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Winning Without Castling |
Last updated 2 May 2002
| Here is how Nickolai Gurtovoi introduced the first series in 1995: Once Steinitz spoke of his special attitude to the King: "I play the King all over the board! I make him battle! With his help, I have a superfluous piece. What about Morphy? He castles; he hides his King in a safe place..." 120 years later, these bold thoughts by the first world champion are highly topical in our day. Many outstanding chess players, Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer, Tigran Petrosian, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, have played very well without castling. Their uncastled play has inspired my correspondence chess! Castling has several defects:
I do not support uncastling play completely; it may be necessary depending on the situation on the chessboard. The king can be weak and vulnerable, or it may be a strong and comanding piece. It is because of these extreme qualities that, paradoxically, it features in most interesting positions on the chessboard. The strong Italian chess player of the 16th/17th century, Pietro Carrera, wrote: "Castling is a two-headed monster, the embodiment of cowardice and indecision." The German chess player, Karl-Wilgeim von Königstadt in his book Brief Manual of Chess Play (Stockholm 1784) recorded: "Strong players never castle..." However, subsequent theoreticians over the last 200 years, to put it mildly, have bamboozled millions of chess players on the necessity of castling. Unfortunately now castling has assumed epidemic proportions, even amongst famous chess players, and for that reason they quite often lose. The following games are some examples where the merest faith in castling as a panacea for all troubles has led to destruction. Click on any of the links below to play through an animated game. Individual game scores can be downloaded from the game pages, and the full set is available from scottish games collections on this site. |
Selected Games
| Latvia v Ukraine 1997 | Gurtovoi v Dupak |
| Latvia v Ukraine 1997 | Gurtovoi v Dupak |
| Youthful Championship World/Europe 2001 | Kolesnikov v Dashkevich |
| Latvian Championship 2002 | Dashkevich v Tronekov |
| Latvian CC Tournament LK-22/II-B 2002 | Tsimermanis v Gurtovoi |
| Loeffler Memorial 1999 | Gurtovoi v Deforel |
| Loeffler Memorial 1999 | Gritti v Gurtovoi |
| VII Baltic Sea 1999 | Lukats v Gurtovoi |
| 20th Latvian CC Championship 1998 | Latsis v Gurtovoi |
| 21st Latvian CC Championship 2000 | Nille v Gurtovoi |
| 21st Latvian CC Championship 2000 | Gurtovoi v Strautinsh |
| 21st Latvian CC Championship 2000 | Vetsbralis v Gurtovoi |
| 21st Latvian CC Championship 2000 | Gurtovoi v Safonov |
| Loeffler Memorial 1996 | Krshkovnik v Gurtovoi |
| Loeffler Memorial 1996 | Gurtovoi v Harding |
| 19th Latvian CC Championship 1996 | Ribkinskis v Gurtovoi |
| Friendly Match 1996 | Gurtovoi v Filipov |
| Friendly Match 1995 | Gurtovoi v Dupak |
| Friendly Match 1995 | Gurtovoi v Dupak |
| Friendly Match 1995 | Gurtovoi v Dupak |
| X ICCF Cup 1995 | Gurtovoi v Dupak |
| X ICCF Cup 1995 | Gurtovoi v Maeer |
| X ICCF Cup 1995 | Gurtovoi v Giese |
| X ICCF Cup 1995 | Trösch v Gurtovoi |
| 18th Latvian CC Championship 1994 | Gurtovoi v Safonov |
| Latvia v Australia 1994 | Rout v Gurtovoi |
| 18th Latvian CC Championship 1994 | Gurtovoi v Melderis |
| Russian Championship 1995 | Geller v Rublyovsky |
| USSR Championship 1970 | Karpov v Zaitsev |
| 49th USSR Championship Semi-Final 1981 | Kholmov v Gorelov |
| Match, Tallin (Estonia)1989 | Gufeld v Tarve |
| New York Open Tournament 1989 | Polugaevsky v Kudrin |
| XVIII Olympiad (Habana) 1966 | Georghiu v Fischer |
| 49th USSR Championship 1981 | Azmaiparashvily v Lerner |
| II European Team CC Championship 1985 | Klovans v Harman |
| USSR Youth Championship 1984 | Drejev v Khalifman |
| Latvia v Scotland 1994 | Gurtovoi v Mackintosh |
| Latvia v Switzerland 1995 | Gurtovoi v Jacot |
| 17th Latvian CC Championship S-F 1992 | Gurtovoi v Efremov |
| Soviet All-Union Tourney 1990 | Vennek v Gurtovoi |
| Correspondence Game 1993 | Telesh v Gurtovoi |
| Soviet All-Union Tourney 1989 | Gailitis v Gurtovoi |
| 17th Latvian CC Championship S-F 1991 | Ozolinsh v Gurtovoi |
| 17th Latvian CC Championship S-F 1992 | Gurtovoi v Savko |
| VI-VII ICCF Cup 1991 | Chlupin v Gurtovoi |
| 17th Latvian CC Championship S-F 1992 | Martinson v Gurtovoi |
| Soviet All-Union Tourney 1991 | Burenin v Gurtovoi |
| Correspondence Game 1993 | Melnik v Gurtovoi |
| VI-VII ICCF Cup Semi-Final 1993 | Hengst v Gurtovoi |
| VI-VII ICCF Cup Semi-Final 1993 | Gurtovoi v Bänsch |
| VI-VII ICCF Cup G-192 1988 | Zubtzov v Gurtovoi |
| Correspondence Game 1993 | Otchkov v Gurtovoi |
| VI-VII ICCF Cup Semi-Final 1993 | Oppici v Gurtovoi |
| 17th Latvian CC Championship S-F 1991 | Gurtovoi v Krivans |
| 17th Latvian CC Championship S-F 1991 | Gurtovoi v Breiksh |
| 17th Latvian CC Championship S-F 1991 | Gurtovoi v Oleksenko |
| 17th Latvian CC Championship S-F 1991 | Gurtovoi v Goldshtein |
| Soviet All-Union Tourney 1990 | Gurtovoi v Bubnov |
| VI-VII ICCF Cup Semi-Final 1993 | Gurtovoi v Moles |
| Soviet All-Union Tourney 1989 | Gurtovoi v Zavgorodny |
| VI-VII ICCF Cup Semi-Final 1993 | Arzumanian v Gurtovoi |
| USSR CC Championship Semi-Final 1977 | Bertzshaner v Gurtovoi |
| International Thematic T433/23-G 1975 | Deutsch v Gurtovoi |
| USSR Championship 1941 | Keres v Botvinnik |