Chess of the Grandmasters (original title: Schach der Großmeister) is a former German

TV programme A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

. The programme was devised, supervised and presented by

Claus Spahn Claus Spahn (born 15 May 1940 in Bottrop, Germany) is a former TV programme editor of Germany's Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) broadcasting corporation, a presenter, producer and author. He was awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federa ...

History

Between 1983 and 2005, the programme was broadcast once a year by Germany's

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...

(WDR) broadcasting corporation. The concept of the programme was that two Grandmasters played a game of

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

against each other that was commentated and analysed by two Grandmasters,

Helmut Pfleger Helmut Pfleger (born August 6, 1943) is a German chess grandmaster and author. He was one of the most promising chess players in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1977 until 2005, Pfleger hosted a series of chess programs on German public TV, including ' ...

and

Vlastimil Hort Vlastimil Hort (born 12 January 1944) is a German chess Grandmaster. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the 1977–78 Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship, but never qualified ...

, and later also analysed by the chess program

Fritz Fritz originated as a German nickname for Friedrich, or Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor) as well as for similar names including Fridolin a ...

. The winner received the ''WDR TV Chess Award'' and had the opportunity to defend the title against a new challenger in the following year. The invited players included

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...

, Vladimir Kramnik,

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster and a former five-time World Chess Champion. He became the first grandmaster from India in 1988, and is one of the few players to have surpassed an Elo rating o ...

, Peter Leko,

Jan Timman Jan Timman (born 14 December 1951) is a Dutch chess grandmaster who was one of the world's leading chess players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. At the peak of his career, he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known a ...

and lot more. The first game was played in 1983 by Chess Worldchampion

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov ( rus, links=no, Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈkarpəf; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Che ...

and the strongest German player at that time,

Robert Hübner Robert Hübner (born November 6, 1948) is a German chess grandmaster, chess writer, and papyrologist. He was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s. Chess career At eighteen, he was joint winner of the West German Chess ...

. In the final broadcast in 2005, the two commentators Pfleger and Hort themselves played against each other. In 1995, Kasparov won a two-game match (1½-½) against the Chess Genius 3 computer program. This contest attracted great attention in the media, because Kasparov had shortly before lost against this program in a Fast chess tournament in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Examples of games

The most remarkable games in the series included the victory of

Judit Polgár Judit Polgár (born 23 July 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster, generally considered the strongest female chess player of all time. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the yo ...

, aged just 14 at the time, against the experienced German Grandmaster

Rainer Knaak Rainer Fritz Albert Knaak (born 16 March 1953 in Pasewalk, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is a German chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster (GM). He learned the game at the age of 5 from his father, Hans Knaak. Rap ...

in 1990, as well as the defeat of Hübner against Kasparov in just 15 moves in 1992. Judit Polgár – Rainer Knaak, Chess of the Grandmasters 1990 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 (the Winawer Variation of the

French Defence The French Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e6 This is most commonly followed by 2.d4 d5, with Black intending ...c5 soon after, attacking White's and gaining on the . The French has a reputation for solidity ...

, ECO code C18) 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Bd3 cxd4 9.Ne2 Qxe5 10.Bf4 Qf6 11.Bg5 Qe5 12.cxd4 h5 13.Qh4 Qc7 14.Bf4 Qa5+ 15.Bd2 Qd8 16.g4 e5 17.dxe5 Bxg4 18.Rg1 Qd7 19.f3 Be6 20.Nd4 Nbc6 21.Nxc6 Nxc6 22.Rxg7 Qc7 23.f4 Nxe5 24.fxe5 Qxe5+ 25.Kf2 Qxg7 26.Rg1 Qb2 27.Bb4 f6 28.Re1 O-O-O 29.Rxe6 Kb8 30.Qxf6 Qa2 31.Qd4 Rc8 32.Bd2 Ka8 33.Be3 Rxc2+ 34.Bxc2 Qxc2+ 35.Ke1 Qb1+ 36.Kd2 Qa2+ 37.Kd1 Qb1+ 38.Ke2 Qc2+ 39.Bd2 Rf8 40.Qxd5 1-0

Games and results

The tables below list games than can be played (Java Script). TV Chess Award:Archiv des Fernsehschachpreises
results, games and pairings (in German) Other broadcasts:

References / Games

{{Reflist
Die 25 Partien des Fernsehschachpreises und die 6 Partien der weiteren Sendungen des WDR
by

Gerhard Hund Gerhard Friedrich Hund (born February 4, 1932 in Leipzig) is a German chess player, mathematician and computer scientist. Biography He is the oldest son of physicist Friedrich Hund (1896–1997). He studied at the Friedrich Schiller University ...

(in German)

External links

Schach der Großmeister '97 : Wladimir Kramnik - Judit Polgar, 31. August 1997 in Köln
(in German)

(in German) * ttp://www.teleschach.com/berichte/wdr-99.htm WDR: Schach der Großmeister '99 - Artur Jussupow - Jörg Hickl, 15. August 1999(in German)
Interview mit Claus Spahn, 12. Juli 2001
anläßlich der Verleihung des Deutschen Schachpreises 2001 (in German)

(in German)
Zur letzten Sendung ''Schach der Großmeister'' am 24. August 2005
(in German) Chess competitions Chess in Germany 1983 in chess 2005 in chess 1983 German television series debuts 2005 German television series endings 1990s German television series German-language television shows Das Erste original programming