[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: This Week's ChessBase Show: Rothuis-Olafsson - A Trip to the Madhouse

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
This Week's ChessBase Show: Rothuis-Olafsson - A Trip to the Madhouse
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1200464805.shtml


   I suspect few contemporary players have heard of Fridrik Olafsson, and
   that's a pity. Born in 1935, he was the strongest player in Iceland
   for many years. He's a grandmaster, a former Candidate with wins over
   Tartakower(!), Larsen (countless times), Fischer (twice), Petrosian
   (twice), Keres, Tal (twice), Karpov (when he was world champion),
   Korchnoi and contemporaries like Timman and Seirawan. He was also FIDE
   President (after Euwe, before Campomanes), and at one time he worked
   as an attorney!
   That's an impressive resume, but rather than choose a game from one of
   the obvious candidates listed above, I've picked something really out
   of the ordinary. Last August, Olafsson played a game against Dutch
   prodigy Vincent Rothuis* in a tournament in Arnhem, and it was
   amazing. Already after 5 or 6 moves, the position was just about
   unbelievable, and the game remained strange pretty much throughout.
   It's not a perfect game, but considering how irregular things were, on
   balance Olafsson's effort can be considered a success. (And all the
   more so when you consider that he spotted his opponent 55 years, and
   yet he was the better tactician and improviser on this occasion.)
   While the players at Wijk aan Zee are using their free day to find
   novelties on move 30 to engineer more efficient draws, we'll see a
   game that's pure creativity from White's third move (a novelty in an
   already uncommon position) on. Olafsson may not be the player he once
   was, but he can still play some great chess, and I think you'll enjoy
   what you'll see, if you join us tonight - Wednesday night - at 9 p.m.
   ET. The shows are free, and directions for watching can be found
   [1]here. See you tonight!
   * Dutch speakers are invited - nay, beseeched - to inform me of the
   correct pronunciation of "Rothuis".

References

   1. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1114234449.shtml