I take a break from my usual historical articles to pay tribute to a countryman who has been recently honored with one of the highest distinctions in chess his induction into the World Chess Hall of Fame. In a sense, this tribute is still partly historical, as his long career is now all part of chess lore. He is none other than Grandmaster Eugenio Torre of the Philippines, who turns 71 today. To Eugene, a joyous birthday, and our heartfelt congratulations!
Ossip Bernstein had a turbulent life: Born in 1882 in Czarist Russia he was a successful lawyer in Moscow until he had to flee from the Bolsheviks. He emigrated to Paris where he rebuilt his successful law firm but then had to flee again when the Nazis occupied France. After the war, Bernstein returned to Paris. Apart from his career as a lawyer and businessman he was also a successful chess player and at his peak he was one of the world's best players. Eugene Manlapao takes a look at the life and career of this brilliant amateur player.
The well-known grandmaster and author Lubomir Kavalek <a href="https://en.chessbase.com/post/lubomir-kavalek-1943-2021">passed away last year in January</a>. A prolific writer, he penned dozens of well-read chess columns, including one he shared on ChessBase over the years. Here we reproduce one from February 2017, in which Kavalek shows us a failed queen sacrifice by Jan Timman against him, and Caruana’s successful 19.Qxf6!! sac against Nakamura at the London Chess Classic.
Ever since the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) emerged as chess’ governing body, the Candidates’ Tournament has been vital to the selection and making of the game’s world champion. Remade more than a few times in the seventy-two years that it has been running, the tournament has been a story on its own. Eugene Manlapao traces its history from its first edition in 1950, to its latest in 2022 that may have produced the combatants for the next world championship match. | Photo: The participants of the Candidates Tournament 1956 in Amsterdam | Photo: Herbert Behrens (ANEFO) (Cropped from GaHetNa (Nationaal Archief NL)) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
Anatoly Karpov and Tigran Petrosian are two Gemini world champions with outstanding positional and defensive skills. Alireza Firouzja and Hans Moke Niemann are also Gemini but will they be able to follow the path of Karpov and Petrosian and become world champion? Gemini are sometimes the fastest thinkers of all the signs of the zodiac, but they sometimes also have to deal with lapses of concentration. | Photo: Pixabay