Chess Trivia

Taimanov, Mark (1926- )
Bought a point from Matulovic for $400 at the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal in 1970. When he lost to Fischer 6-0 in Vancouver, British Columbia, he returned to the USSR in disgrace. Normally grandmasters are not searched when crossing the border to the Soviet Union, but Taimanov was asked to open his luggage for examination. They found one of Solzhenitsin's banned books which Taimanov broght from Canada. He was stripped of his title 'Honored Master of Sport' and deprived of his monthly earnings for holding the grandmaster title. Both were returned to him when Fischer also beat Larsen 6-0.

Tal, Mikhail Nekhemyevich (1936-1992)
At a tournament in Poland in 1974, Tal was playing White against Adamski with both players in time trouble. Adamski's flag fell but Tal lost a piece and resigned. At that moment, Tal's wife said, "Black has not yet made 40 moves." A referee intervened and awarded the win to Tal since the flag falling happened before Tal resigned. Adamski appealed but his protest was rejected. Tal won the tournament. Tal's parents were cousins. In 1966 Tal was hit in the head with a bottle in a bar during the 1966 Olympiad in Havana and beaten up. He missed the first five rounds of the Olympics because of his injuries. He won the World Blitz Championship in 1988. In 1972-73 Tal played 86 games without a loss in international competition, winning 47 and drawing 39. He died of kidney failure in Moscow.

Tarjan, James (1952- )
American Grandmaster who got his title in 1976. It was the first GM title for the U.S. in 12 years.

Tamerlane (1336-1405)
The Mongol ruler and conqueror of the 14th century. He considered hunting and chess as the two pastimes worthy of a warrior. He named his son Shahrukh (chess rook).

Tarrasch, Siegbert (1862-1934)
He had the lamest excuse in history for losing a world championship match. After losing to Lasker, he blamed his loss on the influence of sea-air. The match began at Dusseldorf, 100 miles from the coast. In 1918 he won a chess match in which the prize was a kilogram of butter. Tarrasch was a medical doctor specializing in hypnosis. Tarrasch lost two sons in the early days of World War I.

Tartakower, Saviely (1887-1956)
Grandmaster from France who played for Poland in six consecutive Olympiads although he never lived there nor could speak the language. He once lost five games in a row and was asked why. He replied, "I had a toothache during the first game. In the second game I had a headache. In the third game it was an attack of rheumatism. In the fourth game, I wasn't feeling well. And in the fifth game? Well, must one have to win every game?" He recieved a Doctor of Law degree in 1909. During World War I he was a Leutenant in the Austrian army and was shot in the stomach. During World War II he was a Lieutenant in the Free French Army.

Tattersall,C (1877-1957)
English chess composer and compiler of the first major anthology of endgames: A Thousand End-Games in 1910.

Tchigorin, Mikhail (1850-1908)
Founder of the Russian school of chess. He was the first public chess worker, organizer, and journalist in Russia. His first chess magazine, "Chess Sheet," only had 250 subscribers in all of Russia. From 1878 to 1907 he was considered the best Russian chessplayer. In 1889 he unsuccessfully challenged Steinitz for the world championship in Havana, which ended after 17 games and only one draw. Steinitz had won 10 and lost 6. A month later Tchigorin won America's first international tournament, New York 1889. He took second place in the Hastings 1895 tournament (behind Pillsbury) and won the first three All-Russia tournaments (1899, 1900-01, 1903). At Hastings 1895 he won a ring and a copy of Salvoli's THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF CHESS for winning the most Evans Gambits.

Teeth
A player at a Hastings tournament was clenching his teeth with concentration that he broke his false teeth. He had to forfeit his game to go to a dentist.

Tel Aviv 1964
Site of the 16th Olympiad, which was the first ever held in Asia, and the first time players from all five continents were able to take part in a world gathering.

Telegraph
The first telegraph match was played between Washington, D.C. and Baltimore in 1844, linked by the first American telegraph.

Telephone
The first telephone match was played in 1878.

Teletype
The first time a tournament game was played by teletype was on Aug 25, 1965 when Bobby Fischer played in the Capablanca Memorial tournament. He played his games by teletype from New York to his opponents in Havana, Cuba.

Tennyson, Lord
President of the British Chess Association.

Theresa of Avila, Saint (1515-1582)
Spanish nun who wrote a devotional work, The Way of Perfection, using chess in allegory. In Spain she is considered the patron saint of chess players.

Thomas, George (1881-1972)
British chess champion in 1923, British badminton champion (1920-23), and quarter-finalist tennis player at Wimbledon. His mother was the winner of the first British women's chess championship at Hastings in 1895. He was on the winning doubles team championship at Wimbledon in 1919. He was an internationally ranked squash and table-tennis player. He finished tied for first at Hastings, ahead of Capablanca, Botvinnik, and Lilienthal, all three of whom he defeated.

Thompson, Theophilus (1855-1910?)
First African-American chessplayer.

Tie-breaking
The first tie breaking system used was the Sonnenborn-Berger system at Vienna in 1873.

Time limit
The Anderssen-Kolisch match in 1861 was the first time a time-limit was used. An hour-glass gave each player 2 hours to make 24 moves.

Tombstone
The death date on Alekhine's tombstone, March 25th, is wrong. He died on the night of March 23rd/24th.

Torre, Carlos (1905-1978)
Mexico's first grandmaster. He was once found running down Fifth Avenue in New York completely nude. He was addicted to pineapple sundaes and comsumed 15 a day. He won the New York state championship in 1924.

Torre, Eugenio (1951- )
Philippine grandmaster and Asia's first grandmaster. He was once voted one of the ten sexiest sportsment in the Philippines and was featured in a movie.

Tournament
The world's first chess tournament was held at the Royal Court in Madrid in 1575. Polerio and Leonardo defeated Ruy Lopez and Ceron in a series of matches arranged by King Phillip II. The first national tournament held in the U.S. was the American Chess Congress, held in New York in 1857 and won by Paul Morphy. First prize was a silver service valued at $300. The most grueling international tournament ever held was at Jurata, Poland in 1937. The 22 masters had to play 21 games in 14 days with no adjournments.

Tournaments, Strongest (FIDE ratings)

1. Linares 1994 - 2685
2. Hague-Moscow 1948 - 2682
3. Linares 1993 - 2680
4. AVRO 1938 - 2677
5. Moscow 1992 - 2676
6. Reggio Emilia 1991-92 - 2676
7. Amsterdam 1988 (Optibeurs) - 2674
8. Tilburg 1991 - 2666
9. Dortmund 1992 - 2659
10. Linares 1992 - 2659
11. Linares 1991 - 2658
12. Amsterdam 1988 (Euwe Memorial) - 2658

Trade Union
The 1936 USSR Trade Union Chess Championship had 700,000 entries!

Troitzky, Alexy (1866-1942)
Founder of the modern endgame study composition. He starved to death in Leningrad.

Trotsky, Leon
His real name was Bronstein and his father was named David Bronstein. Trotsky was an avid chessplayer.

Tuggle, Jesse (1928-1991)
Most active USCF player from 1985 to 1990. In 1988 he played a record 771 rated games. From 1985 to February, 1991 he played over 3,400 tournament rated games.

Turk
Nickname of the first automation. Made by Kempelen in 1789. It was later bought by Napoleon's stepson, Eugene de Beauharnais, for the sum of 30,000 francs, simply in order to learn the secret of its operation. A former operator, Mouret, sold the secret of its operation to a French magazine 65 years later.

Turner, Abe (1924-1962)
Chess master who was killed after being stabbed nine times in the back by a fellow employee, Theodore Smith, at CHESS REVIEW. Abe had been working there for two weeks. The assailant had been released from an asylum and claimed that Abe Turner was a Communist spy and had to be killed on orders from the Secret Service.

Turtel, Evan (1972- )
At age 9 he became the youngest player to beat a master when he defeated Alan Williams (2322) at a chess tournament in New York City. Turtel's rating at the time was 1605.