The Indecipherable Hieroglyphic of Being

German chess Grandmaster Dr. Robert Hübner, a classical philologist and a papyrologist specialised in the decipherment of ancient papyruses, passed away after a grave illness on January 5, 2025, in Kalk, Cologne, at the age of 76. Hübner was more times a Candidate for the World Chess Championship, always without success due to his nervous sensitivity. He reputedly spoke more than twenty languages.

Robert James Fischer – Robert Hübner
Interzonal Chess Tournament; Palma de Mallorca, November 9, 1970
Caro-Kann Defence B10

The annotations — in rigorous symbolic form — are by Hübner himself, as it was in Šahovski Informator (Chess Informant), No. 10/191.

1. e4 c6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 g6 4. Ngf3 Bg7 5. g3 e5 6. Bg2 Ne7 7. 0-0 0-0 8. Re1 d4 (8. ... Nd7 9. c3 Δ d3-d4)
9. a4 c5? (9. ... a5 10. Nc4 b5! 11. Na3 Ba6=)
10. Nc4 Nbc6 11. c3± Be6 (11. ... f6 12. cxd4 cxd4 13. Bd2 Δ b2-b4-b5±; 11. ... Bd7 12. cxd4 cxd4 13. Qb3 Qb8 14. Bd2 Rc8 15. Rec1±)
12. cxd4 Bxc4!? 13. dxc4 exd4 14. e5?! Qd7 [14. ... Nb4 15. Ng5 d3 (15. ... Nec6 16. e6 f6 17. e7 Nxe7 18. Ne6+−) 16. Ra3+−]

15. h4?! (15. Bf4!? h6 16. h4 Qf5 17. Nh2!±)
15. ... d3! 16. Bd2 Rad8 17. Bc3 Nb4

18. Nd4?! (18. Bxb4!? cxb4 19. Qb3 Nc6 20. Rad1 Qe7 21. Rxd3 Na5 22. Qc2 b3 23. Qc3 Rxd3 24. Qxd3 Qb4 25. Nd2 Qxa4 26. Bd5±)
18. ... Rfe8 (18. ... Qc8? 19. Bxb4 cxb4 20. Qxd3 Qc5 21. Nb3 Qxe5 22. Rxe5 Rxd3 23. Nc5 Bxe5 24. Nxd3 Bg7 25. Bxb7±)
19. e6 (19. Qd2 cxd4 20. Bxb4 Nc6 21. Bxc6 Qxc6 22. Qxd3 Bxe5=)
19. ... fxe6 20. Nxe6 Bxc3 21. bxc3 Nc2 22. Nxd8 (22. Nxc5? Qc8 23. Nxb7 Rd7−+)
22. ... Rxd8 23. Qd2 Nxa1 24. Rxa1 Kg7 25. Re1 Ng8 26. Bd5 Qxa4 27. Qxd3 Re8! (27. ... Qd7? 28. Qe3 b6 29. h5!+−)
28. Rxe8 Qxe8 29. Bxb7 Nf6?! (29. ... Qe7!=)
30. Qd6 Qd7 31. Qa6

31. ... Qf7! (31. ... Ne8? 32. Bc6+−; 31. ... Qe7? 32. Qxa7 Ng4 33. Kg2 Qf7 34. f3 Ne3+ 35. Kf2 Nxc4 36. Qa6+−)
32. Qxa7?! (32. Kg2 Ne8 33. Bd5⩲)
32. ... Ne4 33. f3 Nd6 34. Qxc5 Nxb7 35. Qd4+ (35. Qe5+=)
35. ... Kg8 36. Kf2 Qe7 37. Qd5+ Kf8 38. h5 gxh5 39. Qxh5 Nc5 40. Qd5 Kg7 41. Qd4+ Kf7 42. Qd5+ Kg7 43. Qd4+ Kf7 44. Qd5+ ½–½.

Hübner in his prime. Photo: Boris Georgievich Dolmatovsky.

Through the Wall

Eleven-time East Germany’s Chess Champion Wolfgang Uhlmann died in Dresden, Germany, on Monday, August 24, 2020 at 85 (he was born there on March 29, 1935). Uhlmann, who was East Germany’s most prominent Grandmaster and one among the top ten in the world during the 60s and 70s, is universally regarded as one of the most authoritative theorists and practitioners of the French Defence. In his long career he succeeded in winning at least a game against four World Chess Champions, namely (in alphabetical order): Viswanathan Anand, Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Robert James Fischer and Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov.

Wolfgang Uhlmann – Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik
15th Chess Olympiad; Varna, September 29, 1962
Queen’s Indian Defence E12

Comments in quotation marks by Dagobert Kohlmeyer, ChessBase.com, March 29, 2015.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. Nc3 Bb7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 g5 7. Bg3 Nh5 8. e3 Nxg3 9. hxg3 Bg7 10. Qc2 Nc6 11. a3 Qe7 12. 0-0-0 g4 13. Nh4 a6 14. Kb1 h5. Curiously enough, Grandmaster Larry Evans assesses the position in his revised 10th edition of “Modern Chess Openings” (1965) as “∓” — just to show the influence Botvinnik’s aura had upon the commentators! 15. Be2 Rh6 16. f3 0-0-0 17. d5 Na7 18. Na4 gxf3 19. gxf3 d6 20. Ng2 Rdh8 21. e4 Kb8 22. Rd3 Re8 23. Re1 Bh8 24. Qd2 Rg6 25. g4 hxg4 26. fxg4 Be5 27. Rb3 Rh8 28. Qe3 Qg5. “28. ... Nc8 was necessary. Wolfgang Uhlmann, who has only a minute left for the remaining 12 moves before the time control, can now deliver the decisive tactical blow”.

29. Nxb6 Qxe3. Perhaps 29. ... cxb6 30. Qxb6 Qe7 31. c5 isn’t so dangerous as it seems, since 31. ... Nc8 32. Qa5 Qc7 apparently puts White’s attack into a deadlock. 30. Nd7+ Kc8 31. Nxe3 Kxd7 32. Rxb7 Bd4 33. Bd1 Bb6 34. Ba4+ Kc8 35. Bc6 Rh3. “Black had to play 35. ... Rgh6! so as to be sure to trade a pair of Rooks”. 36. Nc2 a5 37. Rf1 Nxc6 38. dxc6 Rg7 39. b4 a4 40. e5 Rb3+ 41. Kc1 Rd3 42. Rd1 Rxd1+ 43. Kxd1 Bg1 44. exd6 cxd6 45. b5 Bc5 46. Nb4 Bxb4 47. axb4 Rxg4 48. b6 1 : 0. “An extremely rare pictorial position. The two pairs of doubled Pawns on the b- and c- files ensure a quick mating attack. (Uhlmann)”.