Viktor Kortchnoï

Viktor Lvovitch Kortchnoï (in; ) (March 23rd 1931 with Leningrad, the USSR -) is a Soviet player of failures , which required the political asylum of the Netherlands in 1976, was stateless person, then obtained nationality Suisse. Although it was never world champion, he is a player with the prize list of most prestigious:

4 times Champion of the USSR (in 1960,1962-63, 1964-65 and 1970), victorious of two tournaments interzones (1973 and 1987), Kortchnoï were ten times candidate with the championship of the world of failures: in 1962 and without interruption of 1968 to 1991, that is to say a total of 19 matches (including 13 victories), and two tournaments. It was four times finalist of the tournament of the candidates (1968, 1974,1977 and 1980), victorious of two cycles of the candidates (1977 and 1980) and twice vice-champion of the world of failures (against Anatoli Karpov in 1978 and 1981). It was 5 times champion of Europe by teams with the USSR (including 2 times better individual performance), 6 times member of the team of the USSR which gained the Olympiads of failures (1960 and 1966-1974), 4 times winner of the tournament of Wijk aan Zee (1968, 1971,1984 & 1987) and victorious of the Oscar of the failures 1978 (in front of Karpov).

Of a longevity without equivalent in the professional circuit, he faced all the world champions since Botvinnik until Kramnik, Anand and Topalov, he became in 2006 senior World champion.

In April 2007 (at 76 years), it still counted among the 100 best players of the world. In July 2007, it was still credited with 2610 points Elo

Biography

Years of training

Of Ukrainian Jewish origin, it is born with Leningrad, knows a very difficult childhood and survives terrible the Siège of Leningrad (1941 - 1944). At the 7 years age, he learns how to play failures with his father and, in 1943, he is registered with the club of the Pioneers of Leningrad. It was involved by Abram Model, Andrei Batuyev and Vladimir Zak. In 1947, it gained the Championship of the USSR junior, and it repeated the following year by finishing first equal with Ivo Nei. It took down a diploma in history at the university of Leningrad. More important, in 1951, it took down the title of Maître (Soviet).

In the years 1950, the style of Kortchnoi privileged the aggressive counter-attack. He excelled in the difficult defensive positions and the finales. In 1952, it was qualified for the first time for the finale of the XXe Championship of the USSR with Moscow (where it beat Vassily Smyslov). In 1954, it took part in its first international tournament with Bucharest. It gained the tournament in front of Rashid Nezhmetdinov. FIDE granted to him the title of international Maître in 1954 and that of international Large-Master in 1956.

From 1952 to 1960, it succeeds in being qualified with all the finales of the championships of the USSR. Its results were irregular, alternating brilliant results and disasters: 2nd-3rd in XXIe championship of the USSR in 1954; the following year, in XXIIe championship of the USSR of 1955 which was a zonal tournament qualifier for the championship of the world, it finished 19th on 20 participants (+1, =10, -8), then 4th in XXIIIe championship of the USSR in 1956. Two years later, it finished 9th-11th of XXVe championship of the USSR 1958 which was a zonal tournament qualifier for the championship of the world. However it succeeds in beating once again the winner and future world champion Mikhaïl Tal.

A Soviet Large-Master

During the years 1960, its style became more general-purpose, controlling all the technical range to become a candidate with the world title.

XXVIIe Champion of the USSR, in 1960 having To freeze, Petrossian, Polougaïevsky, Smyslov, Taimanov, Spassky, Bronstein and 12 other players Soviet, it finished the following year 2nd of XXVIIIe championship of the USSR 1961, qualifying for the first time at the interzonal Tournoi of Stockholm (gained by Fischer) in 1962. The Tournoi of the candidates took place with Curaçao later a few months: Kortchnoï only finishes 5th on 8 with the score of 13,5/27.

In 1964, with the zonal tournament of seven players organized by the Soviet federation, it finished 7th and missed the qualification for Cycle of the candidates (1964-1965) which saw the victory of Boris Spassky.

Thanks to a good performance with the interzonal of Sousse in 1967, Kortchnoï went back in race. In the first match of the Tournament of the candidates, in 1968, it beat Samuel Reshevsky with Amsterdam. Then, it was the turn of Mikhail Tal beaten on a very tight score (5,5 to 4,5) with Moscow. Finally Tournament of the candidates, it faced Boris Spassky which appeared too strong for him. After these results, Kortchnoï was exempted interzonal qualifications for the following cycle (1970-1972). It was directly allowed with the Tournoi of the candidates. In 1971, it easily gained its first match against Efim Geller, but lost then against the ex-champion of the world, Tigran Petrossian by 5,5 to 4,5.

In the years 1960, Kortchnoï multiplied the first prices in the tournaments, crushing its adversaries. It gained four times the championship of the USSR (in 1960,1962,1964/65 and 1970). In 1968, it gained the tournaments of Wijk Aan Zee and Palma de Majorque, largely preceding Tal, Portisch, Spassky, Larsen and Petrossian. The mood of Kortchnoï largely dictated its plan of play. At ease with or without the initiative, it could attack, counter-attack, play positional , and was an expert respected in the finales. It is known like a Master of the counter-attack. Curiously, it was the pet peeve of the former world champion Mikhail Tal, pure attacking against whom it had a positive score: +11, =9, -6, just as against Tigran Petrossian (+12, =47, -11) and Boris Spassky (+22, =35, -14). It had an equal score against Bobby Fischer (+2, =2, -2), Mikhail Botvinnik (+1, =2, -1) like David Bronstein (+6, =13, -6). It beat the eight world champions of Mikhail Botvinnik with Gary Kasparov, as well as the world champions FIDE, Ruslan Ponomariov and Veselin Topalov.

The adversary of Karpov (1972-1975)

In 1972-1973, Kortchnoï and the young person Anatoli Karpov, the new star of the Soviet failures, shared the first place of the tournament of Hastings (1971/72), the first place of the interzonal Tournoi of Leningrad (1973) and the second place of XLIe championship of the USSR 1973. In 1974, in the matches of the Tournament of the candidates, Kortchnoï initially rather easily beat (7,5 to 5,5) the young star Brazilian Henrique Mecking (victorious of the other interzonal Tournoi with Petrópolis). Kortchnoï was then opposed to the former champion of world Tigran Petrossian. The two adversaries were not then any more in the best terms. Although the match was designed to last until one of the players obtains 4 victories, Petrossian gave up after only five parts, on the score of 3 victories to 1 for Kortchnoï (and only one null).

Its victory over Petrossian in 1974, again propelled Kortchnoï finally of the Tournoi of the candidates, of which the winner would face holding it of the title, Bobby Fischer in 1975. The last adversary of Kortchnoï was Anatoli Karpov against which it had disputed a match of friendly drive of 6 parts three years earlier. Karpov gained the final played of 24 parts with Moscow over the score of 12,5 to 11,5 (+3, -2, =19), after having led for a long time 2 victories to 0, then 3 to 0.

At the end of 1974, at the time of the closing ceremony of the finale of the candidates, Kortchnoï made his decision to leave the the USSR. After the match, Kortchnoï, in a Yugoslav newspaper, affirmed that Fischer would beat all her adversaries and that he was not considered lower than Karpov, whose superiority did not appear obvious to him. He then refused to help Karpov in his preparation against Fischer. The following year, Karpov became the new world champion, by defect, since Bobby Fischer renonçait to defend her title.

Kortchnoï against the Kremlin (1976)

In 1975, at the time of a press campaign with an aim of promoting Karpov, Tigran Petrossian tackled in an article the " attitude; anti-sportive" of Kortchnoï in its interview. The central authorities prevented Kortchnoï from playing in international tournaments. Even invited by Paul Keres and Ivo Nei to be taken part in a tournament with Tallinn in Estonia, it was not authorized to play, and Keres as Nei were reprimands. In a conference in 2006 with London, Kortchnoï mentioned that the authorization to reappear abroad arrived only after Karpov had inherited the world title. Certain observers disputed the way in which Karpov had become world champion. Like its Kortchnoï adversaries, Spassky and Polougaievsky invisible of the public because had fallen in disgrace, and that he had not faced Bobby Fischer, one could think that the title of Karpov was of less value (and consequently that the victory of Karpov was not really significant).

At the end of 1975, Kortchnoï was authorized to take part in an international tournament in Moscow, then to play at the time the tournaments of Hastings (1975/76) and Amsterdam (in July 1976), which it gained with equality with Tony Miles. At the end of the tournament of Hastings, he asked Tony Miles to spell the expression to him “ political asylum ”. In the years 1970, several strong players of failures gave up the the USSR, and Kortchnoï was most prestigious of them. What neither the Soviet federation of failures, nor even the the Kremlin never forgave him.

In 1976, having required the Political asylum of the Netherlands, it left behind him his wife and her Igor son, which became hostages of the Communist regime. The Soviet federation founded a Boycott against him: The organizers of tournaments were put in front of a clear choice: Or the presence of the Soviet players, or that of Kortchnoï. The pressures were still accentuated at the time of its attempts to charm the championship of the world with Anatoli Karpov, of 1977 with 1981.

Matches for the championship of the world (1977-1981)

In 1977, the Soviet federation tried to disqualify it with the pretext that the championship of the world disputes between federations and not between individuals, and that Kortchnoï could not validly any more represent the Soviet federation.

In 1977, at the time of the cycle of the candidates, Kortchnoï faced successively three Soviet players, including two preceding world champions: Tigran Petrossian and Boris Spassky, which it beat in a convincing way. Its first finale of the championship of the world, in 1978, with Baguio (Filipino), that it lost 6-5 will remain in annals of the history of the noble play. It lasted more than three months (94 days) and 32 very disputed parts. It was the occasion of a ceaseless psychological combat. The Soviets called even upon a “parapsychologist”, Dr. Zoukhar (directing of the central Laboratory of psychology of Moscow) to try to decentralize and destabilize the challenger. After having carried out 5-2, Karpov lost three parts out of four and Kortchnoï equalized 5 to 5. Karpov gained the decisive part.

Shortly after the finale of the championship of the world, Kortchnoï gained the gold medal with the first chess-board with the Olympiade of failures of 1978 with Buenos-Surfaces, gained by Hungary. It also gained in 1978, the Oscar of the failures allotted by the journalists, in front of Anatoli Karpov. After having beaten Petrossian successively, Polougaïevsky and Hübner at the time of the tournament of the candidates in 1980, Kortchnoï clearly lost its match against Karpov in 1981 with Merano, in Italy: 2-6. Soviet had still refused with his wife and her son to come to join it. A time stateless person, Kortchnoï obtained nationality Suisse little before the match of 1981.

End of the Soviet boycott

After the lost match of 1981, the Soviet players continued the boycott of the tournaments which accepted Kortchnoï. In 1983, Kortchnoï beat Lajos Portisch in quarterfinal of the candidates and the International federation Of Failures (FIDE) decided that Kortchnoï should face Kasparov, in semi-final of the candidates, with Passadena in California. The Soviet federation refused to send Kasparov to the United States and Kortchnoï gained the match by fixed price. Negotiations started between Kortchnoï and Soviet for rejouer the match. Kortchnoï accepted rejouer in London, provided that Soviet puts an end to the boycott. After its defeat (4 to 7) against Kasparov, Kortchnoï could meet the Soviet players in tournament. It gained in February 1984, for the third time, the strong tournament of Wijk aan Zee (Bewerjik) with Alexander Beliavsky.

After this period, Kortchnoï multiplied the participations in the international tournaments and did not exceed any more the stage of the quarterfinals of the cycle of the candidates to the championship of the world. It finished 12th on 16 with the Tournoi of the candidates of Montpellier in 1985. It gained fourth once the tournament of Wijk aan Zee in 1987. With the interzonal tournaments of Zagreb (1987) and of Manila (1990), it was qualified for the cycles of the candidates. In 1993, it failed of half-time, beaten in the last rounds of the interzonal Tournoi FIDE (in Biel/Bienne, beaten by Anand).

Senior world champion

In September 2006, Kortchnoï gained the 16th Championship of the senior world, which had been held with Arvier (Vallée of Aoste, Italy) on a score from 9 to 2. Kortchnoï marked 7.5-0.5 in the first eight parts, then cancelled in the 3 last. It is the first championship of the individual world gained by Kortchnoï.

Gary Kasparov said of him: " In all the history of the failures you will not find another player with such a constancy in the discipline, strength and ferocity… Kortchnoi, even in its seventh decade, still seeks the truth in the échecs."

It also published a certain number of monographs on the openings, the finales and several works on its best parts. It for example signed the article devoteds to with the English part with the Gambit of the king (Code ECO C4), with French defense and the open alternative of the Spanish part in the first two editions of the Encyclopédie of the openings of failures . It brought important innovations in very many alternatives. It is known for its very high score with the White against defense be-Indian.

A prize list out of the commun run

Kortchnoï has a single prize list, at the same time by its width and its longevity:

1947-1958: A Soviet large-Master

  • 1947 : Champion of the USSR junior to Leningrad
  • 1948: Champion of the USSR junior to Tallinn (with Ivo Nei)
-
  • 1952: 6th (in front of David Bronstein, Vassily Smyslov and Paul Keres) with the XXe championship of the USSR with Moscow gained by Mikhail Botvinnik and Mark Taimanov
  • 1954: 2nd-3rd (with Taimanov, in front of Tigran Petrossian and Efim To freeze) in XXIe championship of the USSR with Kiev gained by Yuri Averbakh
  • 1954: Winner of the tournament of Bucharest (+10 =6 -1)
  • 1954: International Master
  • 1955: Champion of Leningrad: 17/19 (with 3 points in advance on Alexander Tolush): +16 =2 -1
  • 1956 : Winner (with Olafsson and in front of Mark Taimanov) of the tournament of Hastings (1955/56): +5 =4
  • 1956 : 4th (in front of Lev Polougaïevsky and Mikhail Tal) in XXIIIe championship of the USSR with Leningrad (gained by Yuri Averbakh, Boris Spassky and Mark Taimanov): +6 =10 -1
  • 1956 : Winner of the tournaments of Poltava (7/9) and of Frounze: 11/11
  • 1956: Large international Master
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  • 1957: Champion of Leningrad (+11 =4 -2)
  • 1957: Winner of the tournaments of Sverdlovsk (+8 =11) and of Leningrad (with Gligoric and Mark Taimanov)
  • 1957: 1st with the championship of Arménie (except contest)
  • 1958: 2nd with the championship of Russia with Sotchi

1959-1965: Champion of the USSR

- -
  • 1963: Winner of the tournament of Havana: +14 =5 -2
  • 1964 : Champion of Leningrad: +12 =4
  • 1965 : XXXIIe Champion of the USSR (in front of David Bronstein, Mikhail Tal, Leonid Stein and Yuri Averbakh) with Kiev (December 1964/January 1965): 15/19 (+11 =8)

1965-1972: Raflor of first prices

  • 1965 : Winner of the tournaments of Gyula (Hungary) 14,5/15 and of Erevan: +6 =7 (in front of Tigran Petrossian and Leonid Stein)
  • 1966: Winner of the tournaments of Bucharest (+11 =3) and of Sotchi (11,5/15)
  • 1967: 3rd-5th (with Gipslis and Taimanov) of the 34e championship of the USSR (1966/1967, zonal tournament gained by Leonid Stein in front of Efim To freeze, Kortchnoï was qualified with interzonal thanks to the best decides between with the detriment of Taimanov)
  • 1967: Winner of the tournaments of Leningrad (+10, =6) and of Budva (USSR-Yugoslavia match-tournament)
- -

1973-1981: Adversary of Karpov

-
  • 1976: Co-winner with Anthony Miles of the tournament of Amsterdam, at the end which Kortchnoï required the Political asylum
  • 1977: Champion of the Netherlands to Leeuwarden: 12/13
  • 1977: Winner of the tournament of Montreux +4 =5
  • 1977 - 1978: Victorious of the cycle of Candidate to the championship of the world
  • 1978: Winner of the tournament of Beersheba: 12/13
  • 1978: Championship of the world : Match against Anatoli Karpov with Baguio, lost +5 -6 =21
  • 1978: Victorious of the Oscar of the failures (in front of Anatoli Karpov)
-

1982-1991

  • 1982 : Winner of the tournaments of Lugano and Rome
  • 1982,1984,1985: Swiss champion of
  • 1983: Winner of the tournaments of San Bernardino Brocco (open), of Lugano, the Lichtenstein and Pasadena
  • 1983: Candidate with the championship of the world
    • Match against Lajos Portisch with Bad Kissingen, gained +4 -1 =4
    • Semi-final: Match against Gary Kasparov with London, lost +1 -4 =6
  • 1984: End of the boycott of the Soviet players towards Kortchnoï
  • 1984: Winner of the tournaments of Beersheba, Sarajevo, Titograd, Paris and Wijk aan Zee (with Alexander Beliavsky): 10/13
  • 1984: USSR match - rest of the world against Lev Polougaïevsky with London: gained +1 =3
- -
  • 1989: Winner of the tournament of Lugano: 8/9
  • 1990: Winner of the tournaments of Valley Maubuee, Beersheba and Rotterdam
  • 1991: Candidate with the championship of the world
    • Match against Gyula Sax with Wijk aan Zee, gained +2, - 1, =7 (with decides between)
    • Quarterfinal: Match against Jan Timman with Brussels, lost -2, =5
  • 1991: Winner of the tournament of Las Palmas (with Topalov)

1992-2007

-
  • 1997: Winner of the tournaments of Holy Petersbourg (in front of Alexander Khalifman, Vasily Salov and Peter Svidler) and of Ceska Trebova (Kettler Cup, rapid)
  • 1997: Candidate with the championship of the world (FIDE) to Groningue (gained by Anand)
    • Match against Gilberto Hernandez, gained +1 =1
    • Match against Nigel Shorts, lost (with decides between, fast)
  • 1998: Winner of the tournaments of Sarajevo: 7/9 and of Bad Homburg: 7/9
  • 1999: Candidate with the championship of the world (FIDE) to Las Vegas (gained by Alexander Khalifman)
    • Match against Sergey Dolmatov, gained (with decides between, fast)
    • Match against Vladimir Kramnik, lost
  • 1999: Winner of the tournament of Zurich
-
  • 2001: Winner with the tournament of Bienne (in front of Svidler and Gelfand, 22 years after its first victory)
  • 2001: Candidate with the championship of the world (FIDE) to Moscow (gained by Ponomariov): Match against Lev Psakhis, lost
  • 2002: winner of the tournament birthday of Curaçao
  • 2004: Winner of the tournament of Paks (Hungary)
  • 2005: Winner of the open tournament of Montreal
  • 2006: Winner of the tournament of Banyoles (Spain)
  • 2006: 16th World champion senior: 9/11, +7 =4 (7,5/8 at the beginning)

Competitions by teams (individual results)

  • 1954 : First chess-board of the USSR to the university Olympiad of failures of Oslo (gained by Hungary)
  • 1955: 2nd chess-board of the team of Leningrad to the championships of the USSR by teams: 8/9
  • 1956: First chess-board of the USSR to the 3rd university Olympiad of failures of Uppsala (+5 =2)
  • 1957: Better individual performance of the 1st championship of Europe by teams (with the 8th chess-board) with Vienna: 5,5/6
  • 1961: Better individual performance of the 2nd championship of Europe by teams (with the 6th chess-board) with Oberhausen: 8,5/9
  • 1965: Better individual performance with the 3rd chess-board of the 3rd championship of Europe by teams with Hamburg: +4 =3 -1
  • 1976 : Winner with the first chess-board of the cut of the USSR by teams with Tbilissi (in front of Karpov, Tigran Petrossian, Tal and Vassily Smyslov)
  • 1988: Better individual performance with the cut of Europe of the clubs with Rotterdam

Olympiads of Failures

Championships of the world by teams in Lucerne

Results with the first chess-board:
  • 1985 : Better individual performance (in front of Karpov and Anthony Miles) with the 1st Championship of the world by teams: 7,5/9
  • 1989: Better individual performance (in front of Nigel Shorts and Jan Timman) with the 2nd Championship of the world by teams: 6/9
  • 1993: 2nd-3rd better individual performance with the 3rd Championship of the world by teams: 5,5/9 (+2 =7)

Matches (except championship of the world)

-
  • 1993: Match against Jeroen Piket with Nijmengen: gained +4 =4
  • 1995: Match against Alon Greenfeld with Beersheba: gained 3,5 to 2,5
  • 1995: Match against Xie Jun with Wentzou: gained 3 to 1
  • 1996: Match against Brunner with Zurich: gained 5 to 1
  • 1996: Match against Gilberto Hernandez with Merida: gained 5,5 to 2,5
  • 1997: Match against Etienne Bacrot with Albert, gained 4 to 2
  • 1999: Fast match against Spassky, gained +4 =4 -2
  • 2001: Match against Ponomariov with Donetsk, equality +2 =4 -2

A part

(Viktor Kortchnoï, Tigran Petrossian, Odessa, 1974) See the part on a chess-board

1. c4 Cf6 2. Cc3 e6 3. Cf3 b6 4. e4 Fb7 5. d3 d6 6. g3 Fe7 7. Fg2 O-O 8. O-O c5 9. b3 Ca6 10. Te1 e5 11. Fh3 Cc7 12. Ch4 g6 13. Cg2 Ce6 14. f4 exf4 15. gxf 4 Ch 5 16. Cd5 Ff6 17. Tb1 Fd4+ 18. Rh1 Cc7 19. Cde3 Cg7 20. f5 Cce8 21. TF1 Cf6 22. Cc2 Fe5 23. Fg5 De8 24. Cce3 Rh8 25. De1 Cfh5 26. Fg4 Tg8 27. f6 Ce6 28. Dh4 Cxg5 29. Dxg5 Fd4 30. Fxh5 gxh5 31. Dxh5 Tg6 32. Cf5 De5 33. Tf3 Txf6 34. Th3 h6 35. Dg5 Te8?? (the obvious result was Tg6 36. Txh6+ Txh6 37. Dxh6+ Rg8 38. Cxd4 cxd4 39. Tg1 Fxe4 40. dxe4 Dxe4 41. Dxd6 and the White must gain) 36. Dg7 chechmate 1-0

Publications

  • Ein Leben für das Schach . Rau-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1978
  • Meine besten Kämpfe. 1952 (a) 1978 . Rau-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1979
  • ANTISCHACH. Mein Wettkampf um die Weltmeisterschaft gegen KARPOW in Baguio City 1978 . Eigenverlag, Wohlen 1980
  • A29. English opening , Adviser of failures, Belgrade, 1993
  • C18-19. French defense , Adviser of failures, Belgrade, 1993
  • C 80-81. Spanish part - open Defense , Adviser of failures, Belgrade 1994
  • C 82. Spanish part - open Defense , Adviser of failures, Belgrade 1994
  • C 83. Spanish part - open Defense , Adviser of failures, Belgrade 1994
  • Praxis of Turmendspiels . Olms-Verlag, Zurich 1999 ISBN 978-3-283-00287-9 Pratical rook endings , Olms-Verlag
  • Meine besten Kämpfe, data base 1, Partien put Weiß . Olms-Verlag, Zurich 2001 ISBN 978-3-283-00407-1 My Best Ranges, Vol.1: Ranges with White
  • Meine besten Kämpfe, data base 2, Partien put Schwarz . Olms-Verlag, Zurich 2001 ISBN 978-3-283-00408-8 My Best Ranges, vol. 2: Ranges with Black , Olms Edition, 2001
  • Mein Leben für das Schach. Die Autobiography . Olms-Verlag, Zurich 2004 ISBN 978-3-283-00409-5

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