[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: This Week's ChessBase Show: Topalov-Ivanchuk and Kasparov's chair

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
This Week's ChessBase Show: Topalov-Ivanchuk and Kasparov's chair
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1214957013.shtml


   The tournament was Linares 1999, one of the great successes of Garry
   Kasparov's greatest year. After 12 of 14 rounds, Kasparov led by 2.5
   points, while Vassily Ivanchuk, the hero of this week's show, was
   languishing near the bottom with a minus score. It was too late for
   Ivanchuk to salvage a good result in the tournament, but it's never
   too late to play well. To make this happen, drastic measures were
   required. In "preparation" for his 13th round game, against Veselin
   Topalov, Ivanchuk almost took his life in his hands.
   The players in Linares typically ate each day at the Restaurant
   Himilce, and Kasparov - as Kasparov - had an essentially permanent
   table for his entourage and a chair that was only his. So what did
   Ivanchuk do? Shortly before the Kasparov crew came in, he went to
   Kasparov's table and sat in his chair! As he explained to the
   imploring restaurant staff and then to Kasparov's mother (who then
   gave him her blessing), he wanted to sit there for five minutes "to
   absorb Kasparov's spirit."
   It would be a great story no matter what happened, but what makes it
   perfect is that he went on to blast Topalov off the board with the
   black pieces in just 25 moves. It's a beautiful game, replete with
   sacrifices, and instructive too. (Ivanchuk himself said that
   "[s]tudents of the middle game should study it [the key piece
   sacrifice that kept White's king in the center] attentively." That's
   just what we'll do tomorrow, Wednesday night, at 9 p.m. ET on
   ChessBase's Playchess.com server. The show is free, the stories are
   entertaining, and the game is fantastic. Why would anyone miss it??
   (If you need instructions for watching my ChessBase shows, whether
   live ones or those in the archives, [1]this post will tell you what
   you need to know.)
   Hope to see you there.

References

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