Former chessplayer (1979-1995). Writer on Soviet chess history; translator of Russian-language chess literature. Published by
@chessinformant1
&
@QualityChess
.
NEWS: My translation of Levenfish's memoir, 'Selected Games & Reminiscences' is today published by
@QualityChess
as 'Soviet Outcast'. Details:
(Drawing of Levenfish is via A. Kentler at .)
#chess
The 13-year-old Garry Kasparov - already USSR Under-18 champion - pictured in play at the Khalilbeyli Memorial tournament in Baku, Soviet Azerbaijan, May-June 1976.
(Photo credit: V. Kalinin, Novosti Press.)
#chess
Kragerø, Norway, 5th August 2013. In preparation for his first World Championship match v. Vishy Anand, Magnus Carlsen is pictured in training with a certain Ian Nepomniachtchi.
(📷M. Friedman, Getty Images.)
#chess
Exactly half a century ago, one of the greatest
#chess
events of the 20th century was about to get under way in Belgrade.
The 1st round of the USSR v. Rest of the World match took place on 29th March 1970.
#FIDEWorldCup
winners:
2005 - Aronian
2007 - Kamsky
2009 - Gelfand
2011 - Svidler
2013 - Kramnik
2015 - Karjakin
2017 - Aronian
2019 - Radjabov.
All of them born in the USSR. The run had to come to an end eventually; this year, with the defeat of Karjakin in the final, it did.
Moscow, 28th March 1974.
Yuri Averbakh (the oldest living GM - 99 years old today) faces
@Kasparov63
(who would go on to become the youngest World
#Chess
Champion in history) in a clock simultaneous display in the traditional GMs v. Young Pioneers' team event.
(📷B. Dolmatovsky.)
World Cup Winners:
2005 - Levon Aronian
2007 - Gata Kamsky
2009 - Boris Gelfand
2011 - Peter Svidler
2013 - Vladimir Kramnik
2015 - Sergey Karjakin
2017 - Levon Aronian
2019 - Teimour Radjabov.
All of them born in the Soviet Union. It casts a long shadow on
#chess
, still.
Found hidden in the Noord-Holland archive: a photo from the 1977 Women's event at Wijk aan Zee, of, I believe, the young
@PiaCramling
(🇸🇪)!
Born in 1963 in Stockholm, she would go on to become Women's World
#1
, & (in 1992) the 5th woman to gain the FIDE Grandmaster title.
'Grandmaster discussion' - a photo from the Novosti Press archives. The circumstances of this one are not clear, but it features Lev Polugaevsky, Anatoly Karpov, Vasily Smyslov and Mikhail Botvinnik.
USSR, 1975.
(📷: B. Kaufman.)
#chess
India's 2nd team defeats top seeds USA 3:1.
Still recall seeing young
@vishy64theking
at the Lloyds' Bank Masters in London, 38 yrs ago in Aug 1984. Back then it was a novelty to witness such an obviously exceptional talent from India 🇮🇳. How times have changed...
#ChessOlympiad
Four world
#chess
champions (three past, one future).
(Image found online; with no details of who took the photo, or where. Perhaps during the Aeroflot Open, Moscow, February 2004?!)
In advance of his 57th birthday tomorrow, a photo of the 12-year-old
@Kasparov63
, 13th World
#Chess
Champion, facing Viktor Korchnoi in a clock simultaneous display given by the (then!) Soviet grandmaster in Leningrad on 12th November, 1975.
(Photo: N. Naumenkov / TASS.)
16-year-old Anatoly Karpov, pictured at the European Junior (Under-20) Championship in Groningen, 27th December 1967.
Karpov, who took 1st place in the event, is wearing his 'USSR Master of Sport' badge.
(Photo credit: J. de Nijs / ANEFO, via .)
#chess
A famous photo, but always worth revisiting.
14th Olympiad, Leipzig (East Germany), 1st Nov 1960. Grandmaster Bobby Fischer faces World Champion Mikhail Tal on top board of the USA v. USSR match in the 5th round of the 'A' final.
(📷: Bundesarchiv.)
#chess
FIDE Interzonal tournament, Petropolis (Brazil), August 1973. Local grandmaster Henrique Mecking ('Mequinho') is pictured in play v. his Soviet counterpart Efim Geller in the adjourned session of the 12th round. The game was drawn.
(📷: Veja São Paulo.)
#chess
The 13th World
#Chess
Champion,
@Kasparov63
, pictured in a restaurant in his home city of Baku. Photo taken in June, 1982, according to the archives.
(📷D. Donskoi, Novosti Press.)
Boris Spassky, pictured in Reykjavík at the time of his 1972 World Championship match v. Bobby Fischer.
(Photo credit: J. Cooke / Sports Illustrated.)
#chess
Bobby Fischer’s scoresheet from the 1st game of his 1971 Candidates’ Quarter-final v. Mark Taimanov. As reproduced in Kažić, ‘International Championship Chess’ (Batsford, 1974).
Five World Champions - Mikhail Tal, Mikhail Botvinnik, Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov & Vasily Smyslov.
Pictured in Moscow, 9th May 1987.
(Photo source: .)
#chess
Mikhail Tal, pictured in play v. Garry Kasparov in the 5th round of the Moscow Interzonal tournament, 5th September 1982.
(Photo: D. Donskoi / Novosti Press)
#chess
Moscow, USSR. August 1983. Ex-World Champion Mikhail Tal is pictured in play in the traditional open blitz championship, held in Sokolniki Park.
(📷: A. Fedorov, .)
#chess
Moscow, USSR, 1987. Ex-World
#Chess
Champion Anatoly Karpov and Natalya Bulanova are pictured before their marriage ceremony.
(📷: D. Donskoi, Novosti Press.)
Iceland, 1972. Bobby Fischer is pictured being fitted for a made-to-measure suit.
(One of a large collection of images of Fischer by the renowned photographer Harry Benson.)
#chess
The 16-year-old Hungarian grandmaster Péter Lékó, pictured with his mother at Wijk aan Zee in January 1996. In 2004 he missed becoming World Champion by the narrowest of margins, drawing the 14th-game title match v. Russia's Vladimir Kramnik.
(📷:.)
#chess
A photo of a frail-looking Mikhail Tal (1936-1992) taken, according to the archive, in 1991. The ex-World Champion was still mentally sharp, however - in 1992 he was famously still able to defeat Garry Kasparov in a blitz tournament in Moscow.
(📷A. Yakovlev, TASS.)
#chess
Moscow, 4th April 1983. In the 2nd round of the 50th USSR Championship, Mikhail Tal is seen in play v. Tigran Petrosian. On the left, Oleg Romanishin faces Efim Geller, on the right, Anatoly Karpov is seen in play v. Georgiy Agzamov.
(Photo: D. Donskoi / Novosti Press.)
#chess
The 11th World
#Chess
Champion, Bobby Fischer, pictured wearing a very loud suit at a 'meet the press' event in Los Angeles, California, 5th December 1972.
(Photo: M. Ochs Archive.)
#chess
Anyone else's heart sink when they read the words "The influence of becoming the [World] champion is so minor compared to streaming", coming from one of the participants in the Candidates' tournament?!
@CitiusMag
@adowniebrazil
I was in Mexico City with work in 2015.
To get to the University, we were driven past the Olympic Stadium - it was only when I saw the famous Diego Rivera mural that I realised what I was looking at. Such a historic place - Fosbury, Beamon, the Black Power salute...
It's a bit depressing that a YouTube video with the title "Biggest CHEATING SCANDAL in Chess History" has had over 1.1 million views in 5 days, when thus far there has been zero evidence of any cheating actually having taken place.
Soviet grandmaster Anatoly Karpov, pictured in play during one of his most famous games, his win v. Unzicker (BRD) in the 3rd round of the 'A' final at the 21st Olympiad, Nice, 18th June 1974.
(Photo: G. Giribaldi.)
#chess
Hidden away in the Dutch regional photo archives: some shots of the young
@vishy64theking
in action at Wijk aan Zee, v. Vitaly Tseshkovsky & Viktor Korchnoi, in 1989 & 1990, respectively.
(📷via .)
#chess
Pictured in Baku in February 1978, the 14-year-old Garry Kasparov. At that time he was fresh from winning the Sokolsky Memorial tournament in Minsk with 13/17, exceeding by 3½ points the norm for the title of Soviet Master of Sport.
(Photo credit: M. Chianurov, TASS.)
#chess
Wijk aan Zee, 12th January 1990.
@vishy64theking
is pictured prior to the start of his opening-round game v. Rini Kuijf, which he won in only 24 moves.
(Photographer: unknown, via .)
#chess
50 years ago tomorrow - 23rd January 1973. Round 7 in the Hoogovens tournament at Wijk aan Zee; Mikhail Tal (USSR) v. Hein Donner (Netherlands).
Cigarettes, analogue clocks, and not a sponsor's logo in sight...
(📷: B. Verhoeff / ANEFO, via .)
#chess
RIP Jonathan Penrose 1933-2021. Winner of ten British Championships between 1958 and 1969, he famously defeated reigning World Champion Mikhail Tal at the Leipzig Olympiad in 1960.
(Photos via .)
#chess
Moscow, April 1975. Anatoly Karpov is pictured at a press conference in the Soviet capital after he was declared the 12th World
#Chess
Champion by
@FIDE_chess
president Max Euwe, following Bobby Fischer's refusal to take part in the title match.
(📷Bettmann Collection.)
Tilburg (Interpolis), 1st November 1991. The 12th-round meeting between
@vishy64theking
&
@Kasparov63
. The Indian grandmaster defeated the World Champion in a dramatic game, but it wasn't enough to stop Kasparov from taking 1st place in the event.
(📷: Stadsarchief Breda.)
#chess
Two portraits of the 10th World
#Chess
Champion, Boris Spassky, taken at the press conference in Reykjavík, 30th June 1972, prior to his title match v. Bobby Fischer.
(📷J. Cooke, Sports Illustrated.)
A quarter of a century ago at Wijk aan Zee - January, 1998. 1st-2nd place was shared by
@vishy64theking
(🇮🇳) & Vladimir Kramnik (🇷🇺) - the latter is pictured here in play v. Jan Timman (🇳🇱).
(📷via .)
#chess
Mikhail Tal, pictured in play v. Garry Kasparov in the 5th round of the Moscow Interzonal tournament, 5th September 1982.
The game, an early example of the 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 gambit line in the Semi-Slav Defence, was drawn in 24 moves.
(Photo: D. Donskoi / Novosti Press)
#chess
Bobby Fischer, pictured in a New York City book store in 1962. The book he is holding is the 1960 publication 'Shakhmaty' by I. L. Maizelis. Fischer could read Russian and paid very close attention to the Soviet
#chess
press.
(📷C. Mydans, via LIFE Magazine.)
One of the most famous games of the 20th century. Siegen (West Germany), 20th September 1970. The 19th
@FIDE_chess
Olympiad. In round 6 of final group 'A', Boris Spassky faces Bobby Fischer on top board of the USSR v. USA match.
(📷 via .)
#chess
FIDE tie-break, 1983 style. The Smyslov-Hübner Candidates' Quarter-final match was famously decided by a spin of the roulette wheel when the score remained tied after the 14th game.
Smyslov (seated, centre) went through; Hübner could not bear to be present.
#chess
Came across this remarkable portrait by the famous photographer Evgeny Khaldei while browsing the site, looking for something else.
'Red Army soldier from Yakutia, Vasily Rubashkin.' Taken during the liberation of Belgrade, October 1944.
@sovietvisuals
Has been said before (e.g. by
@ddtru
), but Vasily Smyslov's collections of his best games are just incredibly instructive. His annotations place the emphasis on plans & ideas, with only occasional deep variations. Always get a wonderful sense of harmony playing through them.
"...I experienced a severe shock, on seeing front of me a living legend - Mikhail Tal!" -
@Kasparov63
, on his meeting, still aged only 10 yrs old, with the ex-World Champion in the All-Union Tournament of Pioneers' Palaces.
Moscow, 25th March 1974.
(📷D. Donskoi, Novosti Press.)
Tbilisi, December 1978. The 46th USSR Championship final. In conversation, ex-World Champion Mikhail Tal and, at the chessboard, the 15-year-old debutant, and future World Champion
@Kasparov63
.
(Photo source: .)
#chess
Hungary's Richard Rapport quietly continues his advance towards the top of the FIDE rating list. He still has time on his side too (screen capture from
@2700chess
).
Tigran Petrosian, Viktor Korchnoi & Evgeny Vasiukov analysing the opening game of Tal-Botvinnik World Championship match, Moscow 1961.
(Photographer: unknown, via ITAR-TASS archive.)
#chess
Ulf was lamenting the demise of post-game analyses with one's opponent.
Here is a photo by Boris Dolmatovsky from the Moscow Interzonal tournament of 40 years ago - Velimirović & Andersson examine their game, as Geller, Kasparov, Ivkov & Tal look on.
Portorož (Yugoslavia), 6th August 1958. Géza Füster faces 15-year-old Bobby Fischer in the 2nd round of the
@FIDE_chess
Interzonal. It was at this tournament that Fischer became a grandmaster, by qualifying for the 1959 Candidates' tournament.
(📷:.)
#chess
One of the pages from the young Garry Kasparov's notebooks from his time at the Botvinnik school. All done by hand, including pieces stamped on the diagram in ink.
The analysis is of the game Keres-Bondarevsky, (USSR Absolute Championship, Leningrad/Moscow 1941).
Two rare colour images from one of the strongest Soviet Championships of them all - the 41st (Moscow, 1973).
Taken during the 13th round (played 20th October) - Karpov v. Polugaevsky & Sveshnikov v. Petrosian.
(Photo credits: V. Savostianov, TASS.)
#chess
After winning the 1963 US Championship with an unprecedented (& unrepeated) perfect score of 11/11, Bobby Fischer is presented with a cake. On the 'board', the position after 19.Rf6! from his win v. Benko, which features in 'My 60 Memorable Games'. (Photo credit: unknown.)
#chess
Idlewild Airport, New York, September 1958. 15-year-old Bobby Fischer is pictured on his return from the Interzonal tournament in Portorož, Yugoslavia, at which he qualified for the FIDE Candidates' tournament - thereby gaining the grandmaster title.
(📷 Pictorial Parade)
#chess
The 17th Olympiad, Havana 1966. 'A' final, Rd. 2. The match between the USA & the USSR teams; on the top 2 boards Bobby Fischer & Robert Byrne face Boris Spassky & Mikhail Tal, respectively.
(📷: Novosti Press.)
#chess
Moscow, 1st September 1972.
Five World
#Chess
Champions in a single photo: Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Mikhail Botvinnik, Boris Spassky & Anatoly Karpov.
(Photo: V. Velikhanzhin, TASS.)
Future World Champion Magnus Carlsen, photographed with 3 previous holders of the title - Anatoly Karpov, Boris Spassky & Vasily Smyslov.
Pictured, presumably, during the Moscow Aeroflot Open, Feb. 2004.
(📷via the
#chess
museum in the Central House of Chessplayers, Moscow.)
Baku, USSR, 12th November 1985. Newly-crowned World
#Chess
Champion
@Kasparov63
is met by fans on his return to his native city, after having defeated Anatoly Karpov in their match in Moscow by the score 13:11 (+5,-3,=16).
(📷: B. Kaufman, Novosti Press.)
The Estrada Theatre, Moscow, 13th June 1969. The 22nd game of the World Championship match between Tigran Petrosian (left) & Boris Spassky (both - USSR). Arbiter Alberic O'Kelly (Belgium) is seated at the table behind.
(Photo credit: V. Tutov, ITAR-TASS.)
#chess
@sovietvisuals
The first World Championship match between Mikhail Botvinnik & Mikhail Tal, which took place in Moscow in the spring of 1960 in the city's Pushkin Drama Theatre.
Tal won by 12½:8½ (+6, -2, =13) to become the 8th World Champion.
(Photo: I. Cheprunov, Novosti Press.)
#chess
The participants at the great tournament at Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary), July-August 1929.
The event was won by Nimzowitsch; Capablanca & Spielmann shared 2nd-3rd place.
Seated on the left is Vera Menchik, who was born in Moscow on 16th February 1906, 115 years ago today.
#chess
20-year-old grandmaster Anatoly Karpov, pictured in play at the Alekhine Memorial tournament in Moscow, December 1971. Karpov shared 1st-2nd place with Stein, ahead of a star-studded field that included Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian & Spassky.
(Photo: Novosti Press.)
#chess
Moscow region, August 1971. Yuri Averbakh (99 years old today!) and his colleague Viktor Korchnoi are seen assisting ex-World Champion Tigran Petrosian in preparing for the forthcoming
@FIDE_chess
Candidates' final match v. Bobby Fischer.
(📷V. Un Da-sin, TASS.)
#chess