Friendly Chess Players
At the same time I worked on Magnus Carlsen Interviews, I was reading Yuri Averbakh's 'Centre-Stage and Behind the Scenes: A Personal Memoir'. Near the end of the book (p.238), GM Averbakh divides great players into six groups. Here are quotes from Averbakh describing each group.
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Group one - the killers.
They are the ones who, in the language of boxing, try to knock out their opponents.
Alekhine, Botvinnik, Fischer, Korchnoi.
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Group two - the fighters.
The circumstances of battle inspire them and enable them to mobilize their full fighting spirit.
Lasker, Bronstein, Reshevsky, Tal; Kasparov.
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Group three - the sportsmen.
For them, chess is a form of sport, like tennis, for example. Once the game is over, they become absolutely normal people.
Capablanca, Euwe, Keres, Smyslov, Spassky.
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Group four - the players.
They are attracted by every form of game -- cards, backgammon, etc.
Karpov; Janowski, Najdorf, Geller, Petrosian.
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Group five - the artists.
For them it is important not just to win, but to win elegantly, and to create works of art.
Simagin, Rossolimo.
- Group six - the explorers. This group strive first of all to understand chess, and to divince its secrets. for them chess is a subject for scientific study. Rubinstein, Nimzowich, Fine.
Where does GM Carlsen fit in this classification? Here are the keywords I developed from 'Carlsen Interviews': intuitive, professional, likes to win, enjoys playing, likes unconventional tasks, professional for more than chess alone, likes group sessions, self-confident, friendly. Based on this, I would place Carlsen in Group three - the sportsmen, with key elements of Group two - the fighters.
1 comment:
Botvinnik was a chess researcher, the founder of the Soviet "Scientific School", who happened to be a fighter too. Being a researcher of chess principles is really independent of how much one "fights" during the game.
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