Nicolas Giffard (born 4 October 1950) is a French

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 ...

International Master (IM) (1980), and a two-time

French Chess Championship The French Chess Championship is the annual, national chess tournament of France. It was officially first played in 1923 after the formation of the ''Fédération Française des Echecs'' in 1921. The first unofficial national tournament was played i ...

winner (1978, 1982).

Biography

In the 1970s and 1980s Nicolas Giffard was one of the leading French chess players. He twice winning gold medal in

: in 1978 in

Castelnaudary Castelnaudary (; oc, Castèlnòu d'Arri) is a commune in the Aude department in the Occitanie region of southern France. It is located in the former province of the Lauragais and famous for cassoulet of which it claims to be the world capital ...

and in 1982 in

Schiltigheim Schiltigheim (, , and sometimes by non-local speakers of French; Alsatian: ''Schelige'' ; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The inhabitants are called ''Schilikois'' in French and ''Scheligemer'' ...

. Also Nicolas Giffard twice won silver medal in this championships: : in 1974 in

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chambér ...

and in 1976 in

Saint-Jean-de-Monts Saint-Jean-de-Monts () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. Geography The town is situated in the west of the ''département'', between Notre-Dame-de-Monts and Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez. It is s ...

. In 1980, he was awarded the FIDE International Master (IM) title. Nicolas Giffard has successfully participated in international chess tournaments where he has won 2nd place in ''OPEN INTERNACIONAL D’ANDORRA'' (1985). In 1980, he shared 1st place with

Israel Zilber Israel Zilber (; born June 25, 1933 in Riga) is a chess player who won the Latvian Chess Championship in 1958. Latvia chess player Zilber was born in Riga, Latvia. He achieved excellent results during the period 1950 to 1973 when he lived in So ...

Paris City Chess Championship The first Paris City Chess Championship was held in 1925. Since 1989 the title of Paris Champion has been awarded to the highest-placed French player licensed in Île-de-France , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +0 ...

. Nicolas Giffard played for France in the

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...

s: * In 1978, at second board in the

23rd Chess Olympiad The 23rd Chess Olympiad ( es, La 23a Olimpíada de ajedrez), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well a ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

(+5, =2, -3), * In 1980, at second board in the

24th Chess Olympiad The 24th Chess Olympiad ( mt, L-24 Olimpijadi taċ-Ċess), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well as ...

La Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 was ...

(+5, =6, -2), * In 1982, at third board in the

25th Chess Olympiad The 25th Chess Olympiad (german: Die 25. Schacholympiade), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well as ...

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

(+3, =4, -4). Nicolas Giffard played for France in the

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

preliminaries: * In 1977, at seventh board in the 6th European Team Chess Championship preliminaries (+0, =2, -4), * In 1983, at fourth board in the 8th European Team Chess Championship preliminaries (+0, =1, -2). Nicolas Giffard played for France in the World Student Team Chess Championship: * In 1974, at fourth board in the 20th World Student Team Chess Championship in

Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...

(+6, =5, -1). Nicolas Giffard has written several books on chess: * ''La Fabuleuse Histoire des champions d'échecs'', ODIL, 1978 * ''Huit candidats, quatre KO'', L'Impensé radical, 1977 * ''Les Échecs, leçons particulières avec un champion'', Le Livre de poche, Paris, 1997, ISBN 978-2253081517 * ''Les Échecs, la tactique moderne'', Éditions du Rocher, Monaco, 1997, ISBN 978-2268009438 * ''L'Efficacité aux échecs'', Bornemann, 1998, ISBN 978-2851825865 * ''Comprendre les ouvertures'', Bornemann, 1999, ISBN 978-2851825940 * With Alain Biénabe: ''Le Nouveau Guide des échecs : Traité complet'', Éditions Robert Laffont, Paris, 2009, ISBN 978-2221110133

References

External links

* * * 1950 births Living people Sportspeople from Loire-Atlantique French chess players French chess writers Chess International Masters Chess Olympiad competitors {{France-chess-bio-stub