The 1999 Chess Cafe Holiday Quiz: Bourget Wins by Hanon W. Russell Canada's Pierre Bourget finished with an impressive 82% score to take first place in the 1999 Chess Cafe Holiday Quiz. For his fine performance, Bourget wins a splendid House of Staunton Players Series wooden chess set and, to go with it, a GameTime Chess and Game Timer. Felicitations a Pierre! Last year Bourget had finished second, but he was not to be stopped in this year's contest. Calle Erlandsson (Sweden), winner of the first quiz in 1997 and the sixth-place finisher last year, was second and will be awarded The Chess Cafe Tournament Combo, which includes a durable, heavily weighted plastic chess set, roll-up vinyl board, nylon tote bag and a GameTime Chess and Game Timer. Curiously, Bourget's entry was one of the very first received, Erlandsson's, one of the last. Third, fourth and fifth places were decided on tie-breaks. Miquel Artigas Isart (Spain) sent in his entry first and he will receive a GameTime Chess and Game Timer. The last two spots in the top five were filled by Daniele Ruggieri (Italy) and Arne Bjuhr (Sweden). Ruggieri receives The Human Comedy of Chess by Hans Ree; Kings, Commoners and Knaves by Edward Winter; The Complete Studies of Genrikh Kasparyan edited by A. John Roycroft; Hugh Blandford: Published Works and Notebooks edited by A. John Roycroft; and Power Chess by Paul Keres for his efforts, while Bjuhr wins The Human Comedy of Chess by Hans Ree and Kings, Commoners and Knaves by Edward Winter for his fifth place finish. Sixth through twentieth places, in tie-break order: (6) Juan Carlos Sanz Menendez (Spain) (7) Steve Wrinn (USA); (8) Tomasz Lissowski (Poland); (9) Claes Lofgren (Denmark); (10) Thomas Gant (USA); (11) Sylvain Barbeau (Canada); (12) Dmitry Gorodin (Germany); (13) Rob van Asperen (The Netherlands); (14) Jim Johnston (USA); (15) Frans Wolferink (The Netherlands); (16) Alasdair Alexander (England); (17) John Pasco (USA); (18) Rudy Bloemhard (The Netherlands); (19) Francois Zutter (Switzerland); (20) Robert Schmidt von Happe (Germany). Each will receive a copy of Power Chess by Paul Keres. In the scoring, minor typographical errors did not invalidate the answers, so long as the correct answer was still obvious. In addition, many entrants added their own comments to answers. Many of these comments were wrong, but as long as the answer itself was correct, full credit was given. For example, the correct answer to Question 13 is False, but when adding comments, readers gave as many as four different games in which Fischer overstepped the time limit. Only two have ever been documented. However, if the answer given was "False" the entrant received full credit, even if the the extraneous explanation was wrong. This 3rd edition of the popular Holiday Quiz was the biggest yet, with 77 entrants from 24 countries, including, in alphabetical order: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Israel, The Netherlands, The Philippines, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States and Yugoslavia. Some general comments from the contestants: "A great pleasure..." Kiril Jeliazkov (Bulgaria) "Thank you for the quiz. I enjoyed it!" Frans Wolferink (The Netherlands) "I spent two weeks trying to find [answers] in the backs of old magazines and still had to guess an awful lot..." Jim Johnston (USA) "A tough but fair quiz." Alasdair Alexander (England) "Those last 5 pictures were hard!." Steve Wrinn (USA) "The quiz is very, very tough - too hard for me - and I own three chess dictionaries!" Robert Schmidt von Happe (Germany) "The quotes and photographs were really difficult. Congratulations!" Miquel Artigas Isart (Spain) "It was really amusing! When do we start again?" Massimiliano Bertoni (Italy) "It has kept me pleasantly busy for hours... I am looking forward to next year's quiz already!" Claes Lofgren (Denmark) We hope that everyone had an enjoyable time with this year's quiz. Best wishes to all entrants and readers for a happy and healthy New Year. And now, the answers to the 1999 Chess Cafe Holiday Quiz... 1. This endgame study composer was buried with a complete collection of his studies under his arm. Who was he? [4] The correct answer is the French composer Henri Rinck (1870-1952). Kasparyan, Cheron, Troitzky and even the problemist Loyd were among the incorrect answers offered. Seth Rothman (USA) wrote, "No idea. This was a very depressing way to start." 2. This journalist succeeded Wilhelm Steinitz as editor of the chess column in The Field in 1882. Who was he? [4] The answer is Leopold Hoffer, with whom Steinitz would carry on a prolonged war of words. Claes Lofgren (Denmark) noted that Steinitz always addressed Hoffer as Dreckseele. 3. (A) What was the name of Hungary''s first chess magazine? [2] (B) Who was its first editor? [2] (A) Budapesti Sakkszemle was founded in 1889; and (B) Its first editor was Gyula Makovetz. 4. True or False? [2] The Gurgenidze variation of the Modern Defense, characterized by the fianchetto of Black''s King''s Bishop and the pawn configuration c6-d5, is named after David Gurgenidze. False. It is named after Bukhuti Gurgenidze. David Gurgenidze was a study composer. 5. True or False? [2] The first international master-level competition in which Geza Maroczy played was Hastings 1895. This question led a few people astray. The key here is "master-level" competition. Maroczy indeed was at Hastings 1895, but played in the lower "Amateur" competition, which has never been considered a master-level tournament. This was mentioned, by the way, by Chess Cafe columnist Richard Forster in a recent column. So, the correct answer is False. 6. (A) Who wrote: "His chief asset is gameness, coupled with a keen insight into position, and resourcefulness." ? [2] (B) Whom was he describing? [2] There is no doubt that the questions that asked readers to identify a quote and identify a photograph were the toughest. This quote first appeared in Lasker's Chess Magazine, October 1907, pp. 244-45 and was in an article written by Emanuel Lasker about Rubinstein. For 6(A), Ken Hamilton (USA) wrote, "Kotov - A wild guess!" and for 6(B), "Bronstein - Another wild guess!" Sorry, Ken. Wrong, wrong! Jouni Tolonen (Finland) suggested that Wilhelm Steinitz wrote it, describing... Wilhelm Steinitz. Plausible, but not correct. 7. Which journalist covered the 1971 Fischer-Taimanov match in Vancouver for the New York Times? [2] Although the New York Times' regular chess columnist I. A. (Al) Horowitz attended the match, it was American GM Robert Byrne who was the Times' special correspondent for the match. Tomasz Lissowski (Poland), who has done very well in all the Chess Cafe Holiday Quizzes, said, "Was it Robert Byrne?" Actually, Tomasz, we were hoping for answers, not questions from entrants. (He received credit for a correct answer anyway.) 8. The opening 1 e4 c5 received its modern name, The Sicilian Defense, from whom? [4] British master Jacob Sarrat gave the opening its name, in honor of Pietro Carrera's homeland. 9. What is the name usually given to this position? [4] This position is the Saavedra Position. According to the Oxford Companion to Chess (2d ed) by Whyld and Hooper, Fernando Saavedra was a monk who discovered the correct winning procedure for White: 1 c7 Rd6+ 2 Kb5 Rd5+ 3 Kb4 Rd4+ 4 Kb3 Rd3+ 5 Kc2 Rd4 6 c8R! (The move discovered by Saavedra; previously only 6 c8Q had been considered.) and if 6...Ra4, White wins with 7 Kb3. Some entrants thought the position was called the Barbier Position. G.E. Barbier was the one who published the position in a May 1895 issue of the Glasgow Weekly Citizen; the previous month he had analyzed the position to a draw, with 6 c8Q. 10. Who wrote: "A frequently encountered platitude in chess is that one of the hardest things is to win a won game. Platitudes are generally true, but speaking for myself, I have always found lost games harder to win" ? [4] Another tough quote. This one is by Tim Krabbe from his splendid book Chess Curiosities, p. 148. The most common incorrect answer to this question was Savielly Tartakower. Seth Rothman (USA) noted that, "I did find this quote on the internet attributed to someone named 'Dr. Dave'." Tim Krabbe - not Dr. Dave - has just joined The Chess Cafe as a regular columnist. 11. (A) Name the current FIDE world champion. [2] (B) Name the first FIDE world champion. [2] The first part of this question was easy enough. The correct answer is Alexander Khalifman, who won the title by winning the World Championship Tournament in Las Vegas last August. However, the correct answer to the second part is more difficult. Many readers thought the answer was Botvinnik, who won the 1948 tournament held to fill the vacancy created by the death of Alekhine. Euwe, who had briefly been voted by FIDE in 1947 to assume the title, was also a common answer.In fact, the correct answer is Efim Bogoljubow, who won the title in 1928. "The minutes of the FIDE's 5th Congress (The Hague, 1-5 August 1928) relate that the General Assembly regard that year's Bogoljubow v Euwe encounter (+3 -2 =5) as the first match for the title of FIDE champion." Kings, Commoners and Knaves by Edward Winter, pp. 209-210. 12. Alekhine and Capablanca were notorious for being at odds with each other. However, they both described one particular book as "excellent". Which book? [4] Endshpil by Ilya Rabinovich 13. True or False? [2] Bobby Fischer never lost a serious tournament game on time. False. He lost his first encounter with Reshevsky in the 1956 Rosenwald Tournament on time. Three days later, in the same tournament, Fischer played his famous "Game of the Century" against Donald Byrne. A game against Pupols in the 1955 U.S. Junior was also reportedly lost by Fischer on time. These are the only two cases known. Some readers, after giving the correct answer proceeded to identify the game (not required) as the second game of the 1972 match in Reykjavik. This was an incorrect explanation - that game was a simple forfeit, not having been played at all. But full credit would nevertheless have been given - see the explanation at the beginning of this article. 14. American grandmaster Andy Soltis wrote: "He was probably the greatest purely combinative mind of the century." He was writing about: [4] (A) Mikhail Tal (B) Kurt Richter (C) Rudolf Spielmann (D) David Bronstein (B) Kurt Richter is the correct answer. 15. Carlos Torre was born and died in the same Mexican city, Merida. In which province is this city located? [2] Yucatan. A "gimme". All you had to do was find it on a map. 16. What is the significance of this position? [4] This is the adjourned position of the 21st game of the 1972 Fischer-Spassky title match. In this position, Spassky had sealed 41 Bd7, but resigned without resuming play. Fischer thus became the new world champion. We thought this question might be difficult, but most people got it right. 17. True or False? [2] The winner of the 1927 New York International Tournament would have the right to play Capablanca in a title match, and if Capablanca himself won the tournament, the second-place finisher would have that right. False. This chestnut was discredited years ago. Capablanca and Alekhine were already in final negotiations for the title match that would take place later that same year in Buenos Aires. 18. True or False? [4] In 1975 FIDE stripped Fischer of his title. However, he had resigned his title prior to this. True. When the FIDE 1974 Congress in Nice failed to agree to his demands, Fischer fired off a telegram to the FIDE delegates that ended with: "I therefore resign my FIDE world chess champion title." 19. True or False? [4] Adolf Anderssen never finished with a minus score in any serious tournament in which he participated. True. Anderssen competed in 16 tournaments. The closest he ever came to a minus score was in 1857 at Manchester (50%, 1-1) and 1878 at Paris (6th, 12лл-9лл). He did not win every match he contested; however, the question asked about his tournament record. 20. Who won the first USSR Championship? [2] Alexander Alekhine in 1920. A few readers tried to argue that the USSR did not come into existence until 1922 and therefore it could not have been until then that a Soviet Championship could have taken place. Sorry, Alekhine's win in the 1920 championship is considered the first USSR Championship title. 21. The record for the most number of consecutive draws in a world championship match is: [2] (A) 7 (B) 11 (C) 12 (D) 17 Another easy one. There were 17 consecutive draws in the first Karpov-Kasparov match. 22. There was a world champion who was also a chief arbiter for a championship match. Name him. [4] Alberic O'Kelly de Galway was the chief arbiter for the 1966 and 1969 Petrosyan-Spassky title matches. He was the 3rd World Correspondence Champion (1959-1962). The majority of answers actually gave Max Euwe, but this is not correct. The "hands-on" arbiter, the chief arbiter for both the 1972 and 1978 matches, the ones usually listed where Euwe was supposedly chief arbiter, was in fact Lothar Schmid. 23. In this problem position White mates by 1 Bc1 e6 2 Rd2 Kf4 3 Rd4. What is the name of the problem theme used? [4] Indian Theme. The world of chess problems is a mystery to most players. The Budiman (Indonesia) perhaps summed it up best, when, after giving the correct answer to this question, he remarked, "Stocchi, Zagorujko, Novotny, Grimshaw, I still don't understand what they mean by those terms." 24. True or False? [2] Dmitry Petrov (1794-1867) is usually considered the first great Russian master. False. Alexander Petrov (1794-1867) is the correct name. Dmitry was a 20th century study composer. Some entrants were thrown off track by Alexander Petrov's patronymic, the middle name derived from one's father. Alexander Petrov's patronymic was Dmitrievich and his full name was therefore Alexander Dmitrievich Petrov. 25. The Staunton design for chess pieces has been the tournament standard for well over a hundred years. (A) Give the date (day, month, year) when the Staunton Pattern Chessmen design was registered in England. [2] (B) By whom was the design registered? [2] We really thought that this would stump most everybody. We were wrong. The majority of entrants got it right! Of course, it did not hurt that by visiting The House of Staunton pages at The Chess Cafe, this information was easily available. The correct answers are... (A) March 1, 1849 (B) Nathaniel Cook "On 1st March, 1849, Nathaniel Cook of 198, Strand, London registered an Ornamental Design for a Set of Chess-Men under the Ornamental Designs Act 1842." Radcliff, Historic Chessmen, Spinning Wheel, July-August, 1974, pp 12-16; Cf. Mark, Michael; British Chess Sets; 1986. For questions 26-30, identify the chessplayer in each photograph. [4 points each] This was probably the most difficult section of the quiz. No entrant was able to identify more than three of the five photographs correctly, with the exception of Tomasz Lissowski (Poland), who only missed question 26. 26. Marcel Sisniega. No one was able to identify the Mexican grandmaster. Guesses included Fischer, Gelfand, Ftacnik, Salov, Kinderman, Keene, and Christiansen. 27. Eugene Znosko-Borovsky. Duras, Teichmann, Em. Lasker, Charousek, Maroczy, Breyer, Reti were some of the wrong answers. 28. Gedeon Barcza. Among the incorrect tries were Kashdan, Treybal, Denker, Yanovsky, Landau and Vidmar. 29. Emil Diemer. Some thought it might be Tolstoy, Saemisch, Maizelis, Hooper, Burn, Mieses or even... Hanon Russell! Nope. 30. Ernst Gruenfeld. Nimzovich, Kmoch, Alekhine, Tartakower, Purdy and Bernstein were all wrong.