{"id":2412,"date":"2023-05-23T13:40:24","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T13:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/?p=2412"},"modified":"2023-06-22T11:10:06","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T11:10:06","slug":"a-chess-biography-of-szymon-winawer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/a-chess-biography-of-szymon-winawer\/","title":{"rendered":"A Chess Biography of Szymon Winawer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Broaden your chess history knowledge through the chess biography of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Szymon_Winawer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Szymon Winawer<\/a>, a Polish-born world top-10 chess player, who played against some of the most well-known historical chess giants such as Steinitz, Lasker, Anderssen, and many others. Although he was not considered to be a chess professional, he contributed immensely to the evolution of chess &#8211; such as within the realm of opening theory, most notably for the <em>French Winawer Variation<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"rpbchessboard-spacerBefore\"><\/p>\n\n<div id=\"rpbchessboard-6adf68264d7b4-1\" class=\"rpbchessboard-chessboard rpbchessboard-diagramAlignment-center\">\n    <noscript>\n        <div class=\"rpbchessboard-javascriptWarning\">\n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        <\/div>\n    <\/noscript>\n    <div class=\"rpbchessboard-chessboardAnchor\"><\/div>\n    <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n        jQuery(document).ready(function($) {\n            var selector = '#' + \"rpbchessboard-6adf68264d7b4-1\" + ' .rpbchessboard-chessboardAnchor';\n            RPBChessboard.renderFEN($(selector), {\"position\":\"rnbqk1nr\\\/ppp2ppp\\\/4p3\\\/3p4\\\/1b1PP3\\\/2N5\\\/PPP2PPP\\\/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4\",\"squareSize\":32,\"coordinateVisible\":true,\"turnVisible\":true,\"colorset\":\"original\",\"pieceset\":\"cburnett\"});\n        });\n    <\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"rpbchessboard-spacerAfter\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In their new book release, <a href=\"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/product\/a-chess-biography-of-szymon-winawer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Wizard of Warsaw: A Chess Biography of Szymon Winawer<\/a>, authors Tomasz Lissowski and Grigory Bogdanovich present a detailed journey through the life and games of Szymon Winawer. The first half of the book portrays his life and chess achievements, detailing Winawer&#8217;s upbringing and tournament performances. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/product\/a-chess-biography-of-szymon-winawer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Books-57.png\" alt=\"The Wizard of Warsaw: A Chess Biography of Szymon Winawer Book\" class=\"wp-image-2414\" width=\"320\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Books-57.png 515w, https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Books-57-227x300.png 227w, https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Books-57-150x198.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons alignwide is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-layout-1 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color has-text-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/sample\/a-chess-biography-of-szymon-winawer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>View Free Sample<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:16px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore, the evolution of chess in Poland during the 1800s is delved into, with insight into the impact that this period of war and upheaval had during this time. History buffs will admire not only the historical information but also the inclusion of many old photographs, maps, illustrations, tournament standings and more. For example, in <em>Chapter 16: Dresden 1892<\/em>, the 1892 7th Congress of the German Chess Union tournament is described and supplemented by this old photograph of the participants &#8211; recognize any big names?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:18px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Screenshot-2023-05-22-170728-1024x556.png\" alt=\"7th Congress of the German Chess Union\" class=\"wp-image-2417\" width=\"837\" height=\"454\" srcset=\"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Screenshot-2023-05-22-170728-1024x556.png 1024w, https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Screenshot-2023-05-22-170728-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Screenshot-2023-05-22-170728-768x417.png 768w, https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Screenshot-2023-05-22-170728-150x81.png 150w, https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Screenshot-2023-05-22-170728.png 1377w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 837px) 100vw, 837px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:31px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Chess Biography of Szymon Winawer: Table of Contents<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Part I: The Biography of Szymon Winawer by Tomasz Lissowski<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Winawers in Warsaw<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Beginnings of Chess in Warsaw<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sensation of Champ De Mars<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The First Warsaw Tournament<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Guns of War<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unofficial Champion of the Russian Empire<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Anderssen Jubilee<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Lost Play-Off<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1880<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Berlin 1881<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Correspondence Play<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vienna 1882<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>London 1883<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Champion of Kaiser&#8217;s Germany<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The &#8220;Stock Exchange Cafe&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dresden 1892<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Secret Match<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Revenge for Hastings<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In Honor of Prince Arpad<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The New Vienna Club<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Berlin 1897<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Twentieth Century<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Part II: Selected Games by Grigory Bogdanovich<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Winawer&#8217;s Style<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Positional Play<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tactical Play<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Subtle Endgame Play<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;&#8230;And Glorious Defeats&#8221;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Maestro&#8217;s Last Recorded Game<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:26px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>The first half of this chess biography does indeed showcase Winawer&#8217;s chess games, but the second half shines a light on the kind of player he was. Author and International master Grigory Bogdanovich argues that Winawer was not just a tactical player, as many believe him to have been, but rather, just like many of the greatest players, his play was universal. The book proves this by showing off Winawer&#8217;s tactical and positional play through annotated games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:22px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Game Example<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, his win over the future World Champion, Steinitz, is an example of Winawer&#8217;s positional abilities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"rpbchessboard-spacerBefore\"><\/p>\n\n<div id=\"rpbchessboard-6adf68264d7b4-3\" class=\"rpbchessboard-chessgame\">\n    <noscript>\n        <div class=\"rpbchessboard-javascriptWarning\">\n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        <\/div>\n    <\/noscript>\n    <div class=\"rpbchessboard-chessgameAnchor\"><\/div>\n    <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n        jQuery(document).ready(function($) {\n            var selector = '#' + \"rpbchessboard-6adf68264d7b4-3\" + ' .rpbchessboard-chessgameAnchor';\n            RPBChessboard.renderPGN($(selector), {\"pgn\":\"[Event \\\"Paris\\\"]\\n[Site \\\"?\\\"]\\n[Date \\\"1867.??.??\\\"]\\n[Round \\\"?\\\"]\\n[White \\\"Winawer\\\"]\\n[Black \\\"Steinitz\\\"]\\n[Result \\\"1-0\\\"]\\n[SetUp \\\"1\\\"]\\n[FEN \\\"8\\\/p7\\\/2p2k2\\\/2p1bb2\\\/2Pp1p1p\\\/1PqP1PpP\\\/P3Q1P1\\\/2B1NK2 w - - 0 43\\\"]\\n[PlyCount \\\"35\\\"]\\n[SourceVersionDate \\\"2023.05.22\\\"]\\n\\n{Winawer was defending for the whole game. Steinitz gained a huge space advantage and, unsurprisingly, was playing for a win. However, he carelessly sent his queen deep into the opponent&#8217;s camp&#8230;} 43. Bd2 Qb2 44. Ba5 Qxe2+ 45. Kxe2 Ke7 {In the opening, Winawer gave up his light-squared bishop for the c6 knight and disrupted Steinitz&#8217;s pawn structure, doubling his c-pawns. And now, at the end of the game, this flaw beecomes the reason for black&#8217;s defeat. Winawer finds a clear path to win. The white knight adopts an attacking position, targeting the c5 square.} 46. Nc2 Kd7 47. Na3 Bd6 48. Nb1 Bc7 49. Be1 Kc8 50. Nd2 Kb7 51. Ne4 $1 {Alas, black can&#8217;t trade on e4: after fxe4, the white king breaks through to the black camp through the vacated f3 square.} Kb6 {And now thr white bishop gets moving. It goes to a3, rendering the c5 pawn indefensible.} 52. Bd2 a5 {Black&#8217;s dark-squared bishop cannot be involved in the c5 pawn&#8217;s defense because it&#8217;s forced to defend the f4 pawn.} 53. Bc1 a4 54. Ba3 axb3 55. Bxc5+ Ka5 56. axb3 Be5 57. Nd2 {And now the knight goes to c2, for the second attack on the d4 pawn.} Bh7 58. Nb1 Bf5 59. Na3 Bd7 60. Nc2 {and after losing the second pawn the game is over -Steinitz resigned after a few more moves.} 1-0\",\"pieceSymbols\":\"native\",\"navigationBoard\":\"scrollLeft\",\"withFlipButton\":true,\"withDownloadButton\":true,\"nboSquareSize\":32,\"nboCoordinateVisible\":true,\"nboTurnVisible\":true,\"nboColorset\":\"original\",\"nboPieceset\":\"cburnett\",\"nboAnimated\":true,\"nboMoveArrowVisible\":true,\"nboMoveArrowColor\":\"r\",\"idoSquareSize\":32,\"idoCoordinateVisible\":true,\"idoTurnVisible\":true,\"idoColorset\":\"original\",\"idoPieceset\":\"cburnett\"});\n        });\n    <\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"rpbchessboard-spacerAfter\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:8px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Puzzle<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Many tactical games are analyzed and shown, displaying Winawer&#8217;s masterful tactical skills. Can you find what he played in this position for White?<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"rpbchessboard-spacerBefore\"><\/p>\n\n<div id=\"rpbchessboard-6adf68264d7b4-2\" class=\"rpbchessboard-chessboard rpbchessboard-diagramAlignment-center\">\n    <noscript>\n        <div class=\"rpbchessboard-javascriptWarning\">\n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        <\/div>\n    <\/noscript>\n    <div class=\"rpbchessboard-chessboardAnchor\"><\/div>\n    <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n        jQuery(document).ready(function($) {\n            var selector = '#' + \"rpbchessboard-6adf68264d7b4-2\" + ' .rpbchessboard-chessboardAnchor';\n            RPBChessboard.renderFEN($(selector), {\"position\":\"r2qk2r\\\/3p1p1p\\\/pn1P1bpB\\\/2pb4\\\/6Q1\\\/2P5\\\/PP3PPP\\\/RN1R2K1 w kq - 3 18\",\"squareSize\":32,\"coordinateVisible\":true,\"turnVisible\":true,\"colorset\":\"original\",\"pieceset\":\"cburnett\"});\n        });\n    <\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"rpbchessboard-spacerAfter\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:15px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-white-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color has-text-color has-background\"><strong>Let us know what you think in the comments belo<\/strong>w!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Broaden your chess history knowledge through the chess biography of Szymon Winawer, a Polish-born world&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2412"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2535,"href":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2412\/revisions\/2535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}