Exercises in Style: From Wilhelm Steinitz to Magnus Carlsen (4/4)

by Johannes Fischer
8/23/2017 – Modern top players are "universal players". They know and play a large variety of openings, they master brilliant attacks, difficult defenses and patient positional play equally well. However, the chess of Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen is still quite different. Can you recognize the style of these four World Champions?
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The first undisputed World Champion in the history of chess was Wilhelm Steinitz, while the 16th and current World Champion is Magnus Carlsen. In this article and previous articles ChessBase presents and presented 16 games by the World Champions — one per World Champion. Without giving any information when, where and against whom these games were played, can you find out which World Champion played which game by just looking at the moves?

To simplify the task, the 16 World Champions were divided into four groups. In the first group were Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker, José Rául Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine, the second group consists of Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov and Mihail Tal. The third group included Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer and Anatoly Karpov. Now, to conclude, follow Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen in the fourth group.

The games were chosen with a random generator. But only tournament and matchgames were taken into account and only wins. Games between two World Champions were also ignored. Can you find out which World Champion played which game?

Game 1

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,165,57054%2421---
1.d4946,47455%2434---
1.Nf3281,31256%2441---
1.c4181,93756%2442---
1.g319,68856%2427---
1.b314,23654%2427---
1.f45,88648%2377---
1.Nc33,79651%2384---
1.b41,75348%2380---
1.a31,19754%2403---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d394850%2378---
1.g466246%2361---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c342651%2425---
1.h327956%2416---
1.a410860%2468---
1.f39147%2431---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.c3 Nf6 6.Re1 0-0 7.d4 d5 8.e5 Ne4 9.h3 Qb6 10.Ba4 Bf5 11.Na3 cxd4 12.cxd4 f6 13.Bb3 Rad8 14.exf6 exf6 15.Nc2 Rfe8 16.Bf4 Be6 17.Re2 g5 18.Bh2 f5 19.Qe1 Bf7 20.Rd1 f4 21.g3 fxg3 22.fxg3 Rf8 23.Kg2 Na5 24.Qb4 Qxb4 25.Nxb4 Nxb3 26.axb3 Rd6 27.Nd3 Rb6 28.b4 Rc8 29.Nfe5 Be8 30.g4 Ba4 31.Ra1 Bb5 32.Rd1 Bf8 33.Rde1 Bd6 34.Re3 Rc2+ 35.Kg1 Bxd3 36.Rxd3 Rxb2 37.Rc1 R6xb4 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
--0–1
Who outplayed his opponent in this game?

Game 2

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.g4 h6 9.Qd2 Nbd7 10.0-0-0 Bb7 11.h4 b4 12.Na4 d5 13.Bh3 g5 14.Bg2 gxh4 15.Rxh4 dxe4 16.g5 Nd5 17.Rxe4 hxg5 18.Bxg5 Qa5 19.f4 Rh2 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Rxe6+ Kf7 22.Qd3 Bg7 23.Qf5+ Kg8 24.Rxd5 Qxa4 25.Re7 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
--1–0
style4-2

Game 3

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 b4 9.d4 d6 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Qxd8 Rxd8 12.Nbd2 h6 13.a5 Bc5 14.Bc4 Ng4 15.Re2 Be6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.h3 Nf6 18.Re1 Rab8 19.Nc4 Rb5 20.b3 Bd4 21.Bb2 Rc5 22.Ra2 Bxb2 23.Rxb2 Ne8 24.Ra2 Nd6 25.Nfd2 Nb7 26.Nf3 Kf7 27.Kf1 Kf6 28.Ra4 Nbxa5 29.Ne3 h5 30.Rea1 Rd4 31.Ne1 Ke7 32.f3 Rd2 33.Rd1 Rd6 34.Rda1 Kd7 35.Nd1 Rd2 36.Nf2 Kc8 37.Nfd3 Rb5 38.h4 Kb7 39.R1a2 Ka7 40.Kg1 Kb6 41.Kf1 g6 42.Kg1 Kb7 43.Kf1 Kc8 44.Nf2 Rd8 45.Ned3 Kb7 46.Ke2 Kb6 47.Ke3 Kb7 48.Nd1 Kc8 49.N1b2 Rd6 50.Ra1 Kd8 51.Nc4 Nxc4+ 52.bxc4 Rb8 53.c5 Rd7 54.Rxa6 b3 55.Rxc6 bxc2 56.Ne1 Ke7 57.Nxc2 Rb3+ 58.Ke2 Rb2 59.Rc1 Ra2 60.Ke3 Kf7 61.f4 Kf6 62.fxe5+ Kxe5 63.Ne1 Ra3+ 64.Kf2 Rd2+ 65.Kf1 Rd7 66.Nf3+ Kf4 67.Rxe6 g5 68.hxg5 Kg3 69.Rf6 Ra2 70.Ne5 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
--1–0
style4-3

Game 4

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.c4 d5 5.Nh3 c6 6.0-0 Bd6 7.Qc2 0-0 8.Nd2 Bd7 9.Nf3 Be8 10.Bf4 h6 11.Qb3 b6 12.Rfc1 Be7 13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.Bd2 g5 15.Ne5 a5 16.e4 fxe4 17.Bxe4 Ra7 18.f4 gxf4 19.Kh1 Bf6 20.Nxf4 Qd6 21.Nfg6 Bxg6 22.Nxg6 Rff7 23.Bf4 Nxf4 24.gxf4 Bg7 25.Qh3 Rf6 26.Rc3 Qxd4 27.Qg2 Rd7 28.Rg1 b5 29.Rg3 Qa7 30.Ne5 Re7 31.Qd2 Qc7 32.Rd3 Re8 33.Rd6 c5 34.Ng4 Rff8 35.Nxh6+ Kh8 36.Ng4 Rd8 37.Qg2 Rxd6 38.Qh3+ Kg8 39.Qh7+ Kf7 40.Bg6+ 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
--1–0
And who crushed the Stonewall in this game?

If you want to you can explain your choice the in comments. It is, of course, easy to find out who played which game if you search for the games in the ChessBase Megabase. But this would spoil the fun, so if you do, please keep it to yourself! Moreover, we'll reveal who played which game soon. Have fun!

See also

 

Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".

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