Events in

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

in 1974;

Top players

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

top 10 by

Elo rating The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor. The Elo system was invented as an improved ch ...

- January 1974 #

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11� ...

2780 #

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov ( rus, links=no, Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈkarpəf; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Ches ...

2660 #

Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...

2660 #

Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky ( rus, Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский, Borís Vasíl'yevich Spásskiy; born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 ...

2655 #

Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He ...

2650 #

Lajos Portisch Lajos Portisch (born 4 April 1937) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated ...

2650 #

Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (, ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style, ...

2640 #

Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. Botvinnik ...

2630 #

Lev Polugaevsky Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky ( rus, Лев Абрамович Полугаевский, p=pəlʊɡɐˈjefskʲɪj; 20 November 1934 – 30 August 1995) was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE i ...

2625 #

Bent Larsen Jørgen Bent Larsen (4 March 1935 – 9 September 2010) was a Danish chess grandmaster and author. Known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play, he was the second strongest non-Soviet player, behind Bobby Fischer, for much of the 196 ...

2620

Chess news in brief

*The meteoric rise of

continues to hold the attention of the chess world, as he chalks up win after win in the latest

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

qualifying cycle. His Moscow based, Candidates' quarter-final match against

, is a one-sided affair and Karpov emerges the victor by 5½-2½. In the other candidates' quarter-final matches,

beats

Henrique Mecking Henrique Costa Mecking (born 23 January 1952), also known as Mequinho, is a Brazilian chess grandmaster who reached his zenith in the 1970s and is still one of the strongest players in Brazil. He was a chess prodigy, drawing comparisons to Bobby ...

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

beats

Palma de Mallorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situate ...

, and

beats Robert Byrne in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

. In the semi-finals, Korchnoi defeats Petrosian by 3½-1½ in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

, while Karpov is again utterly convincing, winning 7-4 against Spassky in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. The battle between Karpov and Korchnoi in the (Moscow) final proves to be a tense and difficult struggle, although the younger man ultimately triumphs 12½-11½, amidst a large number of draws. As the winning candidate, Karpov is scheduled to meet

for a world championship decider in 1975 and for his efforts in 1974, is awarded his second successive Chess Oscar. Meanwhile, Fischer puts forward a plan to

for the conditions of the title match. Running to 179 numbered paragraphs, each of his conditions are acceptable to all parties, except for two. The rejected conditions concern the match being of unlimited length (first to win 10 games, regardless of draws) and that the title stays with the holder in the event of the score reaching 9-9. Fischer insists he will not back down on these stipulations and threatens to resign his title if they are not accepted. He has until April 1975 to finally decide. * Evgeny Vasiukov excels at

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, winning the tournament with 10½/14, ahead of Tigran Petrosian (9½/14) and

(9/14). *

Montilla-Moriles Montilla-Moriles is a Spanish Denominación de Origen Protegida (DOP) for wines located in the southern part of the province of Córdoba (Andalusia, Spain). It is bounded by the river Genil to the east, by the river Guadajoz to the west, by t ...

is won by

Ivan Radulov Ivan Radulov ( bg, Иван Радулов) (born 7 January 1939, in Burgas) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. As a chess player, he was most prominent during the 1970s, winning the Bulgarian Championship in 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1980. He just ...

with 5½/9. In joint second place are

Lubomir Kavalek Lubomir (Lubosh) Kavalek ( cz, Lubomír Kaválek, August 9, 1943 – January 18, 2021) was a Czech-American chess player. He was awarded both the International Master and International Grandmaster titles by FIDE in 1965.Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 19 ...

and

Helmut Pfleger Helmut Pfleger (born August 6, 1943) is a German chess grandmaster and author. He was one of the most promising chess players in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1977 until 2005, Pfleger hosted a series of chess programs on German public TV, including ' ...

(both 5/9). Oddly, the winner is the lowest rated of the ten contestants and while there is a large percentage of draws, many of the games are exciting and worthy of such a strong competition. *The 14th IBM tournament is held at

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and is a close run affair, with three grandmasters all sharing first place.

Borislav Ivkov Borislav Ivkov (12 November 1933 – 14 February 2022) was a Serbian chess Grandmaster. He was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal tournaments, in 1967, 1970, 1973, and 1979. Ivkov was a three-time Yugos ...

Vladimir Tukmakov Vladimir Borisovich Tukmakov (, born March 5, 1946 in Odessa) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He gained the Grandmaster title in 1972. Career His career first blossomed when he helped and then led the USSR to consecutive wins of the World St ...

and

Vlastimil Jansa Vlastimil Jansa (born November 27, 1942) is a Czech chess player. He was awarded the titles of International Master, in 1965, and Grandmaster, in 1974, by FIDE. He learned chess while in hospital at the age of eight and at fourteen, became the ...

score an identical 10/15. As with the Manila and Montilla tournaments, the entrants are all titled players, making for one of the strongest events of the year. *The

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

Olympiad An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not until ...

is held at the Palais des Expositions. Offering an enormous playing arena, the venue should surpass those of recent years, but a lack of air-conditioning and poor lighting provokes some criticism from the participants. After managing only narrow wins at

Siegen Siegen () is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly sho ...

and

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

, the Soviets reassert their pre-eminence at Nice, winning convincingly with 46/60, to silver medalling Yugoslavia's 37½/60. Third place is shared between the US and Bulgaria with 36½/60. Bulgaria's excellent showing can be partly explained by the incentives offered by their federation. A team medal of any kind would have earned each player a car, but they just miss the bronze on tie-break. Anatoly Karpov, Boris Spassky, Tigran Petrosian and

take home individual gold medals for outstanding performances on their respective boards, while Viktor Korchnoi and

Gennady Kuzmin Gennady Pavlovich Kuzmin (, ; January 19, 1946 – February 28, 2020) was a Ukrainian chess player and trainer. He reached his peak strength in the early to mid-1970s and in 1973, was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE, the ...

must settle for bronze. Petrosian scores 12½/14 for an 89.3% performance, the best of the event.

Michael Stean Michael Francis Stean (born 4 September 1953) is an English chess grandmaster, an author of chess books and a tax accountant. Early life and junior career Stean was born on 4 September 1953 in London. He learned to play chess before the age of ...

picks up the $1000 Turover Brilliancy Prize for 'best game of the Olympiad' against Walter Browne.

Wolfgang Uhlmann Wolfgang Uhlmann (29 March 193524 August 2020) was a German chess grandmaster. He was East Germany's most successful chess player, reaching the 1971 Candidates Tournament. During his career, Uhlmann played many of the top players of the time an ...

coins the phrase "One is permitted to lose to Karpov with Black" after suffering defeat in their round 4 encounter. *

Tony Miles Anthony John Miles (23 April 1955 – 12 November 2001) was an English chess player and the first Englishman to earn the Grandmaster title. Early and personal life Miles was an only child, born 23 April 1955 in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birming ...

wins the 13th

World Junior Chess Championship The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The idea was the brainchild of William Ritso ...

, held in Manila, after narrowly missing out the previous year to

Alexander Beliavsky Alexander Genrikhovich Beliavsky (, ua, Олександр Генріхович Бєлявський, sl, Aleksander Henrikovič Beljavski; also romanized ''Belyavsky''; born December 17, 1953) is a Soviet, Ukrainian and Slovenian chess play ...

. Miles' good form keeps him on track to becoming England's first grandmaster. *The 42nd

USSR Chess Championship The USSR Chess Championship was played from 1921 to 1991. Organized by the USSR Chess Federation, it was the strongest national chess championship ever held, with eight world chess champions and four world championship finalists among its winners. ...

is won jointly by Alexander Beliavsky and Mikhail Tal (both 9½/15), ahead of

Rafael Vaganian Rafael Artemovich Vaganian ( hy, Ռաֆայել Արտյոմի Վահանյան, Rrafayel Artyomi Vahanyan, russian: link=no, Рафаэль Артёмович Ваганян, ''Rafael Artemovich Vaganyan''; born 15 October 1951) is an Armenian ...

and Lev Polugaevsky (both 9/15). *The annual

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spain, Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in th ...

tournament results in a win for

Ljubomir Ljubojević Ljubomir Ljubojević (; born November 2, 1950) is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the Yugoslav Chess Championship in 1977 (tied) and 1982. Life and career Ljubojević was born on 2 November 1950 in Titovo Užice, Yugoslavia (now Užice, Se ...

, whose tally is 11/15. He is a full point clear of second placed pair Alexander Beliavsky and Fridrik Olafsson, both having 10/15. *There is a strong entry at

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, where Lev Polugaevsky triumphs at the 7th Chigorin Memorial, with a total of 11/15. Runner-up is

Alexei Suetin Alexey Stepanovich Suetin (russian: Алексе́й Степа́нович Суэ́тин; November 16, 1926 – September 10, 2001) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was the World Senior Chess Champion from 1996 to ...

(9/15). Polugaevsky continues the winning form he displayed earlier at

Solingen Solingen (; li, Solich) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located some 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and, with a 2009 population of 161,366, ...

, where he scored 10/14, taking the tie-break from Lubomir Kavalek (also 10/14) and finishing well ahead of Boris Spassky and

Bojan Kurajica Bojan Kurajica (born 15 November 1947) is a Croatian-Bosnian chess grandmaster (chess), grandmaster (GM). Kurajica grew up in Split (city), Split. He earned the International Master (IM) title in 1965 by winning the World Junior Chess Championshi ...

(tied third on 8½/14). *

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

is won by

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov ( rus, Васи́лий Васи́льевич Смысло́в, Vasíliy Vasíl'yevich Smyslóv; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, who was World Chess Champion from 1957 to ...

with 12/14, ahead of Gyozo Forintos (11/14) and, tied in third place on 10½/14,

Dragoljub Velimirovic Dragoljub ( sr-cyr, Драгољуб) is a Serbian masculine given name, derived from Slavic '' drag-'' ("dear, beloved") and ''ljub'' ("love, to like"), both very common in Slavic dithematic names. It roughly means "dear love". It may refer to: * ...

and

David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein (russian: Дави́д Ио́нович Бронште́йн; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet and Ukrainian chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narr ...

. *Mikhail Tal wins at Halle in East Germany with 11½/15, ahead of

Rainer Knaak Rainer Fritz Albert Knaak (born 16 March 1953 in Pasewalk, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is a German chess player who holds the FIDE title of Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster (GM). He learned the game at the age of 5 from his father, Hans Knaak. Rap ...

(10½/15) and

Jan Smejkal Jan Smejkal (born March 22, 1946) is a Czech chess player and, since 1972, an International Grandmaster. In the 1970s, he was among the world chess elite. He was champion of Czechoslovakia in 1973, 1979 and 1986 and won many international tourname ...

(10/15). He is also a winner at

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...

and

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

. *

Vladimir Liberzon Vladimir Mikhailovich Liberzon ( he, ולדימיר מיכאילוביץ' ליברזון; russian: Влади́мир Миха́йлович Либерзо́н; 23 March 1937, in Moscow – 4 August 1996) was a Russian-born Israeli chess grandma ...

is victorious in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, taking first place with 9½/13, ahead of

(9/13) and

Duncan Suttles Duncan Suttles (born 21 December 1945) is a Grandmaster of chess who was the strongest Canadian player between the eras of Abe Yanofsky and Kevin Spraggett. He is one of the few over-the-board grandmasters who also holds the title of Grandmaste ...

(8½/13). A strong field includes rising stars

Ulf Andersson Ulf Andersson (born 27 June 1951) is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972. Career At his peak, Andersson reached number four on the FIDE rating list. Tournamen ...

and

Jan Timman Jan Timman (born 14 December 1951) is a Dutch chess grandmaster who was one of the world's leading chess players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. At the peak of his career, he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known as ...

, as well as former USSR Champion

Vladimir Savon Vladimir Andreyevich Savon ( ua, Володи́мир Андрійович Саво́н; 26 September 1940 – 1 June 2005) was a Ukrainian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1973. Savon shared the Ukrainian C ...

. *The

Hastings International Chess Congress The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess tournament which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin t ...

has another good turnout of overseas grandmasters. A four-way tie for first place occurs between László Szabó, Mikhail Tal, Jan Timman and Gennady Kuzmin (all 10/15). *The 11th

Capablanca Memorial The Capablanca Memorial is a chess tournament that has been held annually in Cuba since 1962 in honor of José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera. At the time, it was the best paid tournament in the world. Since 1974 B and C tournaments have been held ...

Tournament is held in

Camagüey Camagüey () is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third-largest city with more than 321,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province. It was founded as Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe in 1514, by S ...

, Cuba. Ulf Andersson wins with 11½/15, from

Eduard Gufeld Eduard Yefimovich Gufeld (russian: Эдуа́рд Ефи́мович Гу́фельд; 19 March 1936 – 23 September 2002) was a USSR, Soviet International Grandmaster of chess, and a chess author. Chess career Gufeld began participating in che ...

(11/15). Third place is shared between Evgeny Vasiukov and Rainer Knaak on 10/15. *The first Pan-American Championship is held in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. It is won by

Walter Browne Walter Shawn Browne (10 January 1949 – 24 June 2015) was an Australian-born American chess and poker player. Awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1970, he won the U.S. Chess Championship six times. Early years Browne was born to an Am ...

ahead of an otherwise weak field. Browne has an eventful and rewarding year, winning the U.S. Championship in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

for the first of six times, scoring further victories at

Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee ( literally ''Neighborhood at Sea'') is a village on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk, the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Coru ...

and Lone Pine, and narrowly losing out to

at the 2nd World Open in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. *

Jonathan Mestel Andrew Jonathan Mestel (born 13 March 1957 in Cambridge, England) is Professor of Applied Mathematics at Imperial College London. He worked on magnetohydrodynamics and biological fluid dynamics. He obtained his PhD with the thesis "Magnetic Le ...

wins the first ever World Cadet Championship, held in

Pont-Sainte-Maxence Pont-Sainte-Maxence () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France, in the region of Hauts-de-France. It is named after Saint Maxentia of Beauvais, whose relics were taken here. Pont-Sainte-Maxence station has rail connections to Sain ...

in France. This is to become a regular and important event in the junior chess calendar and is a forerunner to the World Youth Festivals that expand to cover many more age categories. *Bulgaria's great effort and high placing at the Olympiad is followed by an intensely competitive

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. Held at

Asenovgrad Asenovgrad ( bg, Асеновград ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, a town in central southern Bulgaria, part of Plovdiv Province. It is the largest town in Bulgaria that is not a province center. Previously known as ''Stanimaka'' ( ...

, the result is a tie between

Nikola Padevsky Nikola Bochev Padevsky ( bg, Никола Пъдевски; born May 29, 1933) is a Bulgarian chess Grandmaster. Padevsky was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second largest city. He became Bulgarian National Champion in 1954, going on to win it in ...

and Ivan Radulov (both 10/15), ahead of Evgeny Ermenkov, just a half point off the pace. *The 1st

World Computer Chess Championship World Computer Chess Championship (WCCC) is an event held periodically since 1974 where computer chess engines compete against each other. The event is organized by the International Computer Games Association. It is often held in conjunction with ...

takes place in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. It is won by the program

Kaissa Kaissa (russian: Каисса) was a chess program developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s. It was named so after Caissa, the goddess of chess. Kaissa became the first world computer chess champion in 1974 in Stockholm. History By 1967, a c ...

(USSR), followed by Chess 4.0 (USA), which defeats third placed Ribbit (CAN) in a play-off for second. There are many interesting games and some surprising moves arise from tactical complications. The championship shows that chess computers are making rapid progress, although the quality of the endgame play is still very poor and poses no threat to human players of average strength. *The

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

makes an application for membership of FIDE. *The first chess book published in the United States by a major publisher using algebraic notation is printed.

Births

Gata Kamsky Gata Kamsky ( tt-Cyrl, Гата Камский, italics=no; russian: Гата Камский; born June 2, 1974) is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and a five-time U.S. champion. Kamsky reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Cham ...

, Russian-American GM and world championship candidate - June 2 *

Sergei Rublevsky Sergei Rublevsky (born 15 October 1974) is a Russian chess grandmaster (1994). He has won four team gold medals and one individual bronze medal at Chess Olympiads. He won the prestigious Aeroflot Open in 2004, and became the 58th Russian chess ch ...

, Russian GM and former national champion - October 15 *

Konstantin Sakaev Konstantin Rufovich Sakaev (russian: Константи́н Ру́фович Сака́ев; born 13 April 1974 in Leningrad) is a Russian chess Grandmaster (1993), chess author and Russian champion in 1999. Sakaev is on the staff of the Grandmas ...

, Russian GM and former world youth champion - April 13 *

Matthew Sadler Matthew David Sadler (born 15 May 1974) is an English chess grandmaster, chess writer and two-time British Chess Champion. He is the No. 2 ranked English player Personal life Sadler has a French mother, speaks French perfectly and is also q ...

, English GM and former British champion - May 5 *

Sofia Polgar Sofia Polgar ( hu, Polgár Zsófia, ); born November 2, 1974) is a Hungarian and Israeli chess player, teacher, and artist. She holds the FIDE titles of International Master and Woman Grandmaster. A former chess prodigy, she is the middle sister ...

, Hungarian IM and WGM, middle sister of Zsuzsa and Judit - November 2 * Sergey Volkov, Russian GM and former Russian champion - February 7 *

Igor Miladinović Igor Miladinović ( sr-Cyrl, Игор Миладиновић; born 25 January 1974) is a Serbian chess grandmaster. Miladinović won the 1993 World Junior Chess Championship and at the end of the year was declared athlete of the Year in FR Yug ...

, Serbian GM and former world junior champion - January 25 *

Wang Pin Wang Pin (; born December 11, 1974) is a Chinese chess player. She was awarded the title of Woman Grandmaster by FIDE in 1992. Wang was the Chinese national women's champion of 2002. By finishing fifth in the 1991 Women's Interzonal Tournament, ...

, Chinese WGM and many times national women's champion - December 11 *

Qin Kanying Qin Kanying (; born 2 February 1974) is a Chinese chess player who holds the FIDE title of Woman Grandmaster. She is a former Women's World Chess Championship runner-up and five-time Chinese women's champion. Career Qin Kanying won the Women's ...

, Chinese WGM and many times national women's champion - February 2 *

Mohamad Al-Modiahki Mohammed Ahmed Al-Modiahki ( ar, محمد أحمد المضيحكي; born June 1, 1974) is a chess Grandmaster. He was the first player in Qatar to earn the title of grandmaster, and is the country's highest ranked player. He was awarded the tro ...

, GM from Qatar, first Arabic grandmaster - June 1 * Artur Kogan, Ukrainian-Israeli GM who has lived in many countries - January 29 *

Roland Schmaltz Roland Schmaltz (born 15 November 1974) is a German chess grandmaster. His peak Elo rating was 2559. He has the nickname "Hawkeye" and is a champion in bullet chess Fast chess, also known as Speed chess, is a type of chess in which each pla ...

, German GM and champion of speed chess - November 15 *

Reefat Bin-Sattar Reefat Bin-Sattar (born 25 July 1974) is a Bangladeshi chess grandmaster. Career Bin-Sattar earned the International Master title in 1993 and Grandmaster title in 2005. All three of his GM qualifying norms were obtained at tournaments held in ...

, Bangladeshi GM, the country's third grandmaster - July 25 *

Ziaur Rahman Lt. General Ziaur Rahman (19 January 1936 – 30 May 1981), was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1977 to 1981. He was assassinated on 30 May 1981 in Chittagong in an army coup d' ...

, Bangladeshi GM, the country's second grandmaster - ? *

Maria Manakova Maria Manakova (born 1 March 1974) is a Russian-born Serbian chess player holding the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). Born in Kazan, she lived in Serbia for several years and played for the Yugoslav women's chess team. Manakova was first board ...

, Russian born WGM and model, has lived in Serbia - March 1 *

Ryan Palmer Ryan Hunter Palmer (born September 19, 1976) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. Early life and amateur career Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, Palmer graduated from Amarillo High School in 1995. He played college ...

, Former Jamaican champion and coach living in the UK - ?

Deaths

Rashid Nezhmetdinov Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov (Tatar language, Tatar: , ; russian: Раши́д Гибя́тович Нежметди́нов; December 15, 1912 – June 3, 1974) was a Soviet Union, Soviet chess player, chess writer, and checkers player. Thou ...

, Soviet master, writer and virtuoso of chess combinations - June 3 * CHO'D Alexander, English IM, wartime codebreaker and former British champion - February 15 *

Henri Grob Henri Grob (4 June 1904 – 5? July'3 July' according to Gaige, '9 July' according to Golombek, '4 June' according to ''Mundo del Ajedrez'' November 1974, p. 318. 1974) was a Swiss chess player, artist, and painter. He was Swiss chess champi ...

, Swiss master, former national champion and noted correspondence player - July 5 *

Josef Lokvenc Josef Lokvenc (1 May 1899, Vienna – 2 April 1974, Sankt Pölten) was an Austrian chess master. In 1925, he was awarded the Chess Master title in Braunau. In 1926, he took 3rd in Vienna. In 1936, he tied for 6-7th in Vienna (19th Trebitsch-Tu ...

, Austrian IM and former national champion of Germany and Austria - April 2 *

Maurice Raizman Maurice Raizman (né Miron Raizman) (26 February 1905, Bendery – 1 April 1974, Paris) was a French chess master. Born into a Jewish family in Bendery (then in Russian Empire), he emigrated to France. He was six-times French Champion (1932, 1936, ...

, French master and many times the national champion - April 1 *

Abram Khavin Abram Leonidovich Khavin (1914 – January 19, 1974, Kiev) was a Ukrainian chess master. In 1937, he took 6th in Kiev (9th UKR-ch, Fedor Bogatyrchuk won). In 1938, he tied for 4-6th in Kiev (10th UKR-ch, Isaac Boleslavsky won). During World War ...

, Ukrainian master and former national champion - January 19 *

Eugenio Szabados Eugenio Szabados (3 July 1898, Sangar?, Hungary 6 March 1974, Venice) was a Hungarian–Italian chess master. In 1921, he won the ''Società Scacchistica Torinese'' Championship, and tied for 5–7th in Viareggio. In 1923, he took 3rd behind Ro ...

, Hungarian-Italian IM and former President of the Italian Federation - March 6 * Gottlieb Machate, German master and former Olympiad player - May 27 * Leon Stolzenberg, American master and leading correspondence player - October 25

Notes

References

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Olimpbase - Olympiads and other Team event information
{{chess 20th century in chess Chess by year