 1921, Lasker-Capablanca
Gunsberg & Hoffer, Steinitz-Lasker Championship Match, 1894
Hagemann, Emanuel Lasker – Schach, Philosophie, Wissenschaft, 2001
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Hoffer, The Championship Match: Lasker v. Tarrasch, 1908
Hoffer, Lasker v. Schlechter, 1910
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Lasker, Lasker’s Manual of Chess, New 21st Century Edition, 2010
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– Bill Wall

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