Instructional Videos : Topalov

After the previous episode -- Instructional Videos : Svidler -- in this series of presentations by the participants in the 2016 Candidates tournament (starts next week!), the last episode is a game by GM Veselin Topalov. It was against his favorite opponent (remember Toiletgate?), GM Kramnik.

Corus 2008 | Press conf Topalov r9, I of II (9:59) • 'Uploaded on Jan 22, 2008'

For the second part, see Corus 2008 | Press conf Topalov r9, II of II. For the complete game, see Veselin Topalov vs Vladimir Kramnik; Corus 2008 on Chessgames.com.

The Value of Art

Here on Top eBay Chess Items by Price, as soon as one mystery is solved, another mystery takes its place. In the previous post, As Seen on 'Mad Men', I discovered why the Austin Enterprises chess sets are so popular. In this current post, I can't explain why an unknown artist sold for nearly five times the price of a known artist.

Left: Unknown artist, $2827
Right: August Herman Knoop, $590

The painting on the left, titled 'LARGE! ANTIQUE OIL PAINTING ON CANVAS "THE CHESS PLAYERS" ca 1700-1800', sold for US $2827 after 42 bids from 12 bidders. The description said,

You are looking at the large, beautiful oil painting representing a baroque scene with tree ladies playing chess in the garden and a gallant man watching their play. The original frame didn't remain until these days. The painting is in decorated wood gold frame and it's good in it. Unsigned. Large size amazing work demands attention on hall wall. Good artistic quality and vibrant colors. • 62.9" x 43.3" x 2.7"

The painting on the right (believe me, it shows a chess game), titled 'August Herman Knoop oil painting German chess players from museum', sold for around $590, 'Best offer accepted'. Its description said,

This is well done painting on panel by the well known listed German artist: August Herman Knoop, 19th century. It has a brass name plate on front : A. Knoop. Depicts gentlemen playing chess identified on back as well : M.H, GOLDEN GATE PARK SAN FRANCISCO, GERMAN, SECOND HALF 19th CENTURY, THE CHESS PLAYERS, GIFT OF MISS SARAH M. SPOONER 1918, ARTIST AUGUST KNOOP • Art: 5 7/8" x 7 1/2"; Ornate gold frame (has some damage, please see pictures) : 15 x 17 x 3 1/2"

Did the bidders recognize the artist in the first painting? Or is the frame more valuable? Or are the paintings valued by the square inch? Is it the 'tree ladies'? Or something else? I wish I knew.

And the Award for Best Chess Actor Goes to...

You've seen the movie: Grandmaster Maurice Ashley plays NYC trash talker - The Tim Ferriss Experiment (youtube.com; GM Ashley's channel; 1.199.609 views and counting):-

I was schooled by the best hustlers back in the day! This was actually in Washington Square Park where the late great Vinnie Livermore used to beat my ass at that same table!

You've read the reviews: Watch a Trash-Talking Chess Player Realize He Is Playing a Grandmaster (time.com), Maurice Ashley - trash talk chess in NYC park (chessbase.com),... Now here's the Flickr Friday photo!

Grandmaster Maurice Ashley vs. Washington Square street chess hustler © Flickr user Katexic Publications under Creative Commons.

Just one more reason why Ashley belongs in the chess hall fame: 2016 Inductees to U.S and World Chess Halls of Fame Announced.

1966 Olympiad, USSR & USA

While I was looking for the photos shown in The Real Bobby Fischer? I found the following photo. The eBay description said,

This is an authentic vintage photograph that shows chess players who participated in the 1966 Chess Olympiad in Havana, Cuba. The photo was taken at the Havana Hilton Hotel in which the Olympiad was held.

I'm not sure if it's been published before.

Front row, left to right: (USSR) Stein, Korchnoi, Polugaevsky, Spassky, Petrosian, Bondarevsky, (USA) D.Byrne, R.Byrne, Benko, Rossolimo, Fischer

The USSR and the USA finished first and second overall. For more about the event, see 17th Chess Olympiad: Havana 1966 (olimpbase.org).

The Real Bobby Fischer?

The chain of events started with a Video Friday post, Revisionist Chess History (October 2015; 'Tobey Maguire as Chess Player Bobby Fischer in "Pawn Sacrifice"'), where Maguire said, 'It seems [Fischer] was paranoid, delusional.' I traced this thought to The Ponterotto Connection (November 2015), where I ran into a dead end, because 'I haven't seen the movie yet and I don't know if I'll have the opportunity to see it soon.'

Thanks to a post on a well known chess blog, Toby Maguire as Bobby Fischer (January 2016; kevinspraggettonchess.wordpress.com), I discovered that the film was available on Youtube and was able to watch it once before it was removed, presumably for copyright reasons. The film was much as I expected -- great entertainment, but weak on chess history and heavy on the 'Fischer as madman' theme. I wanted to do a longer review, but this will have to wait until I get another chance to see it.

The film reminded me of another controversial work about Fischer, the much-maligned 'Bobby Fischer vs. the Rest of the World' by Brad Darrach. I first discussed Darrach in Odds and Ends (December 2010), and returned to him more recently in That's Definitely Bobby! (September 2015). Re-reading his book was a pleasure and this time I took copious notes. It's not as much about the 1972 Fischer - Spassky title match, as it is about convincing Fischer to play the match.

While I was studying the book I was reminded of the many press photos that appeared in the news before, during, and after the 1972 match. I gathered as many of these as I could find and started to sort them. I found close to 100, of which 30 are shown in the following composite photo.

Many of these are duplicates -- for example the last photos in the third and fourth rows -- but they provide an overview of the key events around the match. How to pull all of this info together: the Maguire film, the Darrach book, and the press photos?

Instructional Videos : Svidler

Last week I squeezed in two videos by players in the upcoming Candidates tournament, Instructional Videos : Karjakin and Nakamura. Now we come to one of my favorite chess presenters, Peter Svidler.

Corus 2007: Press conference Svidler round 11 (Part I) (7:38) • 'Uploaded on Jan 26, 2007'

For the rest of GM Svidler's analysis, see Part II and Part III. To play through the complete game, see Peter Svidler vs Veselin Topalov; Corus 2007 on Chessgames.com.

Polgar Global Chess Festival, Budapest

A few months ago in this 'Chess in School' series, I featured Judit Polgar's Chess Palace. Some of the concepts in that video can be seen in this more recent report from Chess.com.

2015 Global Chess Festival with Judit Polgar (7:11) • 'A report on the 2015 Polgar Chess Day held 17 October 2015 in Budapest.'

The description informs, 'In order of appearance: Lawrence Trent, Judit Polgar, Miklos Sesztak, Kata Karacsonyi, Sofia Polgar, Benjamin Gledura and Rustam Kasimdzhanov.' Former FIDE World Champion Kasimdzhanov: 'It's amazing. I've never seen anything like this before.'

By coincidence, the most famous of the three Polgar sisters appeared recently in The 'Queen of Chess' who defeated Kasparov (BBC News). 'In 2002, Judit Polgar became the first woman to beat then world champion Garry Kasparov. Judit Polgar spoke to Witness about their rivalry and that historic moment in the sport of chess.'