Alexei Shirov was one of the very strongest players in the world from the mid-90s through around 2010, and even more than for his strength he was (and is!) celebrated for his creativity. Shirov entitled both of his chess autobiographies Fire On Board, and with good reason, too. His ability to create, and outwit his opponents, in the most insanely complex positions made him an heir to the great Mikhail Tal, and the chess world was all the richer for it.
For many of us, 2010 was not all that long ago, but there are plenty of kids for whom Shirov is mostly a name and not a figure of great familiarity. And while there are “oldies” stations galore playing the music of the 1990s and 2000s, very few of chess’s greatest hits get the equivalent of air time.
So, during a recent lesson I wanted to give one of my students a little sampler of what made Shirov great, and decided to show him a remarkable bit of analysis in the Sveshnikov Sicilian that he came up with and played against Veselin Topalov. Shirov discusses this with understandable pride in the chapter “Notes on Creativity” in Fire On Board Part II: 1997-2004, and I started showing it to my student. Out of curiosity, and hoping that it would make Shirov’s creativity even more impressive, I ran the engine while entering the moves.
Sigh…
Have a look here, as we see what Shirov did and thought, and how Stockfish blew a hole in the idea.