Blindfold Chess Podcast

José Raúl Capablanca was a Cuban chess player widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Capablanca is best known for his exceptional endgame skills and his ability to simplify complex positions into winning endgames. 

Capablanca’s chess career began at a young age. He learned to play chess at the age of four by watching his father. The story goes that Jose pointed out an illegal move his father played, then beat his father. At the age of 14, he finished 4th out of 6 in the Cuban Championship. He traveled to the United States for university - participating on their baseball team, but later dropping out of school to focus on chess. 

In 1909, Capablanca participated in a chess tour across the United States playing 602 games in 27 cities scoring a 96.4% win percentage. A year later, he beat Charles Jaffe in the New York State Championship finishing the tournament with 7 wins and 2 draws.

In 1911, Capablanca challenged Emmanuel Lasker, the current world champion. Lasker sent a list of 17 conditions in order to play. Capablanca objected to some of the conditions so the match did not happen. 

In 1913, Capablanca was offered a position in the Cuban Foreign Office, the job didn’t have formal duties, but allowed Capablanca to act as an ambassador to put Cuba on the map. This job allowed him to be financially secure for life so he could focus on chess. This allowed him to give simultaneous exhibitions in London, Paris, Berlin, and a series of matches in Saint Petersburg all in the name of Cuba. 

During the course of World War I, Capablanca returned to the United States since international chess was halted. He won tournaments in 1914, 15, 16, and 18 only losing 1 game. 

After the war, Lasker resigned the title to Capablanca because, quote - “You have earned the title not by the formality of a challenge, but by your brilliant mastery.” 

The 14 game match was played in 1921, Capablanca won 4 wins, 0 losses, 10 draws. 

6 or 7 years later - depending on the source - In 1927, Capablanca faced Alexander Alekhine for the World Championship. Prior to this match, Alekhine had never beaten Capablanca. 

Stunning everyone, Alekhine won 6 wins to 3 losses with 25 draws. Relations soured between the two players due to the dynamic of a rematch and the amount of money needed. The two players did not play in the same tournament for almost 10 years. 

In 1942, Capablanca died from complications from his hypertension. 

Capablanca’s legacy is often cited as an influence by modern grandmasters including Bobby Fischer, Anatoli Karpov, and Mikail Botvinnik. He was also a prolific chess writer, and his books are still highly regarded today. Throw on top of that - he only lost 34 serious chess games as an adult and found his own version of chess and you have a player who has earned his way into chess immortality. 

Today, we’re traveling back over a century to 1912 in a blindfold exhibition in Cuba. 

Jose Raul Capablanca versus Jaime Baca Arus

Now, if we’re ready… let’s begin. 

1. d4 d5 2. e3 e6 3. Bd3 c6 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 f5 6. c4 Qf6 7. b3 Nh6 8. Bb2 O-O 9. Qc2 Nd7 10. h3 g6 11. O-O-O e5 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. Nc4 dxc4 15. Bxc4+ Nhf7 16. Rxd6 Qxd6 17. Nxe5 Be6 18. Rd1 Qe7 19. Rd7 Bxd7 20. Nxd7 Rfc8 21. Qc3 Rxc4 22. bxc4 Nd6 23.Qh8+ Kf7 24.Ne5+ Ke6 25.Qxa8 1-0

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1267108 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Ra%C3%BAl_Capablanca

https://blindfoldchesspodcast.com/ 

Simon Kim Williams, also known as GingerGM, is a British Grandmaster who has made significant contributions to the chess world as a player, commentator, and author. He is known for his innovative and aggressive playing style, and his books and videos often focus on unorthodox opening ideas and attacking strategies. 

Born in 1979, Williams started playing chess around the age of 6, his father, a strong chess player himself, taught him many of the openings Simon still uses, like the Dutch Defense. He received his first FIDE rating of 2255 when he was 14. He finished 7th in the 1997 European Under 20 Championship and finished 2nd in the Smith and Williamson Young Masters tournament of 1998. 

He finished earning his Grandmaster norms in 2006, but he was not classified as a Grandmaster until he cracked the 2500 rating which happened 2 years later at the Hastings Tournament of 2008. 

One of Williams' most notable achievements was winning a game with the Hammerschlag opening toward the end of the British Chess Championship in 1999. 

What is the Hammerschalg? That opening starts with 1. f3 e5 2. Kf2. 

Williams has placed 2nd in the British Championships, a tie for first in the Southend Chess Congress and the London Chess Classic as well as outright winning the British Blitz Championship. 

Williams is also a well-respected commentator. He has provided live commentary for major chess events, including the Gibraltar Chess Festival, Isle of Man, and a number of online tournaments for Chessbase and Chess.com. 

In addition, Williams has authored several highly regarded chess books, including "The Killer Dutch" and "Play the Classical Dutch." He is credited with 11 books, 9 chess coaching DVDs - including a course on Mikail Tal, his favorite player. 

Why is he his favorite player? Quote - “Because he was a lunatic.” 

He is a frequent guest in online video courses on iChess.net and Chessable as well as his own social media presence, primarily on Youtube. 

He has branded himself as ‘GingerGM’ on social media due to his fiery hair and beard color to his 80,000+ Youtube subscribers and 30,000+ Twitch followers. As GingerGM, he has helped popularize the concept of ‘Harry the H-Pawn’ referring to the flank pawn and how disruptive it can be to opponent positions - a concept also frequently used by Alpha Zero. He has names for the other pawns including - Arry (with an a), Barry the b -pawn, Charlie the c-pawn, Derek the d-pawn, Eddie the e-pawn, Freddie the f-pawn, and Garry the g-pawn. Each has their own purpose from attacking to the restriction of your opponent.  

Overall, Simon Williams is a highly accomplished and respected figure in the chess world. His successes as a player, commentator, and author have made significant contributions to the game, and he continues to be a major presence in the chess community.

Today, we are going to the 2017 Four Nations Chess League.

Simon Williams versus Peter Sowray. 

Now, if we’re ready… let’s begin. 

1. d4 g6 2. e4 d6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. f4 a6 5. Nf3 b5 6. Bd3 Nd7

7. a4 b4 8. Ne2 a5 9. O-O Ngf6 10. e5 Nd5 11. Ng5 h6 12. Ne6

fxe6 13. Bxg6+ Kf8 14. Ng3 Kg8 15. Qh5 Rh7 16. Bxh7+ Kxh7

17. f5 Nf8 18. Qf7 Nd7 19. Bxh6 Qg8 20. Qg6+ Kh8 21. fxe6 Nf8

22. Bxg7+ Qxg7 23. Rxf8+ Qxf8 24. Rf1 1-0

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1873948 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClV9nqHHcsrm2krkFDPPr-g 

https://blindfoldchesspodcast.com/ 

Nazi Paikidze  is a Georgian-American chess player who was born on January 27, 1994, in Tbilisi, Georgia. 

Paikidze's career as a chess player began at 4 and started working with her first coach at 6, quickly establishing herself as one of the most promising young players in Georgia. Chess was a part of the curriculum and she has said it was her favorite class. 

At the age of 9 she won her first international tournament - the European Youth Chess Championship. She won the Under 14 Girls Championship in 2007, Under 16 in 2008, she took home 12 medals in the European Youth Chess Championship, World Youth Championship, and World Junior Championship including 6 gold medals. In 2009 she reached her peak rating of 2455 - 35th on the Women’s FIDE list. 

She became a Women Grandmaster and International Master in 2010. 

In 2016, Paikidze won her first Women's U.S. Chess Championship. She finished the tournament with 8.5 points out of 11 games. This victory made her the first Georgian-American woman to win the U.S. Women's Championship. She repeated this feat in 2018 by holding off Annie Wang (wang not wong) in an Armageddon game to win her second Women’s US Chess Championship title. 

In addition to her individual accomplishments, Paikidze has also represented the United States in a 6th place finish in the 2016 Olympiad in Baku. 

Paikidze is also known for her advocacy work on behalf of women in chess. In 2017, she made headlines by boycotting the Women's World Chess Championship, which was held in Iran. Paikidze objected to the Iranian government's mandatory law that requires women to cover their heads in public. She argued that the law was discriminatory and that women should not be forced to wear a hijab in order to participate in the tournament. Her boycott sparked a wider debate about the role of women in chess and the need for greater equality in the game.

Quote: “I will not wear a hijab and support women’s oppression. Even if it means missing one of the most important competitions of my career.” 

In addition to her chess career, Paikidze is also a fitness enthusiast. She has spoken about the importance of physical fitness in chess and how exercise can help players maintain focus and stamina during long games. Her Instagram states she is a ‘vegan bodybuilder’. 

Overall, Nazi Paikidze is a highly accomplished chess player with a bright future in the sport. Her aggressive and tactical playing style, combined with her dedication to fitness and advocacy work, has made her a role model for young chess players around the world.

Today, we are going to the 2016 Women’s Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan. 

Olga Dolzhikova versus Nazi Paikidze. 

Now, if we’re ready… let’s begin. 

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6 6. d3 Nf6 7. Bd2 Nbd7 8. O-O-O d4 9. Ne2 Qb6 10. g4 h6 11. Qg3 O-O-O 12. f4 Nc5 13. Qe1 Qb5 14. e5 Nd5 15. b3 Na4 16. Kb1 Bc5 17. Ka1 Nac3 18. Bxc3 dxc3 19. d4 Qa5 20. Rh2 Ne3 21. Rc1 Qa3 0-1

 https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1830602

https://www.instagram.com/nazpaiki/?hl=en  

https://blindfoldchesspodcast.com/ 

https://blindfoldchesspodcast.com/cassidynoble/chess/ 

Anatoly Karpov is a Russian grandmaster and former world champion who dominated the game in the 1970s and 1980s. He was born on May 23, 1951, in Zlatoust, Russia, and began playing chess at 4, earning his Candidate Master title at 11. At 12, he was admitted into Mikhail Botvinnik’s chess school. Botvinnik remarked - “The boy does not have a clue about chess, and there’s no future at all for him in this profession.” 

Karpov first gained international attention in the late 1960s. He won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1969 and earned the title of International Grandmaster in 1970 at the age of 19. Karpov's first major tournament victory came in 1971, when he won the USSR Chess Championship.

Three years later, he won the Candidates Tournament, earning the right to challenge reigning world champion Bobby Fischer. However, when Fischer refused to defend his title Karpov was declared world champion by default. 

Karpov successfully defended his title twice against Viktor Korchnoi in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Karpov then ran into the wall of Garry Kasparov, who became his chief rival in the 1980s.  They met in the World Championship in 1984 (which was halted after 48 games - 5 Karpov wins, 3 Kasparov wins, and 40 draws), again in 1985 (Kasparov won 13 points to 11), again in 1986 (Kasparov won 12.5-11.5), again in 1987 (which ended tied 12-12 but Kasparov kept the title), and lastly in 1990 (Kasparov won 12.5-11.5). All in all - they played 144 games against each other in the World Championship - Kasparov winning 21, Karpov winning 19, and 104 draws.

The World Championship of 1993 saw Kasparov and Nigel Short withdraw from the World Championship to form the Professional Chess Association stripping them of their titles and official ratings. Karpov was then listed as the Defending Champion and faced Jan Timman, easily winning 12.5-8.5. Karpov then beat Gata Kamsky in 1996. Karpov beat Viswanathan Anand in tiebreaks in 1998.

In 1999, the format of the Championship was changed to a knockout style bracket to determine the champion. In protest, Karpov (along with Kasparov and Anand) refused to play. 

During his career, Karpov won numerous tournaments, including the Linares tournament, which he won a record seven times, the Soviet Championship nine times, and was a key member of the Soviet national team, helping win numerous Chess Olympiads and European Team Championships on top of being in 11 World Championship matches (winning 6 of them).

He was known for his positional style of play, which was characterized by ability to slowly build up an advantage and then methodically grind down his opponents. 

He was a dominant player during his prime, and his positional style of play remains an inspiration to many young chess players today. He has won numerous awards and accolades, including induction into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2012. His contribution to chess theory, style of play, and longevity in the game make him one of the greatest chess players of all time.

Today, we are traveling to Round 16 of the USSR Championships of 1971 before he became the World Champion.

 Anatoly Karpov versus Mark Danilovich Tseitlin. 

Now, if we’re ready… let’s begin. 

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Nc3 Nd4 5. Ba4 Nf6 6. Nxe5 fxe4 7. O-O Bc5 8. Nxe4 Nxe4 9. Qh5+ g6 10. Nxg6 Nf6 11. Qe5+ Be7 12. Nxh8 b5 13. Qxd4 bxa4 14. Re1 Kf8 15. d3 Rb8 16. Qe5 Ng8 17. Qh5 Kg7 18. Nf7 Qe8 19. Bh6+ Nxh6 20. Qxh6+ Kxf7 21. Qxh7+ Kf8 22. Re3 Rb6 23. Rg3 1-0

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1067657 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoly_Karpov 

http://cassidynoble.com/ 

Garry Kasparov is widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players of all time. Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, in 1963, Kasparov began playing chess at a young age and quickly rose as a prodigy. 

In 1978, he participated in the Sokolsky Memorial and took home first place to become a master (at the age of 16). Later that year, he qualified for and won the 64 person Swiss system USSR Chess Championship - the youngest to do so. 

At the age of 19, he was the 2nd highest rated player in the world and the youngest Candidate to the World Championship since Bobby Fischer. 

When he was 21, he became the number rated player in the world and held that spot for 12 years. He won his way through the Candidates and qualified to play Karpov for the World Championship. 

The World Championship of 1984 was structured in a ‘First to 6 Wins’ format. After 9 games, Karpov was winning 4-0. Kasparov then fought back winning 3 games. The president of FIDE then stepped in and stopped the 48 game match of the World Championship citing the effect on the player’s health (for reference, the 2023 World Championship was 14 games). This remains the only World Championship to be abandoned without a result. 

Later in 1985, a new World Championship match was started between Karpov and Kasparov. This time, Kasparov won in 24 games - 13 to 11 becoming the youngest World Champion ever. 

Kasparov remained at the top of the chess world for over a decade, holding the World Championship title from 1985 to 1993, and then again from 1995 to 2000. His achievements and tournament wins are far too numerous to mention here so we will examine a couple of other key events in his career.

Shortly after he reached the pinnacle of the chess world, he created the Grandmasters Association to give more representation to professional players to FIDE activities. FIDE did not like that. In 1993, both Nigel Short and Kasparov broke away from FIDE and played their own version of the World Championship under the banner of the ‘Professional Chess Association’ (PCA). This resulted in two different World Champions being crowned for a period of time - one under the PCA and one under FIDE. This split was eventually healed in 2006.

In an interview with DNA India -  “... my decision in 1993 to break away from the World Chess Federation, FIDE, with Nigel Short was the worst mistake of my career.”

During this time, Kasparov also played a number of famous exhibition matches against computers, including his famous matches against the IBM computer Deep Blue in 1996 and 1997. While he lost the second match, these matches helped to popularize chess and demonstrate the ability of artificial intelligence.

In 2005, Kasparov founded the United Civil Front, a political movement that advocated for democracy and human rights in Russia. He was a vocal critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and was arrested and imprisoned several times for his activism.

This week, we are traveling back to 1988 during the second round of the 55th USSR Championships. 

Garry Kasparov versus Vassily Ivanchuk. 

Now, if we’re ready… let’s begin. 

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Bb4 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O e4 7.Ng5 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Re8 9.f3 exf3 10.Nxf3 d5 11.d4 Ne4 12.Qc2 dxc4 13.Rb1 f5 14.g4 Qe7 15.gxf5 Nd6 16.Ng5 Qxe2 17.Bd5+ Kh8 18.Qxe2 Rxe2 19.Bf4 Nd8 20.Bxd6 cxd6 21.Rbe1 Rxe1 22.Rxe1 Bd7 23.Re7 Bc6 24.f6 1-0

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1070341

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov 

https://blindfoldchesspodcast.com/

The Blindfold King, Grandmaster Timur Gareyev is the current Guiness World Record holder for the most simultaneous blindfolded chess games played at the same time.
Originally from Uzbekistan, he won the U14 Asian Championship at the age of 12. 
He became a Grandmaster at the age of 15. 

His major claim to fame is becoming the Blindfold King. 
In December of 2016 in Las Vegas, Timur played 48 games with a blindfold on at the same time. 
The previous record was 46 games set by Marc Lang in 2011. 
The exhibition started at 830am on Saturday until 3:39am on Sunday (19 hours and 9 minutes [including a 30 minute fire alarm]). 
His previous record was 33 boards in 2013... I guess, what is another 13 boards? 
The key criteria for the record to count is - 

1) Reach an 80% win percentage score
2) All games must start at the same time
3) He played half his games with white, and half with black
4) His opponents must be of decent strength (this match was around 1700 strength)

As a result, he won 35 games, drew 7, and lost 6 for a win percent of 80.2%. 
During the entire exhibition, Timur was riding an exercise bike to get energy. 

He told Chess.com after the event he applies a technique called a 'Memory Palace' which involved - 
translating chess moves into images and placing those images in 48 mental rooms, but to also 'trust his brain to figure out the hard stuff'.
He would assign abstract concepts to keep the games straight, a quote of his - 
"If its board number 13, maybe I'll play something risky because it sounds unlucky. On board 21, that's like blackjack so it has some kind of gamble..." 

During the exhibition, he kept track of around 1400 moves. 

Outside of that event, Timur lives quite an interesting life. 

He won the North American Open in 2012 to qualify   for the 2013 US Championship where he tied for 3rd.
In 2018, he won the 2018 US Open to qualify for the 2019 US Championship where he tied for 9th out of 12 - including showing up late for a round because he was playing blitz online. 

Timur is also a skilled skydiver with close to 150 solo jumps, there are videos of him jumping out of a plane with a chess board for a Chess Life magazine cover. 

Gareyev is actively involved in the chess scenes of Southern California, Texas, and his current home of Kansas. 

Today, we are looking at two games from his record breaking day. Both of these were played at the same time, however we will only look at one at a time.

The first game -  

Thomas Brownscombe v Timur Gareyev

Now, if we're ready... let's begin.  

Game 1 - 
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. Re1 Ng4 7. Re2 O-O 8. c3
d5 9. exd5 e4 10. dxc6 exf3 11. gxf3 Nxh2 12. Re5 Qf6 13. Rxc5 Nxf3+ 14. Kg2
Bh3+ 15. Kxh3 Qh4+ 16. Kg2 Qg4+ 17. Kf1 Nh2+ 18. Ke1 Rfe8+ 0-1

Now onto the second game - 

Timur Gareyev v Shenlone Wu

Game 2 - 
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Qe7 5. cxd4 d6 6. Nf3 Nc6
7. Bb5 Bg4 8. O-O dxe5 9. dxe5 Nd7 10. Nc3 Ndxe5 11. Nxe5 Bxd1
12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Bxc6+ Kd8 14. Rxd1+ Kc8 15. Bxa8 Qh4 16. g3
Qh3 17. Be3 Bd6 18. Nb5 1-0

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/72345-most-simultaneous-blindfolded-chess-wins

https://blindfoldking.com/

https://blindfoldchesspodcast.com/cassidynoble/chess/

Recognized as the first official World Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, owned the title from 1886-1894. 

Born in 1836 as the last of 13 sons, he began playing chess at 12 and started studying it in his 20's

At the end of the 1850's he became very dominant being nicknamed 'The Austrian Morphy' (after the American, Paul Morphy).

After a successful match against Italian Master Serafino Dubois in 1862, Steinitz took up chess professionally. 

In 1866, Steinitz faced Adolf Anderssen who was then regarded as the strongest active player. Steinitz won 8-6, winning the last two games. 
After this match, Steinitz took home the 100 £ prize (about 57,500 £ or $69,000 today) and was regarded as the world's best player, yet still informally.  

After a break, he came back in the 1873 Vienna tournament. Steinitz revealed the new style of play - pivoting from the Romantic style of play to a more positional style of play. 
He took home first (including 14 wins in a row).
However, this new style of play was deemed as 'cowardly' by his peers. 
He defended it so much in writing that the 'Ink War' started against his debators - mainly Leopold Hoffer and Johannes Zukertort. 
His debators even persuaded anti-Steinitz articles to be published in America after Steinitz moved there from Europe. 

For a period of almost 10 years, he did not play in tournaments. He instead was the main correspondant in chess for the 'The Field' - Britain's leading sports magazine

He returned to Europe in 1882, taking 1st in the Vienna tournament. 
During his absense, one of his debators - Zukertort - was winning strong tournaments prompting some to claim Steinitz shouldn't be regarded as the strongest player. 

In 1886, Steinitz and Zukertort agreed to play a match in New York, St Louis, and New Orleans "for the Championship of the World". The victor would be the first to 10 wins. 
Zukertort took a 4-1 lead, but Steinitz rallied winning 12.5 - 7.5 (10 wins, 5 draws, 5 losses). Awarding the title of 'World Champion' to Steinitz.

In 1887 during the American Chess Congress, Steinitz worked to create a formalized system for World Championships knowing he was too old to hold the title forever. 

Steinitz defended his title against Isidor Gunsberg, Mikhail Chigorin, then lost to the 32 year younger Emannual Lasker in 1894 (an age difference record that still stands today). 

He played a rematch against Lasker in 1896, but lost 2 wins, 5 draws, 10 losses. 

Shortly after that, Steinitz had a mental breakdown and spent 40 days in a Moscow sanatorium. 
Not long after that, he suffered a heart attack and passed away, but his mark on the game remains.
The positional style of play he pioneered is still played today at all levels of chess.  

In today's game, we are traveling back to 1899 shortly before Wilhelm passed away. This game is a great example of calmly reacting to your opponent's sacrifices.
 
Wilhelm Steinitz v Samuel Tinsely.

Now, if we're ready. 
Let's begin. 

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 f6 6. exf6 Nxf6
7. Bd3 Bd6 8. O-O O-O 9. Re1 Bd7 10. Nbd2 cxd4 11. cxd4 h6
12. Nb3 Ng4 13. Be3 Qf6 14. Bc2 Nb4 15. Bb1 Rac8 16. a3 Bxh2+
17. Nxh2 Nxe3 18. fxe3 Qf2+ 19. Kh1 Nc2 20. Re2 Nxe3 21. Qd3
1-0

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1132759

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Steinitz

http://cassidynoble.com/chess/

A pioneer in Computer Chess and Chess Coach, Mikhail Botvinnik had an incredibly strong impact on Russian and global chess. 
He was the first world class player to develop in the USSR and he was the driving organizational force for chess after WWII 
creating the 'Russian School of Chess' teaching students like Karpov, Kasparov, and Kramnik.

Not only was he a great coach, but an unbelievable player, holding the world championship title for 13 years during a period of 1948-1963. 

Growing up was... complicated for Botvinnik. His parents were Russian Jews, they and other Jewish people were confined to live outside of the Pale of Settlement in St Petersburg.
He was later asked his nationality his reply was - 'I am a Jew by blood, a Russian by culture, and Soviet by upbringing'. 

He first learned chess at 12, in 1923, and finished mid-table in his school's championship. 
In 1924, he won his school's championship.
In 1925, he was selected to participate against a simul with Jose Capablanca, the then World Champion, and Botvinnik won.
Botvinnik finished school below the minimum age for higher education, so he played in the USSR Championship as the youngest ever player, finishing 5th and gaining the Master title. 
In 1931, at the age of 20, he placed first in the Soviet Championship saying the field was not very strong. Later that year, he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. 

Growing on a global scale, in 1938 he placed 3rd in a Candidates style match to see who played World Champion Alexander Alekhine.
During that time, the challenger needed to raise funds for the World Championship to occur. Botvinnik had the backing from the Soviet government and challenged Alekhin who immediately accepted, 
but due to Alekhine's turbulent relationship with the USSR and the Russian Revolution, and the outbreak of WWII, the World Championship match was prevented. 

During WWII, Botvinnik wrote a book of his games in order to stay sharp for his eventual match against Alekhine. 
He played what he could during the war, but high level chess needed to wait until after the war. 

In 1948, he created and played in a new qualifying system for the World Championship and won by a full 3 points, becoming the World Champion. 
In 1950, he was an inaugural member to receive the 'Grandmaster' title from FIDE. 

Over the course of 15 years, he played in 7 world championships. Losing 2 matches, but won them on rematches due to the 'Botvinnik Rule' - allowing former champions to rematch their challenger for the title. 

He retired from competetive chess in 1970 and began to focus on computer chess programs and coaching younger players until his death in 1995. 

In today's game, we are going back to the end of WWII in 1945 during round 3 of the USSR Championship. 

Mikhail Botvinnik v. Alexander Koblents 

Now, if we're ready. Let's begin. 

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 Be7 7.O-O
O-O 8.b3 b6 9.Bb2 Bb7 10.Qe2 Rc8 11.Rac1 Bd6 12.e4 dxc4
13.bxc4 e5 14.dxe5 Bxe5 15.Rcd1 Qe7 16.Nh4 Qb4 17.Qc2 Nc5
18.a3 Qa5 19.Nf5 Rcd8 20.f4 Nxd3 21.Rxd3 Qc5+ 22.Kh1 Qxc4
23.fxe5 Rxd3 24.exf6 Rd7 25.Qc1 Rfd8 26.Rg1 1-0

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1032112

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Botvinnik

http://cassidynoble.com/

It is my birthday today! As a present to myself I wanted to look at my favorite chess player - Mikhail Tal. 

Known for his creativity and attacking play - The Magician of Riga was the 8th World Champion from 1960-1961.
He is also known for his improvisation and unpredictability, sometimes that would backfire, but other times it led to brilliancies still talked about today.

He grew up in Soviet-Latvia and began playing chess at the age of 6 
At the age of 13, he started working with Latvian Master Alexander Koblents.
Two years later, in 1951 he qualified for the Latvian Championship.
In 1953, at the age of 15, he won his first Latvian title.

In 1956, his first USSR Championship, he finished in a tie for 5th and was critisized for 'taking unnecessary risks and having restricted creative views' 
The following year, he won the USSR Championship, the youngest to do so at the age of 20.

In his first Candidates tournament in 1959, he scored 1st with 20/28 including winning all 4 games against Bobby Fischer
When playing Paul Benko at that tournament, Benko wore dark glasses to avert Tal's gaze. In response, Tal borrowed large sunglasses from a member of the crowd to counter-intimidate. 

At the age of 23, Tal defeated Mikhail Botvinnik in a World Championship match 12.5 - 8.5 becoming the youngest World Champion
Botvinnik then analyzed Tal's games and took back the title in 1961 averting Tal's tactical play opting instead for slower games or veering toward endgames

Around this point, his health started to impact his play, causing him to slump until his kidney was removed. 
Once returning to chess, he came back strong with 86 consecutive games without a loss from 1972 to 1973, then a 95 game streak from 1973 to 1974
That record stood for almost 4 decades until Ding Liren broke it with 100 games in 2017-2018

Over the course of his career, he played in 21 Soviet Championships, winning 6 times, 
he was a 5 time winner of the International Chess Tournament, and an 8-time Soviet Olympiad winning gold every time.

Tal had fragile health, was addicted to morphine, chain smoked, and drank heavily dying of a haemorrhage in 1992 at the age of 55.
Since 2006, the Tal Memorial has been held in his honor

He was slightly ahead of his time by sacrifying material for the initiative and creating problems for his opponents
He was feared to be played against because of the possibility of being on the wrong side of a soon-to-be-famous brilliancy

Some of my favorite quotes of his - 
"Chess, first of all, is art" 
"There are two types of sacrifices, good ones and mine" 
"To play for a draw, at any rate with white, is to some degree a crime against chess" 
"Later, I began to succeed in decisive games. Perhaps because I realized a very simple truth: not only was I worried, but also my opponent"
"You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2 = 5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one"

In today's game, we are looking at a game from the Goglidze Memorial from 1969.

Mikhail Tal versus Alexey Suetin

Now, if we're ready, let's begin

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Ne7 6.Nc3 Nbc6
7.Nb3 Ng6 8.O-O b5 9.Be3 d6 10.f4 Be7 11.Qh5 Bf6 12.Rad1 Bxc3
13.bxc3 Qc7 14.Rd2 Nce7 15.Nd4 Bd7 16.f5 exf5 17.exf5 Ne5
18.Ne6 Bxe6 19.fxe6 g6 20.Qxe5 dxe5 21.exf7+ 1-0

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1134883

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Tal

http://cassidynoble.com/

The Mozart of Chess, the highest rated human player in history (2882), the 5-time World Champion, and the second longest reign of holding the FIDE number 1 title which has been uninterupted since July 2011.

Magnus Carlsen is in a league of his own in the chess world. 
At the time of recording this, he is currently 50 rating points ahead of World Number 2. To put that into comparison, there is a 50 point difference from 2nd place and 8th in the world standings.

Growing up - 
Taught chess by his father at the age of 5, Magnus originally showed little interest in playing. It wasn't until he was motivated to beat them that he took the game seriously. 
He played his first tournament at the age of 8 years and 7 months scoring a modest 6 out of 11. 
During the year 2000, with the help of coaches, his rating jumped from 904 to 1907 studying on average 4 hours a day. 
Around this point, he and his family took a year off of school to travel so he could play in international tournaments in Europe.  
In 2004 at the age of 13, he earned all 3 Grandmaster norms within 4 months. 
At 15, he was the youngest to crack 2600. 
At 16, the youngest to crack 2700. 
At 18, the youngest to crack 2800. 
And at 19, the youngest world number 1 in the world (before him, it was Vladimir Kramnik at 25 years old). 
Around that time, he turned down his first invitation to the Candidates cycle and began working with Garry Kasparov. 
In 2013, at the age of 22, he defeated Vishwanathan Anand to become the World Champion. 
He defended the title against Anand in 2014.
He beat Sergey Karjakin in tiebreaks in 2016 (this was also the last time he lost a World Championship game). 
In 2018, he beat Fabiano Caruana in tiebreaks. 
in 2020, his unbeaten streak of 125 games was ended after 2 years and 2 months.
In 2021, he defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi which featured a 136 move win for Carlsen - the longest in World Championship History. 
In 2022, he declined to defend his title for the World Championship in 2023. 
-----
Carlsen has a repuation for sitting and grinding on equal positions and squeezing out wins. 
In a 2013 conversation with Kasparov, he said, "Carlsen is a combination of Karpov and Fischer. He gets his positions and then never lets go of that bulldog bite."

Off of the board - 
In 2010, he was in an advertising/modeling campaign with G-Star Raw. 
Magnus was on an episode of the Simpons, 60 minutes, The Colbert Report, and was approached by Star Trek into Darkness. 

He has helped create the Play Magnus app which was later merged with Chess24 and Chessable, then later acquired by Chess.com.

In 2019, reached the number 1 global spot for Fantasy Football ahead of 7 million other players. 
In 2022, he finished 25th out of 1050 in the Norwegian Championships Poker Event.

He has won 'Name of the Year' twice, 'Sportsman of the Year', been on the '100 most influential people in the world', and been given the Peer Gynt Prize. 

But for today - we're looking way back in the year 2000 when Magnus was 10 at the Norway Junior Team Championship.
 
Erik Eikeland versus Magnus Carlsen

Now, if we're ready - let's begin. 

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. f3 Nc6 6. c4 e5
7. Nc2 Nxe4 8. fxe4 Qh4+ 9. Kd2 Qxe4 10. Qf3 Qh4 11. Be2 Be6
12. Nba3 O-O-O 13. g3 Qe7 14. b4 d5 15. c5 e4 16. Qf1 d4
17. Bc4 d3 18. Ne3 Nd4 19. Bxe6+ Qxe6 20. Nac4 Nf3+ 21. Kd1
Be7 22. Nd2 Bf6 23. Rb1 Qxa2 24. Nec4 Qc2# 0-1

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1820446

https://www.magnuscarlsen.com/en

http://cassidynoble.com/