Innovative Creativity of the World Champion (1895-1912) Isidore Weiss in Draughts

Weiss was the king of "va banque" and the king of the combination game. This was reflected in the so-called quick games at which he was unbeatable. In them he was able to give free rein to his "va banque" tendencies of the fantasy, at breakneck speed and with unfailing certainty. This was also the case in the simultaneous sessions which still reminded him of the old glory that his reputation had always remembered. He played unprecedentedly fast so that his lightning-fast playing style could not be followed, and his knowledge of the beautiful and surprising game of hitting amazed everyone. He mastered the three main parts of the game; problems, the shot game, and the whole game in its most capricious forms. If one plays and looks at his problems, he finds the ultimate economy in his work in the first place: his problems say a lot with very little material. In the second place we find purity and originality. Weiss was a real problem artist and his creations therefore touch the fine, the subtle, and the artistic manner that can strike us in this way. A problem with seven times capturing the most pieces is very rare, but Weiss was one of the first to come up with it. The search for problems composed by the grand masters is a futile quest. As with so many prominent players, the problem is an almost closed area for them. Weiss was a very big exception in that respect.