Chess Informant Celebrates 42 Years!

I haven't had a New York Times Gambit column here for awhile - but this one, by guest blogger GM Joel Benjamin, is a real good one! February 3, 2008, 2:04 pm A Milestone for Literary Chess Institution By Joel Benjamin The Serbian publication Sahovski Informator (Chess Informant) recently marked 42 years of operation with its 100th volume. Appearing three times a year (twice a year over most of its run), Informant provides hundreds of deeply annotated games, as well as combinations and endings. To render the commentary internationally understandable, the editors invented a language of symbols to evaluate moves and positions (e.g., “+=” means white has a slight advantage) still in wide usage today. The chess community is particularly grateful for the openings classification system known as ECO codes, after its five-volume work “Encyclopedia of Chess Openings.” In the 70s and early 80s, Informant was considered the chess bible, and for many fans and competitors, it presented the only access to game scores from foreign tournaments. Players were greatly honored to have a game published in its pages. A lingo even developed around Informant terms: If someone spoke of a “box” move, you knew he was referencing the symbol for a forced or only move. Its “biblical” status began to fade in the mid-80s with the advent of commercial chess databases. The Internet dealt an even more serious blow. Annotated games from major competitions are generally available online the next day. Many events are even covered live. Moreover, the wordless analysis of Informant may not differ much from the output of chess engines owned by most serious players. Most young players today do not subscribe to Informant, if they even know of its existence. Far fewer Western grandmasters contribute analysis than in the periodical’s heyday. Amateurs rarely dream anymore of making it into Informant. Yet Informant soldiers on, changing to remain relevant in the digital age. All of its products can now be purchased in CD form. Informant has already survived the political troubles of the 90’s, which forced its editor to publish from Cyprus to sidestep embargoes on Yugoslavian products. With its games grouped by opening codes, Informant is still the best tool for monitoring developments in opening theory. I serve on the jury for the “Ten Most Important Novelties of the Preceding Volume” primarily to keep up with the latest trends. Some fun facts reported in Volume 100: * 101,033 games, 3,128 combinations, 2,503 endings and 108 studies * Most games: Viktor Korchnoi 1,709 (and counting) followed by Jan Timman 1,703 (also still going) * Most common opening: 1,498 ECO code B33 (Lasker-Pelikan Sicilian, Sveshnikov Variation) * 3,000 total contributors * Longest game: van der Wiel-Fedorowicz, Graz 1981, 143 moves (With adjournments, the game took several days to complete. Fedorowicz was so sick that after each session he went back to bed.)