On February 19, David Bronstein celebrates his 75th birthday...

More than a Grandmaster
by Lev Khariton

When I think of grandmaster David Bronstein, for some reason I
never think of him as a chess player, and a strange story always
comes to my mind. Once Sergei Prokofiev, the famous composer,
was asked by one of his friends why, with all his operas, ballets,
symphonies, he was much less popular than Isaac Dunayevsky, the
Soviet composer extremely popular in Stalin's time and known for
his melodious optimistic songs. The great Russian musician gave a
short answer. "Well, Dunayevsky and I have different
professions..." So, I believe that Bronstein is not like all other chess
players. His profession is different.

I met grandmaster Bronstein perhaps 100 metres from the Central
Chess Club of the USSR in Gogolevsky Boulevard. He was
obviously upset. "What is happening, grandmaster?" I asked him.
"Is anything wrong with you?" "Oh, I've just been in the federation,
and they are still delaying paying me my pension." I tried to find
some words of comfort for the great man. "Don't take it too much
to heart, David Ionovich. The whole world knows you. Everyone is
learning from your games. Your portrait is on the wall of the club
together with the greatest champions of all time!" Bronstein's
reaction was as hot as unexpected. "But I am a human being, and I
am still alive!"

Even today, probably 15 years after this conversation, I regret the
words that I said at that moment. More than that, I still remember
the anger and frustration of the habitually quiet grandmaster.
Needless to say that he was "fighting" for an ordinary pension
sufficient only for eking out a miserable Soviet existence.

David Bronstein had conquered the chess world at that far-away
time when the American professor Arpad Elo had  not yet
perfected his ingenious method of calculating the practical strength
of every chess player, ingenious in its simplicity and killing in its
essence. When I look at the FIDE lists of the top chess players
published twice a year I always have the feeling that I am studying
a train schedule or a telephone directory. Behind the rows of
numbers and figures thrown up by the computer every six months
there is something which is completely forgotten - the Eternal
Beauty of chess, the spirit of creativity, something which makes
millions of people voluntary slaves of the game.

Once Bronstein asked me, "In your opinion, is chess an easy or a
difficult game?" "Certainly, it's difficult," I answered without the
slightest hesitation. "Not at all difficult," said the grandmaster. His
eyes were sparkling. I felt he was about to say something that was
dear to his heart. "The game is easy when you don't want to win,
waiting for an opponent's mistake. In other words, when you are
ready for a draw. However, when you see me on the stage looking
for a win, sacrificing, getting into time-trouble, you certainly think
that chess is difficult." Naturally, all these creative tortures,
sleepless nights after undeserved losses are not reflected in the Elo
lists.

Look, for example, at the grandiose final of the game played by
Bronstein many years ago. It is a real symphony of sacrificial
moves. Zita-Bronstein, Prague, 1946 (See Diagram)

White: Kg1, Qd2, Rb1, Re1, Ba1, Bg2, Nc3, Nd4; pawns - b3, c4,
e4, f2, g3, h3
Black: Kg8, Qb6, Ra8, Re8, Bc8, Bg7, Nc5, Ng4; pawns - b7, c6,
d6, f7, g6, h7

17...Rxa1!! 18.Rxa1 Nxf2!! 19.Re3 Nxh3+ 20.Kh2 Nf2 21.Rf3
Ncxe4 and White soon resigned.

One cannot help but admire the beauty of this combination.
Bronstein's idea in this game later on became the cornerstone of the
plan adopted by Tal, Kasparov and other outstanding grandmasters.

I believe that more than anybody else Bronstein has suffered from
the bureaucracy and inflexibility of FIDE. This organisation was
founded in the 1920s to take charge primarily of the World Title
matches. Unfortunately, in the last four decades FIDE has always
been influenced by the Soviet Chess Federation and its
bureaucratic spirit invariably prevailed. I think that Bronstein, after
the drawn match with Mikhail Botvinnik in 1951, had the moral
right to play another match. In any case, FIDE should not have
made the grandmaster go through all the "nine circles" of the
qualifying competitions. All you need to do is to remember his
spectacular victory in the Goeteborg Interzonal in 1955 and you
shall understand that in the 1950s Bronstein was in a class by
himself. To illustrate it, here is a case in point - Bronstein's
unexpected sacrifice in a game against Paul Keres. Bronstein-Keres
1955 (See Diagram)

White: Kg1, Qd1, Ra1, Rf1, Bc1, Bc2, Nb5, Ng3; pawns - a3, b2,
f2, g2, h2
Black: Kg8, Qd8, Ra8, Rf8, Bb7, Be7, Na6, Nf6; pawns - a7, b6,
c4, d7, f7, g7, h6

14.Bxh6! White sacrifices the bishop, the consequences of this
combination were difficult to calculate. Later on Tal made such
sacrifices his "stock-in-trade". He called them intuitive or
speculative sacrifices. When making such a risky decision, an
experienced chess player usually relies on intuition. 14...gxh6
15.Qd2 Nh7 16.Qxh6 f5 17.Nxf5 Rxf5 18.Bxf5 Nf8 19.Rad1 Bg5
20.Qh5 Qf6 21.Nd6 Bc6 22.Qg4 Kh8 23.Be4 Bh6 24.Bxc6 dxc6
25.Qxc4 Nc5 26.b4 Nce6 27.Qxc6 Rb8 28.Ne4 Qg6 29.Rd6 Bg7
30.f4 Qg4 31.h3 Qe2 32.Ng3 Qe3+ 33.Kh2 Nd4 34.Qd5 Re8
35.Nh5 Ne2 36.Nxg7 Qg3+ 37.Kh1 Nxf4 38.Qf3 Ne2 39.Rh6+
Black resigned.

It is of interest to note that for this game Bronstein got the first
brilliancy prize long before the end of the tournament. It should not
be forgotten that his "victim" was not an ordinary chess player, but
Keres, the outstanding Estonian grandmaster who suffered as much
as Bronstein at the hands of FIDE bureaucrats. He never played a
match for the world crown.

Probably, it was logical that finally, exhausted by the never-ending
qualifying tournaments Bronstein broke down and lost a game to
Cardoso at the end of the Interzonal tournament in Portoroz in
1958. Although a boy of 13 at that time, I felt the drama of the
great chess player, the injustice he had not deserved.

However, Bronstein, as I understand now, was not that upset by
this setback. For his creative nature chess is a big world and he did
not want the struggle in which he had to "crush down" his
opponents. More than that, this struggle which we often see today
at top-level competitions, was contrary to his nature. As Einstein
and Sakharov understood that physics was concerned with
humanitarian problems, so Bronstein, long before anyone else in
the chess world, realised that chess is not confined only to the 64
squares of the chessboard.

Bronstein was often criticised for his tendency to be too original,
for his lack of pragmatism. But he simply loved chess! Soon after
the Zurich Candidates' he wrote a book about this competition. It
was not just a new book - it was a revolution in chess literature.
The annotations to each game read as avidly as a detective story. It
was Bronstein who proposed the idea of "active chess"
competitions, that is, competitions with shorter time controls. The
grandmaster has also composed several beautiful endgame studies.
His lectures are always attended by hundreds of chess lovers, and
he lavishly shares the secrets of his art with ordinary chess players.

It is unthinkable to write about Bronstein without without
mentioning his match with Mikhail Botvinnik. Undoubtedly, this
match was the peak of Bronstein's career, but at the same time it is
the most vulnerable point in his heart and soul. I noticed a long
time ago that whatever subject you are discussing with Bronstein
sooner or later the conversation will come around to Botvinnik and
that match played almost half a century ago. At that time, in 1951,
in spite of the draw in this match, it was clear that Bronstein had
achieved a moral and creative victory. Botvinnik was severely
tested. The chess world was amazed to see the champion playing
beyond the limit of his practical strength, having confronted the
resistance he had never seen in his career, even in his trade-mark
positions.

It is of interest to cite here the ending of the 5th game in which
Bronstein was playing with Black. (See Diagram)

White: Kg1, Rd1, Bg2, Nc3, Nf5; pawns - a3, b4, c5, g3, h2
Black: Kg8, Rf8, Bb7, Nc4, Nf6; pawns - a6, b5, d5, d7, g7, h7

Here Bronstein made quite a mysterious move - 30...Kh8!! Until
1951 no one, I am sure, had played like that against Botvinnik.
Bronstein, a superb psychologist, finds the best solution in this
position. He makes an inconspicuous move with his king,
abandoning his queenside pawns. Botvinnik, true to his style, tries
to punish his light-headed opponent and launches an attack. But
after 31.Re1 Nxa3 32.Nd6 Bc6 33.Ra1 Nc2 34.Rxa6 d4 35.Ncxb5
Bxg2 36.Kxg2 Ng4 37.Nf5 d3 38.Rd6 Rxf5 39.Rxd3 Nce3+, it
was White who had to resign.

The collection of Bronstein's paradoxical, mysterious moves is
really inexhaustible. I always remember one episode from his game
against Porecca played in Belgrade, 1954. (See Diagram)

White: Kg1, Qd1, Ra1, Re1, Bc1, Bc4, Nf4, Ng3; pawns - a2, b2,
c2, d4, f2, g2, h4
Black: Ke8, Qc7, Ra8, Rh8, Bf8, Bh7, Nd7, Nf6; pawns - a7, b7,
c6, e7, f7, g7, h6

Bronstein here, playing with Black, chose the most paradoxical
move - ...Bg8!! Two exclamation marks for Bronstein's
imagination, originality and courage. Undoubtedly, no other human
being, let alone a computer, can play like this. To make such a
move one has to be a Bronstein! It is of interest that Botvinnik had
called such improvisations by Bronstein before the match
"Bronstein's tricks". After the match he seemed to have forgotten
this expression. This was, of course, a great moral victory for the
young challenger.

However, years passed by and Bronstein regretted more and more
that as a result of the lack of a mere half-point he had not
convinced the chess world of the conservatism and dogmatism of
Botvinnik's concepts. It is easy to understand the grandmaster
because the new generations of chess players were coming on the
chess scene and Bronstein's exploit in 1951 was becoming a thing
of the past.

But if Tal and Fischer crushed the Soviet chess machine, Bronstein
was the first to lay the mines to destroy it. There was some
dissidence in his play, some well-felt challenge. It should not be
forgotten when the match was played. The authorities supported
Botvinnik, the loyal communist. Long before the appearance of
computers, Botvinnik had used the term 'self-programming'. Apart
from the purely chess sense, that is the preparation for the game,
self-programming was aimed at developing hatred towards the
opponent. This was destructive chess.

On the other hand, Bronstein's approach to chess implied, first of
all, a noble, chivalrous attitude towards chess and the opponent.
And it really was not even an "opponent" but rather a "partner" in
creating chess masterpieces. Even today Bronstein is true to this
principle. "I would never agree with the propaganda of an
unfriendly or even hostile attitude to the opponent proceeding from
the premise that it facilitates one's victory. Any further
development of such psychology threatens to turn the art of chess
into business. Those who assert that the aim of the game of chess is
to score a point by any means should not be surprised that this
point is quickly surrounded by many zeros ... To hate the opponent,
to sacrifice the wealth of your soul for just getting a half-point in
the tournament table, this is the chess of beggars".

But what if Bronstein had won that match against Botvinnik? Life
could have been a lot easier for Bronstein, he would have travelled
more often to international tournaments, he would not have had to
play in qualifying tournaments, even his everyday life would have
been much easier. But one thing is certain - he would not have kept
the title for long. He would not have been greedy about it! He
lacked many qualities characteristic of other outstanding chess
players: Botvinnik's purposefulness; Fischer's endurance; Karpov's
tenacity; and Kasparov's energy. And the King who does not stick
to his throne is doomed to be overthrown. Even Tal, the greatest
artist, was always playing, first and foremost, for a win. Bronstein,
on the other hand, could have been carried away by some
interesting idea and he could have forgotten why he had come to
play the game. Sometimes he spent about 40 minutes thinking over
his first move.

Alexander Konstantinopolsky, Bronstein's teacher and trainer, once
told me that often he failed to guess which move Bronstein would
make over the board. He started improvising and all the home-
prepared novelties and plans were completely forgotten.

I don't know who was the first to call Bronstein "sly Davik". His
slyness was only evidenced at the chessboard. In everyday life, in
the most ordinary situations, he has always been naive and,
unfortunately, defenseless. The sly were in fact those who without
even one-thousandth of his talent were traveling all over the world.
In the meantime,David Bronstein was teaching chess to deaf and
mute chess players in the sport club "Dynamo" in Moscow.

But it seems that his luck has turned lately. Reading chess reports I
come across the news that David Bronstein is playing in chess
tournaments now - in England, Spain, Belgium... Quite often
David is playing against chess computers; he knows, probably
better than the best grandmasters, how to tame silicon monsters.
Here is a fragment from one of his numerous games in which
Bronstein playing with White sacriuficed his queen to pursue
Black's King into the mating net. (See Diagram)

White: Kd2, Qh4, Rh1, Rh2, Be3, Bh3, Nc3, Ng3; pawns - b5, c4,
d5, e4, f3, g5
Black: Kg8, Qe7, Ra8, Rf8, Bb7, Bh8, Nc7, Ng7; pawns - a7, b6,
d6, e5, g6, h7

40.Qxh7+! Kxh7 41.Be6+ Nh5 42.Nxh5 Rg8 43.Nf4+ Kg7
44.Rh7+ Kf8 45.Nxg6+ Ke8 46.Bxg8 Qg7 47.Rxh8 Kd7
48.R1h7 and Black resigned.

If the grandmaster is playing like that now, it is easy to imagine
how much the chess world has lost in the twenty years of his non-
participation in chess tournaments.

I am grateful to destiny that it gave me the chance to know David
Bronstein. Frankly speaking, I began to play chess in the post-war
years because of  the match between Botvinnik and Bronstein. I
remember how my father was playing over the games of the match
from newspapers and I was helping him to set up the pieces. In
1952 my brother took me to the Moscow Championship and I saw
Bronstein for the first time in my life - and I was infatuated with
his chess and his personality for the rest of my life!

Certainly, I could not imagine then that some years later I would
attend Alexander Konstantiniopolsky's chess school and from time
to time Bronstein, who had been once Konstantinopolsky's pupil,
would drop in at our class. For Konstantinopolsky, he always
remained his favourite pupil. For me as well as for other boys,
Bronstein was a celebrity. However, even at that time I noticed that
he did not have any vanity.An ordinary man, he was turning into a
magician when he was showing us fantastically beautiful and
complicated variations and sacrifices. His hands moved the chess
pieces very quickly. Like a circus magician extracting objects out
of his sleeve, Bronstein would spinning miraculous laces in front
of our eyes and we, the little boys, were just absolutely spellbound.

Years later when I came to know Bronstein personally, I was
attracted by his simplicity, by his unpretentiousness. He used to
call me saying, "Lev, come over, we'll drink some tea and I'll show
you some games." Oh, how I loved those visits to his small
apartment in downtown Moscow! One even superficial look
around his apartment was enough to determine that its proprietor is
an unusual man. Books, magazines, hundreds and thousands of
them scattered here and there, on the table, on the shelves, on the
chairs, on the floor... Books on chess, astronomy, geography,
various dictionaries... Once one of my friends, a chemist, brought
Bronstein his dissertation, a 400-page book. A week later, when
Bronstein returned the dissertation, he asked my friend quite
competent questions. You may be sure that the grandmaster knew
every book, every magazine in his apartment by heart.

When speaking to Bronstein, you are impressed by the range of his
interests, his most original approach to any trivial problem, any
trivial question. Some people say that the grandmaster is too timid
in life, and this timidity did not allow him to scale the summit of
the chess pyramid. I think that in his case modesty is mistaken for
timidity. One had to be a courageous person, a man of principles,
not to sign the notorious anti-Korchnoy letter that was signed by
the majority of Soviet grandmasters after Korchnoy's defection to
the West.

I think that I was lucky - it is real happiness to know Bronstein, the
'no'-man to hypocrisy, dishonesty, treachery. The yes-man, to give
help, to understand, to support. Everyone in my generation loves
David Bronstein. The halo of his chess magic is as bright today as
40 years ago.

I have written these lines to congratulate and honor grandmaster
David Bronstein on his 75th birthday and to wish him good health
and happiness. I would also like to remind him that all the true
lovers of the game are his slaves for good. They enjoy the best
slavery in the world, the slavery of Bronstein's great creative
genius.