Chess Archives by Max Euwe

samsloan

2012-12-16 04:23:47 UTC

Chess Archives is out now, reprinted by Ishi Press:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871875601
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/product.aspx?ISBN=4871875601

I have been offered the opportunity to buy and reprint a complete set,
going from 1955 to 1991.

Does anybody have an opinion about this?

Sam Sloan

Post by samsloan
Chess Archives
by Max Euwe, Carel Benjamin Van Den. Berg, Hans Bouwmeester, Willem
Jan Muhring
Introduction by Sam Sloan
Chess Archives is no longer published but in its day it provided the
cutting edge of chess opening theory.
It was published monthly by a team of Dutch chess opening analysts,
headed by former World Champion Dr. Max Euwe.
It was intended to be held in a loose-leaf ring binder. Every month
new sheets would arrive. The reader was to insert the new sheets into
spaces in the binder according to a coding system. In some cases the
old sheets were to be removed and thrown away.
If a new opening trick or trap were discovered, one could be sure it
would appear soon in Chess Archives.
Readers of established books like Modern Chess Openings could have an
unpleasant surprise when a line the were playing had been refuted by
new discoveries. That was unlikely to happen to any reader of Chess
Archives because the new issues would always contain the latest stuff.
Bobby Fischer was known to read and devour Chess Archives because he
often played new lines that had just appeared in Chess Archives. In
one famous game where his opponent had followed Chess Archives,
Fischer had found a bust and refuted in in spectacular fashion.
[Event "Capablanca Memorial"]
[Site "Havana"]
[Date "1965.??.??"]
[White "Tringov,Georgy "]
[Black "Fischer,Robert J "]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B97"]
[Round "?"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4
Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Nfd7 12. Bc4 Bb4 13.
Rb3 Qa5 14. O-O O-O 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. Bxe6+ Kh8 17. Rxf8+ Bxf8 18. Qf4
Nc6 19. Qf7 Qc5+ 20. Kh1 Nf6 21. Bxc8 Nxe5 22. Qe6 Neg4 0-1
XABCDEFGHY
8r+L+-vl-mk(
7+p+-+-zpp'
6p+-+Qsn-+&
5+-wq-+-vL-%
4-+-+-+n+$
3+RsN-+-+-#
2P+P+-+PzP"
1+-+-+-+K!
xabcdefghy
Fischer played this entire game in less than five minutes. This was a
spectacular game, but how was Fischer able to do this?
The answer: It was all in Chess Archives up to a point. Chess Archives
said it was a win for White. Fischer had found a flaw in the analysis.
Alas, poor Tringov. He thought he had Fischer rolled up. He probably
thought Fischer had not read Chess Archives. In fact, Fischer had read
it very well.
Here, Fischer is threatening the famous mate with 23. Nf2+ 24.
Kg1 Nh3+ 25. Kh1 Qg1#. Fischer is also attacking the Bishop c8 and the
bishop on g5, so there is no point in playing on.
You can see what Tringov fell in to. It is on page 121 here, in
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2
Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Nfd7 12.Bc4 Bb4 13.Rb3 Qa5 14.0–0 0–
0 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Bxe6+ Kh8 17.Rxf8+ Bxf8 18.Qf4
XABCDEFGHY
8rsnl+-vl-mk(
7+p+n+-zpp'
6p+-+L+-+&
5wq-+-zP-vL-%
4-+-+-wQ-+$
3+RsN-+-+-#
2P+P+-+PzP"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy
Here Chess Archives gives 23. . . . Qxe4 where White is winning after
24. Qxe5 Nxe5 25. Bxc8.
What Chess Archives missed and Fischer found was the spectacular move
23. . . . Nc6. It looks like Black is getting mated because there
seems to be no defense to 24. Qf7 threatening mate with Qg8# and if
19. . . . Nf6 20. Qxf8+ mates.
However, Fischer had found the surprising Qc5+ which defends the
bishop on f8 and suddenly all of White's threats are defended against
and it is White who is getting mated.
Chess Archives acknowledged this two issues later on page 125 here
where it stated that the game Tringov-Fischer, Havana 1965 had proved
that the move 15. Nxe6 could not be played.
There are many other examples. One comes right at the beginning of the
Ruy Lopez section on page 19 here where Chess Archives revived the
move O-O after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6.
Fischer took up this opening shortly after the Chess Archives article
appeared and it became all the rage until better defenses for Black
were found.
Several people have asked me about the fact that I played this opening
before Fischer did. Indeed, I played this line in a game against Mario
Campos Lopez in Mexico City in 1965 and against Alan Bourke in San
Francisco Mechanics Institute before Bobby Fischer ever played this
move.
Of course, I could say that my friend Bobby got the move from me, but
that would not be the truth. The truth is that back then I was a
subscriber to Chess Archives too and that is where I got this move.
By the way, I lost both games when I played this. My opponents had
read Chess Archives too.
Fischer played this line to win three games in the Havana 1966
Olympiad. He used it to beat Gligoric, Portisch and Jimenez. He later
used it against Smyslov, Unzicker and three times against Spassky.
Even though this all happened nearly half a century ago, there are
still lots of traps in Chess Archives that will still work. Take a
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d4 exd4 7.e5 Ne4
8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Nc5 10.Nc3 0–0 11.Bg5
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7+pzppvlpzpp'
6p+-+-+-+&
5+-sn-zP-vL-%
4L+-wQ-+-+$
3+-sN-+-+-#
2PzPP+-zPPzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
I think I can guarantee you that any player of Black will think he is
winning with 11. . . . Nxa4 12.Bxe7 Nxc3 13.Bxd8 Ne2+
XABCDEFGHY
8r+lvL-trk+(
7+pzpp+pzpp'
6p+-+-+-+&
5+-+-zP-+-%
4-+-wQ-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2PzPP+nzPPzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy
Here Black has won a piece and the game because the knight forks the
king and the queen.
However, this line is refuted and actually White wins. Chess Archives
will show you how.
Sam Sloan
San Rafael California
USA
December 10, 2012
ISBN 4871875601http://www.amazon.com/dp/4871875601http://search.barnesandnoble.com/books/product.aspx?ISBN=4871875601