My Favourite Annotators. Part One. Savielly Tartakower.

Afternoon everyone, and welcome along to some chess joy!

Last time round I mentioned that one of many projects which I have never gotten round to doing is to write about my favourite annotators. So let's do a series!

You get one game in each. ( You can't imagine the time, effort and one finger typing which goes into making pgns of these large scale game annotations!!)

And we get to have a bit of a friendly chat - which an go in any direction, as long as it's polite.

SO!! How would I define great annotations? Well, before I answer a question, I always try to define what the question actually means!! For example, on a chess theme. The old question 'who is the father of modern chess?'. 

Firstly you have to define 'father' and then define what you mean by 'modern chess'! No kidding!

Annotations are about explaining a chess game. Simple. So define 'explaining'!  

For me a chess game is a contest between two human players, sitting at the board, at a given time and place, in the circumstances in which it takes place. Two human players doing their best and making decisions based on their knowledge - in the time - skill, the sporting circumstances and their personalities. My own notes always try to explain games in that way. There is also the purely chess element of good moves and bad. Good ideas and bad, etc.

For me great annotators manage to encapsulate all those elements in words.

I think - within those criteria - Savielly Tartakower

is one of the greats! Everything is there, and for those trying to learn the game I always recommend studying him. One of the very first chess books I was able to own for myself ( I grew up with no money!) was this one - I still have it.

Still one of the great games collections. I was awarded it as a school prize.

That must have really annoyed the headmaster - he hated me, and I was suspended/expelled quite a few times! Curiously I got reinstated when there was an important sports match or chess match coming up!!.

Enough nattering - best get to the chess and the notes.

The annotations are from a book that i have had for many years.

As you can see, I have spent some considerable time with it!

There is an inscription which humanizes it.

Tartakower must have played a huge number of games with Rudolf Spielmann.

They were two of the most active players of the era. Apart form many tournament meetings they played at least two matches that I can think of. Warriors - and wonderful players - both.

Enjoy the chess, and revel in the wonderful annotations. It is one of four games - with others in the notes - to explain and illustrate a system in Bird's opening, so he transposed the opening moves - I have given them as they are in the book to include his comments.

A wonderful piece of art. David Friedman. via blog.nli.org