Alekhine And Junge. Prague 1942. Games and Photos.
Afternoon everyone.
One of the great things about doing what I do in the modern world is that 'new old things' appear online all the time.
Of course, sometimes that can make me look silly and mean that I have to rewrite stuff after publishing it, but when new material comes to light it is all part of the voyage of discovery for me. There are new pictures which I could have included here, but have saved for another time.
A long time ago now I did one of my huge posts - https://www.chess.com/blog/simaginfan/that-was-klaus-junge-1-1-1924-17-4-1945
Would I have liked Junge? No! Is he a fascinating figure in chess history? Definitely yes, and that's what I do. If I never mentioned players who I wouldn't have liked as human beings I would probably have run out of material by now!!
So, recently a friend of mine posted the above group photograph from the Duras 60th Birthday tournament held in Prague in 1942 - Junge's last important tournament.
As you can see, he tied for first with the World Champion. The decisive game was played in the final round, and is - even by the standards of Alekhine and Junge who's games are always full of content - a fascinating one. Alekhine trailed Junge by a full point at that stage - and went flat out for the win. I will get there eventually!! Let's do some chess and recent picture discoveries - I love doing this stuff!
Alekhine commented on Junge's result by saying that he was favoured by fortune - sounds a bit sour grapes, but actually, if you look at the games, it's absolutely true! More than once he was gifted by dame fortune, but that's sport - and chess.
However, I will use this next game to illustrate a point. Alekhine got lucky himself in one game in the tournament. He was in poor shape physically, mentally and chess-wise, but he was still Alekhine! In chess, as in other sports, there is what I call 'the luck of the strong'. The opponent making a mistake is one thing - being strong enough to punish them to the maximum for it is quite another!
Junge's march to the top of the cross-table wasn't all about luck - he produced some wonderful chess along the way. What a talent he was! Two games which could go into any text book. wonderful chess!
A classic against a player who later came to England.
So, to the last round, with Alekhine trailing his young opponent by a full point and desperate to win. A photograph from an earlier game between the two, which ended in a classy win for Alekhine.
If this blog seems thrown together in a rush, that is because it was! I spent more time on this game than it actually lasted.
Here's a thing. recently I had a fascinating discussion with a chess friend of mine who was looking at a game which had a mass of annotations and - largely engine generated - analysis My regular readers will know that such notes are not my own approach - I try to look at things from the perspective of how the players were thinking at the board, what it was possible for them to see, their ideas, etc. I have always felt that a mass of analysis is often just ignored, and does not really explain the game as a contest between two human players sitting at the board.
Whilst my friend agreed with me, he also said that sometimes you like to have all the variations in front of you, because you can't find them all for yourself. And, if you don't want to go over them all you can ignore them anyway. At least you have the choice! A valid point!! So, the full results of my investigations here, and I used an engine to double check on my analysis of one of the critical positions. I try to develop every day, and adapt to how others see things. Always keep growing and learning guys!
Enjoy the game! One of the most dramatic of Alekhine's career, and the last important tournament game of Klaus Junge.
A quick bonus whilst I am here. Not long afterward the young Pachman got his chance to play the world champion, also in Prague. A picture which I think must be from that event.
