Live sports have made a comeback on our sports channels after a long break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The empty stadiums could not diminish the drama that kept us all glued to our screens. Of particular interest has been the biblical “David vs. Goliath” battles unfolding across different sports fields.

Sport is fascinating in all its forms, whether contact or non-contact. It is true in football, as it is in chess, that people love it when an underdog defeats a giant. Lyon knocked out Juventus and Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League, and we may never fully understand how a team finishing seventh in their own league (“Farmers League” or is it?) could outplay Goliaths from the so-called best leagues in the world. Does this mean Lyon no longer want to be underdogs? There are many questions we may never get answers to, but one thing is certain: Lyon are in the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time in history!

The chequered board has its own fair share of drama, with even the greatest world champions sometimes falling to lower-rated players—or, in the words of Garry Kasparov, “chess tourists.” In the game below, Kasparov was defeated in just 22 moves, and we may never know whether his opponent, Huzman, was truly a “chess tourist.”

The games below tell the stories of lesser-known opponents who outplayed the giants: Kasparov, Anand, and Kramnik.

Huzman,Alexander (2574) - Kasparov,Garry (2830)

EU-Cup 19th Rethymnon 2003

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 a6 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 0–0 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.Qc2 Bd6 10.Ne2 c5 11.0–0 b6 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Ng3 Bb7 14.Nf5 Bc7 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.b4 c4 17.Be2 Ne4 18.Bc3 Nxc3 19.Qxc3 Nf6 20.Rfd1 Bc8?? (20...Re8 21.Ng3 Bc8 with clear advantage to Black)

21.Rxd5! Qe8 22. Bxc4 1–0

Anand,Viswanathan (2770) - Touzane,Olivier (2368)

FIDE-Wch k.o. Moscow 2001

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0–0 Be7 8.c4 Nf6 9.Nc3 0–0 10.Re1 Be6 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.a3 Bf6 13.Be4 h6 14.Bc2 Nxc3 15.bxc3 Bc4 16.Nd2 Bd5 17.Rb1 Bg5 18.c4 Bxd2 19.cxd5 Bxe1 20.dxc6 Ba5 21.Qd3 g6 22.cxb7 Rb8 23.Bxh6 Re8 24.Qf3 Re6 25.Bb3 Rf6 26.Qg4 Rb6 27.Bg5 Qe8 28.Qf3 R8xb7 29.h4 Qd7 30.g4 ...

Rxb3! 31.Rxb3 Rxb3 32.Qxb3 Qxg4+ 33.Kf1 Qxd4 34.Be3 Qa1+ 35.Kg2 Bb6 36.Bxb6 axb6 37.Qg3 Qc1 38.h5 Qc6+ 39.Kf1 Qh1+ 40.Ke2 Qxh5+ 0–1

James Tarjan (2412) - Vladimir Kramnik (2803)

Isle of Man Open Douglas ENG 2017

1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6 3.Nf3 d5 4.b3 Bg4 5.Bg2 e6 6.0–0 Nbd7 7.Bb2 Bd6 8.d3 0–0 9.Nbd2 Re8 10.h3 Bh5 11.Re1 a5 12.a3 e5 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.Nh4 Nc5 15.Qc2 Ne6 16.Rac1 Nd4 17.Qd1 Nb5 18.Nb1 Qd7 19.Kh2 Ra6 20.Nf3 e4 21.dxe4 Nxe4 22.Rf1 Bb8 23.Nc3 Nbxc3 24.Bxc3 Rae6 25.Be1 h6 26.Rc2 Ba7 27.Qc1 Bb6 28.e3 Qb5 29.Nd4 Bxd4 30.exd4 Bf3? 31.Bxf3! Nxg3??

32.fxg3 Qxf1 33.Bf2 Qd3 34.Rc3 Qf5 35.Kg2 Rf6 36.Qc2 Qd7 37.g4 Rc6 38.Rc5 Rd8 39.Qf5 Rxc5 40.Qxd7 Rxd7 41.dxc5 d4 42.Kf1 d3 43.Ke1 d2+ 44.Kd1 Kf8 45.Bg3 Ke7 46.Bd6+ Ke6 47.Kxd2 b6 48.Ke3 bxc5 49.Bxc5 Rd8 50.b4 axb4 51.axb4 f5 52.b5 fxg4 53.hxg4 g6 54.b6 h5 55.g5 Kd7 56.b7 1–0

These games are surely immortalized by Huzman, Touzane and Tarjan who defied all odds to win best these great champions. There has to be a lesson in there about believing in oneself and having the will-power to overcome whatever comes your way! We don’t know what will happen to Lyon but we know what we have to do...

David vs Goliath: Chess Edition