After the successful ‘World Champion Born On This Date’ series in 2024, this year we will humbly present the series ‘The Uncrowned Kings’. The series will highlight those masters who were not able to win the crown but their contribution to Chess world is acknowledged by all. We begin the series with German master Louis Paulsen, a master from Golden Era of Chess.
Louis Paulsen was born on 15 January 1833 in Gut Nassengrund near in Germany. In the 1860s and 1870s, he was among the top players in the world with a brilliant record of tournament victories.
Paulsen won all matches of the First American Chess Congress in 1857, till the final one, which he lost to the great Paul Morphy. In 1862 he drew an eight-game match with Adolf Anderssen. Paulsen defeated Anderssen in matches in 1876 and 1877 but by then Anderssen had lost most of his Chess skills.
Louis Paulsen was one of the first players to challenge the notion that an attack could be constructed out of brilliance. He put forward the idea that any brilliant attack would have failed against correct defense, a concept which has been unanimously accepted by all today.
The essence of Paulsen’s ideas was correctly grasped by Wilhelm Steinitz, the First Official World Champion, who always expressed that attack and defense had equal status or importance.
Nimzowitsch often praised Paulsen for his great defensive skills but his opinion ‘Paulsen was one of the greatest purely defensive players’ seems to be an extremely unjust one. Paulsen’s game had much more depth than what appealed to Nimzowitsch.
Paulsen believed in gradually and systematically building up a solid position before striking at the enemy weaknesses. He was the first master in the world to play the Sicilian Defense in its true spirit. The ‘Paulsen variation’ of the Sicilian Defense is considered one of the most solid ways to play the Sicilian even today.
He also found out the Classical Sicilian and has played several brilliant games in the position which is now known as Boleslavsky variation. Louis Paulsen and his elder brother Wilfried Paulsen (a well known German Chess Player) invented the Dragon variation of the Sicilian, though refrained from playing it often.
Learn from the King
Today we will see a great game by Paulsen with Black pieces in the Sicilian defence.
Josef Noa – Louis Paulsen, [B56] Frankfurt, 02.08.1887
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 d6 6.Be3 e5!?
A bold idea, which was considered to be ‘strategically unacceptable & unplayable’ by the contemporary players and the subsequent modern masters for over 100 years is now being played at the top level and has been played by Kortchnoi, Larsen, Beliavsky, Khalifman etc. In some strategic aspects in Sicilian, Paulsen was ahead of the rest of the Chess fraternity by almost a hundred years! Accepting a ‘backward Pawn in an open file’ is no longer an unpardonable crime!
6…Ng4! is objectively better. 7.Bg5! Qb6 8.Bb5 Bd7 9.0–0! Qxd4 10.Bxc6 Qxd1 11.Bxd7+ Kxd7 12.Raxd1=
7.Nde2?!
This seemingly logical move, trying to control ‘d5’ and ‘f5’ squares with Knights is a strategic inaccuarcy as per the evaluation of modern Chess playing engines.
7.Nb3! is the best choice. 7.Nf3 is also better.
7…Be6!
7…Ng4? is strategically incorrect now, i.e. after Black has committed ….e7–e5. For example, after 8.Qd2 Nxe3 9.Qxe3 White is clearly better.
8.Bg5?! Be7 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.Nd5 Bg5!
A modern idea, often used nowadays in Lasker-Pelikan-Shveshnikov variation.
11.g3 Bg4
Over ambitious but played with a great strategic idea of weakening White’s dark squares. In absence of the dark coloured Bishop, White will find it very difficult to guard the dark squares in his camp.
11…0–0 12.h4 Bh6 is the modern way of playing the position. Black is much better as he has not weakened his position as in the Lasker Pelikan Shveshnikov variation.
12.Qd3 0–0 13.f3?! Be6 14.h4 Qa5+!?
Louis Paulsen
Josef Noa
14…Bh6 was tactically possible. For example, 15.g4? Bxd5 16.exd5 Nb4 17.Qe4 a5 18.g5? f5!–+. But the move played is much more flexible.
15.c3
15.b4? fails to win a piece as after 15…Nxb4 16.Nxb4 Qxb4+ 17.c3 Qb2 18.Rb1 Black has 18…Bd2+!
15…Bd8! 16.Bh3! …Bxd5 17.Qxd5 Qa6!
Louis Paulsen
Josef Noa
18.Qxd6??
White has succeeded in winning the backward ‘d’ Pawn but at what cost?
18…Be7 19.Qd2 Rad8 20.Qc2 Qb6!
The White King has been caught in centre.
21.Rf1 Qe3 22.Qc1 Qd3 23.Qd1
23.Qb1?? allows Qd2+ 24.Kf2 Bc5+ 25.Kg2 Qxe2+ 26.Kh1 Rd2
23…Qb5 24.Qb3 Qc5!
The threat of exchanging Queens has been parried.
25.Rf2 Qe3
The strategic concept of idea of weakening the dark squares in White’s territory has triumphed. There is no defence to forthcoming ….Bc5.
26.Qxb7
26.Qc2 Bc5 27.Rf1 fails to 27…Nb4!
26…Bc5 27.Rh2
27.Rf1?? Qd2#
27…Rd6 28.Rd1
28.b4? loses to 28…Bxb4 29.cxb4 Nd4!
28…Rxd1+ 29.Kxd1 Rd8+ 0–1
White resigned in view of the following variations.
If 30.Ke1, then Qd2+ 31.Kf1 Qd1+ 32.Kg2 Qxe2+ 33.Kh1 Rd1+ 34.Bf1 Rxf1#
Or if 30.Kc2 Qd3+ 31.Kb3 Na5+)
Finally, if 30.Bd7! …Qd3+ 31.Ke1 Qb1+ 32.Kd2 Na5 33.Qb5 when we have the following position.
Louis Paulsen
Josef Noa
33…Rxd7+! 34.Qxd7 Nc4#!
