It’s laborious to think about a greater match in chess between writer and topic than GM Jan Timman’s new anthology, “Max Euwe’s Best Games.”
Timman, one of the best Dutch participant of his era and a prolific writer, affords up a deep evaluation of 80 video games from his compatriot, the fifth world champion and nonetheless the best participant his chess-mad nation has ever produced. Often underrated as a result of his time as champion lasted simply two brief years within the mid-Nineteen Thirties, the courtly Euwe common a outstanding profession over the course of six a long time. He would possibly rank even increased within the pantheon had he not sportingly agreed to a return match towards dethroned former champ Alexander Alekhine in 1937, at a time when the titleholder nonetheless may choose the place and when he would defend his crown.
Still, as Timman’s fastidiously curated listing of video games demonstrates, Euwe was universally acknowledged to be one of many strongest gamers of the pre-World War II era, and remained an elite participant effectively into his seventies, all whereas holding down a day job as a arithmetic professor and serving for almost a decade as head of worldwide chess federation FIDE. As with many gamers of his era, World War II disrupted what may have been Euwe’s prime enjoying years.
He received a document 12 Dutch nationwide titles (Timman is second on the listing at 9), performed high board for seven Dutch Olympiad groups, authored a number of tutorial classics resembling “The Middlegame in Chess,” and even beat a 14-year-old Bobby Fischer in an off-the-cuff match 1½-½ in New York in 1957 shortly earlier than the younger Brooklynite’s meteoric rise to greatness.
Garry Kasparov, in his survey “My Great Predecessors,” famous with some shock that along with his robust opening and endgame approach and acknowledged positional aptitude, Euwe was additionally a “full-blooded attacking player. Whenever the position lent itself to attacking, he would direct his pieces toward the enemy king.”
We current right here two prime examples of Euwe the attacker, taken from the very starting and the later a part of his profession. The notes right here rely closely on Timman’s deep-dive evaluation.
The younger Euwe had an extended and shut relationship with the good Hungarian participant Geza Maroczy, who fled to Holland after World War I, served as a mentor to the rising Dutch star and was nonetheless at his aspect as a second within the triumphant 1935 match with Alekhine. Today’s sharp first sport comes from a drawn 12-game match between the trainer and the pupil in 1921. Euwe as White units off the fireworks on this tough French McCutcheon line with 13. Bxg6! Qc7?! (Timman says 13 … dxc3+ is healthier right here) 14. Rf3 Rg8 15. Rxf7 Qxc3+ 16. Ke2!, with each kings seemingly in mortal hazard.
White ideas the steadiness with a unbelievable useful resource: 18. Kf3! Rf8 (understandably lacking the purpose; Timman says greatest now was 18 … Nc6 19. g3 Rxg6; e.g. 20. Qxg6 Ne7 21. Rxe7+ Kxe7 22. Rc1 Qf6+ 23. Qxf6+ Kxf6 24. Ne2 e5 25. d4 Bh3!, with good drawing possibilities) 19. Rf5+!! — selecting his manner by means of the pins, counterpins and found assaults to seek out the win: 19 … Kd7 (Ke7 20. Qb4+ wins) 20. Rxf8 Qxa1 21. Rf7+ Kd8 22. Qb4 Nd7 23. Qd6 Qh8 23. Ne2 e5 25. Nf4 exf4 26. Bf5, and Black can’t deal with the stress on his king. After 26 … Qe8 27. Bxd7 Bxd7 28. Rf8, the Black queen is pinned and misplaced and Maroczy resigned.
Jan Hein Donner in 1959 turned the Netherlands’s second grandmaster after Euwe, however regardless of a stellar profession and a number of Dutch nationwide championships, he by no means managed to beat Euwe over the board. The two performed a match for nationwide supremacy in 1956, which Euwe received by a decisive 7-3 rating, together with one other sharp attacking sport that caught his youthful opponent out in simply 22 strikes.
It’s a pointy King’s Indian line by which Donner as White goes mistaken on 11 … b5!? 12. c5?! (Timman prefers the easy 12. cxb5 cxb5 13. Qe2, sustaining an edge) dxc5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Qxe5 Qxe5 15. f4? (happening a harmful path together with his queenside nonetheless undeveloped; stronger was 15. Bf4) Qh5 16. e5 (see diagram; Timman writes right here: “If Black had to move his knight now, White’s strategy would have triumphed, but [Euwe] has something better …”) Bxh3!!, the beginning of a crushing assault.
Now, after 17. exf6 (Bxc6 b4! 18. Bxa8 bxc3 19. Re1 Rxa8 20. exf6 Bxf6 21. bxc3 Bf4 and the assault rages on) Bxf6 18. Ne4 Rxe4! 19. Bxe4 Re8 20. Be3 Bf5!, Donner’s total place is underneath siege. White’s resistance collapses on 21. Qxc5? (the one probability was 21. Bxf5 Rxe3 22. Qf2, however 22 … Rf3! 23. g4 Qh3 wins as effectively) Rxe4 22. Rd2 Qf3, and White resigns as 23. Bf2 Bh3 24. Be1 Bd4+! is profitable.
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In a dishonest controversy that generated international headlines, a federal decide final week dismissed the $100 million defamation lawsuit filed by U.S. GM Hans Moke Niemann towards former world champion Magnus Carlsen, U.S. GM Hikaru Nakamura, Chess.com, the Play Magnus Group, and IM Daniel Rensch, a high official with Chess.com.
Carlsen famously withdrew midway by means of the 2002 Sinquefield Cup after a loss to Niemann, broadly insinuating that his opponent was getting unlawful assist in the course of the sport. Niemann hotly denied the fees however Chess.com mentioned its personal evaluation discovered different examples of probably dishonest in his on-line video games.
The decide threw out a few of the fees and mentioned others within the defamation go well with didn’t belong in federal courtroom. Mr. Niemann’s attorneys mentioned they might attempt to revive the case in state courtroom.
On a extra optimistic word, one other world title will likely be on the road this month as girls’s world champion GM Jun Wenjun and challenger and Chinese compatriot GM Lei Tingjie sq. off in a 12-game match at classical time controls beginning Wednesday. The first half of the match will likely be performed in Shanghai and the second half in Chongqing.
The gamers is not going to be allowed to supply a draw earlier than Move 41, and in case of a tie, a fast and blitz playoff will likely be held July 23.
China already claims the world absolute chess title after GM Ding Liren defeated Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi to succeed Carlsen in an epic match earlier this 12 months. We’ll have full protection of the Jun-Lei match in upcoming columns.
(Click on the picture above for a bigger view of the chessboard.)
Euwe-Maroczy, Match, Game 6, Bad Aussee, Austria, August 1921
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. bxc3 Ne4 8. Qg4 g6 9. h4 c5 10. Bd3 Nxd2 11. Kxd2 Qa5 12. Rh3 cxd4 13. Bxg6 Qc7 14. Rf3 Rg8 15. Rxf7 Qxc3+ 16. Ke2 d3+ 17. cxd3 Qxe5+ 18. Kf3 Rf8 19. Rf5+ Kd7 20. Rxf8 Qxa1 21. Rf7+ Kd8 22. Qb4 Nd7 23. Qd6 Qh8 24. Ne2 e5 25. Nf4 exf4 26. Bf5 Qe8 27. Bxd7 Bxd7 28. Rf8 Black resigns.
Donner-Euwe, Dutch Championship Match, Game 6, The Hague, Netherlands, January 1956
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. d4 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 e5 8. Rd1 Re8 9. Nc3 c6 10. e4 Qc7 11. h3 b5 12. c5 dxc5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Qxe5 15. f4 Qh5 16. e5 Bxh3 17. exf6 Bxf6 18. Ne4 Rxe4 19. Bxe4 Re8 20. Be3 Bf5 21. Qxc5 Rxe4 22. Rd2 Qf3 White resigns.
• David R. Sands may be reached at 202/636-3178 or by e mail at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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