Vysotsky chess crown part 1. Vladimir Vysotsky - Honor of the chess crown: Verse
I. Preparation
I shouted: “Are you stunned?
Why have you lost chess prestige!
And they told me in our sports department:
“Yeah, great - you’ll protect it!
But keep in mind that Fischer is very bright,
He even sleeps with a board - the strength is in him,
He plays cleanly, without mistakes..."
Well, it’s okay, I’m not a gift either,
And I have a knight's move in stock.
Oh, you muscles of steel,
My fingers are tenacious!
Eh, carved and painted
Wooden boats!
My football player friend taught: “Don’t be afraid -
He is not used to such partners.
Don't worry about the rear and the center,
And play along the edge - straight!..”
Well, I've been busy running, 100-meter dashes,
I lost weight in the bathhouse, I sleep great,
There were hockey training sessions...
Well, in general, after this preparation -
Yes, I will crush him without swearing!
Oh, you strong palms,
Strong back muscles!
Oh, my horses, my horses,
Oh you white elephants!
“Don’t rush and, most importantly, don’t be hunched over,”
This is how the boxer talked to me.
“You,” he says, “don’t get involved in close combat, work in the body,
And remember that your crown is straight.”
The honor of the chess crown is on the map!
And he will not escape defeat:
We played ten games with Tal -
In preference, point and billiards.
Tal said: “This one won’t let you down!”
Oh, muscle definition!
Deltoids are strong!
Oh, you light figures,
Oh, you horses and elephants!
And in the buffet, closed to others,
The cook reassured: “Don’t be timid!
You, he says, have such a wonderful appetite.
You will swallow all his horses at once!
You sit down in front of the distant road -
And take a backpack with food.
Prepare an Easter pie for two:
This Slate - although he is a genius,
And I suppose you’re not a fool to drink and eat!”
Oh we are tough nuts!
Oh, we’ll bring the crown!
We go to bed - like a pawn,
But we wake up - a queen!
II. A game
Just arrived -
sat down immediately.
The chips are all in advance.
Photo reporters swooped in -
They blind you and want to confuse you.
But who will put me at home?
The reporters can't knock me off my feet!..
My inability will help me:
This Slate will never be able to
Guess what I'll be walking with.
It fell to him, the bully, to walk -
They say he's an expert at whites!
Made a move from e2 to e4...
Something familiar to me... Well, well!
Follow me - what to do?! It is necessary, Seva, -
At random, like at night in the taiga...
I remember: the queen is most important -
Walks back and forth and left and right,
Well, the horses seem to be only shaped like the letter “G”.
Eh, thanks to a factory friend -
At least he taught me how to walk, how to pass...
It turned out later - I was scared
Played a classic opening!
I made sure there was no mistake,
The cook remembered everything in sadness.
Eh, I wish I could replace pawns with glasses -
It would quickly become clearer on the board!
I see him aiming his fork -
He wants to eat. And I would eat the queen...
Eh, if only I could have a snack like this and a bottle!
But you can't drink during the match.
I'm hungry, judge for yourself:
Here they only have coffee and omelettes.
Cells are like circles before the eyes,
I confuse kings with aces
And I confuse a doublet with a debut.
There is a sign - so I take a risk:
I should be lucky the first time.
Yes, I’ll torture him, I’ll put him to death -
I just wish I could trick the queen!
I don’t moo, I don’t calve, I’m all like cotton wool.
We need to hit something - it's time!
What to beat with? Rook - a little scary,
Right to the jaw - it seems a little early,
It’s somehow inconvenient - the first game.
...And he destroys my defense -
Old Indian - at the moment,
This reminds me vaguely
Indo-Pakistan incident.
It's just in vain that he jokes with our brother,
I have a measure, even two:
If he finishes me off with obscenities,
So I him - through the hip with a grip
Or a knight's move - on the head!
Slate began to resort to tricks:
He will get up, run and - back;
He suggested exchanging tours,
Well, if only he wouldn’t be afraid of me,
When I bench press one hundred and fifty!
So I measured his figure with my eye,
And when he announced check to me -
I accidentally exposed my biceps,
He even took off his jacket for good measure.
And instantly the hall became quieter,
He noticed that I was getting up...
Apparently, he had no time for chips -
And the vaunted notorious Fischer
He immediately agreed to a draw.
In January 1972 he wrote "Honor chess crown”, a ballad song in two parts - “Preparation” and “Game”. It was performed by him several times and gained great popularity.
From an interview with the famous film director Stanislav Sergeevich Govorukhin (magazine “Chess in the USSR”, No. 10, 1990):
“Volodya actually didn’t play chess (just like, say, billiards. In the film “The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed” we taught him to hold a cue - for the duel between Zheglov and Kopcheny). Once, shortly before the Spassky-Fischer match, we were relaxing with him in Bolshevo, in the House of Cinematographers’ Creativity. We started to write a detective story, but the plot went poorly, and in the end it all fell apart.
We spat on the script - everyone went about their own business: I went skiing, and he sat down to write paper in the morning. On the table is a pack of Winstons, his favorite cigarettes, and he wrote. This was the whole of his rest... After some time, Volodya muttered:
— Tell me about chess.
“Aha,” I thought, “soon there will be a song about my favorite chess.” He was just in the sporting zone of his creativity.
I began to explain: the game begins with the opening... there are different beginnings... for example, Queen's Gambit, King's Indian Defense... To warn him against mistakes in the future song, I told him that amateurs, unlike professionals, call the rook a tour, the bishop an officer...
“That’s enough,” said Volodya. - It's enough!
I was offended - with such chess baggage, start a song about chess?
He fell silent for a day and a half, wrote something in light, large letters, picked up his guitar, and plucked the strings. That’s right - he didn’t select a melody, but rather simply plucked a string, looking somewhere at one point. On the second day, by evening, the song was ready. It was called “Honor of the Chess Crown.” She disappointed me at first. I don’t know what I expected, I remember I was even offended by the chess. Well, what kind of nonsense is this, really:
We played ten games with Tal - Preference, point and billiards - Tal said: “This one won’t let you down!”?A week later, Volodya and I boarded the train. I was going to Odessa, he was going to Kyiv. He had two concerts there. Of course, I stayed in Kyiv and went to the concert with him. It was there that he decided to try the “Chess Crown” in public for the first time. What was happening to the public! People were writhing with laughter - and I was with them - sliding from their chairs to the floor...
Funny things cannot be shown to one person; funny things must be tested on a large and friendly audience. After the story with the “Chess Crown” I understood this well.
And of course, he didn’t need to know anything about chess. Because this song is not about chess, but about life. Vysotsky has no songs about the sea, about the sky, about the earth. All of them are about our life. About Us".
In the second half of the 60s, Robert James Fischer (USA) became one of the strongest chess players in the world. The Soviet Union underestimated the new rising star. This was "Homo novus" in the chess world, which was to change the attitude towards ancient game. The talented young man broke established traditions with extraordinary ease and quickly approached the borders of the “Kingdom-64”, where the Soviet grandmasters, led by the 10th world champion Boris Spassky, reigned supreme. Fischer took over the leadership in 1969, despite the fact that the Soviet masters prophesied that Bobby - as he was nicknamed in a patronizing diminutive - would only be memories as soon as he came under fire from the Soviet chess machine.
Meanwhile, Bobby calmly approached the throne, he took one prize after another, and in very prestigious tournaments: Havanna (1965), Santa Monico (1966), Ohrid and Monte Carlo (1967) ... The US Chess Federation put the young man at 1- yu board of my Olympic team. Possessing the status of player ╧ 1, at the World Chess Olympiads (which are held every two years), he fights on the first board of the team against the strongest chess players in the world.
At the 1960, 1962, 1966, 1970 Olympics, he won 40 victories, ended 18 games in draws and lost only seven games.
In Kingdom 64 they became worried - another cycle of matches between pretenders to the chess throne had begun. The threat came from the matured Bobby - he wanted to try on the crown of the champion. “Fisher fear” has begun: the American’s games are being analyzed, “surprises” are being prepared in his favorite openings, “muscles are being pumped up” in physical training...
Funny? Will now be. He defeated M. Taimanov and B. Larsen, famous grandmasters standing in his way, with the same score - 6:0!
But the optimists did not lose heart. They believed that Fischer’s triumphal march would be stopped by Tigran Petrosyan, nicknamed “the iron man” because he rarely lost. Alas! All Petrosyan could do was impose tough positional play on the American, who was striving for championship laurels. Fischer quickly understood the situation and began to dictate his own rules. The opponent lost with a score of 6.5:2.5. In accordance with FIDE rules, Fischer received the right to play a match with world champion Boris Spassky. There was a stir...
..."An alien" from the American New World appeared in Reykjavik (Iceland) in the first half of July 1972. He arrived for the match 9 days late. Spassky was already waiting for him.
I shouted: “Are you stunned?
Chess prestige has been lost!”
"Yes! - they said in our sports department. —
That’s great, you’ll protect it.
But keep in mind that Fischer is very bright,
He even sleeps with a board, the strength is in him.
He plays cleanly, without mistakes..."
It's okay, I'm not a gift either,
I have a knight's move left.
Oh, you muscles of steel,
My fingers are tenacious.
Oh, carved, painted,
Wooden boats.
The hero of Vysotsky’s poems is always in a situation that tests him. What is required from him is not only intelligence, nobility and humanity, but also the ability to act in many areas of sports activity with full effort in order to overcome everything. Vysotsky’s favorite image is a horse, and in the poetic system - overcoming difficulties and obstacles, sometimes comfort, the benefits of conformity. Rejection of the existing order of things is clearly expressed, for example, in “Wolf Hunt” (1968). The poem-song came together then instantly, as a ripe reaction to the malicious articles addressed to him. The power of influence of this poetic document of the era is so great that it eclipsed all samizdat verses and songs of “tape literature”...
...The “Honor of the Chess Crown” caused a new sensation. She encouraged Soviet chess fans, and when Fischer lost two games in a row at the start, the fans were completely inspired, rejecting “capricious Bobby” as a serious contender for the world crown...
My friend, a football player, taught: “Don’t be afraid,
He is not used to such partners.
Don't worry about the rear and the center,
And play straight along the edge...”
I pushed myself hard for the 100-meter dash.
I lost weight in the bath, I sleep well,
There were hockey training sessions...
In short, after this preparation
I'll crush him without swearing.
Oh, you strong palms,
Strong back muscles.
Oh, my horses, my horses,
Oh you cute elephants.
Shows keen interest in conventional, fantastic forms of image. It is clear that this is a reaction to the “predetermined themes of works” that were being introduced into Soviet poetry, decorativeness, and the mundane nature of official verisimilitude. It began to clearly manifest itself after the publication of “The Master and Margarita” by M.A. Bulgakov, whom he called his favorite writer.
In the poem “Honor of the Chess Crown,” irony and fantasy set aside boring “realities” and expose stereotypes of thinking. The poet feels the moral inferiority of the class postulates of socialist realism, stunning him with a grotesque and fantastic question: can a character who strives to replace chess with boxing get into a match with Fischer?
“Don’t rush and, most importantly, don’t be hunched over,”
This is how the boxer talked to me, -
Don't get into close combat, work in the body,
Remember that your crown is straight.”
Honor of the chess crown on the map,
He won't escape defeat.
We played ten games with Tal
In preference, point and billiards.
Tal said: “This one won’t let you down.”
Oh, muscle definition!
Deltas are strong.
Why do I need light figures?
These horses and elephants?
The hero of the literature of socialist realism of the 60-70s was updated to “selflessly fight against shortcomings, to overcome problems that arose due to the moral imperfections of people.” The new generation of Soviet people grew up in a socialist society, and the thesis of fighting the remnants of capitalism turned out to be untenable. But remnants of socialism appeared. There was an urgent need for the image of a morally imperfect conformist who had adapted to the socialist way of life. The “engineers of human souls” were to expose him.
And in the buffet, closed to others,
The cook reassured: “Don’t be timid,
Yes, with such a wonderful appetite
You will swallow all his horses.
So here you go, take your skewers with you,
The main thing is nutrition, old man.
But don't eat heavy pieces:
To the stomach those figures are fools.
“Elephants are good for barbecue.”
Everything will be quiet and deaf,
And just in case there’s time pressure
There are powers of the spirit
And a nice uppercut.
Vysotsky’s parody cook-conformist is not at all the one who adapts to the regime of power. His credo is vital and indestructible and can be summed up in two words: well-being and prosperity. Isn't this what every Soviet person dreamed of?
The moral impasse of the satirical cook is not that he works in a buffet, “closed to others,” where Pantagruel’s paradise was embodied. The tragedy is that he has to do everything with caution, feed on rumors about how the world lives outside his horizons.
...It is no coincidence that former world champion Mikhail Tal appears in the “Honor of the Chess Crown”. He was one of the elite of Soviet sports, but did not have his honestly earned dollars, although he had won thousands in foreign tournaments for decades.
Having received a package with dollars and an envelope with a bank check, he returned to his hotel and had to go straight to his room, where an “employee” was impatiently waiting for him, taking up to 90 percent (!) of his fee to the state.
This monstrous system showed its first crack after Tal firmly decided to leave the envelope that belonged to him. The feat of the ex-champion was to Vysotsky’s liking...
Did Tal play with Vysotsky? The grandmaster left the following memories that shed light on this issue: “I could never have imagined that my meetings with Vladimir Vysotsky, my acquaintance with this amazing person, will be of interest to the reader, otherwise even then, in the days of acquaintance, I would have written down everything in more detail. But who knew...
We met him under the following circumstances. It was in the spring of 1963. Shortly before this, I was offered to participate in the Botvinnik-Petrosyan world championship match in the role of a chess columnist for the newspaper “Soviet Sport”. They decided to give me the opportunity to recoup, since the previous Botvinnik-Tal match was commentated by Petrosyan.
Then the name of the young artist Vladimir Vysotsky was already quite famous. Naturally, with the addition of a lot of legends, but the name was on everyone’s lips.
As it turned out, the commentator of the match has more free time than his participant, and when I was offered to go to some company and was told that Volodya would be there, I, of course, found the time.
We were introduced to each other, and after two minutes I got the feeling that we had known each other for a thousand years. There was absolutely no intrusiveness. It’s just that a person came to you like a very old friend, and it was infectious and extremely mutual.
There were a lot of people there, I didn’t remember all of them. Whether Volodya wanted it or not, he was always the center of attention. With the persistence of a provincial, almost everyone who entered at the third, fifth, tenth minute asked Volodya to sing something. And Volodya categorically did not refuse anyone. I completely remembered some songs from that time.
Sometimes Volodya “left”. He was present, but “left” completely. A glance from under the brows, most likely directed inward. He looks but doesn’t see. One word answers. They told me: the man is busy. Well, at night or the next morning a new song appeared.
He did not suppress, but brought people closer to himself. There was no suppression. It seems as if his bravado was sometimes of a mimicry nature. He looked like a shy person.
I think that Volodya had a lot of friends. But despite all his, if you like, publicity, he kept his distance. He allowed very few people inside. I don't think he let me in there. His dominant feature is colossal goodwill. For him, any person was good, very good, until he managed to prove otherwise.
What were our conversations about... And what are his songs about? Literally everything. In these cases, as chess players say, he willingly played black. Any conversation, on any topic, was supported, picked up, developed. He had an absolutely magnificent gift - to get wound up beautifully. If he was fascinated by something - and he was fascinated by a lot of things - then the conversation was carried out on a colossal nerve. Not by screaming, but by nerves.
During performances, I am often asked the question of how I got into his song and whether it’s true that I played “ten games of preference, point and billiards” with him. I probably got into the song because of the rhyme, because “we played with Flor...” probably didn’t sound like it. Vysotsky and I did not play all the games mentioned in it. But few people know that he and I played two games of chess. I remember well that in the second I always tried to offer a draw...
I think I heard the song shortly after it was written. Fischer and Spassky had not yet sat down at the chess table. The reaction is colossal!
Then our meetings became much less frequent. And Volodya was more busy, and I did not come to Moscow often. I called him several times. Been to performances.
When I listened to new songs - and the recordings spread with great speed - I always found in them warmth and absolutely incredible trust, which was so evident in our relationship in the spring of 1963.”
Before performing the cycle “Honor of the Chess Crown,” he said from the stage: “We all expect the outcome of the duel between Spassky and Fischer - if it takes place, of course. We are all nervous whether this meeting will happen or not. We all have thoughts about this. Everyone thinks: “Oh, if only I!..” Some people even dream. One person told me how he had a dream about how he played with Fischer. This gave me the idea to write a song."
And then came deep disappointment.
...Boris Spassky lost the world championship match. Robert Fischer defeated him with a score of 12.5:8.5 (seven wins, eleven draws and only three losses). Spassky resisted fiercely, trying to seize the initiative in the game. But in vain!
The team accompanying Fischer explained that they were late for the match in Reykjavik due to financial difficulties. This knocked his opponent out of the saddle and put the judges and organizers of the fight into a state of shock. Then something incredible happened: Fischer lost the first game and did not show up for the second (due to the noise of the television cameras in the playing hall - Fischer’s complaint) - this is also “zero points”...
Vysotsky’s song reflects the fans’ confidence in Spassky’s superiority: “My inability will help me,” “Oh, thanks to a factory friend, I taught you how to walk...” and “It turned out, too, that I was frightened and played a classical opening!”
The last line says that he knew well the satirical novel by I. Ilf and E. Petrov “12 Chairs”. It describes how the cheerful rogue O. Bender, posing as a grandmaster, gives a simultaneous game in the village of Vasyuki. It turned out that he had eighteen " Spanish parties", in twelve beginnings - Philidor's defense was formed. And he played chess for the second time in his life.
It’s the same with Vysotsky, but he took this literary device from life. How the slang of chess lovers in Moscow courtyards is taken from life. For example: “queen” - queen, “fork” - double strike, “tours” - rooks, “officers” - bishops, “chips” - pawns, “Slate” - Fischer, etc.
It has become customary to say about Vysotsky that in his songs he reproduced “the instant response of the “street” to what happened,” and in a rapid, rhythmically rigid and rich intonation form. It is deliberately simple and close to colloquial speech, to the slang of the environment in which the hero lives. However, the improvised treatment of his monologue is deceptive. Behind it lies the face of a “plebeian” charming author - smart, clownishly cunning and trusting. For Vysotsky, poetry is not so much a poetic vision of an event as an expression of one’s human essence. In the last verse, the line “Eh, we’ll bring a cow” is not so neutral. This is an allusion to the history of the struggle between A. Alekhine and M. Euwe. The fifth world champion Euwe reigned from 1935-37, winning the match against Alekhine with a score of 15.5:14.5. To regain the crown, Alekhine stopped drinking. Preparing for the rematch, I followed the regime, was content with milk from a cow and regained the championship title - 15.5:9.5...
Lines “It fell to him to walk, a bully, They say he’s a master of whites. I made a move from e2 to e4, Something familiar to me... well, well!..” confirm what was said. The fact is that in the first game Spassky played White and made the first move not e2 - e4, but d2 - d4. This was unexpected for Fischer. But that's not the point. Fischer lost the first game due to a hasty 29th move:... Cd2:h2?? We put two question marks - in chess notation this means a blunder.
Boris SPASSKY – Robert FISCHER
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Ba5 9. Ne2 dc4 10. Bc4 Bb6 11. dc5 Qd1 12. Rd1 Bc5 13. b4 Be7 14. Bb2 Bd7 15. Rac1 Rfd8 16. Ned4 Nd4 17. Nd4 Ba4 18. Bb3 Bb3 19. Nb3 Rd1 20. Rd1 Rc8 21. Kf1 Kf8 22. Ke2 Ne4 23. Rc1 Rc1 24. Bc1 f6 25. Na5 Nd6 26. Kd3 Bd8 27. Nc4 Bc7 28. Nd6 Bd6 29. b5 Bh2 30. g3 h5 31. Ke2 h4 32. Kf3 Ke7 33. Kg2 hg3 34. fg3 Bg3 35. Kg3 Kd6 36. a4 Kd5 37. Ba3 Ke4 38. Bc5 a6 39. b6 f5 40. Kh4 f4 41. ef4 Kf4 42. Kh5 Kf5 43. Be3 Ke4 44. Bf2 Kf5 45. Bh4 e5 46. Bg5 e4 47. Be3 Kf6 48. Kg4 Ke5 49. Kg5 Kd5 50. Kf5 a5 51. Bf2 g5 52. Kg5 Kc4 53. Kf5 Kb4 54. Ke4 Ka4 55. Kd5 Kb5 56. Kd6
Spassky’s successful start soon turned into a trap with which Fischer lured the world champion onto an impassable path...
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Nd2 Nbd7 8.e4 Bg7 9.Be2 0–0 10.0–0 Re8 11.Qc2 ((stronger)11 .a4) 11...Nh5 (Amazing move! Black voluntarily spoils his own structure, getting in return the advantage of two bishops and piece activity on the king's side.) 12.Bxh5 gxh5 13.Nc4 ((strongest maneuver for White) 13.a4 Ne5 14 .Nd1! (found a little later by Svetozar Gligoric; this is the only way to fight for an advantage)) 13...Ne5 14.Ne3 Qh4 15.Bd2 ((more careful) 15.f3!) 15...Ng4 16.Nxg4 hxg4 (Black not only straightened their pawns, but also significantly constrained White.) 17.Bf4 Qf6 18.g3? (serious weakening of white squares; should have played) (18.Bg3 h5 19.f3! (19.Nb5)) 18...Bd7 19.a4 b6! (19...a6?! 20.a5!) 20.Rfe1 a6 21.Re2 b5! 22.Rae1 ((The weakness of the white squares near the white king is reflected in) 22.axb5 axb5 23.Rxa8 Rxa8 24.e5 dxe5 25.Rxe5 b4 26.Ne4 (26.Ne2 Qg6!) 26...Ra1+ 27.Kg2 Qa6! ) 22...Qg6 23.b3 Re7 (pressure on the e4 pawn puts White in a critical position) 24.Qd3 Rb8 25.axb5 axb5 26.b4 (threatened b5-b4 and Bd7-b5) 26...c4 (26. ..cxb4 27.Na2) 27.Qd2 Rbe8 28.Re3 h5 29.R3e2 Kh7 30.Re3 Kg8 31.R3e2 (It’s time to pick the ripe fruit) 31...Bxc3 32.Qxc3 Rxe4 33.Rxe4 Rxe4 34.Rxe4 Qxe4 (the weakness of the white king and the strength of the passed pawn c4 determine the assessment of the position) 35.Bh6 Qg6 36.Bc1 Qb1 37.Kf1 Bf5 38.Ke2 Qe4+ 39.Qe3 Qc2+ 40.Qd2 (40.Ke1 c3! 41.Qg5+ Bg6) 40.. .Qb3 41.Qd4? ((Much more persistent) 41.Ke1(, after which it is possible) 41...Qf3 42.Qg5+ Bg6 43.Qe3 (43.Be3 c3!) 43...Qh1+ 44.Kd2 Qxd5+ 45.Ke1(, and without two pawns could still be resisted. An opposite color is an opposite color.)) 41...Bd3+! After 42.Ke3 Qd1 (White loses his bishop. And retreating to e1 is not good because of the capture on b4 with check. White resigned.)
Edwar Mednis, an American grandmaster who commentated on the match, wrote: “The Fischer phenomenon cannot be considered something frozen. Just when it seemed that he could use his limited repertoire indefinitely in the match against Spassky, he made sensational changes to it. With Alekhine’s cunning, he took Spassky by surprise...
I see him aiming his fork,
He wants to eat. And I would eat the queen...
Eh, with this snack and a bottle!
But you can't drink during the match.
Wrote and sang more than 600 songs. Turning to the eternal questions of existence, he goes from familiar, sometimes trivial situations and raises their meaning to the eternal...
Some “responsible workers” from Soviet culture treated Vysotsky’s work with disdain and arrogance. He was not an order bearer, did not have the title “Honored” or “People’s”. Only after his death he was awarded the State Prize...
Years pass, but his songwriting still excites, as his unique voice touches with the indissolubility that connects feeling and word. A romantic poet, an uncompromising maximalist, he was looking in the chess cycle “The Honor of the Chess Crown” not for the interpretation of openings after the move e2 - e4, but for the expression of time in specific event that worried people. “Vladimir rarely played chess... and poorly. But he treated chess with reverence and was aware of the main competitions. In chess, as always and everywhere, he was interested in the human,” recalls his close friend, Taganka theater actor Vsevolod Abdulov.
Chess had no overwhelming significance for him at all. It seems that he did not need to know anything deeply about them. Why did he need, for example, to understand the intricate Ponziani opening or the Aldine counter-gambit, the Benoni defense or the English opening... After all, he sang not about chess, but about life.
Marina's father Vladi was a passionate chess player. He, Vladimir Polyakov-Baydarov, is a volunteer pilot who came to France back in the first world war with the Russian expeditionary force, he loved chess, seeing in it a reflection of the tactical and strategic plans of the warring parties. He fought in General de Gaulle's army against the Nazis, and in quiet hours he played chess, trying to relieve tension.
Marina did not inherit this gift from her father, but she learned to play and sometimes spent time at the board. In 1957, when she first arrived in Russia, she bought an elegant chess set made of Ural stone - a tribute to her father and a memory of the country in which she found her friend.
However, in a house in Maisons-Laffite (France), the crafts of Ural masters did not become a reason for chess battles, but fit well into the cozy interior of the living room. True, the moment of a family meeting at the board was recorded, not without the help of a reporter. The photograph depicting Vysotsky and Vladi at the chessboard made the rounds in French magazines: gossip column readers desperately wanted to know what the stars were up to...
During Taganka's tour in France in the fall of 1977, Hamlet was shown in Marseille, among other performances. The very first performance almost failed due to Vysotsky’s lateness. Lyubimov is in a panic... Finally, someone remembered that Vladimir Semenovich praised a seaside tavern-tavern, where he made friends from port workers and foreign sailors. We run to the tavern - and indeed: a noise of many voices, and in the center with a guitar! There is a violent element around him, where the “full voice of the “Russian Villon” reigns. That same evening, he performed the performance brilliantly, receiving an enthusiastic ovation from grateful spectators and a severe, unprintable reprimand from his chief director...
And there was also a crowded hall in Paris, in “Elise Montmartre,” where, without translation, it was clear what Vladimir was singing about on a high emotional note. The Parisians accepted the song monologue of the Soviet poet, and Paris - this theater of the streets - became his city for him.
Marina started dangerous game with power. Shuttle trips between houses located in Moscow and Paris and foreign tours began. All this pleasantly complicated creative life and caused a “toothache” for “Soviet ideologists” who were losing control of the bard who suddenly took a sip of freedom without their permission...
The time in which he lived and worked did not know any historical turns - socialism was “improved”. Society was covered in mud, turning into a stagnant swamp.
Vysotsky needed a fresh wind. The troublemaker of stagnation immediately fell into the category of people who were called “not allowed to travel abroad.” When this barrier was broken and he visited the “jungle of the West,” he formed his own opinion about those people who emigrated from the country.
He did not avoid meeting with his fellow tribesmen - emigrants from Russia, because he understood the complexities of the intertwining of human destinies. In one of his most successful films, “Two Comrades Served” (1968), he starred in the role of a white officer who, after bloody battles with the Reds, decides to leave Russia forever on a ship. The devoted handsome horse remains on the shore, but when he sees that his owner is swimming away, he rushes into the sea after the steamer.
The officer, who has reached the point of despair that life is losing its meaning, suddenly realizes that life without Russia is impossible, and he ends his scores with her. “What songs I sang to her about the distant North! I thought: “Just a little bit, and we’ll be on friendly terms,” but I sang in vain about the neutral zone - it doesn’t really care what kind of flowers there are.” These lines from Vysotsky answered a provocative question: should we go to the West?
He understood that the West itself would not radically change anything in his life, and without Russia he would have hitherto unknown responsibilities. The worst thing is that even there he will be an outcast, but he will have lost his roots, and therefore incapable of creativity. For Vysotsky, the poet-singer, this is fatal. He understands that this will be the fate of the horse, which could not bear the loss of its loved one. lived in “internal emigration”, being with his soul on one side and his heart on the other side of an artificially divided planet...
In the song “Game” of the “Honor of the Chess Crown” cycle, the duel with Fischer ended in a draw. In reality the result was different. And not because he composed it on the eve of the match and, naturally, could not predict its outcome. Although in the Soviet Union they believed that Fischer was doomed.
Inwardly, the poet had no doubt who to give preference to, but his soul demanded peace, love and harmony...
Familiar with the theory: the song mentions the King's Indian Defense. But it is not mentioned to decipher what game (opening) the opponents played. During Vysotsky's time, the Indo-Pakistani conflict over Kashmir flared up again. It started a long time ago, was difficult, and never came to an end - just like the King’s Indian defense in chess. It has become popular in practice and relevant in theory. Invented at the end of the 19th century and given its name in the 20s of the last century by S. Tarkover, it took a strong place in the repertoire of masters and grandmasters. It is used to play complex maneuvering games in order to outplay the enemy...
As is known, Fischer won the match. After two defeats, he played the next 11 games (!) strongly and confidently. Taking the lead, the American finished with a 4-point lead!
***
...Twenty years later in 1992, when everyone had already calmed down and began to forget this match, there was a bolt from the blue. During the reign of Kasparov, the legendary Fischer, breaking his vow of silence, agreed to play a match with the same Spassky for a large sum. Sponsors were found. But this is already a farce: an untrained Fischer and Spassky, who has lost much of what he knew... Fischer “shook up the old days” and showed that he is quite at the level of “new chess.” Spassky lost a number of important games, and then the match - 5:10.
***
...Vysotsky was overwhelmed by the passions of acting. He created in his work that new character “Homo novus”, the need for which had already begun to mature in the 60-70s of the last century. The time in which the poet lived and worked was hostile to him with its stagnant thoughts, when “Pasions fade under the moon in the ordinary airy liquid...” And the very abundance in the cycle “Honor of the Chess Crown” of various role-playing characters of the most unusual subjects of speech, adjacent to traditional ones, It turns out that he has a general principle of reaction to Soviet reality, which reached ordinary human age, after which oblivion began.
I shouted: “Are you stunned? -
Chess prestige has been lost!”
They told me in our sports department:
“Yeah, great - you’ll protect it!
But keep in mind that Fischer is very bright, -
He even sleeps with a board - there is strength in it,
He plays cleanly, without mistakes..."
It’s okay, I’m not a gift either, -
I have a knight's move in stock.
Oh, you are muscles of steel,
My fingers are tenacious!
Eh, carved, painted
Wooden boats!
My friend, a football player, taught: “Don’t be afraid,”
He is not used to such partners.
Don't worry about the rear and the center,
And play along the edge - straight!..”
I leaned heavily on running, hundred-meter dashes,
I lost weight in the bath, I sleep well,
There were hockey training sessions...
In general, after this preparation -
I'll crush him without swearing!
Oh you strong palms
Strong back muscles!
Oh my horses, my horses,
Oh you cute elephants!
“Don’t rush and, most importantly, don’t be hunched over,”
This is how the boxer talked to me. -
Don't get into close combat, work in the body,
Remember that your crown is straight.”
The honor of the chess crown is on the map, -
He will not escape defeat:
We played ten games with Tal -
In preference, in point and billiards, -
Tal said: “This one won’t let you down!”
Oh, muscle definition!
Deltoids are strong!
Why do I need light figures?
These horses and elephants!
And in the buffet, closed to others,
The cook reassured: “Don’t be timid!
You have such a wonderful appetite -
You will swallow all his horses at once!
You sit down before the distant road -
And take a backpack with food.
Prepare an Easter pie for two:
This Slate - although a genius -
And I bet you’re not a fool to eat!”
Oh we are tough nuts!
We will bring the crown!
I go to bed - like a pawn,
I wake up - a queen!
Comments
Honor of the chess crown
I. Preparation - Nerve. The title option is “How It All Happened.”
In the early version, after the sixth stanza it was:
I won’t say that there were no frills:
There were anonymous letters and calls, -
I'm just excited about all this,
My fists just itched.
They scared me even early in the morning:
“Fischer could have used his left foot -
With the Capablanca chess machine,
He himself is like a clockwork tank...”
It’s okay, I’m groovy too!
So here it is: take skewers with you, -
The main thing is nutrition, old man! -
But don't eat heavy pieces:
For the stomach those figures are fools, -
These elephants are good for barbecue!
Robert Fisher (b. 1943) - American chess player, world champion in 1972-1975. In 1972, he defeated the Soviet grandmasters M. Taimanov and T. Petrosyan in the candidates' matches, and then won the title of world champion, beating Boris Spassky. The cycle “Honor of the Chess Crown” was written before the Spassky-Fischer match, the “preparation” for which was actively carried out by the Soviet press, trying to discredit the American grandmaster. We played ten games with Tal. - Mikhail Nekhemievich Tal (1936-1992) - grandmaster, world chess champion in 1960-1961. His comment on the song: “During performances, I am often asked the question: how did I get into his song and is it true that I played “ten games” with him - preference, point and billiards. I probably got into the song because of the rhyme, because “we played with Flor...” probably didn’t sound like it. Vysotsky and I did not play all the games mentioned in it. But few people know that he and I played two games of chess. I remember well that in the second I always tried to offer a draw... I think I heard the song soon after it was written. Fischer and Spassky had not yet sat down at the chess table. The reaction is colossal!” (M. Tal. He willingly played with black // Vladimir Vysotsky. Four quarters of the way. P. 24).
II. Game - Nerve.
In the early version, instead of the sixth stanza there was:
He has queens, rooks - pieces! -
And elephants are dangerous and strong.
All my figures are fools:
I have queens and tours,
Officers are not elephants!
From the memoirs of S. Govorukhin:
“...Volodya muttered:
- Tell me about chess.
“Aha,” I thought, “soon there will be a song about my favorite chess.” He was just in the “sports zone” of his creativity.
I began to explain: the game begins with an opening... there are different beginnings... for example, the King's Gambit, the King's Indian Defense... Volodya did not play chess. To warn him against mistakes in the future song, I told him that amateurs, unlike professionals, call the rook a tour, the bishop an officer...
- Enough! - Volodya said. - It's enough.
I was offended - with such chess baggage, start a song about chess?
He fell silent for a day and a half, writing something in small round letters, plucking the strings. That's right - he didn't select a melody, but rather simply plucked the strings, looking somewhere at one point. On the second day, by evening, the song was ready” (S. Govorukhin. Such a life cannot be called short // Vladimir Vysotsky. Four quarters of the way. P. 98).
Indo-Pakistan incident. - The military conflict between India and Pakistan in Kashmir periodically escalated in the 1960-1970s and continues to the present day.
We congratulate chess fans on April Fool's Day and invite you to remember Vladimir Vysotsky's songs dedicated to chess. The song is called “Honor of the Chess Crown.” As Vladimir Semyonovich said, the song consists of two “series”. Relatively speaking, the first part is called “Preparation” - Vysotsky’s hero is preparing for a tournament with world champion Robert Fischer, and the second part is called “The Game”.
We post both videos and lyrics. Moreover, we will find out how true the phrase “We played ten games with Tal” is true. Did Vysotsky and Tal actually play? Let's get the answer from the lips of Mikhail Tal himself.
“Honor of the Chess Crown” - part 1 “Preparation”
“Honor of the Chess Crown” - part 2 “Game”
Mikhail Tal about Vladimir Vysotsky and the first part of the song “Honor of the Chess Crown.”
So, as Mikhail Tal himself said, he played a couple of games of chess with Vysotsky, but they did not have to play “point”, “preference” and “billiards”. Tal was not keen on billiards and did not play it very well.
Lyrics
"Preparation" (part 1)
I shouted: “Are you stunned? —
Chess prestige has been lost!”
They told me in our sports department:
“Yeah, great - you’ll protect it!
But keep in mind that Fischer is very bright, -
He even sleeps with a board - the strength is in him,
He plays cleanly, without mistakes..."
It’s okay, I’m not a gift either, -
I have a knight's move in stock.
Oh, you are muscles of steel,
My fingers are tenacious!
Eh, carved, painted
Wooden boats!
My friend, a football player, taught: “Don’t be afraid,”
He is not used to such partners.
Don't worry about the rear and the center,
And play along the edge - straight!..”
I leaned heavily on running, hundred-meter dashes,
I lost weight in the bath, I sleep well,
There were hockey training sessions...
In general, after this preparation -
I'll crush him without swearing!
Oh, you are strong palms,
Strong back muscles!
Oh my horses, my horses,
Oh, you cute elephants!
“Don’t rush and, most importantly, don’t be hunched over,”
This is how the boxer talked to me.-
Don't get into close combat, work in the body,
Remember that your crown is straight.”
The honor of the chess crown is on the map, -
He will not escape defeat:
We played ten games with Tal -
In preference, in the point and at billiards, -
Tal said: “This one won’t let you down!”
Oh, muscle definition!
Deltoids are strong!
What do I care about his light figures?
These horses and elephants!
And in the buffet, closed to others,
The cook reassured: “Don’t be timid!
You have such a wonderful appetite -
You will swallow all his horses at once!
You sit down before the distant road -
And take a backpack with food.
Prepare an Easter pie for two:
This Slate - although a genius, -
And I bet you’re not a fool to eat!”
Oh, we are tough nuts!
We will bring the crown!
I go to bed - like a pawn,
I wake up - a queen!
Game (part 2)
As soon as we arrived, we sat down immediately.
The chips are all in advance.
Photo reporters swooped in -
They blind you and want to confuse you.
But who will put me at home?
The reporters can't knock me off my feet!..
It’s not skill that will help me:
This Slate will never be able to
Guess what I'll be walking with.
It fell to him, the bully, to walk -
They say he's an expert at whites! —
Made a move from e2 to e4.
Something familiar to me, yes, yes!
Move after me, what to do!? It is necessary, Seva,
At random, like at night in the taiga,
I remember - the queen is most important:
Walks back and forth and left and right,
Well, the horses only seem to be shaped like the letter “G”.
Eh, thanks to a factory friend,
Taught how to walk, how to hand over -
It turned out later - I was scared
Played out a classic dubute!
I made sure there was no mistake,
I remembered all the cooks in sadness.
Eh, I wish I could swap pawns for glasses -
It would quickly become clearer on the board!
I see him aiming his fork -
He wants to eat, and I would eat the queen...
I'd like a snack with this and a bottle!
But you can't drink during the match.
I'm hungry, judge for yourself:
Here they only have coffee and omelettes.
Cells are like circles before the eyes,
I confuse kings with aces
And I confuse a doublet with a debut.
There is a sign - so I’m taking a risk:
I should be lucky the first time.
Yes, I’ll torture him, I’ll put him to death -
I just wish I could trick the queen!
I don’t moo, I don’t calve, I’m all like cotton wool.
We need to hit something, it's time!
What to beat with? Rook - a little scary,
Right to the jaw - seems a little early,
It’s still inconvenient - the first game.
And he destroys my defense -
Old Indian - at the moment,
This reminds me vaguely
Indo-Pakistan incident.
It's just in vain that he jokes with our brother,
I have a measure, even two:
If he finishes me off with obscenities,
So I grab him through the hip,
Or a knight move - on the head!
And Slate began to resort to tricks:
He will get up, run and go back,
He suggested that I exchange tours,
Well, if only he wouldn’t be afraid of me,
I’m lying down and bench-pressing one hundred and fifty!
So I measured his figure with my eye,
And when he announced “check” to me,
I accidentally exposed my biceps,
He even took off his jacket for good measure.
And instantly the hall became quieter,
He noticed that I was getting up
Apparently, he had no time for chips,
And the vaunted notorious Fischer
He immediately agreed to a draw.
I shouted: “Are you stunned?”
Chess prestige has been lost!"
They told me in our sports department:
“Yeah, great - you’ll protect it!
But keep in mind that Fischer is very bright, -
He even sleeps with a board - the strength is in him,
He plays cleanly, without mistakes..."
It’s okay, I’m not a gift either, -
I have a knight's move in stock.
Oh, you are muscles of steel,
My fingers are tenacious!
Eh, carved, painted
Wooden boats!
My friend, a football player, taught: “Don’t be afraid,”
He is not used to such partners.
Don't worry about the rear and the center,
And play along the edge - straight!.."
I leaned heavily on running, hundred-meter dashes,
I lost weight in the bath, I sleep well,
There were hockey practices...
In general, after this preparation -
I'll crush him without swearing!
Oh, you are strong palms,
Strong back muscles!
Oh my horses, my horses,
Oh, you cute elephants!
“Don’t rush and, most importantly, don’t be hunched over,”
This is how the boxer talked to me.-
Don't get into close combat, work in the body,
Remember that your crown is straight."
The honor of the chess crown is on the map, -
He will not escape defeat:
We played ten games with Tal -
In preference, in the point and at billiards, -
Tal said: “This one won’t let you down!”
Oh, muscle definition!
Deltoids are strong!
What do I care about his light figures?
These horses and elephants!
And in the buffet, closed to others,
The cook reassured: “Don’t be timid!
You have such a wonderful appetite -
You will swallow all his horses at once!
You sit down before the distant road -
And take a backpack with food.
Prepare an Easter pie for two:
This Slate - although a genius, -
And I bet you’re not a fool to eat!”
Oh we are tough nuts!
We will bring the crown!
I go to bed - like a pawn,
I wake up - a queen!
As soon as we arrived, we sat down immediately.
The chips are all in advance.
Photo reporters swooped in -
They blind you and want to confuse you.
But who will put me at home?
The reporters can't knock me off my feet!..
My inability will help me:
This Slate will never be able to
Guess what I'll be walking with.
It fell to him, the bully, to walk -
They say he's an expert at whites! -
Made a move from e2 to e4...
Something familiar to me... Well, well!
Follow me - what to do!? It is necessary, Seva, -
At random, like at night in the taiga...
I remember - the queen is most important:
Walks back and forth and left and right, -
Well, the horses seem to be only shaped like the letter “G”.
Eh, thanks to a factory friend -
He taught me how to walk, how to pass...
It turned out later - I was scared
Played a classic opening!
I made sure there was no mistake,
I remembered all the cooks in sadness.
Eh, I wish I could replace pawns with glasses -
It would quickly become clearer on the board!
I see him aiming his fork -
He wants to eat, and I would eat the queen...
I'd like a snack with this and a bottle!
But you can't drink during the match.
I'm hungry, judge for yourself:
Here they only have coffee and omelettes, -
Cells are like circles before the eyes,
I confuse kings with aces
And I confuse a doublet with a debut.
There is a sign - so I take a risk:
I should be lucky the first time.
Yes, I’ll torture him, I’ll put him to death -
I just wish I could trick the queen!
I don’t moo, I don’t calve, I’m all like cotton wool.
We need to hit something - it's time!
What to beat with? Rook - a little scary,
Right to the jaw - it seems a little early,
Inconvenient - the first game.
He destroys my defense -
Old Indian - at the moment, -
This reminds me vaguely
Indo-Pakistan incident.
It's just in vain that he jokes with our brother,
I have a measure, even two:
If he finishes me off with obscenities,
I him - through the hip with a grip,
Or - a knight's move - on the head!
Slate began to resort to tricks:
He will get up, run and - back;
He suggested exchanging tours, -
Well, if only he wouldn’t be afraid of me -
I’m lying down and bench-pressing one hundred and fifty!
I measured his figure with my eye,
And when oh
