Good writing. I was just wandering how good those giants perform against modern players? I would say due to some new knowledge it would take some time for the older folks to get a grasp of the modern games and they would be quick to compete on equal terms? What is your point on it?
The "Golden Age" of Chess
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Jul 7, 2017
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#4
For anyone who subscribes to Chess Life check out my cover story from the July 2015 issue where I discuss the current Golden Age of American Chess as well as (slightly) the original one.
Jul 7, 2017
0
#5
ChrisWainscott wrote:
For anyone who subscribes to Chess Life check out my cover story from the July 2015 issue where I discuss the current Golden Age of American Chess as well as (slightly) the original one.
I'm not a USCF member and haven't had access to your article, "A New Golden Age for American Chess," but Alan Rodenstein gives an insightful appraisal here: https://chessamerican.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/does-a-new-golden-age-for-american-chess-get-it-right/
What is the Golden Age of Chess? There really isn't one, but the closest you can come to one is between 1920 and 1946. In 1920, Dr. Emanuel Lasker was the World Clampion, with Capablanca hot on his heels, and Alexander Alekhine a close third. Other than these giants, there were Colle, Nimzovich, Botvinnick, Pirc, and Gruenfeld. Notice all the names? That's right; all openings! Well, except for Botvinnick.
At this point Alekhine was hacking through everyone in his path to World Champion, and Capablanca was getting Chess Directors drunk to make Alekhine's being able to challenge him almost impossible. Lasker had lost his title to Capablanca, and was still happily winning several tournaments.
Then we hit 1927, and Alekhine has finally managed to scrape up enough money(a whopping 10,000 dollars) to challenge Jose Capablanca. They play 34 games, drawing 25. But Alexander Alekhine comes out with 6 wins, and Capablanca, only 3, making the Russian Challenger the new World Champion.
Here are a few of their games:
Alekhine held his title for a few years, Then lost it to Dr. Max Euwe. But he played a rematch with him, earning it back, and keeping it until his death in 1946. At this point, there were not as many of his old competetors left, and many new ones, such as Reschevsky and Bogoljubow.
Personally I do not know of an era with so many giants living at any one given time. Of course, Fischer was a giant, along with Kasparov and Carlsen. But they were from different points in time.
Today, we have Ivanchuk, Topalov, Anand, Kramnik is still more or less active, and, of course, Magnus Carlsen. Sure, these may be names that people in the future point to and say, "Wow! What an amazing chess player! I wish I were that good!" But they use the openings created by those in the time between 1920-1946. Now don't get me wrong; They did not make every opening, but many popular ones came from this "Golden Age".