Simon Says: Brilliancies and Blindness at the Chessable Masters

by Johannes Fischer
6/22/2020 – In this "Simon Says" Simon looks at the latest games from the Chessable Masters. He takes a look at the highlights and lowlights from the first six rounds and throws a glance at a curious case of "Chess Blindness", an illness most chess players know, and for which Dr. Tarrasch even coined a Latin term. | Watch "Simon Says" for free and on-demand (for a limited time, or forever with a ChessBase Premium account). (Normally 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EST). | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Simon Williams presents the London System, providing the theory you need for your games (7 h 16 min). In addition Williams also introduces into typical tactics and patterns in a seperate product. (53 games, 96 training questions and 3h 14 min)

Chess Blindness

Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch (5 March 1862 – 17 February 1934) was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th and early 20th century, but throughout his life he had always been an amateur. He was born in Breslau and after studying medicine in Halle he worked as a medical practitioner in Nuremberg and Munich.

Tarrasch came up with a Latin name for an illness that is peculiar to chess players: "Chess Blindness", or, to use Tarrasch's term: Amaurosis scacchistica. In a way, chess blindness is similar to the common cold: everyone suffers from it occasionally, but nobody knows why, and how you can protect yourself against it.

There is something tragicomic about chess blindness: deep opening preparation, sophisticated maneuvers, bold sacrifices or precise and deep calculation of countless variations all lead to nothing because of the unreliability of the human mind. However, with a relaxed attitude towards perfection and a little bit of schadenfreude you might enjoy chess blindness, particularly if others suffer from it.

In round 2 of the Chessable Masters Pentala Harikrishna and Magnus Carlsen both fell victim to this inexplicable disease.

 
Pentala Harikrishna - M. Carlsen, Chessable Masters 2020
Position after 30...Ba4

Magnus has just played ...Ba4 which is actually a major blunder. What should Pentala now have played?

(See the full game and the solution below)

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About Simon Says

In early 2015 Simon Williams launched his own show called "Simon says" after producing the first of his ChessBase video series. On a weekly basis (with breaks for tournaments and chess events) Simon entertains the chess world with attacking ideas, play strategies and witty manoeuvres on the chess board.

ChessBase Premium members have permanent access to the videos in the archive. Over 60 shows and counting have been published to date. Their lengths differ but most of them run for about 60 minutes.

Read more in Meeting Simon Williams.

Much more from Simon's shows in the archive at Videos.ChessBase.com

Recent Simon Says shows

Still more Simon

Simon's latest DVD series duo the "London System Reloaded" and the "Tactic Toolbox London System" are now available. Check them out, starting with the sample below: 

Video sample


A curious case of chess blindness

 
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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,166,62354%2421---
1.d4947,29855%2434---
1.Nf3281,60256%2441---
1.c4182,10256%2442---
1.g319,70256%2427---
1.b314,26554%2427---
1.f45,89748%2377---
1.Nc33,80151%2384---
1.b41,75648%2380---
1.a31,20654%2404---
1.e31,06848%2408---
1.d395450%2378---
1.g466446%2360---
1.h444653%2374---
1.c343351%2426---
1.h328056%2418---
1.a411060%2466---
1.f39246%2436---
1.Nh38966%2508---
1.Na34262%2482---
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c4 b4 12.Nc2 a5 13.g3 g6 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 15.Bg2 0-0 16.0-0 Bb7 17.Qd2 Nb8 18.Rfd1 Ra6 19.Qe3 Nd7 20.a3 Rb6 21.axb4 axb4 22.Ra4 b3 23.Ne1 Nc5 24.Ra3 Ra6 25.Rxa6 Bxa6 26.Bf1 Rc8 27.Nf3 Bb7 28.Nd2 Bc6 29.Ra1 Rb8 30.Ra3 Ba4 31.h4 h5 32.Be2 Kg7 33.Nb1 Qd8 34.Nd2 Ra8 35.Kh2 Ne6 36.Nf3 Bc6 37.Rxa8 Qxa8 38.Qxb3 Bxe4 39.Qe3 Bb7 40.c5 Nxc5 41.Nxe5 Qa1 42.Nf3 Qxb2 43.Ng5 Bd5 44.Bf3 Bxf3 45.Qxf3 Qf6 46.Qe3 Ne6 47.Nf3 Qf5 48.Kg2 Qd5 49.Kg1 Kf6 50.Qc3+ Ke7 51.Qe3 Qc5 52.Qd3 Qc1+ 53.Kg2 Qc6 54.Kg1 Nc5 55.Qe3+ Qe4 56.Qc3 Ne6 57.Qa3 Ke8 58.Kg2 g5 59.Kg1 g4 60.Ng5 Nxg5 61.hxg5 Qe1+ 62.Kg2 Qe5 63.Qa8+ Ke7 64.Qg8 Qe4+ 65.Kg1 Qg6 66.Qc8 Qb1+ 67.Kh2 Qb6 68.Kg2 Qc5 69.Qg8 Qf5 70.Qb8 Qe4+ 71.Kg1 d5 72.Qc7+ Kf8 73.Qd8+ Kg7 74.Qf6+ Kg8 75.Qd8+ Kh7 76.Qf6 Qg6 77.Qf4 Qe6 78.Qd4 Kg6 79.Kf1 Kxg5 80.Qg7+ Kf5 81.Qh8 Ke4 82.Qxh5 Kd3 83.Qh7+ Qe4 84.Qh6 Kc2 85.Qc6+ Qc4+ 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Harikrishna,P2719Carlsen,M28630–12020B33Chessable Masters GpA2.1

Simon Williams presents the London System, providing the theory you need for your games (7 h 16 min). In addition Williams also introduces into typical tactics and patterns in a seperate product. (53 games, 96 training questions and 3h 14 min)


Links


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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