@Markovich. Regarding Morphy and shoes, Reuben Fine got it all wrong. Phrenology is more of a science than Fine's book on chess psychology. That said, your re-incarnation with traveling back in time explains a lot. Lev claimed a while ago that Nimzowitsch were reincarnated in Bent Larsen. This seemed strange, because Nimzowitsch died only 12 days after Larsen's birth.
From
Steinitz' autopsy, as reported by Dr. L. C. Pettit ("The Pathology of Insanity",
Proc. Amer. Med.-Psych. Assoc, 1901):
Quote:With a dwarfed appearance (height four feet eleven inches) due to arrested development of the lower extremities, was found an almost entire occlusion of the common iliac arteries; . . . the aorta . . . was a mere calcareous shell. The brain was almost phenomenal in the development of the orbital and frontal convolutions as shown by their increased number and diminished size. The orbital plates presented deep indentures conforming to the convolutions which were in prominent relief. The entire brain weighed 1462 grams; its relative weight to the body was as one to twenty-eight. The intellect displayed during life, coupled with the degenerative and morbid conditions found after death, seem clearly to place the case under the heading of pseudo-genius or mattoid.
Personally I prefer "mattoid".
Reshevsky. John Kobler wrote in "The Icy Wizard of the Royal Game",
Sports Illustrated, October 17, 1955:
Quote:At 43, Reshevsky, despite his smallness, is an imposing figure whose icy boardside manner is a weapon which powerfully complements his wits. Barely 5 feet 2 inches tall, with a wide, bulging brow and steely eyes, he sits un-movingly erect for hours on end, his head in his cupped hands, his mouth pursed in an expression of ineffable hauteur. [...] When the economic necessities of maintaining a family of four (he has a daughter, Sylvia, aged 11, and a son, Joel, of 6) threatened to overwhelm him, a fund was raised among chess lovers by the late Maurice Wertheim, a wealthy broker, which gave Reshevsky some $3,000 a year to supplement the $6,000 to $7,000 a year he makes in tournaments and exhibitions.
Thus we have: Steinitz 150 cm; Reshevsky 157.5 cm. Had Steinitz ever played against Morphy, he would have been the "David".
TN wrote on 06/19/11 at 16:05:29:
This thread is far too classic for the General Chess section. - I suppose that once the dust has settled, the reincarnation of Sir Baron Von Moderateur can transport a reincarnation of this thread to the Endgame section.
I almost fear that my practice of giving sources violates unwritten forum rules. May this thread be moved wherever it belongs. Perhaps between the two threads on "brain weight of chess-players" and "income of chess-plyers".
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Who is the Smallest? (Read 23591 times)
