I'm Brazilian and I play chess regularly, online, with people from all over the world, on an open platform. Players from the former Soviet bloc are always hard to beat. Time has passed, but the tradition lives on.
@patrick383ironworker5 ай бұрын
But how are former soviets at Uno?
@patrick383ironworker5 ай бұрын
Or Euchre?
@nv_chino5 ай бұрын
I used to play irl and online and I suck but I like the game. I’ll try to get better. My brother represented our high school and he was in top 3 or 5 I think. It wasn’t a competition but for fun against other schools
@personzorz5 ай бұрын
@@patrick383ironworker In Soviet Russia, reverse card plays YOU
@lucasrem5 ай бұрын
brainwashed. you better use skills to solve issues, why create chess heroes ?
@clashwithtrash36005 ай бұрын
It's fascinating to consider that with the sole exception of Fischer (who was a once in a generation genius) The world chess champion was Soviet/Russian from 1947 until 2007 when Anand beat Kramnik (assuming one follows the convention of acknowledging Kasparov's PCA as the legitimate world championship). The Russians truly dominated the early modern period of chess.
@raylopez995 ай бұрын
True, it also is interesting that as you say, once in a generation genius can transcend the "nuture" aspect of chess due to their "nature" (e.g, today's Magnus Carlsen from Norway). The biggest nature/nurture example however is today's GM Hikaru Nakamura whose *adopted* father was a chess master but who nevertheless (or because of) rose to #2 in the world (or sometimes tied with Carlsen for #1 in blitz).
@dbass49735 ай бұрын
Fischer learnt the language and studied soviet chess books for that purpose specifically though.
@arthas6405 ай бұрын
False. The American hero Deep Blue managed to beat Kaspirov
@sublimeade5 ай бұрын
@@arthas640😂
@otto36195 ай бұрын
@@raylopez99I think the best example of Nature vs Nurture is Judit Polgár and her sisters. Quoting from wikipedia: "Polgár and her two older sisters, Grandmaster Susan and International Master Sofia, were part of an educational experiment carried out by their father, László Polgár, in an attempt to prove that children could make exceptional achievements if trained in a specialist subject from a very early age.[14] "Geniuses are made, not born," was László's thesis. He and his wife Klára educated their three daughters at home, with chess as the specialist subject.[15]" She's still by far the best female chess player and the only woman to reach the top 10.
@exponentmantissa55985 ай бұрын
I play a lot of chess and know a lot of GMs and other players. The Soviets dominated the game for decades. One thing that gave them a huge advantage was that they had extensive libraries of chess openings and games in print. As time went on this literature became available to all through the Chess Informants, a twice yearly release of all grandmaster games played during that period and a lot of the games came with detailed analysis. Eventually this information was available to everyone electronically. The Soviets also had first class training programs and quickly moved talented players up through the ranks. This training program fell apart along with the state in the late 80s/early 90s. During its big era Soviet chess was well funded and knew little bounds. There was even use of performance enhancing drugs.
@NuclearTopSpot5 ай бұрын
performance enhancing drugs in chess? that's methed up
@levinb15 ай бұрын
Bobby Fischer learned to read and write Russian for the reason you stated above. Then, obviously, Bobby completely dominated the field for a portion of his life.
@rok14755 ай бұрын
@@NuclearTopSpotever heard of Ritalin? Chemical compounds can improve not just muscle functions.
@rnts085 ай бұрын
@@rok1475funny now when you mention it, Ritalin is Methylphenidate, which is strikingly similar to methamphetamine. 😂
@sinsyder5 ай бұрын
I wonder if coffee would be in that category? @@NuclearTopSpot
@dbartholemewfox5 ай бұрын
11:20 The source for this anecdote is ultimately from Botvinnik's autobiography, but Botvinnik is a notorious liar who's retellings of events frequently wildly contradict the recollections of others. In particular Botvinnik (like other narcissists) liked to claim his rivals were emotionally perturbed by his presence, or were conspiring against him, etc. No other sources report that Capablanca threw a tantrum at the simul, which is odd, given that it was a huge event, likely with hundreds of spectators (Capablanca was an international celebrity at the time). In fact, there are no similar anecdotes of Capablanca ever having a fit at the chessboard, for his entire career, including when he a child prodigy. As a chess fan, I do appreciate the attention on chess history. But please be careful when creating education material on topics you're unfamiliar with. It's easy to unintentionally spread known misinformation. Andy Soltis largely debunked Botvinnik's version of events in his books Soviet Chess (1999) and Mikhail Botvinnik (2014).
@Muazzes5 ай бұрын
Don't let the truth ruin his story man. A lot of US propaganda in this video though. Solid.
@user-hb7py7xy7b5 ай бұрын
@@Muazzesany examples?
@petergreen53375 ай бұрын
Thank you
@geonerd5 ай бұрын
Botts was not a nice man... 😕
@raylopez995 ай бұрын
That's some Bill Wall / David Hooper Oxford Companion to Chess trivia bro (i.e., you know your chess trivia).
@subnormality58545 ай бұрын
Imagine being forced into a game of chess that literally decides whether you live or die - that's some Bond villain shit
@kinghassy3345 ай бұрын
That's what he gets for being a bourgeoisie
@grizwoldphantasia50055 ай бұрын
Not quite. Winning proves you are who he thinks you are.
@owenelliott57425 ай бұрын
Probably didn’t happen
@TheMasterofComment5 ай бұрын
if he was that good in chess, then the outcome was certain
@bikingcopenhagen40685 ай бұрын
that's how propaganda works
@shepardsinsequence5 ай бұрын
Nikolai Krylenko was executed for “ Liking chess too much “ …. Homie was about that life
@ambidexter20175 ай бұрын
That was neither the reason nor the pretext for which he was executed. This part of the video is something of an artistic exaggeration.
@glennac5 ай бұрын
@@ambidexter2017 So was he a traitor? Or the victim of a rival?
@olasek79725 ай бұрын
@@glennac he was victim of massive purges 1936-1939 during which Stalin disposed of his enemies on totally bogus charges. However it is hard to shed tears for Krylenko - he himself was sentencing innocent people to death only because they were religious, not enough “red”, etc. He was a monster who was killed by another monster. Whether it was chess or his extensive mountain climbing activities - it was just a pretext.
@u.v.s.55835 ай бұрын
@@glennac He was a powerful comrade in a state where only one person was allowed to be powerful.
@skullo55575 ай бұрын
He apparently led people up in a anti-soviet conspiracy@@glennac
@Zendogg7025 ай бұрын
I would very much like to know how it is possible to discuss the history of Soviet chess without even mentioning the name of Mikhail Chigorin. Do you have any idea of how important he is in the history of Russian chess? He is The Godfather of the Soviet Chess School. He single handedly started the whole affair! He dedicated his entire life to this project of building Chess in Russia, published the first chess periodicals, built clubs in regions, cities, and among workers. He built the foundation. His name isn’t even mentioned, here!
@SnkHetz5 ай бұрын
Probably he was not reported in the Wikipedia source material that Is usually used by the author of this channel
@atheistbushman5 ай бұрын
Chigorin lived in the time of Imperial Russia. Makes sense that he should have been mentioned, but this video focused on the early soviet period.
@user-hb7py7xy7b5 ай бұрын
Same way Brazilians won football, Americans won basketball or Norwegians won ski. It was very popular among population especially in late 20s early 30s. Almost everyone played chess and when millions practice one sport talents are easier to arise.
@petergreen53375 ай бұрын
Exactly
@superdingo97415 ай бұрын
'Americans won basketball' is a big exaggeration, considering that after WWII until the fall of the Soviet Union, the USA became champions only 2 times (1954, 1986). The USSR did it 3 times (1967, 1974, 1982).
@mariusvr5 ай бұрын
@@superdingo9741may be true but US main players (pros) weren't playing for their national team
@gabbar51ngh5 ай бұрын
@@mariusvrThey would still lose. This is an age old excuse of US saying they're focusing on domestic and not on international. Yet USA's women football has more resources and active players than any other country and they still lost. There's no guarantee they would win in international events. It's no different than India losing at cricket world cup despite the amount of active players and resources they put.
@mariusvr5 ай бұрын
@@gabbar51ngh would they? Anyway, I hope you're using all your bet winnings wisely
@jessejordache18695 ай бұрын
I always understood Soviet domination to be based on two factors: one, they believed that you couldn't play your best unless you were physically fit (the history of post-Alekhine World Champions mostly bares this out). Two, they taught youngsters the game backwards: first you'd learn the endgame, then the middlegame so you'd spot positions that you could convert into technically won endgames, and only then would you be trained on the opening. One could earn a living as a chess master, but first you had to be a chess master. But no doubt the leisure time of their top players was a big factor too. I think of all the fumbling around I did trying to develop my pieces with no plan beyond that, and teaching the phases backwards makes a lot of sense.
@shadowconquer-yv5yd4 ай бұрын
Learning chess backwards seems interesting. It makes sense in some ways. As of now, I always suffer terribly in endgames whenever I fail to dominate/obliterate my opponent in early-midgame. Slowly but surely I get better. But I'm not that confident with it as most of my opponents blunders or just completely out of my league (below or above me).
@ShinSheel2 ай бұрын
I totally confirm, it's generally a very common soviet education trope, to teach you the core idea of X instead of tips and tricks that improve your immediate performance
@chessophilerАй бұрын
That was also the philosophy of the great Cuban world champion, Jose Raul Capablanca (i921-1927).
@davidc51915 ай бұрын
While you mention Petrov at 1:15, the top Russian player from that era was actually Chigoran who played in two world championship matches in 1889 and 1892. The tournament in Germany that you mentioned 6:50 that interned Russian players was in Mannheim, where eleven Russian players (Alekhine, Bogoljubow, Fedor Bogatyrchuk, Alexander Flamberg, N. Koppelman, Boris Maliutin, Ilya Rabinovich, Peter Romanovsky, Peter Petrovich Saburov, Alexey Selezniev, Samuil Weinstein) were interned by Germany at the outset of WWI as enemy aliens. Some were released back to Russia while others remained in Germany. Also that 1925 Moscow tournament 10:07 was the basis for the short, satirical film by Pudovkin "Chess Fever" which featured cameos by Capablanca, Marshall, Reti and others. Recommended for anyone interested in chess history, despite being somewhat a silly film.
@mechantl0up5 ай бұрын
The Bernstein story is known to be an urban legend. Moreover, no amateur could ever even imagine winning against a grand master, so no chess enthusiast would have made such a silly wager. In reality, he was simply freed because his name was recognised.
@hello-rq8kf5 ай бұрын
maybe the executioner just wanted to have some fun before letting him go. or wanted the clout of playing him lol
@DsiakMondala5 ай бұрын
It was probably to prove the point he really was good. If you tell your superior not to kill someone because they are good at chess, might as well pull that stunt and prove your point.
@smalldesklamp4 ай бұрын
Wasn’t really a wager. The guard had nothing on the line. He loses and he goes free which is what he wanted anyway.
@imamsantoso73805 ай бұрын
Soviet enormous area and huge mass population also become major role. they have Tigran petrosian from Armenia, Tal from Latvia, Kasparov from Armenia/Azerbaijan area. The same factor also happen in helping US and India chess elite rise. America with a lot and diverse population like Hikaru, Caruana, Wesley
@kaustubhraizada5 ай бұрын
indians invented this
@reis11855 ай бұрын
Most of US chess players are not homegrown, they're just attracting foreign talents.
@carkawalakhatulistiwa5 ай бұрын
@@reis1185or from ussr
@kennethkilian19715 ай бұрын
@@kaustubhraizada yeah, but indians only became significant players in the chess world since about 2 decades ago, and only vishy anand was the formative best indian player in the beginning. Only about now india has multille strong prodigies and players, in time to overtake russia as a stronger chess playing nation.
@pineapplesareyummy63525 ай бұрын
@@carkawalakhatulistiwa Among the highest rated "US" players, we have Wesley So (born in the Philippines and played for the Philippines until 2014), Leinier Dominguez Perez (born in Cuba and played for Cuba until 2017), Levon Aronian (born in the Soviet Union, played for USSR and then Armenia, only switching to the US in 2021). Even Fabiano Caruana, who was born in the US, learned his chess in Italy, became a super-GM while an Italian, and only switching to the US in 2015.
@quinnlaya3315 ай бұрын
I've been looking for a video like this for a long time. Thank you for making this.
@skullo55575 ай бұрын
16;35 Alexander literally wrote stuff about Jews playing "cowardly" while Aryans played "brave" bro was a straight up nazi. Understandable that soviets didnt like him
@JS_Precision5 ай бұрын
Great video. That first comp from WW1 sounds like it needs its own documentary!
@kevinbyrne45385 ай бұрын
Very impressed by the breadth and depth of your interests.
@user-gk2nd5dq9o5 ай бұрын
An interesting fact about Lenin: his friend and comrade Mark Elizarov was somehow able to beat Lasker during a simultaneous game. Lenin very often played chess with Elizarov (the Elizarovs' museum-apartment in St. Petersburg contains chess sets, which contain a secret room for secret correspondence), and beat him more than once. Thus, we can say that Lenin beat the one who beat the world chess champion :)
@yumallah5 ай бұрын
That is true. I’ve been to the Elizarovs’ museum apartment (I live on the same street that it’s located on, which is incidentally called Lenin Street). The chess sets are incredible.
@lucianodesouza44935 ай бұрын
It is a beautiful story that demonstrates indisputably that talent is built through diligent and continued effort. Soviet chess, at its peak, produced some of the greatest players of all time. Just like the Soviets did decades ago, Indians today are developing a state chess program.
@mekafinchi5 ай бұрын
when I saw the title I was hoping for something about computer chess, but this is also quite interesting
@spinindustries26025 ай бұрын
Took me half the video to realize it wasn't about a chess computer 😂
@jacuzzibusguy5 ай бұрын
Interestingly enough, computers weren’t capable of reliably beating a chess master until well into the 1990s.
@glennac5 ай бұрын
If I recall correctly, he HAS done a video on Computer Chess. 🤔
@horiuchiworld5 ай бұрын
@@spinindustries2602 Fredrik Knudsen have a 2 hour video about a chess computer. Its good
@Extirpo5 ай бұрын
Both Bobby Fischer and Bent Larsen learned the russian language in the 1950ies, in order to get the best current knowledge. We all know Fischers incredible strength, but should not forget Larsen as the worlds most succesfull tournament player in a number of years.
@fondertunn4 ай бұрын
Thank You for the video! Just as usual there is common problem to prononce russian surnames with correct accent. Also - as an example of point for chess popularisation - "living chess play" on Palace square in Leningrad (St.Petersburg) in 1924 could be mentioned in addition to the video (knights - horsemen, rooks - cannons with 3 soldiers). In Russian Empire such "living chess" were first played in 1796, and Soviet Union revitalized such theatrical games in 1921 in Smolensk.
@alex-dv4bk4 ай бұрын
I would love for you to make a longer winded historically focused chess video like this that would be so awesome ❤
@ShareefusMaximus5 ай бұрын
Funny how many historical people were Russian in 2010 but are now Ukrainian in 2023.
@NeverTHOUGHTofIT4 ай бұрын
So two soviet prisoners were having a conversation First one goes "Hey I heard there was world chess championship and our fellow man made it finals" And second one replies " Yeah I lost"
@vytautasvaicys87455 ай бұрын
This channel never ceases to amaze me. New videos on topics I never thought I would find so interesting and intriguing.
@SnkHetz5 ай бұрын
Ahahahahaha
@silverchairsg5 ай бұрын
I read in Josh Waitzkin's memoirs that the Soviet players played dirty in tournaments. They employed psychological tricks like tapping chess pieces against the table to break his concentration. He got around this by "flowing" with the anger he felt at them and incorporating it into his game.
@wandregisel63855 ай бұрын
Josh Waitzkin was not born until 1976, and became and international master in 1992 (he never got GM), I don't know that he was playing much against the Soviet masters...
@silverchairsg4 ай бұрын
@@wandregisel6385 I think it might have been former Soviet Eastern Bloc players. I don't know. I just remember in his memoirs he was up against players from these Soviet/ex-Soviet regions and they played dirty.
@CoolTools14823 ай бұрын
Tysm. This essay thoroughly peaked my interest
@leonardobargilbargi1765 ай бұрын
Amazing video! Thank you !
@danfairfw5 ай бұрын
The shenanigans of Soviet Chess would make for a much longer of a video. By the time Botvinnik won the 1948 Tournament, he was actually past his prime. One factor in his win in 1948 was Keres losing four straight suspect games to him. Suspicions are that this was the price Keres had to pay to be allowed to play after playing in Nazi Germany tournaments and trying to escape to Sweden as the Soviets were back in Estonia to "liberate" it. The 1951 Championship which was drawn by David Bronstein. When one's dad has been imprisoned in the gulags for the crime of having the last name of Bronstein, you might have to tank a game or two to keep the authorities happy. And the 1962 Candidate's Match where 3 of the Soviets would draw each other with nearly all draws under 20 movies to reserve their playing strength, the #1 target: Bobby Fischer. Bobby wrote a short article in Sports Illustration on "How the Russians Cheat at Chess". As a result, FIDE changed the Candidate Match Tournament to head to head matches.
@rezajafari63955 ай бұрын
And don't forget the Karpov-Kasparov rivalry!
@raylopez995 ай бұрын
I have an Estonian note with Keres face on it, issued in the early 1990s. Ironically, despite nearly every other post-USSR country, it actually rose in value and did not depreciate.
@nygothuey66075 ай бұрын
Paul Keres might be the best chess player in history to have never been World Champion. That being said my favorite player of that era was the Latvian Mikhail Tal.
@massacregaming96824 ай бұрын
Yeah I will definitely believe his crime was of having the name Bronstein. 🤣🤣🤣 The fact you westoid chauvinists even believe this is beyond me. 🤡🤡🤡
@nygothuey66074 ай бұрын
@@massacregaming9682 considering that a large amount of the Party higher ups were Jews, and several prominent Jews did just fine in the CCCP it really doesn't make much sense that he would be imprisoned because of his Jewish heritage, which is what was implied here.
@mejestic1245 ай бұрын
Would you make a video on CNC pioneers?
@t1t0s895 ай бұрын
Another fine niche topic. Thank you for the research!
@u.v.s.55835 ай бұрын
Definitely not niche topic in the Soviet times. Chess was very, very important subject.
@alexhubble5 ай бұрын
Nice again. And props for taking on the pronunciations! And as an aside I would love to see what you make of Bobby Fischer....
@spodule60005 ай бұрын
He may have taken on the pronunciations, but sadly the pronunciations won.
@hieronymusbutts73495 ай бұрын
I saw a Fischer game I've been unable to find since where he opens with his king pawn, and spends the next six turns moving his king out to circle in front of the pawn and then back to safety again. I don't know if anyone can actually understand Bobby Fischer.
@ligius35 ай бұрын
@@spodule6000 You're right :) But I'm still glad he did not give up the towel like many do. I don't speak Russian but clearly the order of syllables and consonants is mostly predefined.
@radeklew15 ай бұрын
@@hieronymusbutts7349are you sure it wasn't a Carlsen game? This isn't exactly what you described but it reminds me of this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p5CZi59nn7OKj7Msi=ihcXhn_oJH731dzy
@Vextrove5 ай бұрын
@@hieronymusbutts7349 I've seen the game you're referring to. That was one of the timed games Fischer purportedly played over the internet in the 90s. But I believe the truth was found to be that it wasn't actually Bobby Fischer
@jT-bh6ov4 ай бұрын
The actual chess at 9:28 is horrendous omfg. (for anyone wondering. 1.g6 g5 2.f3 Nf6 3.Bh3 d5) It looks hilarious if you put it on a board in front of you, the colors of the squares are also wrong, the knight they put on f6 should be on a dark square, smh)
@KentJohnson1235 ай бұрын
That was great, I love chess (and wish I was good at it), and love your channel. Thank you.
@Grandcapi5 ай бұрын
Stalin also liked chess. I have seen one of his sets at a museum in Georgia. He helped promote the game and the KGB was always present in tournaments outside the URSS where soviet players were. There is a book about it: The KGB plays chess.
@hieronymusbutts73495 ай бұрын
3:49 where is the source on Lenin losing to Bogdanov here? Sources I'm finding state this game not only went to Lenin but caused a political ripple where Bogdanov was finally expelled from the Bolshevik party after years of antagonism to Lenin, thus ending the influence of Bogdanovism on Soviet communist theory.
@saeedyarahmadi99135 ай бұрын
Lie and lie against greatest mind in history name lenin,where is your fact lenin lost and been angery,stupid analys stupid narator.
@jsheradin5 ай бұрын
Bernstein must have been properly sweating during that game.
@personzorz5 ай бұрын
On the other hand, he went from having no hope to hope
@levinb15 ай бұрын
How do you have time for all these interesting and good documentaries?
@zachriley555 ай бұрын
It's his job
@LordMarcus5 ай бұрын
18:25 "[...] with, of course, a single exception we need not mention.” That's such a sick burn, you've dug up his grave and set his coffin on fire.
@TheMasterofComment5 ай бұрын
whats the story behind this?
@Farazormal15 ай бұрын
@@TheMasterofComment bobby fisher. good chess player, terrible person.
@joew18655 ай бұрын
Indeed a terrible person considering his comments after Sept. 11th. He spent quite a long time in the Armstrong cult expecting Jesus' eminent return to save them from a second holocaust, however, some now say Fisher had autism/Asperger and was forced into the cult. It sounds like within the cult the foundatons were laid for his antisemitism, but I may be wrong about that.
@MrThe1And0nly4 ай бұрын
I don't think it was a burn. He was saying "you all know the story anyway, because he's so famous."
@LordMarcus4 ай бұрын
@@MrThe1And0nly Telling Bobby Fischer he's not worth mentioning would've been extremely upsetting to him. The man was composed of ego and not much else.
@radaction57435 ай бұрын
2:24 shows my favorite chess photo. I find the colorized version to be stunning.
@smarty07284 ай бұрын
I know where the middle of the herring went... It went to Shukov's stew in the gulag!
@sshko1014 ай бұрын
0:54 I'd like to know the page where that quote is taken from. It was about a cantury before russia decided to borrow it's neighbours name and historic heritage.
@petergreen53375 ай бұрын
❤thank you very much for this beautiful lesson
@voongnz5 ай бұрын
A vid on why China chess is very strong at the moment would be interesting despite it not being popular and not really entrenched in their culture as opposed to other games like Go. Team's world champion, women's world champion and men's world champion all currently (although we know MC is the strongest player rn and would be a favorite against Ding).
@pineapplesareyummy63525 ай бұрын
I don't think the era of strong Chinese chess is going to last though. The current players are very good (Ding at the top as current World Champion and a former 2800 player, several others in the 2700s, top two women players being Chinese). But looking at the Juniors, I don't see anyone coming. The top Juniors are Indians, mixed with Iranians and Uzbeks, a few Europeans, and first/second-generation immigrants of Asian ancestry in the US. As you mentioned yourself, chess isn't the most popular board game in China. Chess is only third most popular behind Xiangqi and Weiqi.
@voongnz5 ай бұрын
@@pineapplesareyummy6352 it's definitely not going to last. They'll still be strong but not as dominant. The women's can be strong for the foreseeable future and then a prodigy like Lu Miaoyi can lead. But she'll be up against another brilliant young prodigy like Alice Lee. Country's chess strength seems to come and go in waves, India has a lot of up and coming talent to watch for and seem to be next.
@icescorpion70505 ай бұрын
Other than womans side of chess china won't dominant. India currently has so many chess prodigies @@pineapplesareyummy6352
@codonauta4 ай бұрын
A vid on why INDIA chess is very strong at the moment.
@joeldick68715 ай бұрын
Excellent video and very well researched. I saw some of this covered in Kotov and Yudovich's book The Russian Chess School, but that book is not exactly a credible objective source. It must have taken quite an effort to gather all the material covered in this video.
@robertthompson95744 ай бұрын
Bobby Fischer held Kotov in very regard as a Soviet chess master. He could be seen conversing with Kotov at some of the early tournaments in his career.
@joeldick68714 ай бұрын
@@robertthompson9574 No denying Kotov was an excellent player. See his game against Szabo in Zurich '53. But his book isn't exactly an unbiased source.
@infernal3144 ай бұрын
Well, FIDE, at first place was fully owned by Soviets and chess became a very political subject during the cold war. It took a genius no less than Fisher to single-handedly beat them, despite this (after the system of candidate tournaments have been changed to candidate matches, which he insisted on, so that Soviet players couldn't collaborate). Korchnoi almost achieved this too, but KGB was too strong in this case. If you are interested in some non-propagandistic historical chess material, read Sosonko.
@adria58765 ай бұрын
Hey, this video was really interesting. Do you have the sources for the claims of the video??
@noahv75283 ай бұрын
Love the video. Where would I find its sources if I wanted to learn more?
@ac14555 ай бұрын
3:00 Putting your life on the line to be shot by a firing squad for a chess game sounds like what a fiction protagonist would go through.
@u.v.s.55835 ай бұрын
And, trust me, multiple soviet writers wrote short stories and novels about this. I remember reading quite a few of them back then. Another, even greater legend was the way Dinamo Kyiv soccer team defeated a German team during world war 2. They were warned that they would be executed if they dared, and so they were.
@el_es5 ай бұрын
Please try to find & present the interesting life of Jacek Karpinski (in regards of memory paging invention) i promise this will be interesting - as without paging there would not be computers as we know them.
@OzanErenBilgen5 ай бұрын
Great video, but what’s that bishop doing at 9:28 😂
@PavlosPapageorgiou5 ай бұрын
11:00 what a beautiful set!
@cv990a45 ай бұрын
Ilyin-Genevsky didn't die outside of St Petersburg - he died outside of Leningrad, because that's what it was named at the time. The German Siege of Leningrad (which lasted well over two years) was one of the most horrific events in a military theater (Eastern Front) that was by far the most blood-soaked of the war. A family friend was born during the Siege. Her live birth and subsequent survival as a baby was considered a miracle. 1.5mm people died in the siege - it's widely considered a top candidate for the most destructive siege in all human history.
@brad1ey503 ай бұрын
9:29 this chess stock footage is so cursed lmao
@bobibest895 ай бұрын
Bobby Fischer was like "Oh yeah? Just hold my beer".
@bb28665 ай бұрын
you completely butchered the pronunciation of Max EUWE
@adamrou123455 ай бұрын
The irony of the Soviets being so enthusiastic about a game of strategic planning.
@jamesocker52354 ай бұрын
Excellent content Thank you
@revolter70945 ай бұрын
My father moved to Germany 20 years ago from Russia and he is the 3x chess champion in the region where I live. Chess was just huge in the USSR.
@mr3loshyt1622 ай бұрын
Whats your father's name? If you don't mind saying
@strnbrg595 ай бұрын
Euwe is pronounced something like "Oovuh" (or, more accurately and if you can read German, "Öwe").
@annunacky44635 ай бұрын
I played as a youngster and loved the game. I made first chair in a public high school. Went to a tournament with a fancy local private school, and got slaughtered by a kid who apparently memorized openings. I ran out of time. That kid became the city champ later so I felt a bit better. I still goof around on chess sites. I rate 1600 now and that’s just modest ability. I think I’ve peaked lol.
@TJ-vh2ps5 ай бұрын
“Let the Wookiee win” came to mind when hearing about how Krylenko was winning at first, but Lenin won in the end.
@richardhighsmith5 ай бұрын
Krylenko sacrifices his Rook to take Lenin’s Pawn. It was a sacrifice for the Proletarian Revolution. 1938: Stalin sacrifices Krylenko for the Revolution.
@michaelmichael23824 ай бұрын
@@richardhighsmithit couldn't be expressed better
@upstating5 ай бұрын
"...which I need not mention." Why not? It really drives certain people nuts, and it's fun to watch.
@SaberTail5 ай бұрын
3:15 Marx was German...
@fons_ssb33515 ай бұрын
Great video!
@CalgarGTX5 ай бұрын
at 18:28 you talk about an exception that needn't be mentioned but I have no idea what event you are referencing
@Via-Media20245 ай бұрын
Marx was neither a Russian nor a Soviet
@davep56985 ай бұрын
I wish you had mentioned... I watch for the info and alluding to such with out naming feels like some sort of secret. I'm assuming you mean Deep Blue? but no idea based on the photo at the same time being from the 70's
@HansMaurer.5 ай бұрын
Bobby Fischer
@mattinykanen47803 ай бұрын
When I was in grad school, I had an Estonian colleague. He had been born and raised in the Soviet Union, but when it collapsed, he emigrated west to continue his studies. Once we were chatting at lunch "talking shop": theoretical Computer Science, that is. I said in passing half-jokingly that the Soviet system must have had _some_ redeeming qualities, given their advanced level in mathematics research and education. In fact, I was giving a kind of underhanded compliment, because he was in fact very good in math, even by grad school standards. He looked me very sternly in the eyes and explained: In that system, you had to careful and not say what you really thought. This made many fields of study intolerable; for instance, a Soviet historian had better tiptoe faithfully the official party line (whatever it was this week) lest he fell and lost much more than his job. Mathematics was safely above politics. (Physics was almost as good, except that there you might have to design missiles for a living...) Hence it drew not only mathematical prodigies but also multi-talented people with high general intelligence. More and better applicants lead in turn to higher results in any University. And indeed, in the decade following the collapse of the Soviet Union the previous East-West gap in mathematics skills had narrowed markedly, because now these general intelligence youths could - and would - choose freely also other fields like law, economics, sociology,...
@florinivan69072 ай бұрын
As a rule in an authoritarian regime fields that deal with human interactions like history are risky. Fields that don't like math are safe(r). History is a very dangerous profession.
@zombie_snax5 ай бұрын
So , they raised and promoted dude to the best chess player for propaganda purposes. Then shot him for being to preoccupied by chess. Sweet tactics.
@RonJohn635 ай бұрын
2:00 The repeated references to All-Russia refers to Mother Russia, White Russia (aka Belarus) and Little Russia (aka Ukraine).
@AlanTwoRings5 ай бұрын
@9:28 the kings and queens are on the wrong squares 🤦 If you placed them randomly you'd have a 50% chance of getting it right, but stock photos/videos somehow get it wrong 100% of the time.
@JinKee5 ай бұрын
Maybe stock photos do it on purpose
@glennac5 ай бұрын
Might this be explained by the fact that many stock photos have been flipped or reversed - not always detectedable when clues like text or symbols are not present in the images.
@causewaykayak5 ай бұрын
@@glennacLot of u tube have reversed text in background
@hieronymusbutts73495 ай бұрын
@@glennac incorrect, a mirror image would still show the pieces on the right tile, it would just have the board reversed. You would still have to put the pieces in the wrong place in the first place to mix up the setting of the king and queen in mirror image. The Queen always gets her own colour.
@zanti41325 ай бұрын
@@hieronymusbutts7349Also, a reversed image would put a white square in the left-hand corner, which is incorrect. The rule is "white to the right".
@martinlisitsata5 ай бұрын
14:35 well that cracked me up :D
@Briandaflyin5 ай бұрын
Note that the all Russian chess tournament in 1914 had Capablanca who is Cuban not Russian.
@the-quintessenz5 ай бұрын
Who's that player on the left at 4:20?
@TheJwarnock13 күн бұрын
@9:31 that chess set is setup wrong. It has the kings on their own color.
@akanhakan5 ай бұрын
Maybe you should also look into Russians in math, physics, chemistry, psychology, literature, cinema, etc. Every single field they touched they made seminal contributions...
@ivanradkov38064 ай бұрын
True.
@therahulrs5 ай бұрын
6:00 food will be available, reminds me of university events attracting poor grad students
@u.v.s.55835 ай бұрын
Even a grad student will not fall quite as deep as to gladly accept herring heads and tails.
@dreyri27364 ай бұрын
"Culturally educate" I mean sure, that was their excuse but really, the party was just filled with a bunch of weird gloryhounds that saw an international game and decided " we NEED to own this shit"
@lance314155 ай бұрын
Chess is not only a game - it's a way of life and, for some you covered, death
@raylopez995 ай бұрын
Chess is life / Life is Chess (Karpov/Fischer quotes or paraphrases).
@lucasrem5 ай бұрын
just a game it is
@MooseBme5 ай бұрын
"Bro's, IT'S JUST A GAME!" - Exicuted at dawn
@sammycampbell16543 ай бұрын
5:59 "tell them there'll be punch and pie!"
@alexanderlozovskiy48834 ай бұрын
I'm from Russia and once played in a local state tournament in Pennsylvania. When I got a draw with another guy after a sweaty 3 hr long game, he asked me about my origin. After I told him, he was like "damn, I just knew it you came from somewhere around there". I was honored.
@user-cd4bx6uq1y5 ай бұрын
Very interesting, but feels like there's more behind this
@rollinwithunclepete8245 ай бұрын
I really should slow down an read the title of any particular video more carefully. I thought this video would be interesting, if unusual, because it was titled "The Rise of Soviet Cheese"
@therealbs20004 ай бұрын
One tip alexanders last name is pronounced alley achin
@billhampton80045 ай бұрын
They cheated when playing against Bobby Fisher. Yet Fisher still prevailed eventually.
@clintcowan94245 ай бұрын
Wait what? Who was the exception prior to Conclusion section??
@gus4735 ай бұрын
Google Bobby Fischer 😎✌️
@BoxingDayAC5 ай бұрын
4:44 What does bonifeedes mean?
@panagiotischagias41195 ай бұрын
The name is pronounced Alexander Ali-oe-hin. Anyway, great video as always.
@WSDFirm5 ай бұрын
Pattern, recognition
@infernalchaos10664 ай бұрын
When the chess masters fled the country, it proved they knew how to make a great tactical and strategic move.
@hitchikerspie5 ай бұрын
Likewise Max Euwe his surname is often pronounced as “Eu-we” (think you-ey)
@mrtricklas3 ай бұрын
Right in the beginning there is a mistake. Both Tal and Fischer weren’t sovjets do there were two champions
@crappychannel6435 ай бұрын
Very cool topic, here when 65k
@jpworowski5 ай бұрын
What about Chigorin?
@alexandrzhuravlev24055 ай бұрын
There is no sound k in the pronunciation of Alekhine. Just Alehin. Good video
@massacregaming96824 ай бұрын
There is no h sound in Alekhine. In fact the h sound doesn't even exist in the Russian language.
@alexandrzhuravlev24054 ай бұрын
@@massacregaming9682 ask Google how pronounce "poshel nahuy" and what it means
@rorytribbet64245 ай бұрын
The kremlin: we want to be world leaders in all critical technologies, from aviation, to computing, to healthcare Rick from pawn stars: best I can do is Chess
@youhateyoutube5 ай бұрын
wonder if ussr continued to exist and they have started promoting cybersport like in south korea