My Favourite Annotators. Part Four. David Bronstein.

Afternoon everyone, and seasonal greetings to all.

Yes, it's been a while. Been having major house renovation work done. . However, now all done and I can get at my library again! Before I forget, I have started posting games over on bluesky if you want to join me there.  https://bsky.app/profile/simaginfan.bsky.social  

So, David Bronstein the annotator. Bit of a legend! His book on the 1953 candidates tournament is still regarded as one of the 'must own' books. The book 'Sorcerer's Apprentice' collects a lot of his notes from various sources, and when I was growing up we all had a copy of 200 Open Games - mentioned recently by my friend @kamalakanta  

His writings are a joy! You get pretty much everything. Analysis - always to be checked!! Deeply thought out explanations of how positions work, and , above all, they are written very much from the human perspective. Often you get comments on his opponents. I recall him saying something like 'Simagin was a genuinely courageous player. He would not only bravely sacrifice material, he would also bravely accept sacrifices'. 

Looking at his notes to games is instructive in many ways. He does the job of explaining the game and making it understandable. but above all he makes the reader happy!!

Well for me there was no kind of contest in choosing a set of game notes by Bronstein! They are not even 'proper' game annotations, as Bronstein explains at the end. The game was played almost exactly 49 years ago, if my brain is working. I had been playing chess for less than 2 years at that point, but was already devouring every bit of chess that I could save up to get my hands on. 

My dear friend Barry Wood had forewarned me about them. As I have said elsewhere he knew he had something very special. Seeing them for the first time was just a thrill. I went over every word three or four times, eyes shining like spotlights. Hopefully, if you are seeing them for the first time you will feel the same.

Sadly I no longer have the original, and what I give is a reconstruction from a couple of sources.

Enjoy the magic!!

A picture of Bronstein that I really like - with a man he learned a lot from, Aleksandr Konstantinopolsky.

Happy 2025 guys. See you there!