MARK RUBERY CHESS
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) is regarded as one of the greatest classical music composers of the 20th century. What is less known was his knowledge and passion for chess. Here is a revealing insight taken from his diaries when he was a spectator at the 1914 St Petersburg tournament along with his elegant descriptions of the competitors. ‘At eight o’clock I went to the opening of the Chess Championship and found myself translated immediately into an enchanted realm. This tournament is a top-level affair, everyone in tailcoats, and here were the masters themselves each surrounded by a crowd of admirers. Lasker, a little greyer since the 1909 tournament, with his distinctive face, his slight stature and an air of knowing his own worth; Tarrasch – a typically upright German with Kaiser Wilhelm moustaches and an arrogant expression; our own Rubinstein – a coarse, unintelligent-looking face, a touch of the shopkeeper about him. Bernstein, a prosperous-looking man with a handsome, impudent face, shaven head and a colossal nose, dazzling teeth and relentlessly brilliant eyes. Our own gifted Alekhine, with his lawyer’s coat and his slightly pinched, slightly disagreeable lawyer’s features, self-confident as ever but nevertheless a little subdued by the magnificence of the company. Marshall, the American, a typical Yankee, with a touch of Sherlock Holmes about him, ferociously passionate in play but ludicrously taciturn in private. The combative vegetarian Nimzowitsch, a typical German student and trouble-maker. Finally two older men, destined to be the victims of all: the portly Gunsberg and, wearing on his face a permanently injured expression and Blackburne, despite his 72 years, capable of producing original combinations. The crowd’s favourite, Capablanca, young, elegant, gay and with a constant smile on his handsome face, circulated through the hall laughing and chatting with the easy grace of one who already knows himself to be the victor. Thus it was that I found myself in this irresistibly seductive kingdom, absorbed from the first moment by the forthcoming contest.
WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN
After a bad opening, there is hope for the middle game. After a bad middle game, there is hope for the endgame. But once you are in the endgame, the moment of truth has arrived. (Edmar Mednis)