MARK RUBERY CHESS
Life after death to some is still a contentious issue, but what about chess after death?
Viktor Korchnoi was once contacted by the president of the Swiss Society of Parapsychology, a certain Dr. Eisenbeiss. The man asked him a direct question: out of the countless masters no longer alive, who would he most like to play? After some consideration, Korchnoi responded with a list – Capablanca, Keres or Maroczy – and a few days later received word that the erstwhile Cuban and Estonian stars could not be located. Geza Maroczy, however, had been found, was up for some chess, and in fact had already made his first move!
The Swiss medium Robert Rollans claimed the spirit of the great Hungarian player, Geza Maroczy (1870-1951), could enter his body and play a game of chess through him. When this story hit the headlines a while back, such acclaimed publications as the American ‘National Enquirer’ reported on this chessic feat from beyond the grave! Through the psychic device known as ‘automatic writing’ the deceased grandmaster was able to convey his moves to the medium, although it is unclear how the moves of the opponent were dispatched to Maroczy.
Thus began a curious battle between the former world championship finalist and the long dead maestro. The game began in 1985 and lasted almost eight years.
Before the game actually got underway, Maróczy expressed concerns about his ability to compete because he had gone so long without practice.
G Maroczy-V Korchnoi
(Astral Correspondence)
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 (‘We played a French Defence, an opening where all the subtleties are familiar to me ... and was played very weakly by my opponent. This is not hard to understand, if it is borne in mind that he had not played for 50 years and that he did not even have a chess set’-Korchnoi) 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 cxd4 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 Qc7 10.Kd1 (Well at least we now know there are chess books in the afterlife. The text was popularised sometime after Maroczy departed this plane of existence)…dxc3 11.Nf3 Nbc6 12.Bb5 Bd7 13.Bxc6 Bxc6 14.Bg5?! (After such inactivity it is expected that White would betray some rustiness. Instead 14 Ng5 would have been more challenging for the mortal)…d4 15.Bxe7 Kxe7 16.Qh4+ Ke8 17.Ke2 Bxf3+ 18.gxf3 Qxe5+ 19.Qe4 Qxe4+ 20.fxe4 f6 21.Rad1 e5 22.Rd3 Kf7 23.Rg3 Rg6 24.Rhg1 Rag8 25.a4 Rxg3 26.fxg3 b6 27.h4 a6 (‘During the opening phase Maroczy showed weakness. His play is old-fashioned. But I must confess that my last moves have not been too convincing. I am not sure I will win. He has compensated the faults of the opening by a strong end-game. In the end-game the ability of a player shows up and my opponent plays very well’-Korchnoi.)28.g4 b5 29.axb5 axb5 30.Kd3 Kg6 31.Rf1 Rh8 32.Rh1 Rh7 33.Ke2 Ra7 34.Kd3 Ra2 35.Rf1 b4 36.h5+ Kg5 37.Rf5+ Kxg4 38.h6 b3 39.h7 Ra8 40.cxb3 Rh8 41.Rxf6 Rxh7 42.Rg6+ Kf4 43.Rf6+ Kg3 44.Rf1 Rh2 45.Rd1 Kf3 46.Rf1+ Rf2 47.Rxf2+ Kxf2 0–1 (As …c2 will follow allowing Black to promote his d pawn, Maroczy decided to give up the ghost)