Mikhail Botvinnik complained during the first of three championship matches with Vasily Smyslov, in Moscow in 1954, that his great rival was not only prepared to confront his usual openings repertory but also was primed for Bot- vinnik's surprises.
Writes Robert Byrne, former U.S. champion and chess editor for the New York Times: "This must also mean, Botvinnik inferred, that his second was divulging his secret analysis to the enemy. Accordingly, Botvinnik labored without the help of a second in subsequent matches with Smyslov."Betrayal is not unknown on the highest levels of chess, but there can be other explanations. In the case of Botvinnik and Smyslov, the brilliant Smyslov was quite capable of predicting the course chess theory would take and the spin Botvinnik might give it. And even he was surprised.
Smyslov was extraordinarily adept at thinking up solutions over the board.
Nowadays, Gary Kasparov, the Professional Chess Association's world titleholder, takes it for granted that his opponents are constantly looking for a magic series of moves that will defeat him.
And he sees no rancor in that but merely the normal course of things. Moreover, Byrne points out, Kasparov has singled out 25-year-old grandmaster Vasily Ivanchuk as the creator of a whole repertory of novelties.
There are signs that Kasparov has sized up Ivanchuk correctly. When Yevgeny Bareyev sprang a nuance on Ivanchuk in Round 4 of the Novgorod International Tournament, the Ukrainian pounced on it with glee. It looked very much like a case of excellent homework. The game was played in mid-August and was a Nimzo-Indian Defense. If you are interested in going over the game, a copy will be sent to you after a request postcard to this department.
- YOUNGSTERS - Readers know this department's enthusiasm for school programs that teach and promote chess activities.
Now comes the additional good news that an ongoing class every Tuesday will begin Oct. 4 at the James L. White Jewish Community Center at 2416 E. 1700 South.
It will convene weekly at 6:34 p.m. and will be taught by Richard Carapezza.
"Learn to play chess with someone who really knows how," the announcement reads. "Players of all level and ages are welcome. Learn the different strategies and moves that can make you a competent player. Free chess sets for new students. The class is free!"
- VIOLENT SPORT? - When one thinks of the recent exploits of the U.S. chess phenomenon Gata Kamsky, it is to be reminded of the great cubist artist Marcel Duchamp's rueful judgment: "Chess is a sport. A violent sport."
Kamsky's tenacity in defense is a legend. But he is equally aggressive in attack. He is above all the master of unrelenting, protracted combat. Even as he retreats, he stands coiled to strike back.
Kamsky's combativeness has a unique flavor. He is a man of his time, the epitome of a new breed of chess players.
Since the heyday of Bobby Fischer the ante in top-level chess has risen spectacularly. Today's championship matches have purses of millions of dollars. The number of gifted players pursuing the much brighter chess rainbow has increased four- or five-fold.
Few if any of his contemporaries can or wish to equal Kamsky's 14-hour days, seven-day weeks, physical conditioning and monastic existence. But the chess world is replete with great talents and fierce competitors who work very hard and very professionally at the game.
Within a span of a few months, Kamsky unexpectedly has devastated both Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik, the third and fourth best players in the world. He is in a position to gain title shots at both Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov - albeit as an underdog, a role he curiously seems to relish.