Former chessplayer (1979-95). Writer on Soviet chess history; translator of Russian-language chess literature. Published by Chess Informant, Quality Chess.
Aberdeenshire, Scotland, U.K.
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NEWS: My translation of Levenfish's memoir, 'Selected Games & Reminiscences' is today published by @QualityChess as 'Soviet Outcast'. Details:
qualitychess.co.uk/products/…
(Drawing of Levenfish is via A. Kentler at e3e5.com.) #chess
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My 2nd-hand copy of Golombek's book on the 1948 World Championship match-tournament.
When I was about 12 or 13 I would often go to Glasgow's Mitchell Library; in their reading room you could also borrow a small chess set; Golombek's book was one that I kept returning to. #chess
ALT The Mitchell Library in Glasgow; one of the largest reference libraries in Europe. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons.)
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45 years ago today - 18-year-old Garry Kasparov faces ex-World Champion Boris Spassky in the 5th round at Tilburg.
Beliavsky (7½/11) won the event ahead of Petrosian (7); Portisch & Timman (6½) shared 3rd-4th place.
(📷via @LevitovChess.) #chess
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Soviet (later, German) grandmaster Artur Jussupow, pictured at Hastings 1989/90.
(📷: P. Payne, Daily Telegraph.) #chess
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Exactly 20 years ago the 'reunification' match for the World Championship between Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) & Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) was in progress in Elista. Here the players are seen in the 1st game (played 23rd September 2006).
(📷: D. Rogulin / TASS.) #chess
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Viktor Korchnoi, pictured in play at the 41st USSR Championship, Moscow, October 1973. Tigran Petrosian in the background.
(📷: V. Velikzhanin, TASS.) #chess
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Ex-World Champion Mikhail Tal (USSR), pictured in play v. grandmaster Luděk Pachman (ČSSR) in the 6th round of the FIDE Interzonal tournament in Amsterdam, 26th May 1964.
(📷: H. Pot / ANEFO, via nationaalarchief.nl.) #chess
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Grandmaster Aleksei Suetin, in 'Shakhmaty v SSSR' (No. 7, 1984), writing about the 15-y.o. Vasily Ivanchuk:
"the exceptionally emotional young Ukrainian is unwaveringly devoted to chess... he has an extraordinary chess memory".
Seen here in 1987 (📷via chesspro.ru).
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Budapest, 3rd July 1949. Ex-World Champion Max Euwe is pictured in play v. László Szabó on Board 1 of a friendly match between Hungary & the Netherlands.
The 2-round contest on 10 boards was won by the hosts 12½:7½ (6½:3½, 6:4).
(📷: fortepan.hu.) #chess
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Douglas Griffin retweeted
The decisive game of the match. Games of such importance often are not great games, the tension is so high. But that was not the case here!
40 years ago today, @Kasparov63 won one of the great games in World Championship history - the 22nd of his World Championship match v. Anatoly Karpov.
Kasparov sealed 41.Nd7!! & told his seconds "Either I have gone mad, or I have a forced & very beautiful win!". #chess
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On this day in 1935. The Ritz Carlton Hotel, Amsterdam. Burgemeester Willem de Vlugt makes the ceremonial 1st move in the World Championship match between Alexander Alekhine & Max Euwe.
(📷: archief.amsterdam.) #chess
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Kasparov's annotations to his game v. Webb (European Team Championship, Skara 1980), from volume 29 of 'Chess Informant'. 👇
Skara, January 20th 1980. "Playing in the same team as Karpov,Tal and Petrosian was a great honour for a 16-year-old schoolboy." (and: "I never had such a triumphal year as 1980.")
ALT Photo via wasask.se; quotes from Kasparov on Kasparov
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40 years ago today, @Kasparov63 won one of the great games in World Championship history - the 22nd of his World Championship match v. Anatoly Karpov.
Kasparov sealed 41.Nd7!! & told his seconds "Either I have gone mad, or I have a forced & very beautiful win!". #chess
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Before sealing 41.Nd7 he had discovered the 3rd move of the combination. "Astounded by its beauty, for 17 minutes I tested & re-tested the variations, not believing my eyes!"
That 3rd move was 41...Rxd4 42.Nd7+ Kh6 (diagram) 43.Rb4!!.
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One of the main lines leads to a remarkable mate - the position is shown in this diagram.
Should you not already be familiar with the game:
dgriffinchess.wordpress.com/… #chess
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A favourite anecdote from Lubosh Kavalek on this thread:
x.com/dgriffinchess/status/1…
(The interview that it comes from was re-broadcast on The Perpetual Chess podcast in 2021. It's an absolute-must-listen - a glimpse into a byegone era.)
Great Lubosh Kavalek anecdote via @Bennyficial1:
In 1965, Kavalek played in an international tournament in Belgrade. There was one young boy there who always seemed to manage to be the one manning the demonstration board on Kavalek's games.
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Grandmaster Lubosh Kavalek (b. Prague, Czechoslovakia, 1943; d. Reston, USA, 2021), pictured in 1985, in play for his club Solingen in the West German Bundesliga.
(📷: Wikimedia Commons.) #chess
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Via AP Archive, footage of the January 1974 Candidates' quarter-final match between Boris Spassky (USSR) & Robert Byrne (USA) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. #chess
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Lubosh Kavalek, one of Byrne's team, wrote an interesting report on the match for 'Chess Life & Review' - it appears in the April 1974 issue (downloadable, gratis, via new.uschess.org/chess-life-d…).
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