Vladimir Vysotsky - Honor of the chess crown: Verse. Honor of the chess crown - Vysotsky (Spassky-Fischer) Vysotsky chess crown part 1
In January 1972 he wrote "Honor chess crown”, a ballad song in two parts - “Preparation” and “Game”. It was performed by him repeatedly and gained great popularity.
From an interview with the famous film director Stanislav Sergeevich Govorukhin (Chess in the USSR magazine, No. 10, 1990):
“Volodya didn’t actually play chess (just like, say, billiards. In the film The Meeting Place Can’t Be Changed, we taught him to hold a cue for Zheglov’s duel with Smoked). Once, shortly before the Spassky-Fischer match, we rested with him in Bolshevo, in the Cinematographers' Creativity House. We began to compose a detective story, but the plot was creaking, and in the end it all fell apart with us.
We spat on the script - everyone went about their business: I went skiing, and he sat down to paper in the morning. On the table is a pack of Winstons, his favorite cigarettes, and he wrote. This was his whole rest ... After a while, Volodya grunted:
Tell me about chess.
“Yeah,” I thought, “a song about my favorite chess is coming soon.” He was just in the sports band of his work.
I began to explain: the game begins with the opening…there are different beginnings…for example, the king’s gambit, King's Indian Defense... To warn him against mistakes in the future song, I said that amateurs, unlike professionals, call the rook a tour, the bishop - an officer ...
“Enough,” Volodya said. - It's enough!
I was offended - with such chess baggage to start a song about chess?
He fell silent for a day and a half, wrote something in light large letters, took the guitar, plucked the strings. That's right - I didn't pick up the melody, but, as it were, just plucked the string, looking somewhere at one point. By the evening of the second day, the song was ready. It was called "The Honor of the Chess Crown". She disappointed me at first. I don't know what I expected, I remember, I was even offended by chess. Well, what kind of nonsense is this, really:
We played ten games with Tal - In preference, in a point and on billiards - Tal said: "This will not let you down!"?A week later, Volodya and I boarded the train. I went to Odessa, he went to Kyiv. He had two concerts there. Of course, I stayed in Kyiv and went with him to a concert. On it, he first decided to try the "Chess Crown" in public. What happened to the public! People writhed with laughter - and I along with them - crawled from their chairs to the floor ...
Funny things cannot be shown to one person, funny things must be tested on a large and friendly audience. After the story with the Chess Crown, I understood this well.
And of course, he didn't need to know anything about chess. Because this song is not about chess, but about life. Vysotsky does not have songs about the sea, about the sky, about the earth. All of them are about our life. About Us".
In the second half of the 60s, Robert James Fischer (USA) became one of the strongest chess players in the world. The Soviet Union underestimated the new rising star. It was "Homo novus" in chess world who had to change his attitude towards ancient game. The talented young man with extraordinary ease broke the established traditions and quickly approached the borders of the "Kingdom-64", where the Soviet grandmasters led by the 10th world champion Boris Spassky reigned supreme. Fischer took over the lead from 1969, despite the fact that the Soviet masters prophesied that Bobby, as he was so patronizingly called, would remain only memories as soon as he fell under the fire of the Soviet chess machine.
Meanwhile, Bobby calmly approached the throne, he took one prize after another, and in very prestigious tournaments: Havana (1965), Santa Monico (1966), Ohrid and Monte Carlo (1967) ... The US Chess Federation put the young man on 1- board of your Olympic team. Having the status of the player ╧ 1, at the World chess olympiads(and they are held every two years) he fights on the first board of the team against the strongest chess players in the world.
At the 1960, 1962, 1966, 1970 Olympics, he won 40 victories, ended in a draw in 18 meetings and lost only seven games.
The "Kingdom-64" got worried - the next cycle of matches of contenders for the chess throne began. The threat came from the matured Bobby - he wanted to try on the crown of the champion. “Fisher-fear” has begun: the American’s games are being analyzed, “surprises” are being prepared in his favorite openings, “muscles are pumped up” in physical preparation ...
Funny? Will now be. He defeated M.Taimanov and B.Larsen, famous grandmasters standing in his way, with the same dry score - 6:0!
But the optimists did not lose heart. They believed that Fischer's triumphal march would be stopped by Tigran Petrosyan, nicknamed "the iron one" because he rarely lost. Alas! All that Petrosyan could do was to impose a viscous positional game on the American, who was striving for the championship laurels. Fischer quickly figured out the situation and began to dictate his own rules. The opponent lost with a score of 6.5: 2.5. In accordance with FIDE rules, Fischer was given the right to play a match with world champion Boris Spassky. The excitement has risen...
... "Alien" from the American New World appeared in Reykjavik (Iceland) in the first half of July 1972. He arrived at the match 9 days late. Spassky was already waiting for him.
I shouted: “What are you, stunned,
They have dropped chess prestige!”
"Yes! - said in our sports department. —
That's great, you'll protect.
But keep in mind that Fisher is very bright,
He even sleeps with a board, strength is in him.
He plays cleanly, without blots ... "
Nothing, I'm not a gift either
I have a knight's move in reserve.
Oh you, muscles of steel,
My fingers are tenacious.
Oh, carved, painted,
Wooden boats.
The hero of Vysotsky's poems is always in a situation that tests him. It requires not only intelligence, nobility and humanity, but also the ability to act, in many areas of sports activity with full exertion of strength, in order to overcome everything. Vysotsky's favorite image is a horse, and in the poetic system - overcoming difficulties and obstacles, sometimes comfort, the benefits of conformism. The rejection of the existing order of things is clearly expressed, for example, in The Hunt for Wolves (1968). The poem-song then formed instantly, as a ripened reaction to the malicious articles addressed to him. The impact of this poetic document of the era is so great that it has eclipsed all the samizdat verses and songs of "tape literature"...
... A new sensation was caused by the "Chess Crown Honor". She encouraged Soviet chess fans, and when Fischer lost two games in a row at the start, the fans were completely inspired, rejecting “capricious Bobby” as a serious contender for the world crown…
My friend, a football player, taught: “Do not be afraid,
He is not used to such partners.
Don't worry about the rear and center
And play straight along the edge ... "
I took on a 100-meter dash.
I lost weight in the bath, I sleep well,
There were hockey training ...
In short, after this preparation
I will crush him without a mat.
Oh you strong hands
Muscles strong back.
Oh you, my horses, horses,
Oh dear elephants.
He shows a keen interest in conditional, fantastic forms of representation. It is clear that this is a reaction to the “predetermined themes of works” that were introduced into Soviet poetry, decorativeness, to the earthiness of official verisimilitude. It began to manifest itself vividly after the publication of The Master and Margarita by M.A. Bulgakov, whom he called his favorite writer.
In the poem "The Honor of the Chess Crown", irony and fantasy remove bored "realities", expose stereotypes of thinking. The poet feels the moral inferiority of the class postulates of socialist realism, deafening with a grotesque fantastic question: can a character who strives to replace chess with boxing get into a match with Fischer?
"Do not rush and, most importantly, do not stoop, -
So the boxer talked to me, -
Do not go into close combat, work in the body,
Remember that your crown is straight.
Honor of the chess crown on the map,
He won't walk away from defeat.
We played ten games with Tal
In preference, in points and billiards.
Tal said: "This one will not let you down."
Oh, muscle relief!
The deltas are strong.
What do I need light figures,
These horses and elephants?
The hero of the literature of socialist realism of the 60-70s was actualized for "a selfless struggle against shortcomings, for overcoming the problems that arose due to the moral imperfection of people." A new generation of Soviet people grew up in a socialist society, and the thesis of fighting the remnants of capitalism turned out to be untenable. But there were remnants of socialism. The image of a morally imperfect conformist who adapted to the socialist way of life was already urgently needed. "Engineers of human souls" had to denounce him.
And in the buffet, closed to others,
The cook reassured: “Do not be shy,
Yes, with such a great appetite
You will swallow all his horses.
So here, take your skewers with you,
The main thing is food, old man.
But do not eat heavy figures:
For the stomach, those figures are fools.
Elephants are good for barbecue.”
Everything will be quiet and deaf,
And for everyone there is time trouble
There are powers of the spirit
And a nice uppercut.
Vysotsky's parodic conformist cook is not at all the one who adapts to the regime of power. His credo is vital and indestructible and fits into two words: well-being and prosperity. Isn't this what every Soviet person dreamed of?
The moral impasse of the satirical cook is not that he works in a canteen, "closed to others", where Pantagruel's paradise is embodied. The tragedy is that he has to do everything with caution, feed on rumors about how the world lives outside of his horizons.
... Ex-world champion Mikhail Tal appears in the "Chess Crown Honor" not by chance. He was part of the elite of Soviet sports, but did not have his honestly earned dollars, although for decades he won thousands in foreign tournaments.
Having received a package with dollars and an envelope with a bank check, he returned to his hotel and had to go straight to the room, where an “employee” was impatiently waiting for him, taking up to 90 percent (!) of the fee in favor of the state.
This monstrous system gave the first crack after Tal firmly decided to leave the envelope that belonged to him. The feat of the ex-champion was to the liking of Vysotsky ...
Did Tal play with Vysotsky? The grandmaster left such reminiscences that shed light on this question: “I could never imagine that my meetings with Vladimir Vysotsky, acquaintance with this amazing person, would be of interest to the reader, otherwise even then, during the days of acquaintance, I would have written everything down in more detail. But who knew...
And we met him under the following circumstances. It was in the spring of 1963. Shortly before that, I was offered to participate in the Botvinnik-Petrosyan world championship match as a chess observer for the Sovetsky Sport newspaper. We decided to give me the opportunity to win back, since the previous Botvinnik-Tal match was commentated by Petrosyan.
Then the name of the young artist Vladimir Vysotsky was already quite famous. Naturally, with the addition of a lot of legends, but the name was on everyone's lips.
As it turned out, the commentator of the match has more free time than its participant, and when I was offered to go to some company and was told that Volodya would be there, I, of course, found the time.
We were introduced to each other, and after two minutes I had the feeling that we had known each other for a thousand years. There was absolutely no pushiness. It's just that a person came to you as a very old friend, and it was contagious and extremely mutual.
There were a lot of people there, I don't remember all of them. Whether Volodya wanted it or not, he was always the center of attention. With the perseverance of a provincial, almost everyone entering at the third, fifth, tenth minute asked Volodya to sing something. And Volodya categorically did not refuse anyone. Some of the songs I remember completely from that time.
Sometimes Volodya "left". He was present, but "left" absolutely. A look from under your brows, most likely looking inwards. Looks - does not see. One word answers. They told me the man is busy. Well, at night or in the morning a new song appeared.
He did not suppress, but brought people closer to him. There was no suppression. It seems as if his bravado was sometimes mimicry. He looked like a shy person.
I think Volodya had many friends. But for all its, if you like, public accessibility, he kept his distance. To himself there, inside, he let in very few. I don't think he let me in. His dominant is colossal goodwill. For him, any person was good, very good, until he could prove the opposite.
What were our conversations about ... And what are his songs about? Literally everything. In these cases, as chess players say, he willingly played with black. He supported, picked up, developed any conversation, on any topic. He had an absolutely magnificent gift - to wind up beautifully. If something fascinated him - and he was fascinated by a lot - then the conversation went on with a colossal nerve. Not on a cry, but on a nerve.
During performances, I am often asked the question of how I got into his song and is it true that I played with him "ten games - in preference, in a point and on billiards." I probably got into the song because of the rhyme, because “we played with Flor…” probably didn’t sound. Vysotsky and I did not play all the games mentioned in it. But few people know that we played two games of chess with him. I remember very well that in the second one I kept trying to offer a draw...
I think I heard the song shortly after it was written. Fischer and Spassky had not yet sat down at the chess table. The reaction is huge!
Then our meetings became much less frequent. And Volodya was more busy, and I did not often come to Moscow. Called him several times. Been to performances.
When I listened to new songs - and the records spread at a tremendous speed - I always found in them warmth and absolutely incredible trust, which was so manifest in our relationship in the spring of 1963.
Before the performance of the cycle “The Honor of the Chess Crown”, he said from the stage: “We are all waiting for the outcome of the duel between Spassky and Fischer – if it takes place, of course. We are all nervous whether this meeting will happen or not. We all have thoughts about this. Everyone thinks: "Oh, if I! .." Some people even dream. One person told me how he had a dream about how he played with Fischer. It gave me the idea to write a song.”
And then came the deep disappointment.
...Boris Spassky lost the world championship match. Robert Fischer defeated him 12.5:8.5 (seven wins, eleven draws and only three losses). Spassky fiercely resisted, trying to seize the initiative in the game. But in vain!
The team accompanying Fischer explained the delay for the match in Reykjavik with financial difficulties. This knocked his opponent out of the saddle, put the judges and organizers of the fight into a state of shock. Then something incredible happened: Fischer lost the first game and did not show up for the second (due to the noise of television cameras in the playing hall - Fischer's complaint) - this is also "zero points" ...
Vysotsky’s song reflects the fans’ confidence in Spassky’s superiority: “Inability will help me”, “Oh, thanks to a factory friend - he taught me how to walk ...” and “It turned out too - I played the classic opening out of fright!”
The last line says that he knew well the satirical novel by I. Ilf and E. Petrov "12 chairs". It describes how the resilient rogue O. Bender, posing as a grandmaster, gives a session of simultaneous game in the village of Vasyuki. It turned out that he had eighteen "Spanish parties", in twelve principles - there was a defense of Philidor. And he played chess for the second time in his life.
So it is with Vysotsky, but this literary device is taken from his life. How taken from the life and slang of chess lovers in Moscow courtyards. For example: "queen" - queen, "fork" - double strike, "tours" - rooks, "officers" - bishops, "chips" - pawns, "Slate" - Fisher, etc.
It has become customary to say about Vysotsky that in his songs he reproduced the “instant response of the“ street ”to what happened, and in a swift, rhythmically harsh and rich intonation form. It is deliberately simple and close to colloquial speech, to the slang of the environment in which the hero lives. However, the impromptu treatment of his monologue is misleading. Behind it lies the face of a "plebeian" charming author - smart, buffoonishly cunning and trusting. For Vysotsky, poetry is not so much a poetic vision of an event as an expression of one's human essence. In the last verse, the line "Oh, we'll bring a cow" is not so neutral. This is an allusion to the history of the struggle between A. Alekhin and M. Euwe. Euwe, the fifth world champion, reigned in 1935-37, having won a match against Alekhine with a score of 15.5:14.5. To return the crown, Alekhine stopped drinking. Preparing for the rematch, he followed the regime, was content with milk from a cow and returned the championship title - 15.5: 9.5 ...
The lines “He fell out to walk, bully, They say he is a white master. I made a move from e2 to e4, Something familiar to me ... so-so! .. ”confirm what was said. The point is that Spassky played White in the first game and made the first move not e2-e4, but d2-d4. For Fischer, this was unexpected. But that's not the point. Fischer lost the first game due to his hastily made 29th move:… Cd2:h2?? We put two question marks - in chess notation, this means a blunder.
Boris SPASSKY - Robert FISHER
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Ba5 9. Ne2 dc4 10. Bc4 Bb6 11. dc5 Qd1 12. Rd1 Bc5 13. b4 Be7 14. Bb2 Bd7 15. Rac1 Rfd8 16. Ned4 Nd4 17. Nd4 Ba4 18. Bb3 Bb3 19. Nb3 Rd1 20. Rd1 Rc8 21. Kf1 Kf8 22. Ke2 Ne4 23. Rc1 Rc1 24. Bc1 f6 25. Na5 Nd6 26. Kd3 Bd8 27. Nc4 Bc7 28. Nd6 Bd6 29. b5 Bh2 30. g3 h5 31. Ke2 h4 32. Kf3 Ke7 33. Kg2 hg3 34. fg3 Bg3 35. Kg3 Kd6 36. a4 Kd5 37. Ba3 Ke4 38. Bc5 a6 39. b6 f5 40. Kh4 f4 41. ef4 Kf4 42. Kh5 Kf5 43. Be3 Ke4 44. Bf2 Kf5 45. Bh4 e5 46. Bg5 e4 47. Be3 Kf6 48. Kg4 Ke5 49. Kg5 Kd5 50. Kf5 a5 51. Bf2 g5 52. Kg5 Kc4 53. Kf5 Kb4 54. Ke4 Ka4 55. Kd5 Kb5 56. Kd6
Spassky's successful start soon turned into a trap by which Fischer lured the world champion onto an impassable path...
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Nd2 Nbd7 8.e4 Bg7 9.Be2 0–0 10.0–0 Re8 11.Qc2 ((stronger)11 .a4) 11...Nh5 (An amazing move! Black voluntarily spoils his own structure, getting in return the advantage of two bishops and piece activity on the kingside.) 12.Bxh5 gxh5 13.Nc4 ((Strongest maneuver for White) 13.a4 Ne5 14 .Nd1!(found a bit later by Svetozar Gligoric; this is the only way to fight for the advantage)) 13...Ne5 14.Ne3 Qh4 15.Bd2 ((carefully) 15.f3!) 15...Ng4 16.Nxg4 hxg4 (Black not only straightened out their pawns, but also quite embarrassed White.) 17.Bf4 Qf6 18.g3? (serious weakening of white squares; should have played) (18.Bg3 h5 19.f3! (19.Nb5)) 18...Bd7 19.a4 b6! (19...a6?! 20.a5!) 20.Rfe1 a6 21.Re2 b5! 22.Rae1 ((Weakness of the white squares near the white king shows itself when) 22.axb5 axb5 23.Rxa8 Rxa8 24.e5 dxe5 25.Rxe5 b4 26.Ne4 (26.Ne2 Qg6!) 26...Ra1+ 27.Kg2 Qa6! ) 22...Qg6 23.b3 Re7 (pressing the e4-pawn puts White in a critical position) 24.Qd3 Rb8 25.axb5 axb5 26.b4 (b5-b4 and Bd7-b5 threatened) 26...c4 (26. ..cxb4 27.Na2) 27.Qd2 Rbe8 28.Re3 h5 29.R3e2 Kh7 30.Re3 Kg8 31.R3e2 (It's time to remove the ripe fruit) 31...Bxc3 32.Qxc3 Rxe4 33.Rxe4 Rxe4 34.Rxe4 Qxe4 (the weakness of the white king and the strength of the passed pawn c4 determine the evaluation of the position) 35.Bh6 Qg6 36.Bc1 Qb1 37.Kf1 Bf5 38.Ke2 Qe4+ 39.Qe3 Qc2+ 40.Qd2 (40.Ke1 c3! 41.Qg5+ Bg6) 40.. .Qb3 41.Qd4? ((Much more persistent) 41.Ke1(, after which it is possible) 41...Qf3 42.Qg5+ Bg6 43.Qe3 (43.Be3 c3!) 43...Qh1+ 44.Kd2 Qxd5+ 45.Ke1(, and without two pawns could still be resisted.. A different color is a different color.)) 41...Bd3+! After 42.Ke3 Qd1 (White loses his bishop. And the retreat to e1 is not good because of the capture on b4 with a check. White resigned.)
Edvar Mednis, an American grandmaster who commented on the match, wrote: “The Fischer phenomenon cannot be considered something frozen. When it seemed that he could use his limited repertoire indefinitely in a match with Spassky, he made sensational changes to it. With Alekhine's cunning, he took Spassky by surprise...
I see him pointing his fork
Wants to eat. And I would eat the queen...
Eh, under this snack and a bottle!
But you can't drink during the match.
Wrote and sang over 600 songs. Turning to the eternal questions of being, he goes from the usual, sometimes trivial situations and raises their significance to the eternal...
Some "responsible workers" from the Soviet culture dismissively and arrogantly reacted to the work of Vysotsky. He was not an order bearer, he did not have the title of "honored" or "people's". Only after his death he was awarded the State Prize ...
Years pass, but his song work still excites, as it touches his unique voice with the indissolubility that connects feeling and word. A romantic poet, an uncompromising maximalist, he was looking for in the chess cycle “The Honor of the Chess Crown” not an interpretation of openings after the move e2-e4, but an expression of time in a specific event that excited people. “Vladimir rarely played chess… and badly. But he treated chess with reverence, he was aware of the main competitions. In chess, as everywhere and always, he was interested in the human, ”recalls his close friend, the actor of the Taganka Theater Vsevolod Abdulov.
Chess did not have overwhelming significance for him at all. It seems that he did not need to know anything deeply about them. Why, for example, did he need to understand the intricate Ponziani Opening or the Aldin Countergambit, the Benoni Defence, or the English Opening… After all, he sang not about chess, but about life.
Marina Vladi's father was a passionate chess player. He, Vladimir Polyakov-Baidarov, is a volunteer pilot who came to France in the first world war with the Russian expeditionary corps, loved chess, seeing in them a reflection of the tactical and strategic plans of the opposing sides. He fought in the army of General de Gaulle against the Nazis, and during quiet hours he played chess, trying to relieve tension.
Marina did not inherit this gift from her father, but she learned to play and sometimes spent time at the board. In 1957, when she arrived in Russia for the first time, she bought elegant chess made of Ural stone - a tribute to her father and a memory of the country in which she found her friend.
However, in the house in Maisons-Laffitte (France), the handicraft of the Ural masters did not become a reason for chess battles, but it fit well into the cozy interior of the living room. True, the moment of a family meeting at the board was recorded, not without the help of a reporter. A picture showing Vysotsky and Vladi chess board, bypassed French magazines: gossip readers madly wanted to know what the stars were fond of ...
During the tour of Taganka in France in the fall of 1977, Hamlet was shown among other performances in Marseille. The very first performance almost failed due to Vysotsky's delay. Lyubimov is in a panic ... Finally, someone remembered that Vladimir Semenovich praised one seaside tavern-tavern, where he made friends from port workers and foreign sailors. We ran to the tavern - and indeed: a many-voiced noise, and in the center with a guitar! Around him is a violent element, where “the full voice of the“ Russian Villon ”reigns. On the same evening, he brilliantly played the performance, receiving an enthusiastic ovation from the grateful audience and a severe unprintable reprimand from his chief director ...
And there was also a crowded hall in Paris, in Elise Montmartre, where without translation it was clear what Vladimir was singing about on a high emotional note. Parisians accepted the song monologue of the Soviet poet, and Paris - this theater of the streets - became his city for him.
Marina has begun dangerous game with power. There were shuttle trips between houses located in Moscow and Paris, foreign tours. All this pleasantly complicated the creative life and caused a "toothache" in the "Soviet ideologists" who were losing control over the bard, who suddenly took a sip of freedom without their permission...
The time in which he lived and worked did not know any historical turns - socialism was “improved”. The society was dragged into mud, turning into a stagnant swamp.
Vysotsky needed a fresh breeze. The disturber of stagnation immediately fell into the category of people who were called "travel restrictions". When this barrier was broken and he visited the "jungle of the West", he formed his own opinion about those people who emigrated from the country.
He did not avoid meetings with his fellow tribesmen - emigrants from Russia, because he understood the complexity of the interweaving of human destinies. In one of his most successful films, Two Comrades Were Serving (1968), he starred as a white officer who, after bloody battles with the Reds, decides to leave Russia forever on a steamer. The faithful handsome horse remains on the shore, but when he sees that the owner is sailing away, he rushes into the sea after the steamer.
The officer, who has reached despair that life is losing its meaning, suddenly realizes that life without Russia is impossible, and he settles accounts with her. “What songs did I sing to her about the far North! I thought: "Here's a little, and we will be on you," but I sang in vain about the neutral zone - she doesn't care what kind of flowers there are. These lines of Vysotsky answered a provocative question: should I go to the West?
He understood that the West by itself would not fundamentally change anything in his life, and without Russia, he would have hitherto unknown duties. The worst thing is that even there he will be an outcast, but having lost his roots, incapable of creativity because of this. For Vysotsky poet-singer, this is fatal. He understands that this will be the fate of a horse that could not bear the loss of his own. lived in "internal emigration", being with his soul on one side and his heart on the other side of an artificially divided planet ...
In the song "Game" of the "Chess Crown Honor" cycle, the duel with Fischer ended in a draw. In reality, the result was different. And not because he composed it on the eve of the match and, of course, could not predict its outcome. Although the Soviet Union believed that Fischer was doomed.
Inwardly, the poet did not doubt whom to give preference to, but his soul demanded appeasement, love and consent ...
I'm familiar with the theory: the King's Indian defense is mentioned in the song. But it is not mentioned to decipher which game (opening) the opponents played. During Vysotsky's time, the Indo-Pakistani conflict flared up again over Kashmir. It was tied up for a long time, difficultly and never untied - just like the King's Indian defense in chess. It has become popular in practice, and relevant in theory. Invented at the end of the 19th century and named in the 1920s by S. Tarkover, it has taken a firm place in the repertoire of masters and grandmasters. It is used to conduct a complex maneuvering game in order to outplay the enemy ...
As is known, Fischer won the match. After two defeats, he played the next 11 games (!) strongly and confidently. Taking the lead, the American finished with a 4-point margin!
***
... Twenty years later, in 1992, when everyone had already calmed down and began to forget this match, there was a bolt from the blue. In the era of Kasparov's reign, the legendary Fischer, breaking his vow of silence, agreed to play a match with the same Spassky for a large sum. We found sponsors. But this is already a farce: a detrained Fischer and Spassky, who lost a lot of what he could… Fischer “shaken the old days” and showed that he was quite at the level of “new chess”. Spassky lost a number of principled games, and then the match - 5:10.
***
... Vysotsky was overwhelmed by the passions of acting. He created in his work that new character of "Homo novus", the need for which already began to mature in the 60-70s of the last century. The time in which the poet lived and worked was hostile to him with its stagnant thought, when “Passion molts under the moon in an ordinary airy liquid ...” And the very abundance in the cycle “The Honor of the Chess Crown” of various role-playing characters of the most unusual subjects of speech, adjacent to traditional ones, turns out he has general principle reactions to the Soviet reality, which reached the usual human age, after which non-existence came.
Congratulations to chess lovers on the day of laughter and we invite you to remember the songs of Vladimir Vysotsky dedicated to chess. The song is called "The Honor of the Chess Crown". As Vladimir Semyonovich said, the song consists of two "series". Relatively speaking, the first part is called "Preparation" - Vysotsky's hero is preparing for a tournament with world champion Robert Fischer, and the second part is called "The Game".
We post both videos and lyrics. Moreover, we will find out to what extent the phrase “We played ten games with Tal” is true. Did Vysotsky really play with Tal? We will receive an answer from the lips of Mikhail Tal himself.
"The Honor of the Chess Crown" - Part 1 "Preparation"
"The Honor of the Chess Crown" - part 2 "The Game"
Mikhail Tal about Vladimir Vysotsky and about the first part of the song "The Honor of the Chess Crown".
So, as Mikhail Tal himself said, he played a couple of games of chess with Vysotsky, but they didn’t have to play “point”, “preference” and “billiards”. Tal was not fond of billiards and did not play it very well.
Lyrics
"Preparation" (Part 1)
I shouted: “Are you stunned? —
They have dropped chess prestige!”
I was told in our sports department:
“Yeah, great - you will protect!
But keep in mind that Fisher is very bright -
He even sleeps with a board - strength is in him,
He plays cleanly, without blots ... "
Nothing, I'm not a gift either, -
I have in stock - a knight's move.
Oh you muscles of steel
My fingers are tenacious!
Oh, carved, painted
Wooden boats!
My friend, a football player, taught: "Do not be afraid -
He is not used to such partners.
Don't worry about the rear and center
And play along the edge - straight ahead! .. "
I leaned on running, on hundred meters,
I lost weight in the bath, I sleep well,
There were hockey training ...
In general, after this preparation -
I'll crush him without a mat!
Oh, you are strong palms,
Strong back muscles!
Oh, you are my horses, horses,
Oh, you cute elephants!
"Do not rush and, most importantly, do not stoop, -
So the boxer talked to me.-
Do not go into close combat, work in the body,
Remember that your crown is straight.
Honor of the chess crown - on the map, -
He will not escape defeat:
We played ten games with Tal -
In preference, in a point and on billiards, -
Tal said: “This one will not let you down!”
Oh, muscle relief!
Deltoids are strong!
What do I care about his light figures,
Those horses and elephants!
And in the buffet, closed to others,
The cook reassured: “Don't be shy!
You with such a wonderful appetite -
You will swallow all his horses at once!
You sit down before the long road -
And take a backpack with food.
Prepare an Easter pie for two:
This Slate - though brilliant -
And I suppose you’re not a fool to eat!”
Oh, we are tough nuts!
We will bring the crown!
I go to sleep - like a pawn,
I wake up - a queen!
Game (part 2)
Just arrived - immediately sat down.
The chips are all up front.
Photojournalists swooped in -
And they blind, and they want to confuse.
But who will put me at home?
Reporters can't knock me off my feet!
But skill will not help me:
This Slate will never be able to
Guess which way I'll go.
It fell to him to walk, bully, -
They say he is a white painter! —
I made a move from e2 to e4.
Something familiar to me, yes, yes!
Follow me, what should I do!? We must, Seva,
At random, like at night in the taiga,
I remember - the Queen is the most important:
Walks back and forth and left and right
Well, the horses seem to be only with the letter "G".
Eh, thanks to the factory friend,
Taught how to walk, how to pass -
It turned out later - I'm frightened
Played a classic dubut!
Everyone watched so that there was no mistake,
He remembered all the cooks in anguish.
Oh, to change pawns for glasses -
It would be quick to clear up on the board!
I see him pointing the fork -
Wants to eat, and I would eat the queen ...
Under such a snack - yes a bottle!
But you can't drink during the match.
I'm hungry, judge for yourself:
Here they only have coffee and scrambled eggs.
Cells are like circles before the eyes,
I confuse kings with aces
And I confuse a doublet with an opening.
There is a sign - so I take a risk:
The first time I should be lucky.
Yes, I will torture him, I will shake him -
I'd only like to see the lady!
I don’t mumble, I don’t calve, I’m all like cotton wool.
We need to hit something, it's time!
What to beat? Rook - scary
Right in the jaw - it seems a little early,
Still uncomfortable - the first game.
And he destroys my defense -
Old Indian - at the moment
It vaguely reminds me
Indo-Pakistani Incident.
Only in vain does he joke with our brother,
I have a measure, even two:
If he finishes me with obscenities,
So I take it through the thigh with a grip,
Or a knight's move - on the head!
And Slate began to indulge in tricks:
Get up, run and back,
He offered me to change tours,
Well, he wouldn't be afraid of me,
I lie down and press one hundred and fifty!
So I measured his figure with an eye,
And when he declared "check" to me,
I unintentionally exposed my biceps
He even took off his jacket to be sure.
And instantly the room became quieter,
He noticed that I was getting up
It can be seen that he was not up to the chips,
And the vaunted notorious Fisher
Immediately agreed to a draw.
I shouted: “What are you doing there, stunned? -
They have dropped chess prestige!”
I was told in our sports department:
“Yeah, great - you will protect!
But keep in mind that Fisher is very bright, -
He even sleeps with a board - strength is in him,
He plays cleanly, without blots ... "
Nothing, I'm not a gift either, -
I have in stock - a knight's move.
Oh you muscles of steel
My fingers are tenacious!
Oh, carved, painted
Wooden boats!
My friend, a football player, taught: "Do not be afraid, -
He is not used to such partners.
Don't worry about the rear and center
And play along the edge - straight ahead! .. "
I leaned on running, on hundred meters,
I lost weight in the bath, I sleep well,
There were hockey training ...
In general, after this preparation -
I'll crush him without a mat!
Oh you strong palms
Strong back muscles!
Oh, you are my horses, horses,
Oh you cute elephants!
"Do not rush and, most importantly, do not hunch over, -
So the boxer talked to me. -
Do not go into close combat, work in the body,
Remember that your crown is straight.
Honor of the chess crown - on the map, -
He will not escape defeat:
We played ten games with Tal -
In preference, in a point and on billiards, -
Tal said: “This one will not let you down!”
Oh, muscle relief!
Deltoids are strong!
What do I need light figures,
Those horses and elephants!
And in the buffet, closed to others,
The cook reassured: “Don't be shy!
You with such a wonderful appetite -
You will swallow all his horses at once!
You sit down before the long road -
And take a backpack with food.
Prepare an Easter pie for two:
This Slate - though ingenious -
And I suppose you’re not a fool to eat!”
Oh, we are tough nuts!
We will bring the crown!
I go to sleep - like a pawn,
I wake up - a queen!
Comments
Honor of the Chess Crown
I. Preparation - Nerv. A variant title is "How It All Happened".
In the early version, after the sixth stanza, it was:
I will not say that it was without hitches:
There were anonymous letters and calls, -
I'm just annoyed by all this
Only fists itched.
Scared even early in the morning:
"Fischer could with his left foot -
With the Capablanca chess machine,
He himself is like a clockwork tank ... "
It's okay, I'm groovy too!
So here: take skewers with you, -
The main thing is food, old man! -
But do not eat heavy figures:
For the stomach, those figures are fools, -
Here are elephants - suitable for barbecue!
Fischer Robert (b. 1943) - American chess player, world champion in 1972-1975. In 1972, he defeated Soviet grandmasters M.Taimanov and T.Petrosyan in the candidates' matches, and then won the title of world champion by beating Boris Spassky. The cycle "The Honor of the Chess Crown" was written before the Spassky-Fischer match, the "preparation" for which was actively conducted by the Soviet press, trying to discredit the American grandmaster. Tal and I played ten games. - Tal Mikhail Nekhemievich (1936-1992) - grandmaster, world chess champion in 1960-1961. His commentary on the song: “During performances, I am often asked the question: how did I get into his song and is it true that I played “ten games” with him - in preference, in a point and on billiards. I probably got into the song because of the rhyme, because “we played with Flor…” probably didn’t sound. Vysotsky and I did not play all the games mentioned in it. But few people know that we played two games of chess with him. I remember very well that in the second one I always tried to offer a draw ... I think I heard the song shortly after it was written. Fischer and Spassky had not yet sat down at the chess table. The reaction is colossal!” (M. Tal. He willingly played black // Vladimir Vysotsky. Four quarters of the way. P. 24).
II. Game - Nerv.
In the early version, instead of the sixth stanza, it was:
He has queens, rooks - pieces! -
And elephants are dangerous and strong.
I have all the figures - fools:
I have queens and tours
Officers are not elephants!
From the memoirs of S. Govorukhin:
“... Volodya grumbled:
- Tell me about chess.
“Yeah,” I thought, “there will be a song about my favorite chess soon.” He was just in the "sports band" of his work.
I began to explain: the game starts with the opening…there are different beginnings…for example, the King's Gambit, the King's Indian Defence…Volodya didn't play chess. To warn him against mistakes in the future song, I told him that amateurs, unlike professionals, call a rook a tour, a bishop an officer ...
- Enough! Volodya said. - It's enough.
I was offended - with such chess baggage to start a song about chess?
He fell silent for a day and a half, writing something in small round letters, plucking the strings. That's right - I didn't pick up the melody, but, as it were, just plucked the strings, looking somewhere at one point. By the evening of the second day, the song was ready” (S. Govorukhin. Such a life cannot be called short // Vladimir Vysotsky. Four quarters of the way. P. 98).
Indo-Pakistani Incident. - The military conflict between India and Pakistan in Kashmir periodically escalated in the 1960s and 1970s and continues up to the present.
I. Preparation
I shouted: “Are you stunned?
Why have you dropped chess prestige!”
And they told me in our sports department:
“Yeah, great - you will protect!
But keep in mind that Fisher is very bright,
He even sleeps with a board - strength is in him,
He plays cleanly, without blots ... "
Well, nothing, I'm not a gift either,
And I have in stock - a knight's move.
Oh you, muscles of steel,
My fingers are tenacious!
Oh, carved-painted
Wooden boats!
My football player friend taught: "Don't be afraid -
He is not used to such partners.
Don't worry about the rear and the center
And play along the edge - straight ahead! .. "
Well, I leaned on running, on hundred meters,
I lost weight in the bath, I sleep well,
There were hockey training ...
Well, in general, after this preparation -
Yes, I will crush him without a mat!
Oh you strong palms
Strong back muscles!
Oh you, my horses, horses,
Oh you white elephants!
"Do not rush and, most importantly, do not stoop" -
So the boxer talked to me.
“You,” he says, “do not go into close combat, work in the corps,
And remember that your crown is straight.
The honor of the chess crown is on the map!
And he will not leave the defeat:
We played ten games with Tal -
In preference, in points and billiards.
Tal said: “This one will not let you down!”
Oh, muscle relief!
Deltoids are strong!
Oh you, light figures,
Oh you horses and elephants!
And in the buffet, closed to others,
The cook reassured: “Don't be shy!
You, - says, - with such a wonderful appetite
You will swallow all his horses at once!
You sit down before the distant road -
And take a backpack with food.
Prepare an Easter pie for two:
This Slate - although he is brilliant,
And I suppose you’re not a fool to drink and eat!”
Oh, we are tough nuts!
Oh, we'll bring the crown!
We go to sleep - like a pawn,
But wake up - queen!
II. The game
Just arrived -
sat down immediately.
The chips are all up front.
Photojournalists swooped in -
And they blind, and they want to confuse.
But me and the house - who will put?
Reporters can't knock me off my feet!
I don't know how to help me:
This Slate will never be able to
Guess which way I'll go.
It fell to him to walk, bully, -
They say he is a white painter!
I made a move from e2 to e4...
Something familiar to me ... So-so!
Follow me - what to do?! It is necessary, Seva, -
At random, like at night in the taiga ...
I remember: the queen is the most important -
Walks back and forth and left and right
Well, horses seem to be only with the letter "G".
Eh, thanks to the factory friend -
At least he taught how to walk, how to hand over ...
It turned out later - I'm frightened
Played the classic opening!
I watched everything so that there was no mistake,
I remembered all the cooks in anguish.
Oh, to change pawns for glasses -
It would be quick to clear up on the board!
I see him pointing the fork -
Wants to eat. And I would eat the queen...
Eh, under such a snack - yes, a bottle!
But you can't drink during the match.
I'm hungry, judge for yourself:
Here they only have coffee and scrambled eggs.
Cells - like circles before the eyes,
I confuse kings with aces
And I confuse a doublet with an opening.
There is a sign - here I am at risk:
The first time I should be lucky.
Yes, I will torture him, I will shake him -
Yes, I would just hold the lady!
I don’t moo, I don’t calve, I’m all over - like cotton wool.
We need to beat something - it's time!
What to beat? Rook - scary
Right in the jaw - it seems too early,
Uncomfortable somehow - the first game.
... And he destroys my protection -
Old Indian - at the moment
It vaguely reminds me
Indo-Pakistani Incident.
Only in vain does he joke with our brother,
I have a measure, even two:
If he finishes me with obscenities,
So I have it - through the thigh with a grip
Or a knight's move - on the head!
Slate began to indulge in tricks:
Get up, run and - back;
Offered to change tours,
Well, he wouldn't be afraid of me,
When I lie down I press one hundred and fifty!
So I measured his figure with an eye,
And when he announced check to me -
I unintentionally exposed my biceps
He even took off his jacket to be sure.
And instantly the room became quieter,
He noticed that I was getting up ...
Apparently, he was not up to the chips -
And the vaunted notorious Fisher
Immediately agreed to a draw.
I shouted: "Are you stunned? -
They've dropped chess prestige!"
I was told in our sports department:
"Yeah, great - you'll protect!
But keep in mind that Fisher is very bright -
He even sleeps with a board - strength is in him,
He plays cleanly, without blots ... "
Nothing, I'm not a gift either, -
I have in stock - a knight's move.
Oh you muscles of steel
My fingers are tenacious!
Oh, carved, painted
Wooden boats!
My friend, a football player, taught: "Do not be afraid, -
He is not used to such partners.
Don't worry about the rear and center
And play along the edge - straight ahead! .. "
I leaned on running, on hundred meters,
I lost weight in the bath, I sleep well,
There were hockey training ...
In general, after this preparation -
I'll crush him without a mat!
Oh, you are strong palms,
Strong back muscles!
Oh, you are my horses, horses,
Oh, you cute elephants!
"Do not rush and, most importantly, do not stoop, -
So the boxer talked to me.-
Do not go into close combat, work in the body,
Remember that your crown is straight."
Honor of the chess crown - on the map -
He will not escape defeat:
We played ten games with Tal -
In preference, in a point and on billiards, -
Tal said: "This one will not let you down!"
Oh, muscle relief!
Deltoids are strong!
What do I care about his light figures,
Those horses and elephants!
And in the buffet, closed to others,
The cook reassured: "Don't be shy!
You with such a wonderful appetite -
You will swallow all his horses at once!
You sit down before the long road -
And take a backpack with food.
Prepare an Easter pie for two:
This Slate - though brilliant -
And I suppose you’re not a fool to eat!”
Oh, we are tough nuts!
We will bring the crown!
I go to sleep - like a pawn,
I wake up - a queen!
Just arrived - immediately sat down.
The chips are all up front.
Photojournalists swooped in -
And they blind, and they want to confuse.
But me and the house - who will put?
Reporters can't knock me off my feet!
I don't know how to help me:
This Slate will never be able to
Guess which way I'll go.
It fell to him to walk, bully, -
They say he is a white painter! -
I made a move from e2 to e4...
Something familiar to me... Well, well!
Follow me - what to do!? It is necessary, Seva, -
At random, like at night in the taiga ...
I remember - the Queen is the most important:
Walks back and forth and left and right, -
Well, horses seem to be only with the letter "G".
Eh, thanks to the factory friend -
Taught how to walk, how to pass...
It turned out later - I'm frightened
Played the classic opening!
Everyone watched so that there was no mistake,
He remembered all the cooks in anguish.
Oh, to change pawns for glasses -
It would be quick to clear up on the board!
I see him pointing the fork -
Wants to eat - and I would eat the queen ...
Under such a snack - yes a bottle!
But you can't drink during the match.
I'm hungry, judge for yourself:
Here they have only coffee and scrambled eggs, -
Cells - like circles before the eyes,
I confuse kings with aces
And I confuse a doublet with an opening.
There is a sign - here I am at risk:
The first time I should be lucky.
Yes, I will torture him, I will shake him -
I'd only like to see the lady!
I don’t mumble, I don’t calve, I’m all over - like cotton wool.
We need to beat something - it's time!
What to beat? Rook - scary
Right in the jaw - it seems too early,
Uncomfortable - the first game.
He destroys my protection -
Old Indian - at the moment -
It vaguely reminds me
Indo-Pakistani Incident.
Only in vain does he joke with our brother,
I have a measure, even two:
If he finishes me with obscenities,
I have it - through the thigh with a grip,
Or - a knight's move - on the head!
Slate began to indulge in tricks:
Get up, run and - back;
He offered to change tours, -
Well, he wouldn't be afraid of me -
I lie down and press one hundred and fifty!
I measured his figure with an eye,
And when about
