[caption id="attachment_189838" align="alignleft" width="278"]
Savielly Tartakower[/caption]
Savielly Tartakower (1887 –1956), a leading Polish and French Grandmaster, is regarded as one of the most notable chess personalities of his time. Along with Aaron Nimzowitsch and Richard Reti, he was a pioneer of the hypermodern school of chess thinking. Tartakower was also a leading chess journalist and author.
When FIDE introduced the title of International Grandmaster in 1950, Tartakower was among the first batch of greats to receive it. Despite this, it is fair to say he is better remembered for his sharp wit and aphorisms rather than exploits over the board. That’s just a testament to how popular his epigraphs, or “Tartakowerisms”, as they are often called, are. The problem is that over the years many of the Tartakowerisms have seamlessly integrated into the public domain. As a consequence, many have forgotten that it was he who authored them.
Ever heard of “No game was ever won by resigning” or “The winner is the one who makes the next-to-last mistake”? What about the philosophical, “To avoid losing a piece, many a person have lost the game” or “Any opening is good enough, if its reputation is bad enough”? How about positional advice in the form of, “Seize the outpost e5 with your knight, and you can go to sleep. Checkmate will come by itself” or “An isolated pawn spreads gloom all over the chessboard”?
All very familiar. All from the witty mind of Savielly Tartakower.
Explaining the difference between tactics and strategy is not easy. A strategist pursues concrete goals, but not with the same urgency a tactician does. Tartakower has you covered with the elegant “Tactics is what you do when there is something to do; strategy is what you do when there is nothing to do.”
Tartakower’s chess legacy is a paradox in itself. He was a true giant of chess, yet only a few know his name today. He was also a tireless experimenter who invented many offbeat and eccentric gambits, yet the variation that primarily carries his name in chess literature happens to be the most conventional line of the Queen’s Gambit Declined (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 O-O 6.Nf3 h6 7.Bh4 b6). The Catalan Opening is one of the most popular openings at all levels today, but not many know that it was created when the organisers of the 1929 Barcelona tournament asked Tartakower to create a new opening as homage to the region’s chess history.
Perhaps what has counted against the reputation of Tartakower the player is that some of his defeats became more famous than his victories. Capablanca once won a famous rook endgame against him and it became essential material for every endgame instruction book.
[caption id="attachment_189840" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Capablanca - Tartakower (1924) - White played 35.Kg3[/caption]
With 35.Kg3 white is no longer concerned about material. He just wants to get his king to support his passed pawn. Daniel Naroditsky calls it “perhaps the single most clear illustration of how much king’s activity changes the landscape of an endgame”.
35.Kg3 Rxc3+ 36.Kh4 Rf3 37.g6 Rxf4+ 38.Kg5 Re4 39.Kf6 Kg8 40.Rg7+ Kh8 41.Rxc7 Re8 42.Kxf5 Re4 43.Kf6 Rf4+ 44.Ke5 Rg4 45.g7+ Kg8 46.Rxa7 Rg1 47.Kxd5 Rc1 48.Kd6 Rc2 49.d5 Rc1 50.Rc7 Ra1 51.Kc6 Rxa4 52.d6 1-0.
Tartakower possessed a great sense of humour as well, most of it of the self-deprecating nature. It is said that Capablanca once said to him, "You have no solidity.” Tartakower retorted, “That, Sir, is my saving grace." Another famous riposte came when Bogoljubow said, “When I am white, I win because I am white. When I am black, I win because I am Bogoljubow.” Tartakower said this in response, “When I win with white, I win because I am Tartakower. When I lose with white, I lose because I am Tartakower.”
The other most documented loss in Tartakower’s career came when Richard Reti checkmated Tartakower in a mere 11 moves with one of the best-known combinations in history.
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Qd3 e5 6. dxe5 Qa5+ 7. Bd2 Qxe5 8.
O-O-O Nxe4??
[caption id="attachment_189841" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Reti - Tartakower (1910) - White to play[/caption]
Reti played the brilliant 9.Qd8+ Kxd8 10.Bg5+ Kc7 11.Bd8#
Tartakower had it covered as well. He is known to have said, Erro ergo sum (“I err, therefore I am.”)
Savielly Tartakower[/caption]
Savielly Tartakower (1887 –1956), a leading Polish and French Grandmaster, is regarded as one of the most notable chess personalities of his time. Along with Aaron Nimzowitsch and Richard Reti, he was a pioneer of the hypermodern school of chess thinking. Tartakower was also a leading chess journalist and author.
When FIDE introduced the title of International Grandmaster in 1950, Tartakower was among the first batch of greats to receive it. Despite this, it is fair to say he is better remembered for his sharp wit and aphorisms rather than exploits over the board. That’s just a testament to how popular his epigraphs, or “Tartakowerisms”, as they are often called, are. The problem is that over the years many of the Tartakowerisms have seamlessly integrated into the public domain. As a consequence, many have forgotten that it was he who authored them.
Ever heard of “No game was ever won by resigning” or “The winner is the one who makes the next-to-last mistake”? What about the philosophical, “To avoid losing a piece, many a person have lost the game” or “Any opening is good enough, if its reputation is bad enough”? How about positional advice in the form of, “Seize the outpost e5 with your knight, and you can go to sleep. Checkmate will come by itself” or “An isolated pawn spreads gloom all over the chessboard”?
All very familiar. All from the witty mind of Savielly Tartakower.
Explaining the difference between tactics and strategy is not easy. A strategist pursues concrete goals, but not with the same urgency a tactician does. Tartakower has you covered with the elegant “Tactics is what you do when there is something to do; strategy is what you do when there is nothing to do.”
Tartakower’s chess legacy is a paradox in itself. He was a true giant of chess, yet only a few know his name today. He was also a tireless experimenter who invented many offbeat and eccentric gambits, yet the variation that primarily carries his name in chess literature happens to be the most conventional line of the Queen’s Gambit Declined (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 O-O 6.Nf3 h6 7.Bh4 b6). The Catalan Opening is one of the most popular openings at all levels today, but not many know that it was created when the organisers of the 1929 Barcelona tournament asked Tartakower to create a new opening as homage to the region’s chess history.
Perhaps what has counted against the reputation of Tartakower the player is that some of his defeats became more famous than his victories. Capablanca once won a famous rook endgame against him and it became essential material for every endgame instruction book.
[caption id="attachment_189840" align="alignnone" width="300"] Capablanca - Tartakower (1924) - White played 35.Kg3[/caption]
With 35.Kg3 white is no longer concerned about material. He just wants to get his king to support his passed pawn. Daniel Naroditsky calls it “perhaps the single most clear illustration of how much king’s activity changes the landscape of an endgame”.
35.Kg3 Rxc3+ 36.Kh4 Rf3 37.g6 Rxf4+ 38.Kg5 Re4 39.Kf6 Kg8 40.Rg7+ Kh8 41.Rxc7 Re8 42.Kxf5 Re4 43.Kf6 Rf4+ 44.Ke5 Rg4 45.g7+ Kg8 46.Rxa7 Rg1 47.Kxd5 Rc1 48.Kd6 Rc2 49.d5 Rc1 50.Rc7 Ra1 51.Kc6 Rxa4 52.d6 1-0.
Tartakower possessed a great sense of humour as well, most of it of the self-deprecating nature. It is said that Capablanca once said to him, "You have no solidity.” Tartakower retorted, “That, Sir, is my saving grace." Another famous riposte came when Bogoljubow said, “When I am white, I win because I am white. When I am black, I win because I am Bogoljubow.” Tartakower said this in response, “When I win with white, I win because I am Tartakower. When I lose with white, I lose because I am Tartakower.”
The other most documented loss in Tartakower’s career came when Richard Reti checkmated Tartakower in a mere 11 moves with one of the best-known combinations in history.
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Qd3 e5 6. dxe5 Qa5+ 7. Bd2 Qxe5 8.
O-O-O Nxe4??
[caption id="attachment_189841" align="alignnone" width="300"] Reti - Tartakower (1910) - White to play[/caption]
Reti played the brilliant 9.Qd8+ Kxd8 10.Bg5+ Kc7 11.Bd8#
Tartakower had it covered as well. He is known to have said, Erro ergo sum (“I err, therefore I am.”)