MARK RUBERY CHESS
When I am White I win because I am White, but when I am Black I win because I am Bogolyubov!” This was the immortal saying of the Ukrainian born Efim Bogolyubov (1889-1952) who was one of the few players to improve his playing strength during the First World War when he was interned during the 1914 Mannheim tournament. There in the Black Forest he found a permanent home and a wife although later, in 1926, during a tournament in Berlin, he chose not to return home and was declared a traitor (although he was rehabilitated in 1979). His peak years were from 1922-28 when he won a series of strong tournaments. Max Euwe had the following to say about him: ‘His play was sound and his style was primarily positional. In addition he had a tactical talent that came into its own, especially when his opponent had been outplayed strategically. His weak point lay in his optimism and lack of objectivity’.
Bogolyubov developed a taste for beer and it was said the ‘beer’ was the only word in English he knew. He once gave a blindfold simultaneous in a small town in Spain. The local photographer came along to record the event for posterity, but when the picture appeared there was no Bogolyubov. The photographer later explained ‘Oh, you mean the little fat fellow with the glass of beer? I took him out of the photo: he didn’t seem to fit in…
Alekhine,Alexander - Bogoljubow,Efim [D52]
World Championship 14th GER/NLD (13) 1929
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qd2 Bb4 9.Rc1 0–0 10.Bd3 h6 11.Bh4 e5 12.0–0 Re8 13.e4 Nf4 14.Bc4 Ng6 15.a3 Nxh4 16.Nxh4 Be7 17.Nf5 Bf8 18.b4 Qd8 19.Qa2 Qf6 20.d5 Nb6 21.Ne3 Qg6 22.Bb3 a5 23.b5 a4 24.Bd1 cxd5 25.Nexd5 Nxd5 26.Nxd5 Be6 27.Rc4 Rec8 28.Re1 Bxd5 29.exd5 Qd3 30.Rxc8 Rxc8 31.Bxa4? (In a difficult position the world champion falls for a cute tactic)
Qe4! (Using the back row mate theme to fork the rook and bishop) 32.Qd2 Qxa4 33.d6 Qd4 34.Qxd4 exd4 0–1
The oldest chess piece ever found in Europe was discovered in Butrint, Albania. The game of chess originated in India around 400 A.D. from where it spread to the Mediterranean countries and about 500 years later to Europe itself. The ivory chess piece is 4cm in height, and is either a king or a queen.