Chess History:

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Chess History
By Matt Pedraza
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History
Paul Morphy
Adolf Anderssen
Francois Andre Philidor
Before the official World Championship title was
created, there were three players who could have
held the title. Philidor, an early French master
said, The pawns are the soul of chess.
Anderssen, a brilliant attacker, played The
Immortal Game. Morphy, the brilliant American,
outclassed all of his European rivals in matches
before his early retirement.
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First World Champions
Wilhelm Steinitz
Emmanuel Lasker
Jose Raul Capablanca
Alexander Alekhine
Wilhelm Steinitz was the first official world
champion, as he called himself after beating
Zukertort in a match. The title stayed with him
until Lasker defeated him. Lasker held the title
for a record 27 years! Capablanca defeated the
aging Lasker without losing a single game in the
match, but lost his title to Alexander Alekhine
in a marathon match several years later.
Capablancas pure, classical style should have
been an interesting match with Alekhines
attacking style, but the match itself was dull
with 30 games in the Queens Gambit Declined!
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Soviet World Champions
Mikhail Botvinnik
Vassily Smyslov
Mikhail Tal
Tigran Petrosian
After the sudden death of Alekhine, Botvinnik
calmly assumed the title of FIDE(Federacion
Internacional du Echecs) World Champion after
winning the Candidates Tournament of 1946. He was
briefly over taken by Smyslov for a year before
regaining his title only to lose it to Tal.
However, he also regained the title after a year.
Finally, after losing the title to Petrosian, he
retired from competitive chess to research in
computer design. Botvinniks style is the result
of uncompromising and efficient Soviet training
techniques. He also created the Soviet School of
Chess which was the training ground for countless
Grandmasters.
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Modern World Champions
Boris Spassky
Bobby Fischer
Anatoly Karpov
Garry Kasparov
Spassky defeated his old rival Petrosian in
1969. In 1972, the most publicized chess match
ever occurred, in which Fischer beat Spassky at
the height of the Cold War. After Fischers
abrupt retirement, Karpov became World Champion
by default. After winning many top tournaments by
convincing margins, he barely escaped defeat by
Kasparov in their 1984 match. The following year,
Kasparov managed to win and defended his title 3
more times. During this period, professionals
began to protest the regulations enforced by
FIDE, and in 1997 Kasparov split from FIDE
altogether. This caused a schism in the line of
champions.
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Disupted World Champions
Vladimir Kramnik
Viswanathan Anand
Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Peter Leko
In 2000, Kramnik defeated Kasparov in a match to
become the Brain Games World Champion. This
organization quickly collapsed however. Anand has
been one of the strongest players in the world
and was FIDE world champion for a while, but has
not won any World Championship matches.
Kasimdzhanov is the current FIDE World Champion,
but this title is meaningless today as he won it
in a Rapid tournament in Dubai which he won on
blitz tiebreaks. Leko drew Kramnik in the 2004
Classical World Championship match, but this
title is also likely to not last long. The
current state of chess politics is a mess with no
remedy in sight. Kasparov is still 1 on the
ratings list, even after his retirement.
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The Evolution of Chess Style and Theory
Kings Gambit Accepted 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4
Giuoco Piano 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5
The oldest chess style is the Romantic style. The
first diagram is the position resulting after the
Kings Bishop Gambit, a very aggressive and
attacking opening in which white will frequently
give away material for a tremendous initiative.
Chigorin was a master of this style. The second
style was the refined Romantic style. In it, the
game took on a more logical course with less
material sacrifice and more standard maneuvers.
The attacks still came though! Morphy and
Steinitz were the masters of this style.
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The Classical School
Queens Gambit Declined 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6
The Ideal Classical setup.
Steinitzs pupil, Tarrasch, devised the Classical
School. This approach stressed the harmonious
development of the pieces and the creation of a
full pawn center. It also emphasized the
principles of a good piece and a bad piece.
If a piece stands badly, the whole game stands
badly, was one of the axioms of the day. Through
Tarraschs teachings, countless amateurs played
much better chess. Unfortunately, Tarrasch was
too dogmatic in his beliefs and certain sacred
beliefs would be soon contested
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The Hypermodern School
Alekhines Defense 1.e4 Nf6
Nimzo-Indian Defense 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4
Led by Nimzowitsch and Reti, the hypermodern
school defied many of the principles held by the
classicalists. They argued that a pawn center was
only an advantage if it could be maintained. An
unmaintained pawn center would be destroyed by
the active enemy pieces. Their concepts of
blockade, restraint, and prophylaxis
revolutionized chess thought. Today, many of
their concepts are held in as high esteem as
those laid down by Tarrasch.
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The Dynamic School
Modern Benoni 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5
5.cxd5 d6 6.e4
Sicilian Najdorf 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4
4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6
As a result of Soviet studies, the Dynamic
school was born. They created the concepts of
static factors versus dynamic factors. One side
would play classically and correctly while the
dynamic side would accept positional weaknesses
in favor of dynamic strengths. This concept led
to many lively games and new ideas. Tal and
Spassky were the masters of this uncompromising
style.
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Chess Theory Today
Ruy Lopez, Zatisev 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6
4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0
9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8
Kings Indian, Bayonet Attack 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6
3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6
8.d5 Ne7 9.b4
Chess theory today is an always changing
creature. With the aid of computers, new
theoretical novelties and ideas and being created
all the time. Openings are become deeper in
length, with many players not getting out of book
until after the 25th move! Todays masters of
preparation are Garry Kasparov and Vladimir
Kramnik. The emphasis today is on flexibility and
restraint a balance has been reached between the
old feuding schools.