The year 2016 is the anniversary of a number of significant events in the chess world. In 1946 Alexander Alekhine died in possession of the title, the only champion so to do. The following position is taken from Alekhine: Move by Move by Steve Giddins (Everyman Chess).
Alekhine-Prat: Paris Simultaneous 1913
Alekhine concludes with a typically brilliant flourish. 22 Qh5+!! Nxh5 23 fxe6+ Kg6 24 Bc2+ Kg5 25 Rf5+ Kg6 26 Rf6+ Kg5 27 Rg6+ Kh4 28 Re4+ Nf4 29 Rxf4+ Kh5 30 g3 Black resigns 31 Rh4 mate is unstoppable.
And in 1966 Tigran Petrosian became the first player since Alekhine in 1934 to defend his title successfully in a World Championship match. We join in the decisive 22nd game where Spassky could have announced his intention of playing 25 … Qc7 when the game would have been drawn by repetition. In that case his match situation would have been virtually untenable, so Spassky gambled all on a winning throw which backfired.
Petrosian-Spassky: World Championship, Moscow (Game 22) 1966 (see diagram 2)
25 … Qc8 26 Bd4 h5 27 h3 h4 28 Nf1 dxe4 29 fxe4 Ned7 30 Nfd2 c5 31 Nxc5 Nxc5 32 bxc5 Bxe4 33 Bb3 Bf5 34 Ra7 Nd7 35 Nf3 Qb8 Black resigns
Another anniversary falling this year is of the 1986 World Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. The first half was staged in London, the second half in Leningrad. London hadn’t seen such high-level matches since the days of Wilhelm Steinitz in the 19th century, and this match opened the gates for further title contests in London between Kasparov and Short in 1993 and Kasparov and Kramnik in 2000. The extract which follows was awarded the brilliancy prize, shared by both players — £10,000 in gold sovereigns from the reign of Queen Victoria.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in