Guess-the-Master-Move, part 3 (Capablanca)

Capablanca vs Tartakower, 1924 (score: 115 par = 103)

A nice logical grinding affair. Very much in line with what I in lack of better words would call my style. I is probably better training to study sparkling tactical games but it has a homely feel to replay games of this type.

Capablanca vs Marshall, 1918 (score: 54 par = 51)

Marshall is all over Capa in a wild attack and then Capa moves a few pawns and it is all over. Amazing.

Lasker vs Capablanca, 1921 (score: 127 par = 139)

A long and often confusing game. Very energy draining!

Guess-the-Master-Move, part 2 (Lasker)

You can read about the achievements of the second world champion Emanual Lasker many times and be surprised everytime about his results. There are so many legend making results. It is possible to ignore 90% of what he did and Lasker would still be one of the Greatest chess players ever!

I strongly recommend a look at his chess biography at www.chessgames.com.

1. Pillsbury - Lasker, 1895 (score: 24 par = 40)

Another fine game. I think I was punished a bit hard in the Opening and lost quite a few points. In the end, the score was probably fair. There are a hanful of moves which I cannot tell if they are blunders or pure magic.

2. Marshall - Lasker, 1907 (score: 94 par = 99)

3. Tarrasch - Lasker, 1908 (score: 46 par = 51)

A game worth a second look and then another glance. Lasker sneaks in a bishop in the enemy camp and the Tarrasch just runs out of oxygen without any obvious errors. Amazing.

Guess-the-Master-Move, part 1 (Steinitz)

Using the "Guess-the-Move" application at Chessgames.com, I will replay three games of each of the twelve first undisputed world champions. In order to somewhat normalize the scores, I will focus on my achieved percentage of the par score of the games in question (unless someone comes up with a nicer idea). The first world champions are of course:

Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker and José Raúl Capablanca

This post will be updated with games replayed and my score.

Replayed Games:

1. Steinitz vs Lang, 1860 (score: 17 par = 25)

This was a highly tactical King's Gambit game which was clearly beyond me. Once upon a time I believed that tactics was my strength. This was an illusion caused by much higher test scores on tactics servers than my never increasing ICC rating.

2. Steinitz vs Chigorin, 1892 (score: 35 par = 43)

Here I scored a lot of easy points suggesting to castle but on the other hand completely overlooked Steinitz amazing attack.

3. Steinitz vs Zukertort, 1886 (score: 30 par = 23)

Another wild tactical game in the Vienna gambit (C25). This time the attacking moves felt pretty natural. I am not claiming any progress. I have probably seen the positions before.

A Chess "Who-Are-You" Experiment

A fellow chess blogger started a nice project. I am sorry but I cannot remeber who did it. Please remind me!

The Experiement was to "Guess-the-Move" a handfull of games from all World Champions to get a feel for his or hers chess style. Agreed, a chess low life such as your truly has no style but Blunderistic but I like the approach. I tend to need to fool myself to work hard and in a steady direction. So, my project of the day will be to replay 3+ games of the ten first World Champions and to create a clever way of comparing the results. Suggestions appreciated! Join the Movement!