The David Bronstein Page

Welcome to my tribute to GM David Bronstein.

This page is currently under construction. More info to be added soon

David Ionovich Bronstein was born Feb. 19, 1924 in the town Byelaya Tsekov in Ukraine.

He learned the game of chess, along with draughts, at the age of 6 from his grandfather. David married Tatiana Boleslavskaya, daughter of one of David's best friends, the late Isaac Boleslavsky.

By 1940, he had become one of the best young players in Russia and was awrded the national master title. In 1951 he tied a match for the World Championship with Mikhail Botvinnik. Botvinnik kept the title, according to the rules of the match. Former World Champion, Dr. Max Euwe called Bronstein the "Co-World Champion". Unfortunatly, there was no such title. Bronstein never again had a match for the title, though he does continue to play high quality chess. The spark that ignited many infernos on the board has been seen as recently as the early 1990's.

David is never afraid to try something new. He played many types of openings and also tried older lines to test his opponent. In fact, one of his favorite things to do is to try to play an opening that has a relevance to his opponent, such as playing the English opening against an English player or even simply reading Shakespeare before the match! He is also a pioneer in other ways. He thought of such things as "Banter Chess", which is quite popular on the online chess servers. He and Mikhail Tal played a game in 1966 where they spoke aloud their thoughts to a crowd and also had it recorded on tape. He also has conflicting views about such things as the title "World champion"..."The idea of a chess champion seems atavistic in general. In Art there mustn't be champions!" Here are a couple quotes about GM Bronstein.

"The younger generation of players think that modern chess began with such things as the Informator but players of my generation know that it started with Bronstein!"-Tigran Petrosian

"Bronstein was a key figure in chess (in the 1950's). Without him neither Tal, nor even Fischer, could have played such important roles in the history of chess"-Barcza

Bronstein's style of play is tactical, he plays for wild positions. Euwe describes Bronstein's style, in his 2 book set on the middlegame "The Middlegame" like this, "His style is something of Alekhine (his pawn sacrifices and his instinct for breakthrough) but also something of Tartakower (the best move is not necessarily the strongest; preference may be given to a second-best move in order to confuse the opponent). For example in this game


[Site "Belgrade"]
[Date "1954.??.??"]
[White "Porreca, G"]
[Black "Bronstein, D"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B18"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nh3 Bh7 8. Bc4 Nf6 9. Nf4 Nbd7 10. O-O Qc7 11. Re1 Bg8 12. Nd3 e6 13. Bf4 Bd6 14. Bxd6 Qxd6 15. Nf5 Qf8 16. Qf3 O-O-O 17. Ng3 Bh7 18. a4 Bxd3 19. Bxd3 Qd6 20. a5 a6 21. Ra3 g5 22. h5 Qf4 23. Qe2 Kc7 24. c3 Rhe8 25. Ne4 Nxe4 26. Qxe4 Qxe4 27. Bxe4 Nf6 28. Bf3 g4 29. Bd1 Rg8 30. Re5 Rd5 31. Ra4 Rg5 32. Bb3 Rdxe5 33. dxe5 Nd7 34. Bd1 Nxe5 35. Re4 Rxh5 36. Bxg4 Nxg4 37. Rxg4 Rxa5 38. Rg7 Rf5 39. g4 Rf6 40. Kg2 Kd6 41. Kg3 e5 42. Rg8 Kd5 0-1
(11...Bg8!!? in order to eliminate the possibility of a sac on e6.)

He's quite possibly the last of the chess romantics. He's also a rejuvinator of openings, infusing new ideas in old lines. Along with Boleslavsky, Bronstein found new ideas in the King's Indian Defense. At the time, it was thought to be inferior, but their persistance and effectiveness made the defense fashionable again in the 1950's. The King's Indian Defense is still used frequently, and much of their analysis still stands as the correct continuations to this day.

Check out the Bronstein Photos!

Here are a couple "common" games of GM Bronstein's

[Event "?"]
[Site "Erevan"]
[Date "1975.??.??"]
[White "Bronstein, D "]
[Black "Beliavsky, A "]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B18"]
[Round "?"]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Nc5 Qb6 6.g4 Bg6 7.f4 e6 8.Qe2 Be7 9.h4 h5 10.f5 exf5 11.g5 Nd7 12.Nb3 Qc7 13.Nh3 O-O-O 14.Bf4 Bd6 15.Qh2 Nf8 16.O-O-O Ne6 17.Bxd6 Rxd6 18.Bc4 Ne7 19.Nf4 Nxf4 20.Qxf4 Rdd8 21.Qxc7+ Kxc7 22.c3 Rhe8 23.Nc5 Nc8 24.Nd3 Nd6 25.Bb3 Re3 26.Nf4 Rde8 27.Rhg1 R8e7 28.Rdf1 Ne4 29.Bd1 Kd6 30.Bf3 c5 31.dxc5+ Kxc5 32.Ng2 Rd3 33.Nf4 Rd8 34.Rd1 Red7 35.Rxd7 Rxd7 36.Rd1 Rxd1+ 37.Kxd1 Nd6 38.Kc2 a5 39.a4 Kb6 40.Kd3 Kc7 41.Kd4 Nc8 42.b4 axb4 43.cxb4 Ne7 44.a5 f6 45.gxf6 gxf6 46.Kc5 Be8 47.b5 Kb8 48.b6 1-0

[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1961.??.??"]
[White "Bronstein, D"]
[Black "Geller, E"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E27"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 O-O 6. f3 d5 7. cxd5 exd5 8. e3 Bf5 9. Ne2 Nbd7 10. Nf4 c5 11. Bd3 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 Re8 13. O-O Rc8 14. Rb1 Qa5 15. Rxb7 Nb6 16. g4 h6 17. h4 cxd4 18. g5 dxe3 19. gxf6 Rxc3 20. Qg6 fxg6 21. Rxg7+ 1-0

Here is one last game, played in 1997. This game won the brilliancy prize for the tournament. David was 73!

[Site "Hoogeveen NED"]
[Date "1997.??.??"]
[White "Bronstein, D"]
[Black "Vedder, R"]
[Round "03"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2420"]
[BlackElo "2255"]
[ECO "E16"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. O-O O-O 9. Nc3 Ne4 10. Qc2 f5 11. Rad1 Nxd2 12. Rxd2 a6 13. a3 Qc7 14. Rfd1 Be7 15. Qb3 Rc8 16. c5 Bc6 17. cxb6 Qb7 18. Ne5 Bxg2 19. Rxd7 Bd5 20. R1xd5 Rxc3 21. Rd8+ Bf8 22. Rxf8+ Kxf8 23. Qb4+ Ke8 24. Rd8+ Kxd8 25. Qf8# 1-0

Sources
"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" by David Bronstein & Tom Furstenberg
"The Oxford Companion to Chess" by David Hooper & Kenneth Whyld
"The Middlegame" by Dr. Max Euwe & Hans Kramer
"The Guinness Book of Chess Grandmasters" by William Hartston

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