David Bronstein Tournament book
Given my recent facination with all things David Bronstein, I have been delving into his tournament book: Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953. I will guarantee you this I will not finish this book anytime soon. It might be one of those books I will visit from time to time.
It covers the scientific period of chess and the vast majority of games are 1 D4 which meant that due to the trends of the time that more than 40% of the games are King Indians and NimzoIndians. Bronstein 2 years earlier lost his world championship match with Botvininnik and in this tournament tied for seconnd with Keres, Reshevsky and Petrosian . Smyslov the next world champion won the tournament.
The only e4-e5 turn into Ruys while there are a few Sicilians.Frenches,Caro-kahns. I like this style of annotations in it talks of ideas and his variations. The tournament info is base on his ideas and conversation with the players not a running it on Fritz.
For example this is what he writes about this King Indian gamehttp://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1241627
Characteristically, the King's Indian Defense features a tense battle waged on all fronts simultaneosly. The system used here secures White considerable territory, not only in the center, but on the kingside as well.
I do not wish to leave the reader the false impression that White's further task, which is to transform his sizeable spatial plus into a material advantage, will be an easy one. The secret of the King's Indian's hardihood is that, while conceding space, Black builds a few small but weighty details into his configuration. Foremost among these are his long-range bishops at g7 and c8, his firmly entrenched knight at c5 and the rook at e8, which maintain constant watch on the e-pawn. Nor ought we to forget his pawns. The "weak" pawn on d6 is just waiting for the chance to push to d5, so White must continually keep an eye on that. The pawn on a4 also has an important role; the threat to advance it to a3 can upset his opponent's plans for that sector at any time, so White must take extra precautions regarding the defense of c3 and c4. If 12. Qc2 was White's latest theoretical discovery, then the same might justifiably be said of Black's 14...Nfd7. 14...Qa5 was the old move, but after 15. Bf4, either the bishop at g7 or the rook at e8 had to move to an inferior position, whereas now the pawn can be covered with 15...Ne5.
pretty deep stuff. A rich meal that I will only be able to digest occasionally a little at a time.
It covers the scientific period of chess and the vast majority of games are 1 D4 which meant that due to the trends of the time that more than 40% of the games are King Indians and NimzoIndians. Bronstein 2 years earlier lost his world championship match with Botvininnik and in this tournament tied for seconnd with Keres, Reshevsky and Petrosian . Smyslov the next world champion won the tournament.
The only e4-e5 turn into Ruys while there are a few Sicilians.Frenches,Caro-kahns. I like this style of annotations in it talks of ideas and his variations. The tournament info is base on his ideas and conversation with the players not a running it on Fritz.
For example this is what he writes about this King Indian gamehttp://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1241627
Characteristically, the King's Indian Defense features a tense battle waged on all fronts simultaneosly. The system used here secures White considerable territory, not only in the center, but on the kingside as well.
I do not wish to leave the reader the false impression that White's further task, which is to transform his sizeable spatial plus into a material advantage, will be an easy one. The secret of the King's Indian's hardihood is that, while conceding space, Black builds a few small but weighty details into his configuration. Foremost among these are his long-range bishops at g7 and c8, his firmly entrenched knight at c5 and the rook at e8, which maintain constant watch on the e-pawn. Nor ought we to forget his pawns. The "weak" pawn on d6 is just waiting for the chance to push to d5, so White must continually keep an eye on that. The pawn on a4 also has an important role; the threat to advance it to a3 can upset his opponent's plans for that sector at any time, so White must take extra precautions regarding the defense of c3 and c4. If 12. Qc2 was White's latest theoretical discovery, then the same might justifiably be said of Black's 14...Nfd7. 14...Qa5 was the old move, but after 15. Bf4, either the bishop at g7 or the rook at e8 had to move to an inferior position, whereas now the pawn can be covered with 15...Ne5.
pretty deep stuff. A rich meal that I will only be able to digest occasionally a little at a time.
posted by takchess @ 9:57 AM
4 Comments:
At 12:39 PM,
Cratercat said…
Hey Tak - I'm glad to see a post on the King's Indian. Although I admire it as an aggressive tactical opening against 1d4, I find it a bear of an opening with all its complexity. Is KID your opening against 1d4? I'm starting to find my stride in the modern benoni, but it can be just as razor-sharp and lethal for black if not handled with care.
At 2:45 PM,
takchess said…
At the moment, I play the Tarrasch. I find it hard to imagine that I would play the King Indian any worse so I may switch. Especially with alot of games in this book to guide the way. I have been lent a series of videos including a 2 tape set on the King indian. Bronstein was an innovator in the King I and wrote a book specifically about it.
At 8:26 PM,
BlunderProne said…
I have Zurich 1953 Also! I bought it because I heard so much about it. Its a period of time in the chess world where hypermoderns were dominating the scene as a remedy to the Pilsbury Attack from QGD games. So it was all the rave in the 50's. Positional play was a strong theme in that tournament over open tactical games.
At 6:52 AM,
Anonymous said…
i love that book. the more i read it, the more i see things i missed last time i read it. speaking of the king's indian, this is the book that makes me want to play it...
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