CHESS MATCHES: FROM LÓPEZ TO KRAMNIK
A file of classical chess games can be downloaded freely. The games are selected from matches, match tournaments and knockout tournaments.
pgn-file of 611 match games from López to Kramnik zip-file of CBase-files of the same games
New annotations were written by Jan van Reek. The quality of his analyses might be surprising, because chess analysis used to be the domain of over-the-board grandmasters. Chess software made it possible for study composers and correspondence players to analyse at a similar level. Scientific ability has become a more important quality.
The selected games were thoroughly investigated with modern means. It took me about one day per game. The oldest games have rarely been analysed previously. I do not bother the reader with endless reports about lack of quality in earlier analyses. Authors of important variations are mentioned.
When a game of chess is finished, the need for another game comes natural. Chess players like to play several games successively. If conditions are set, a match is created. When chess players began to travel as businessman or tourist, international competition started. The documented match came into being, when ‘the foreign star’ played against ‘the local hero’ and journalists wrote about it. Technical reports were published in the first chess journals.
Old Slaughter's in London
Café de la Régence in Paris
Ruy López lived at the court of Philips II. The Italian Leonardo travelled to Madrid in 1574. The first important international chess match ended in 3-2. Only openings' fragments survived.
The development of coffeehouses was a great stimulus for chess. The European cafe appeared during the seventeenth century. At first it consisted of a simple room with a counter. It became an important meeting point for the little mobile citizens. Later a specialisation set in. Old Slaughter's was a meeting place for chess players in London. Here, a match between the Frenchmen and the Syrian Stamma was played in 1747. Philidor won (+8, =1, -1). The notation of the games is unknown. Café de la Régence became an important place for the elite in Paris during the eighteenth century. Important visitors were Duc de Richelieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Grimm, Benjamin Franklin, Robespierre and Napoleon. Men of the wealthy middle class became the main customers in the nineteenth century. The interest for the game increased and notation of games began.
Tourism stimulated the organisation of international matches. Many English tourists travelled to the continent after the battle of Waterloo in 1815. They could afford the tourney, because: 1. The industrial revolution had increased wealth faster in England than in continental countries. A rich middle class could afford expensive trips. 2. Travel companies developed during decades of peace. 3. Roads became smooth for the first time since the Romans. Speeds of 20 km per hour for the express coach and 10 km per hour for the diligence were reached. A journey from London to Paris lasted less than a week. 4. In 1821 a crossing from Dover to France per steamship took two hours. Three decennia later, the train travelled 30 km per hours. The steam engine shortened the time of travelling drastically. 5. The hotel came into being. No longer all travellers slept in one room of an inn.
Lewis and Cochrane moved to Paris in April 1921, as tourists. They met the strongest French player Deschapelles. A short match began. The history of completely recorded chess matches had started.
Hereafter, pictures and a list of selected matches follow. More information about the matches has been added to the games in the files.
A. Coffeehouse chess
1. Prelude (number of games)
Leonardo - Ruy López, Madrid 1574 (+3, -2) 1
Lewis - Deschapelles, Paris 1821 (+1, =2) 2
2. La Bourdonnais - McDonnell, London 1834 (+45, =13, -27) 3-10
3. Staunton
Staunton - St. Amant, Paris 1843 (+11, =4, -6) 11-13
Staunton - Harrwitz, London 1846 (+12, =1, -9) 14
Staunton - Horwitz, London 1846 (+14, =3, -7) 15
4. Anderssen and Morphy
London 1851 (winner Anderssen) 16-19
New York 1857 (winner Morphy) 20
Morphy & Barnes - Staunton & Owen, London 1858 (+2) 21-22
Morphy - Löwenthal, London 1858 (+9, =2, -3) 23-24
Morphy - Harrwitz, Paris 1858 (+5, =1, -2) 25-27
Morphy - Anderssen, Paris 1858 (+7, =2, -2) 28-31
Morphy - Löwenthal, London 1959 32
Chess player wants a match in 1661
Paulsen-Morphy in New York 1857
Anderssen - Kolisch, Paris 1860 (+5, =1, -5) 33
Anderssen - Kolisch, London 1861 (+4, =1, -3) 34-37
Bristol 1861 (winner Paulsen) 38
Paulsen - Kolisch, London 1861 (+7, =18 -6) 39-40
Anderssen - Paulsen, London 1862 (+3, =2, -3) 41
Paulsen - Lange, Leipzig 1864 (+5, -2) 42
Anderssen - Suhle, Berlin 1864 (+3, =2, -3) 43
Morphy-Löwenthal in London 1858
Paulsen - Lange, Leipzig 1864
B. Steinitz
1. The young professional
Anderssen - Steinitz, London 1866 (+6, -8) 1-4
Anderssen - Zukertort, Berlin 1868 (+8, =1, -3) 5
Anderssen - Zukertort, Berlin 1871 (+2, -5) 6
Steinitz - Zukertort, London 1872 (+7, =4, -1) 7
Steinitz - Blackburne, London 1876 (+7) 8
Zukertort - Blackburne, London 1881 (+7, =5, -2) 9
Anderssen and Steinitz in London 1866
Zukertort and Steinitz in 1886
2. The first world championship
Steinitz - Zukertort, USA 1886 (+10, =5, -5) 10-18
Steinitz - Golmayo, Havana 1888 (+5) 19
3. Two challengers
Steinitz - Chigorin, Havana 1889 (+10, =1, -6) 20-23
Chigorin - Gunsberg, Havana 1890 (+9, =5, -0) 24
Steinitz - Gunsberg, New York 1890 (+6, =9, -4) 25-28
4. Chigorin again
Steinitz - Chigorin, Telegraphic match 1890-91 (-2) 29-30
Steinitz - Chigorin, Havana 1892 (+10, =5, -8) 31-36
Chigorin - Tarrasch, St. Petersburg 1893 (+9, =4, -9) 37-40
Lasker and Steinitz in 1894
Schlechter and Tarrasch analyse in Köln 1911
C. Lasker
1. The second world champion
Steinitz - Lasker, USA 1894 (+5, =4, -10) 1-5
St. Petersburg 1895 (winner Lasker) 6-9
Chigorin - Charousek, play-off Budapest 1896 (+3, -1) 10
Lasker - Steinitz, Moscow 1896 (+10, =5, -2) 11-13
Budapest 1898 (winner Charousek) 14
2. An avalanche of matches
Tarrasch - Marshall, Nürnberg 1905 (+8, =8, -1) 15-16
Lasker - Marshall, USA 1907 (+8, =7) 17-19
Lasker - Tarrasch, Düsseldorf and München 1908 (+8, =5, -3) 20-23
Capablanca - Marshall, New York 1909 (+8, =14, -1) 24-26
Janowsky - Lasker, Paris 1909, Casual game during first match 27
Lasker - Janowsky, Paris 1909, Second match (+7, =2, -1) 28-30
Lasker - Schlechter, Wien and Berlin 1910 (+1, =8, -1) 31-40
Lasker - Janowsky, Berlin 1910 (+8, =3) 41-42
Tarrasch - Schlechter, Köln 1911 (+3, =10, -3) 43-44
Lasker - Tarrasch, Berlin 1916 (+5, =1) 45
3. A new generation
Rubinstein - Bogoljubow, Göteborg 1920 (+5, =3, -4) 46-48
Lasker - Capablanca, Havana 1921 (+4, =10) 49-52
Lasker and Capablanca played their match in the Casino de la Playa
Bogoljubow and Alekhine in 1934
Alekhine and Euwe played in the 'Militiezaal' in 1935
D. Alekhine and Euwe
1. ‘Triumph des Willens’
Alekhine - Teichmann, Berlin 1921 (+2, =2, -2) 1-3
Alekhine - Euwe, Netherlands 1926 (+3, =5, -2) 4-13
New York 1927 (winner Capablanca) 14-22
Capablanca - Alekhine (+3, =25, -6) 23-31
2. A piece of cake
Bogoljubow - Euwe, Netherlands 1928 (+3, =5, -2) 32-41
Bogoljubow - Euwe, Netherlands 1928-29 (+2, =7, -1) 42-51
Alekhine - Bogoljubow, Germany and NL 1929 (+11, =9, -5) 52-59
Capablanca - Euwe, Netherlands 1931 (+2, =8) 60-69
Euwe - Spielmann, Amsterdam 1932 (+2, =2) 70-73
Flohr - Euwe, Amsterdam and Karlsbad 1932 (+3, =12, -3) 74-85
Alekhine - Bogoljubow, Germany 1934 (+8, =15, -3) 86-87
3. Euwe
Alekhine - Euwe, Netherlands 1935 (+8, =13, -9) 88-117
Euwe - Alekhine, Netherlands 1937 (+4, =11, +10) 118-128
Euwe - Alekhine, Exhibition Netherlands 1937 (+2, =2, -1) 129
Levenfish - Botvinnik, Moscow and Leningrad 1937 (+5, =3, -5) 130-142
Levenfish - Botvinnik in 1937
Euwe - Keres, Netherlands 1939-40 (+5, =3, -6) 143-156
Absolute championship Soviet-Union 1941 (winner Botvinnik) 157-166
Euwe - Bogoljubow, Karlsbad 1941 (+5, =3, -2) 167-176
Ideas about the strategy of chess were developed in the nineteenth century by Staunton, Morphy, Steinitz, Paulsen and Tarrasch. The technical level strongly improved in the twentieth century by Lasker and Capablanca. Impressive and exciting matches are Lasker - Schlechter in 1910 and Alekhine - Euwe in 1935.
E. State amateurs
1. Botvinnik
The Hague and Moscow 1948 (winner Botvinnik) 1-8
Fine-Najdorf, New York 1949 (+2, =4, -2) 9-10
2. Bronstein
Bronstein-Boleslavsky, Moscow 1950 (+3, =9, -2) 11-13
Botvinnik-Bronstein, Moscow 1951 (+5, =14, -5) 14-17
3. Smyslov
Botvinnik-Smyslov, Moscow 1954 (+7, =10, -7) 18-23
Botvinnik-Smyslov, Moscow 1957 (+3, =13, -6) 24-27
Smyslov-Botvinnik, Moscow 1958 (+5, =11, -7) 28-32
4. Tal
Bled, Zagreb and Beograd (winner Tal) 33-39
Botvinnik-Tal, Moscow 1960 (+2, =13, -6) 40-44
Tal-Botvinnik, Moscow 1961 (+5, =6, -10) 45-47
Euwe and Botvinnik in Moscow 1948
Tal - Botvinnik 1960
5. Petrosian
Curaçao 1962 (winner Petrosian) 48-51
Keres-Geller, Moscow 1962(+2,=5,-1) 52
Botvinnik-Petrosian, Moscow 1963 (+2, =15, -5) 53-56
6. Spassky
Spassky-Keres, Riga 1965 (+4, =4, -2) 57-60
Petrosian-Spassky, Moscow 1966 (+4, =17, -3) 61-65
Spassky-Geller, Sukhumi 1968 (+3, =5) 66-68
Spassky-Larsen, Malmö 1968 (+4, =3, -1) 69-71
Spassky-Korchnoi, Kiev 1968 (+4, =5, -1) 72-73
Petrosian-Spassky, Moscow 1969 (+4, =13, -6) 74-79
F. Bobby Fischer
Fischer-Petrosian, Belgrade 1970 (+2, =2) 1-2
Fischer-Taimanov, Vancouver 1971 (+6) 3-8
"The worst years of my life began" Boris told me. Petrosian smiled relieved.
Spassky - Fischer, Game 1, Reykjavik 1972