Random Game # 19 - Asztalos vs. Breyer 1918

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted.



Revolution in Budapest in October 1918

Today's game introduces us to Lajos Asztalos with the white pieces against Gyula Breyer. The Vienna Game was originally called Hamppe's Game after Carl Hamppe. In the line known as the Vienna Gambit, White plays 3. f4 in order to reach a prefered line in the King's Gambit Declined. Though this line with Be7 by Black is called the Breyer variation it was certainly played long before Gyula tried it against Bernat Steiner in 1912, perhaps first by Wilfried Paulsen in 1888. A believer in the hypermodern theory of openings, Breyer also loaned his name to a variation in the Closed Ruy Lopez.

Though chess is a game of war, certainly 1918 was a tumultuous time to be playing chess in Budapest!



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Random Game #18 - Schlesinger vs. Falkbeer 1885

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Today's game features a lesson by Ernst Falkbeer in his Counter Gambit against an unknown O. Schlesinger (though the lesson ends in Falkbeer's defeat). Played in 1885, the location is not known. Greco is said to have faced this opening in 1620 and demonstrated an easy win for white. Falkbeer had tried it before in 1851 against Anderssen, but lost. Jaenisch had tried it in 1842 but had no better luck. But in 1851, Staunton showed Jaenisch how to win with the idea.



This isn't the first time the Falkbeer Counter Gambit was played, and mistakes are made. But the tactics at the end of the game are instructive. Letting up on the threats can mean letting go of the chance to win.

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Random Game #17 - Gajdos vs. Loewy, Sr - Barmen, Germany 1905

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted.




Opernhaus Barmen, Wuppertal, Germany 1905



Today's game took place in Germany in 1905 between Janos Gajdos and Leopold Loewy, Sr. In his Decisive Games in Chess History, Pachman says "The International Barmen Congress, 1905, brought together a greater number of masters and strong amateurs than any other event of that time."

After 40 moves the game seems pretty drawn. But the game isn't over yet. Probably too instructive for my own efforts, you'll want to look this over closely yourself.

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Random Game #16 - Benaddi vs. Tamimi - Gibraltar Masters 2005

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted.


Today's game between Mohsine Benaddi and Hamad Al Tamimi was played in the 4th round of the Gibraltar Masters tournament in 2005. Neither player is FIDE titled, though Al Tamimi earned an IM norm at this event. It was a five-way tie for first that year. This game is a good example to show that 15 moves of opening theory gets you nothing but maybe a chance. Even at the expert and master levels of FIDE play, a straight tactic, a checkmate pattern decides the whole game. The two players expertly contest an interesting line in the Caro-Kann, but after a single move without checking to make sure of safety, White loses the game in an instant. Definitely material for a Dan Heisman lesson.

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Random Game #15 - Larsen vs. Sumar - Mar del Plata 1958



The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted.



symbol of Mar del Plata (photo by Erik Stattin)



Today's game between Denmark's Bent Larsen and Julio Sumar of Peru took place at the Mar del Plata tournament in 1958. Larsen went on to win the event with 12 points in 15 rounds suffering only a single loss to Oscar Panno, the local favorite from Buenos Aires.

The chess world lost Bent last year. He and his wife had been living in Buenos Aires, just 250 miles north of where he earned his victory at Mar del Plata.

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Random Game #14 - Zukertort vs Schmidt - Berlin 1868

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted.

der Spittelmarkt, Berlin 1868

Today's game is a chance to look at an opening not so often seen, From's Gambit in Bird's Opening. The line is named for England's Henry Edward Bird who may have first played his opening against Ernst Falkbeer, and Denmark's Martin Severin From who is credited with the gambit in this game. Here we see Johannes Zukertort against the little-known Schmidt in a game played in Berlin in 1868. There's plenty of action, so be sure to read the game notes and make some of your own.



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Random Game #13 - Onischuk vs. Aleksandrov - Poikovsky, Russia 2004

Poikovsky, Russia

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted.

Today's game is from the 5th Karpov Invitational held in Poikovsky, Russia in 2004. Alexander Onischuk and Alexey Aleksandrov sat across from each other in the 3rd round. Onischuk was born in what was then called the Crimea (now Ukraine), but by the time of this tournament was living in and playing for the U.S. He won the U.S. championship in 2006. Aleksandrov is from Belarus and played in the FIDE world championship knockout in the same year this game was played. They began with the Ragozin Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined, a pet variation of Alexey's.




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Random Game # 12 - Blackburne vs. Steinitz - London 1870

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted.

Today's game was played in London in 1870 (the price of the Illustrated London News that year was sixpence). Joseph Henry "The Black Death" Blackburne faced Wilhelm Steinitz who had already defeated Adolf Anderssen in match play but was not yet officially recognized as the world champion. Though the game begins with the Ruy Lopez, Steinitz doesn't play his namesake defense, but rather tries his hand at the Cozio Variation. Just when Steinitz seemingly has the game in hand, Blackburne swindles him into a draw!



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Random Game #11 - Cochrane vs. Mohishunder - Calcutta 1850



Calcutta in 1850

 The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted.

Today's game was played in Calcutta in 1850. John Cochrane, a Scottish lawyer and White in this game, lent his name to the Cochrane Gambit in the Petroff Defense, a line these two played many times. Bonnerjee Mohishunder served as Black in this game, but eludes my efforts to find his history except that he was described as a Brahmin and favored the fiianchetto. Our score begins with the Center Game.

Try to solve this puzzle from the game first, before reviewing the game score below.


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Random Game #10 - Maroczy vs. Von Popiel - Munich 1900

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted.

Today's game was played in Munich in 1900 between Geza Maroczy and Ignatz Von Popiel and features the Dutch Variation of the Bird Opening. Of course, Geza is the father of the Maroczy Bind pawn formation in the Sicilian Defense, thought to have originated in this game from 1904. Ignatz beat Emanuel Lasker in this game from 1889, but is probably not related to anyone on TV who sells chess pieces that will chop the board 64 different ways and still be sharp enough to slice a tomato.

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Random Game #9 - Sepp vs. Kovaljov - Estonia 2008

Ice Festival in Estonia

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted.

Today's game was played in Estonia between IM Olav Sepp and Denis Kovaljov and features the French Defense Advance Variation. Kovaljov seemed to have the edge in the endgame but played to a draw.

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Random Game #8 - Velimirovic vs. Vadasz - Tallinn 1977

Town Hall Square, Tallinn, Estonia

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted.

Today's game is between Dragoljub Velimirovic and Laszlo Vadasz. If you aren't familiar with the names, these players are both grandmasters (though Vadasz died in 2005). Both gained their titles in the 70's before this game, so you might expect that they were near the height of their chess powers.

Of special interest in this game is an opening that is not often seen, the Symmmetrical Variation of the Hungarian Opening. If you enjoy the random game idea you can try it yourself here.

Random Game #7 - Black vs. Chajes - New York 1918

West Room of the Manhattan Chess Club circa 1890s

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted.

Today's game is a slugfest with Roy Turnbull Black conducting the white pieces and Oscar Chajes playing the black ones at the Manhattan Chess Club. Roy was no pushover having beaten Jose Raul Capablanca with the black pieces in this game in New York in 1911! But being no slouch himself, Oscar had matched the feat with the white pieces in this game in New York in 1916! The opening is the classic Ruy Lopez, Closed Variation. If you find this line of the Ruy Lopez interesting you can see this game featuring Vassily Ivanchuk having no better luck with the white pieces from 2004. If you enjoy the random game idea you can try it yourself here.

Random Game #6 - Marshall vs. Isaacs - Chicago 1926

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted. Today's game matches America's champion Frank James Marshall against fellow American (born in Lithuania) Lewis J. Isaacs. The contest was played in Chicago in 1926, the same year that the assistant State's Attorney Billy McSwiggin was gunned down in that town (in the suburb of Cicero), probably by the Capone mob. The opening was the Semi-Slav Defense. (Not a Sicilian?) Not surprisingly, Marshall won, but Isaacs held out for 70 moves! Could you have done better? We will never know, but premium members can try their hand against Marshall's talents with chessgames.com's Guess the Move feature. If you enjoy the random game idea you can try it yourself here.

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Random Game #5 - Ward vs. Teichmann - London 1900

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted. This game took place in London in 1900 and pitted a virtually unknown William Ward against the successful Richard Teichmann. The latter defeated the likes of Schlechter, Nimzowitsch, and Rubinstein. The opening that day was a Semi-Slav Defense (in the Queen's Gambit Declined). You can also try the random game idea yourself here.



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Random Game #4 - Perlis vs. Spielmann - Vienna 1913

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted. This game took place in Vienna in 1913 between Dr. Julius Perlis and the formidable and entertaining Rudolf Spielmann and features a Classical French Defense. Tragically, Dr. Perlis died climbing mountains in the Alps later that same year. You can also try the random game idea yourself here.

Random Game #3 - Lutikov vs Mukhitdinov - Voroshilovgrad URS 1955

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted. This game from two players who are less well known (Anatoly Lutikov and Mamadzhan Mukhitdinov) features the equally less well known Queen's Gambit Accepted, Showalter Variation, though it might also be classified as a Grunfeld. Look for references to Showalter's games in the score. You can also try the random game idea yourself here.

Random Game #2 - Walker vs. Smith - Oxford 1884

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted. This game features two obscure players with an odd try at the classic Vienna Game. But just as you sometimes learn the most by analyzing your own losses, so can imperfectly played historical games be uniquely instructive. You can also try the random game idea yourself here.

Random Game #1 - Spielmann vs. Samisch - Berlin 1920

The Random Game feature at chessgames.com is a handy way to broaden your chess education. You never know what's going to pop up. You may see a famous classic, or maybe a subtle modernity, or maybe a true obscurity. You might even find a diamond in the rough that nobody else has spotted. This game starts a new series that looks at random games of interest. It features the inventive player Rudolf Spielmann against the opening specialist Friedrich Samisch (2 opening lines are named for him). You can also try the random game idea yourself here.