Hesse: Retreats of genius

Retreats of genius

By Prof. Christian Hesse

Sometimes you have to move backward to get a step forward.
Amar Bose

We shall show some examples of retreats that are not only good, but even bordering on the brilliant. Moves with a paradoxical relationship between expression, function and effect. All in all, moves which run counter to the principle of ‘form follows function’. A classic prime example of this is:

There was an even more striking employment of our theme in the next game. At the time both players were just 13 years old. Yet, because of brilliant and extraordinary play, White turned their encounter into an absolute chess rarity. After 15 moves the two teenagers had worked themselves into this position:

A treat ment of the retreat motif in the form of a problem can be found in the following amazing problem:

An other example of the triumph of the strategy of retreat is offered in this problem:

As the high point of our chapter, we have a masterpiece of the problem composer’s art, which begins with a mysterious-looking, long and thus uncommonly fascinating sequence of backward moves as White retreats from the object of his desire, Black’s king.

A more than worthy way to finish the chapter.

Christian Hesse holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and was on the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley until 1991. Since then he is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Stuttgart (Germany). Subsequently he has been a visiting researcher and invited lecturer at universities around the world, ranging from the Australian National University, Canberra, to the University of Concepcion, Chile. Recently he authored “Expeditionen in die Schachwelt” (Expeditions into the world of chess, ISBN 3-935748-14-0), a collection of about 100 essays that the Viennese newspaper Der Standard called “one of the most intellectually scintillating and recommendable books on chess ever written.”

Christian Hesseis married and has a fourteen-year-old daughter and a ten-year-old son. He lives in Mannheim and likes Voltaire's reply to the complaint: ”Life is hard” – “Compared to what?”.

The Joys of Chess is an unforgettable intellectual expedition to the remotest corners of the Royal Game. En route, intriguing thought experiments, strange insights and hilarious jokes will offer vistas you have never seen before.

The beauty, the struggle, the culture, the fun, the art and the heroism of chess – you will find them all in this sparkling book that will give you many hours of intense joy.

Christian Hesse is a Harvard-trained professor of Mathematics who has taught at the University of California, Berkeley (USA), and since 1991 at the University of Stuttgart. He has written a textbook called 'Angewandte Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorie'.

Chess and literature are his main hobbies, and he also likes fitness and boxing. His heroes are the ones who fall to the bottom and rise again, fall and rise again…

From the foreword by by Ex-World Champion Vishy Anand: "A rich compendium of spectacular highlights and defining moments from chess history: fantastic moves, beautiful combinations, historical blunders, captivating stories, and all this embedded into a plentitude of quick-witted ideas and contemplations as food for thought."

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