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Anil K. Anand
15-6-5/21 Nagamalli Plaza,
Maharanipeta,
Visakhapatnam (A.P.) 530 002
anilka@hpcl.co.in
Try out the following quiz questions before you peek at the answers.
1. An elementary question for a starter: Created in 1873 by Sir William Jones in a poem by the same name, who is the “patron goddess of chess”?
2. He became England’s first Grandmaster in 1976 and spearheaded the English chess explosion. In his prime, he was considered one of the best Western bids for challenging the Soviet chess supremacy. He beat the reigning world champion Anatoly Karpov in a career-defining moment using the St. George’s defense: 1.e4 a6 (Skara 1980). Who is this great British player?
3. In the recent Dannemann World chess championship in Sep 2004,Vladimir Kramnik tied with Peter Leko (7-7) by beating him sensationally in the final round to retain the title he won from Kasparov in 2000. Way back in 1910, this great player led by a full point going into the last game against the indefatigable Emmanuel Lasker. A gentleman player, he was known to accept short draws easily in his early years. He lost because he refused to draw when it mattered most losing the 10th game after 71 moves to the world champion to find himself relegated in history. Who is this great challenger?
4. Which is the chess periodical with the longest continuing run? First published in 1881 it is still being published today!
5. Who are reputed to have made the following pithy comments about chess:
6. Having made his debut in British championship at age 15, he went on to win his country's title 10 times between 1958-69, including a run of 7 titles in a row. Despite his domestic success, he did not participate in many international tournaments, as he concentrated on his studies and became a psychologist and then a university lecturer. His major international competitions were the Chess Olympiads, where he represented his country 9 times over a 20-year period. Playing on Board 1, he was the first player to defeat Mikhail Tal after he won the world title in 1960. The stress of OTB play and poor stamina led to his decline and he took up CC and for a couple of years he was the highest rated CC player in the world. He led his country to victory in a CC Olympiad. Who is he?
7. One of the greatest US champions after Paul Morphy, he won the inaugural Hastings tournament of 1895 as a rank outsider at the young age of 22 ahead of the leading chess masters of the day which included Rubenstein, Tchigorin, Em. Lasker, etc. Gifted with an incredible memory, he regularly exhibited his memory-skills publicly by repeating entire paragraphs backwards and forwards by just looking at them once. He was instrumental in conducting the first international women’s tournament at Hotel Cecil in London, which was won by Mary Rudge. His premature death at 35 was a big loss to the chess world. Who are we talking about?
8. This fine chess master, more famous in history as one of the conquerors of the ageing Capablanca in 1935, represented 3 different countries when playing in the FIDE Chess Olympiads: 1. Austria (1930, 1933, 1935); 2. Germany (1939); 3. Argentina (1952, 1958, 1960, 1964). Name him.
9. Born in Santa Cruz, Brazil, he was the first world-class chess player to come from South or Latin America. His style of play was extremely sharp and his preparation legendary. Playing the sharpest lines and making massive physical exertions - he was the perfectionist in the mould of Bobby Fischer. He was Brazilian Champion at the age of 13, South American Champion at 14 and then won two Interzonal tournaments. But his career came to a standstill when he was diagnosed as having a rare and debilitating muscle disease. Who is this?
10. Who is the youngest US Grandmaster who broke Bobby Fischer’s 45-year old record of 15 yrs 185 days in February 2003?
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