FAVORITES: Taubenhaus vs Tarrasch 1885

One of the most successful tournament players ever (and not far behind Lasker when it came to longevity), Tarrasch was a master of strategy and titan of tactics as well. For proof of the latter, witness his amazing combination against Walbrodt from Hastings 1895, with one of the alltime great "stinger-in-the-tail" finales; a game which had to settle for the second brilliancy prize only because Steinitz also played von Bardeleben there. :)

Perhaps the greatest utilizer of a space advantage this side of Karpov, Tarrasch was a consummate master of the slow buildup (and a splendid rook & pawn ending player as well).

He was also a writer on the game. And yes, as has often been noted, he could be very, very dogmatic indeed. But one of his many virtues as a player was that he generally tended to ignore his own advice; at least, the doctrinaire and simplistic sort of advice which often infused his annotations.

Consider the following: for this game (or "partie") from Ancient Times features an opening which consists of little more than pawn moves on Black's part. Yet by move 13 Mr T was already well on his way to tying his opponent up hand and foot!