Thursday, February 15, 2007

First impressions



The young boy depicted in this photograph looks to be somewhat in awe of his much older opponent, who is out of camera range. And there was plenty to be overawed about: a simultaneous exhibition by a famous grandmaster with a reputation as a chessboard fighter and opponents on all sides going down to defeat. But first impressions are not always accurate. This boy was someone different, a player without too much experience but with enormous talent and will to win. It's too bad the photographer wasn't around to capture the resignation at the end of the game. It was the boy's famous opponent who had to turn down his king.

Three questions: who is this young boy, who was his opponent, and what was the venue?

UPDATE: It is January 1976 at Hastings and veteran Russian grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi is being taken down by ten-year-old Nigel Short. According to Leonard Barden in The Guardian, "the loser was unwilling to have a post-game discussion until [David] Bronstein took over, praised Short's manoeuvres, and conducted an instant master class."

3 comments:

Alex said...

I'm going to guess 1)Nigel Short, versus 2)Viktor Kortchnoi, in 3)London, England(?)

John Saunders said...

I very much doubt the answer given here. Short was BLACK against Korchnoi in that game.

Amancio said...

Short played French defense so Saunders is right.

About Me

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Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
National master (Canada) since 1984. B.C. Champion 1977 and 1984. Runner-up 1991 and 2002. B.C. Open Champion 1972 and 1982. B.C. U/14 Champion 1964-65-66. Mikhail Botvinnik once wrote that publishing your analytical work forces you to be accurate because it exposes you to criticism. Hence this blog.