Larry Evans, Chess Grandmaster, 1932-2010

I learned a great deal about chess from Larry Evans.  I still have my copies of his edition of  Modern Chess Openings (as well as Korn's 12th, the last to be printed in English Descriptive Notation) and Fischer's 60 Memorable Games.  My copy of New Ideas in Chess still finds its way into my bag for subway reading.
Here is something from New Ideas in Chess under the heading "A wing attack is best met by a reaction in the center".  It, like all of the examples in New Ideas, is drawn from his own tournament games.  This one is from Kagetsu v. Evans, Hollywood Open, 1954.

after ...P-Q4

Evans writes of this position: "This attacker does not always benefit from open lines.  He should try to close the center before embarking on a wing attack.  This cannot always be done.  The defender must keep his lines of communication open, and this requires a fluid center so that he may divert pieces from the other wing to the defense of the attacked wing".

Kagetsu    Evans
 White      Black
1. QxN     B-Q3
2. 0-0-0    R-N2
3. P-KR4  BxN
4. BxB      Q-N5
5. B-Q2    PxP
6. R-N1    Q-K3
7. B-K2    Q-R7
White Resigns

New York Times Obituary.  In the printed edition, the caption puts Evans on the left, but Fischer is on the left and Evans is on the right.
Gambit: the New York Times Chess blog on Evans, with reader's favorite games.

BRBIII v. I.C. Wiley, c. 1977

White: BRBIII
Black: I.C. (Issac Cyrus) Wiley
c.1977
Opening: ELO A01 - Nimzowitsch-Larsen Attack

1.P-QN3 N-KB3 2.B-N2 P-Q4 3.P-K3 B-B4 4.N-KB3 N/1-Q2 5.B-N5 P-K3 6.0-0 B-Q3 7.R-K1 0-0 8.P-KR3 P-QR3 9.B-K2 N-K5 10.P-Q3 N-N4


11.NxN QxN 12.B-N4 BxB 13.QxB QxQ 14.PxQ N-K4 15.P-N5 P-QB4 16.N-Q2 P-N4 17.R/R-Q1 N-B3 18.P-R3 R/R-N1 19.P-N3 R/B-Q1 20.K-N2 P-QR4


21.R-QN1 B-B2 22.R-KR1 R-N2 23.P-K4 N-Q5 24.BxN PxB 25.R/R-K1 PxP 26.RxP R-Q4 27.N-B3 B-N3 28.P-R4 R-B2 29.R-N2 P-N5 30.R-K5 R/2-Q2


31.R-N1 B-B2 32.RxR RxR 33.K-R3 K-R1 34.R-K1 K-N1 35.R-K4 B-N3 36.R-K5 RxR 37.NxR P-B3 38.PxP PxP 39.N-B4 B-B2 40.K-R4 K-B2


41.K-N4 K-N3 42.P-B4 P-R4+ 43.K-R4 K-R3 44.N-Q2 B-Q1 45.N-B3 B-N3 46.K-R3 K-R2 47.K-R4 K-R3 48.K-R3 K-R2

Draw Agreed ½-½

A Small Game of Chess

I do not usually win against my many chess programs. That being said, I also do not believe that Chess programs "think". The problem with the computer is that, unlike a human, it can access every game ever played. It is like a human having access to every book ever written and every game ever played, and you have only what you can remember and tactics and strategies that you have learned. However, I play almost every day. The best program I have found is GnuChess and the engine associated with it called Phalanx. The following game was played against a weaker, but still passable, program.

Chess,MS - BRBIII [B50]
April 25, 2009

1.P-K4 P-QB4 2.N-KB3 P-Q3 3.P-QN4 PxP 4.P-Q4 N-KB3 5.B-Q3 P-K3 6.B-KN5 Q-R4 7.BxN PxB 8.N/1-Q2 P-N4 9.P-Q5 N-R3 10.N-N3 Q-R5

11.N/B-Q4 N-B2 12.Q-B3 B-K2 13.N-Q2 B-Q2 14.N/2-N3 R-QN1 15.0-0 P-KR4 16.R/B-K1 Q-R3 17.R-K3 Q-B1 18.K-B1 P-K4 19.N-KB5 BxN 20.PxB Q-R3

21.B-K4 K-Q2 22.Q-R3 P-R5 23.K-K2 Q-N3 24.R-Q1 R/N-N1 25.R-QB1 K-Q1 26.R-Q1 N-R3 27.R-KB1 B-B1 28.K-K1 B-R3 29.R-Q3 B-B5 30.B-B3 N-B4

31.R-Q1 N-R5 32.B-K2 N-B6 33.R-Q3 NxRP 34.R-R1 P-R4 35.R-B1 P-R5 36.N-Q2 N-B6 37.Q-B3 P-QR6 38.N-N3 P-R7 39.N-R1 R-N4 40.P-N3 PxP

41.RPxP B-B8 42.RxN PxR 43.QxP P-N5 44.Q-B4 Q-B4 45.QxQ PxQ 46.B-Q3 R/4-R4 47.K-K2 R-R8 48.RxR RxR 49.B-B4 B-N7 50.BxP BxN

51.P-N4 R-R7 52.P-Q6 K-K1 53.B-N3 B-Q5 54.B-R4+ K-Q1 55.K-Q3 R-N7 56.P-KB3 R-B7 57.K-K4 R-K7+ 58.K-Q5 R-K6 59.K-B6 RxP 60.K-Q5 R-B5 61.B-N3 RxNP 62.K-B6 P-K5 63.B-Q5 P-K6 0-1