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
Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally it h ...
(GM) and
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 ...
writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become
World Chess Champion
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013.
The first event recognized as a world championship was the 1886 match ...
.
Born 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 ...
,
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
(USSR), Korchnoi defected to the Netherlands in 1976, and resided in Switzerland from 1978, becoming a Swiss citizen. Korchnoi played four matches, three of which were official, against GM
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 ...
. In 1974, Korchnoi lost the
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The wi ...
final to Karpov. Karpov was declared World Champion in 1975 when GM
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 ...
declined to defend his title. Korchnoi then won two consecutive Candidates cycles to qualify for
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013.
The first event recognized as a world championship was the World Chess ...
matches with Karpov in 1978 and 1981 but lost both. The two players also played a drawn training match of six games in 1971.
Korchnoi was a candidate for the World Championship on ten occasions (1962, 1968, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1988, and 1991). He was also four times a
USSR Chess Champion, five times a member of Soviet teams that won the European championship, and six times a member of Soviet teams that won 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 ...
. He played competitive chess until old age. At age 75, he won the 2006
World Senior Chess Championship
The World Senior Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament established in 1991 by FIDE, the World Chess Federation.
Overview
Originally, the minimum age was 60 years for men, and 50 for women.
Since 2014, the Senior Championship is split i ...
,
and became the oldest person ever to be ranked among the world's top 100 players.
Early life, family, and education
Korchnoi was born on 23 March 1931 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 ...
,
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, to a Jewish mother and a Polish-Catholic father. His mother, Zelda Gershevna Azbel (1910—?), a daughter of the Yiddish writer Hersh Azbel, was a pianist and alumna of
Leningrad Conservatory of Music; his father, Lev Merkuryevich Korchnoi (1910—1941), was an
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...
, who worked at a candy factory.
Both parents came to Leningrad with their families from
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
in 1928: mother from
Borispol
Boryspil ( uk, Бориспіль, translit. ''Boryspil'') is a city and the administrative center of Boryspil Raion in Kyiv Oblast (region) in northern (central) Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Boryspil urban hromada, one of the hromada ...
and father from
Melitopol
Melitopol ( uk, Меліто́поль, translit=Melitópol’, ; russian: Мелитополь; based on el, Μελιτόπολις - "honey city") is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Zaporizhz ...
. After their divorce, Victor lived with his mother until 1935, then with his father, paternal grandmother and later his adoptive mother Roza Abramovna Fridman (who took responsibility for his upbringing when his father was killed during the
siege of Leningrad
The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...
in 1941, and later lived with him in Switzerland).
He graduated from
Leningrad State University
Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...
with a major in history.
Early chess development
He learned to play chess from his father at the age of five. In 1943, he joined the chess club of the Leningrad Pioneer Palace, and was trained by
Abram Model
Abram Yakovlevich Model (russian: Абрам Яковлевич Моде́ль; 23 October 1896, Daugavpils – 16 February 1976, Leningrad) was a Russian chess master, although he had his master title taken away by the Soviet chess authorities ...
, Andrei Batuyev, and Vladimir Zak. Model had earlier played a major role in the development of future World Champion
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 ...
, while Zak, who later co-authored a book with Korchnoi, had also helped train future World Champion
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 ...
.
Soviet Junior Champion
In 1947, Korchnoi won the Junior Championship of the USSR, with 11½/15 at Leningrad, and shared the title in 1948 with 5/7 at
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
,
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
.
Young master
In 1951, he earned the Soviet
Master
Master or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
* Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans
*Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
title, following his second-place finish in the 1950 Leningrad Championship, with 9/13.
First Soviet final
One year later, Korchnoi qualified for the finals of the
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 winner ...
for the first time. In the semifinal at
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
, 1952, he scored 10½/17 for a shared 2nd–4th place, to advance. In the 20th Soviet final, held at Moscow, he scored 11/19 for sixth place, as GM
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 ...
and GM
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (russian: Марк Евгеньевич Тайманов; 7 February 1926 – 28 November 2016) was one of the leading Soviet and Russian chess players, among the world's top 20 players from 1946 to 1971. A prolific ch ...
came joint first. The next year, he again had to qualify through the semifinal event held at
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
1953, with 9/14 for a shared 3rd–4th place. Korchnoi improved on the previous year's showing with his shared 2nd–3rd place in URS-ch21 at
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
1954, on 13/19, as GM
Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. He was the first centenari ...
won.
International titles
This high championship placing was rewarded with his first international opportunity, a participation in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
1954, where he finished in clear first place with 13/17.
[chessmetrics.com](_blank)
the Viktor Korchnoi player file 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 ...
awarded him the title of
International Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
in 1954. He won the 1955
Leningrad Championship with a massive score of 17/19, and shared 1st–2nd places at
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
1955–56 on 7/9. He was awarded the
Grandmaster title at the FIDE Congress in 1956.
Soviet team record
Korchnoi earned his first international team selection for the Soviet student team in 1954, joined the full national team for the European Team Championship three years later, and would represent the USSR through 1974. He won 21 medals for the USSR. His complete Soviet international team play results follow:
*
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
1954, Student Olympiad, board 1, 4½/7 (+3−1=3), team silver
*
Uppsala
Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...
1956, Student Olympiad, board 1, 6/7 (+5−0=2), team gold
*
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
1957, European Team Championship, board 8, 5½/6 (+5−0=1), team gold, board gold
*
Leipzig 1960 Olympiad, board 4, 10½/13 (+8−0=5), team gold; board bronze
*
Oberhausen
Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...
1961, European Team Championship, board 6, 8½/9 (+8−0=1), team gold, board gold
*
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
1965, European Team Championship, board 3, 5½/9 (+4−2=3), team gold, board gold
*
Havana 1966 Olympiad, 1st reserve, 10½/13 (+9−1=3), team gold, board gold
*
Lugano 1968 Olympiad, board 3, 11/13 (+9−0=4), team gold
*
Kapfenberg 1970, European Team Championship, board 2, 4/6 (+2−0=4), team gold
*
Siegen 1970 Olympiad, board 3, 11/15 (+8−1=6), team gold, board bronze
*
Skopje 1972 Olympiad, board 2, 11/15 (+8−1=6), team gold, board gold
*
Bath 1973, European Team Championship, board 3, 4/6 (+3−1=2), team gold
*
Nice 1974 Olympiad, board 2, 11½/15 (+8−0=7), team gold, board bronze
Strong Grandmaster
Korchnoi rose to prominence within the Soviet chess school system, where he competed against his contemporaries and future GM stars such as
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 ...
,
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, ...
, and
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 ...
, following in the path laid out by
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 ...
. Korchnoi's playing style initially was an aggressive counterattack. He excelled in difficult defensive positions.
His results during the 1950s were often inconsistent. One particularly bad result was his 19th place (only one from bottom) at the URSch-22, Moscow 1955, with 6/19. During the 1960s he became more versatile, as he gained experience at the top level. He won at
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
1959 with 8½/11, shared 1st–2nd places with GM
Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960 ...
at
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 ...
1960 with 13/19, and won at
Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province a ...
1960 with 6/7. After his victory at
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
1961 (
Géza Maróczy
Géza Maróczy (; 3 March 1870 – 29 May 1951) was a Hungarian chess player, one of the leading players in the world in his time. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950.
Early career
G ...
Memorial) with 11½/15 ahead of GMs
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 narro ...
and
Miroslav Filip
Miroslav Filip (27 October 1928 – 27 April 2009) was a Czech chess grandmaster. Filip was awarded the title of International Master in 1953, and the Grandmaster title in 1955. Filip represented Czechoslovakia in 12 consecutive Chess Olympia ...
, each with 9½, Korchnoi was recognized as one of the world's best players.
Soviet Championship titles
Korchnoi won the
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 winner ...
four times during his career. At
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 ...
1960 for URS-ch27, he scored 14/19. He won at
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...
1962, URS-ch30, with 13/19. He won at
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
1964–65 with 15/19. His final title was at
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
1970, for URS-ch38, with 16/21.
World Championship title candidate
He first qualified as a candidate from the 1962
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 ...
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the ...
, scoring 14/22 for a shared 4th–5th-place finish, a tournament won by Fischer. The
1962 Candidates tournament, the last held in a
round-robin format until 1985, was held at
Curaçao
Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
a few months later and Korchnoi placed fifth out of eight with an even score, 13½/27, which
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, ...
won, winning the right to challenge Botvinnik.
Korchnoi's results included two victories over Fischer, one a brilliant win employing the
Pirc Defense
The Pirc Defence (pronounced ) is a chess opening characterised by the response of Black to 1.e4 with 1...d6 and 2...Nf6, followed by ...g6 and ...Bg7, while allowing White to establish a with pawns on d4 and e4. It is named after the Slovenia ...
with the black pieces.
Korchnoi won at
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. 1963 with 16½/21, but fared less well in the next Soviet Championship, URS-ch31 at Leningrad, with just 10/19 for 10th place. He missed qualifying for the next world championship cycle, 1964–66, because of a poor showing at the 1964 Zonal tournament in Moscow, where he made 5½/12 for a shared 5th–6th place, so did not advance to the Interzonal. Korchnoi regained his form with an overwhelming triumph at
Gyula, Hungary
Gyula (; german: Jula; ro, Jula or ) is a town in Békés County, Hungary. The town is best known for its Medieval castle and a thermal bath. Ferenc Erkel, the composer of the Hungarian national anthem, and Albrecht Dürer the Elder, the fath ...
, in 1965 with 14½/15. He won at
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
1966 with 12½/14, and at the
Chigorin Memorial
The Chigorin Memorial is a chess tournament played in honour of Mikhail Chigorin (1850–1908), founder of the Soviet Chess School and one of the leading players of his day. The first and most important edition was the one played in 1909 in St. Pe ...
in
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 ...
1966 with 11½/15.
Candidates' finalist, first time
In the
1969 World Championship cycle, he tied for 3rd–5th places at the URS-ch34, held at
Tbilisi
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...
1966–67, with 12/20, and emerged from a three-way playoff, along with GM
Aivars Gipslis
Aivars Gipslis (February 8, 1937 – April 13, 2000) was a Latvian chess player, writer, and editor, who held the FIDE title of Grandmaster and the ICCF title of Correspondence Chess Grandmaster.
Chess biography
Born in Riga, he was champio ...
, at
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
1967, to the Interzonal, staged at
Sousse
Sousse or Soussa ( ar, سوسة, ; Berber:''Susa'') is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf ...
,
Tunisia
)
, image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
, image_map2 =
, capital = Tunis
, largest_city = capital
, ...
, later that year. A strong performance at the Interzonal, with 14/22, for a shared 2nd–4th place, took him through to the Candidates' matches.
In his first match, he defeated American GM
Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960 ...
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 ...
in 1968 by (+3=5). His next opponent was GM
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 ...
, against whom Korchnoi had a large plus score in previous meetings. The match, held in Moscow 1968, was close, but Korchnoi won by (+2−1=7), and moved on to face GM
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 ...
in the Candidates' final. Spassky prevailed at
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
1968, winning (+4−1=5).
USSR vs. Rest of the World 1970; Rest of the World vs. USSR 1984
Korchnoi represented the USSR on board three in the first
Russia (USSR) vs. Rest of the World team match, Belgrade 1970, which took place across ten boards. He played four games with Hungarian GM
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 ...
, drawing three and losing one. In 1984, eight years after his defection, Korchnoi played board three in the second Rest of the World vs USSR match in London, with the match again held across ten boards. He faced Soviet GM
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 in ...
, his former teammate, in three games, winning one and drawing two; he then faced GM
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 ...
in one game, drawing. Korchnoi was the only player to play for each side in the series of two team matches.
Plays secret training matches
Korchnoi, as the losing finalist, was exempt from qualifying for the
1972 World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship 1972 was a match for the World Chess Championship between challenger Bobby Fischer of the United States and defending champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union. The match took place in the Laugardalshöll arena in ...
, and was seeded directly to the following Candidates' event. To prepare, he first played a secret training match with his good friend GM
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 narro ...
, who drew the 1951 World Championship match, in Leningrad 1970, losing 3½–2½. This result was kept secret until 1995; the games from this match were kept secret until 2007, when they were eventually published in Bronstein's last book, ''Secret Notes''. Then, he played a secret training match against GM
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 ...
, with whom he was close friends at the time, at Leningrad 1971; this wound up drawn in six games (+2−2=2); Korchnoi took the Black pieces in five of them, for training purposes. These games were eventually published in 1976.
Korchnoi won his first round 1971 match against GM
Efim Geller
Efim Petrovich Geller (russian: Ефим Петрович Геллер, uk, Юхим Петрович Геллер; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Champi ...
at Moscow by (+4−1=3), after which he went down to defeat in the semifinal versus GM
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, ...
by (−1=9), also at Moscow, with the ninth game the only decisive result.
Actor
In 1972, Korchnoi appeared in the chess-themed Soviet film ''Grossmeister'' along with several other grandmasters; he played the role of the lead actor's trainer.
Candidates' finalist, second time
In the
1975 World Championship cycle Korchnoi and Karpov, the newest star of Soviet chess, tied for first in the 1973
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 ...
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the ...
. In the 1974 Candidates' matches, Korchnoi first defeated the young
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian star GM
Henrique Costa 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 ...
(who had won the other Interzonal in
Petrópolis
Petrópolis (; ), also known as The Imperial City, is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region of Brazil. It is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, northeast of the ci ...
), by (+3−1=9) at
Augusta,
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, in what he later described in his autobiography as a tough match. Korchnoi next played Petrosian again, at
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 ...
. The two were not on friendly terms, and it was even rumored that the two resorted to kicking each other under the table during this match; however, Korchnoi denies this. According to him, Petrosian just kicked his legs nervously and shook the table. Although the match was supposed to go to the first player to win four games, Petrosian resigned the match after just five games, with Korchnoi enjoying a lead of 3–1, with one draw.
With his victory over Petrosian, Korchnoi advanced to face Karpov in the Candidates' Final, the match to determine who would challenge reigning world champion Bobby Fischer in 1975. In the run-up to the match, Korchnoi was constantly subjected to threats and harassment, and was virtually unable to find any Grandmasters to assist him. Bronstein apparently assisted Korchnoi, for which he was punished. Bronstein, in his last book, ''Secret Notes'', published in 2007, wrote that he advised Korchnoi before the match began, but then had to leave to play an event himself; when he returned, Korchnoi was down by three games. Bronstein then assisted Korchnoi for the final stages. Korchnoi also received some assistance later in the match from two British masters, IM (later GM)
Raymond Keene
Raymond Dennis Keene (born 29 January 1948) is an English chess grandmaster, a FIDE International Arbiter, a chess organiser, and a journalist and author. He won the British Chess Championship in 1971, and was the first player from England t ...
and IM
William Hartston
William Roland Hartston (born 12 August 1947) is an English journalist who wrote the Beachcomber column in the '' Daily Express''. He is also a chess player who played competitively from 1962 to 1987 and earned a highest Elo rating of 2485. He ...
. Korchnoi trailed 3–0 late in the match, but won games 19 and 21 to make it very close right to the end. Karpov eventually won this battle, played in late 1974 in Moscow, by a 12½–11½ score. By default, Karpov became the twelfth world champion in April 1975, when Fischer refused to defend his title because of disputed match conditions.
Defection
In the lead-up to the Candidates' Final in 1974, as part of a campaign to promote Karpov over Korchnoi,
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, ...
made a public statement in the press against Korchnoi, with the Soviet federation, wishing to develop younger players, taking the stance that the generation (including Korchnoi) which had been defeated by
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 ...
could no longer hope to compete successfully against him. At the closing ceremony of the Candidates' Final, Korchnoi had made his mind up that he had to leave the Soviet Union. The central authorities prevented Korchnoi from playing any international tournaments outside the USSR. Even when Korchnoi was invited by GM
Paul Keres
Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...
and IM
Iivo Nei
Iivo Nei (born 31 October 1931 in Tartu) is an Estonian chess master.NEI, IIVO
esbl.ee (biography in Estonian)
In 1947, ...
to participate in a 1975 International Tournament in the
Estonian SSR
The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...
, Korchnoi was not allowed to play, and both Keres and Nei were reprimanded.
Keres did play a short, apparently secret, training match at Tallinn 1975 with Korchnoi, who won (+1=1). Korchnoi was then allowed to play the Soviet Team Championship and an international tournament in Moscow later in 1975. The ban against Korchnoi competing outside the USSR was lifted when he accompanied fellow veteran GMs
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (russian: Марк Евгеньевич Тайманов; 7 February 1926 – 28 November 2016) was one of the leading Soviet and Russian chess players, among the world's top 20 players from 1946 to 1971. A prolific ch ...
and Bronstein to London to play a Scheveningen-style event (where each team member competes against only the other team's players) against three young British masters:
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 ...
,
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 ...
and
David S. Goodman
David Simon Charles Goodman (born 25 February 1958 in England) is an International Master of chess, chess writer and teacher, and former journalist.
He was educated at Latymer Upper School in London and at Keble College, Oxford. He has a BA a ...
. Korchnoi then played the international tournament at Hastings, 1975–76.
Korchnoi, in a 2006 lecture in London, mentioned that the breakthrough that allowed him to resume international appearances came when
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 ...
inherited the World Championship title forfeited by Fischer. Questions arose about how Karpov had qualified to be a World Champion, when he had never played Fischer. Since Korchnoi was not publicly visible, it was largely believed that he (and Karpov) could not be very strong. Korchnoi was then allowed to play the 1976
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 ...
tournament, as a means to prove Karpov was a worthy World Champion.
Korchnoi was joint winner of the tournament, along with GM
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 ...
. At the end of the tournament, Korchnoi asked Miles to spell "
political asylum
The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...
" for him, whereupon Korchnoi entered the police station to defect, having smuggled his chess library out of the USSR in two stages, on this trip as well as the previous year's trip to England.
[''Keene''] As a result, after the chess tournament in Amsterdam, Korchnoi became the first strong Soviet grandmaster to defect from the Soviet Union. Korchnoi left his wife and son behind. The defection resulted in a turbulent period of excellent tournament results, losses in the two matches for the World Title, all overshadowed by the oppressive political climate of the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
.
Korchnoi resided in the Netherlands for some time, giving
simultaneous exhibition
A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition (commonly chess or Go) in which one player (typically of high rank, such as a grandmaster or dan-level player) plays multiple games at a time with a number of other pl ...
s. He played a short match against GM
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 ...
– the strongest active non-Soviet player at that time – and comprehensively defeated him. He moved to
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
for a short period, and then eventually settled in Switzerland by 1978, becoming a Swiss citizen.
First World Championship match against Karpov
In the next world championship cycle (1976–78), for which he qualified as the losing finalist, Korchnoi first had to overcome Soviet demands that he be forfeited due to his defection; FIDE President GM
Max Euwe
Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ...
defended Korchnoi's right to participate.
Korchnoi began actual play by again vanquishing Petrosian, by (+2−1=9) in the quarter-final round at Il Ciocco, Italy, taking a clinching draw in a clearly favourable position in the final game. In the semifinal, held at
Evian
Evian ( , ; , stylized as evian) is a French company that bottles and commercialises mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. It produces over 2 billion plastic bottles per year.
Today, Evia ...
, France, Korchnoi won against GM
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 in ...
, with a score of (+5−1=7). The final, in which he faced Spassky at
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, began with five wins and five draws for Korchnoi, after which he lost four consecutive games. The match was noteworthy for Spassky's scandalous psychological behavior after game 10 where Spassky refused to play at the game board, instead analyzing the game from a demonstration board while seated in a box located behind Korchnoi. Ultimately, Korchnoi steeled himself and finally secured victory in the match by (+7−4=7) to emerge as the challenger to Karpov, having defeated three world-class Soviet contenders.
The World Championship match of 1978 was held in
Baguio
Baguio ( ,
), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...
,
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. There was enormous controversy off the board, ranging from X-raying of chairs, protests about the flags used on the board, hypnotism complaints and the mirror glasses used by Korchnoi. When Karpov's team sent him a
bilberry
Bilberries (), or sometimes European blueberries, are a primarily Eurasian species of low-growing shrubs in the genus ''Vaccinium'' (family Ericaceae), bearing edible, dark blue berries. The species most often referred to is '' Vaccinium myrtill ...
yogurt
Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in t ...
during a game without any request for one by Karpov, the Korchnoi team protested, claiming it could be some kind of code (such as whether Korchnoi was dead equal or slightly advantageous). They later said this was intended as a parody of earlier protests, but it was taken seriously at the time.
In quality of play, the match itself never measured up to the press headlines that it generated, although as a sporting contest it had its share of excitement. The match would go to the first player to win six games, draws not counting. After 17 games, Karpov had an imposing 4–1 lead. Korchnoi won game 21, but Karpov won game 27, putting him on the brink of victory with a 5–2 lead. Korchnoi bravely fought back, scoring three wins and one draw in the next four games, to equalise the match at 5–5 after 31 games. However, Karpov won the very next game, and the match, by 6–5 with 21 draws.
Korchnoi alleged that when acting as his second in this match,
Raymond Keene
Raymond Dennis Keene (born 29 January 1948) is an English chess grandmaster, a FIDE International Arbiter, a chess organiser, and a journalist and author. He won the British Chess Championship in 1971, and was the first player from England t ...
broke his contract by writing a book about the match (which appeared three days after the match finished) having specifically signed an agreement "not to write, compile or help to write or compile any book during the course of the match". Korchnoi commented: "Mr Keene betrayed me. He violated the contract. It was clear that while Mr Keene was writing one book and then another, Mr Stean was doing his work for him."
Attempts to defend Keene were rebutted by Michael Stean's mother, who stated that she was in a position to know what was in Keene's contract since she herself had typed it. Keene, she claimed, had signed this despite having already negotiated a contract with Batsford to write a book about the match. She described "a premeditated and deliberate plan to deceive" and noted that Keene's conduct had come under suspicion during the match.
Second World Championship match against Karpov
As the losing world title match finalist, Korchnoi was seeded into the next cycle's final eight players. In his first match, Korchnoi once more defeated Petrosian in March 1980 at
Velden am Wörthersee Velden may refer to several places:
*Velden am Wörther See, a municipality on lake Wörthersee in Carinthia, Austria
*Velden, Limburg, a village in the municipality of Venlo, Netherlands
*Velden (Pegnitz)
Velden is a town in the district Nürnbe ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, by 5½ to 3½. This victory earned him a rematch with Polugaevsky, whom he had defeated in the previous cycle. At
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 ...
during July and August 1980, Korchnoi again triumphed by 7½ to 6½; the match was tied following the regulation ten games. In the final match, at
Meran
Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and ''comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier ...
, Italy, from December 1980 to January 1981, Korchnoi was leading West German GM
Robert Hübner
Robert Hübner (born November 6, 1948) is a German chess grandmaster, chess writer, and papyrologist. He was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Chess career
At eighteen, he was joint winner of the West German Chess ...
by 4½ to 3½, with two more possible regulation games to come, when Hübner withdrew from the match. This forfeit advanced Korchnoi to a rematch for the title against Karpov.
This final match was also held in
Meran
Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and ''comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. In what was dubbed the "Massacre in Meran", Karpov defeated Korchnoi by six wins to two, with ten draws.
The headlines of the tournament again largely centered on the political issues. Korchnoi's wife and son had been denied emigration and were still in the Soviet Union. In 1980, his son had been promised release to join his father in exile if he gave up his passport. When he did so, he was promptly drafted into the Soviet army. In spite of protests, he was arrested for evading army service, sentenced to two and a half years in a labour camp, and served the full sentence. After his release in 1982, Korchnoi's wife and son were allowed to leave the USSR. Korchnoi divorced his wife soon after.
At the time he was living with a Soviet émigrée whom he would later marry.
Playing Kasparov
![Viktor Kortschnoi, 2009 in Zurich](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Viktor_Kortschnoi%2C_2009_in_Zurich.jpg)
Korchnoi still had a vital part to play in the next (1984) Candidates' cycle, although he never reached the highest pinnacle again. In the first match, he defeated GM
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 ...
by 6–3 at
Bad Kissingen
Bad Kissingen is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and seat of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is one of the health resorts, which be ...
1983. In the second round, he was to play the young Soviet GM
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
, who at the time was battling against a Soviet Chess Federation that was clearly in favour of Anatoly Karpov. The match was to be held in
Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
I ...
, but the Soviet Chess Federation protested (possibly because Korchnoi was a defector and the match was in the cold-war enemy's back yard, in a place closed to Soviet diplomats at the time, and because of the soon-to-be-announced Soviet decision to boycott the
1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles). Kasparov was not allowed to fly there to play the match. This defaulted the match to Korchnoi. Another Soviet contender, former Champion GM
Vassily 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 t ...
, was also at first forfeited to Hungarian GM
Zoltan Ribli, with their match set to take place in the
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
.
However, upon intervention by prominent British chess organizer GM Raymond Keene, who quickly stepped up to raise a large amount of sponsorship money to save the troubled matches, Korchnoi agreed to play Kasparov in London, which at the same time also hosted the Smyslov vs. Ribli match. This was a gracious gesture by Korchnoi, since technically he had already won by default. After a good start, winning the first game, Korchnoi was beaten by a score of 7–4, with Kasparov, who was 32 years younger, proving that his all-round game and youthful stamina were too strong.
Three more Candidates' appearances
After the 1983 Kasparov match, Korchnoi continued playing at a top level but without seriously threatening the world championship again. In the 1985–87 World Championship cycle he finished equal thirteenth out of 16 in the
Candidates' Tournament
The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The w ...
at
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
.
In the 1988–90 cycle, he made the final 16 again, but was eliminated in the first round of Candidates' matches, held at
Saint John, New Brunswick
Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, losing to
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
's GM
Johann Hjartarson in extra games, by 4½ to 3½.
Finally, in the 1991–93 cycle, he defeated GM
Gyula Sax
Gyula Sax (18 June 1951 – 25 January 2014) was a Hungarian chess grandmaster and International Arbiter (1995).
In 1972 he won the European Junior Chess Championship in Groningen. Sax was awarded the IM title in 1972 and the GM title ...
of
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
in the first round, by 5½ to 4½ 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 ...
. Then, at
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, he lost to GM
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 ...
of the Netherlands by 4½ to 2½, ending his run at the world championship, which stretched from 1962 to 1991.
Later career
He continued to play in Europe and around the world to an advanced age, living in his adopted country of Switzerland. He frequently represented their
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 ...
team on top board, beginning in 1978, even though his
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 ...
was sometimes considerably below that of compatriot
Vadim Milov
Vadim Milov (born 1 August 1972) is a Swiss chess player who received the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM) in 1993.
Early life
Born in Ufa, following the collapse of the USSR, he moved to Israel in 1992, before finally settling in Switzerlan ...
, who appeared not to make himself available for selection.
From 2001 onwards, Korchnoi became a prolific author of books on his career, publishing five new volumes, including two books of annotated games, an updated autobiography, and an overview (along with several other authors) of Soviet politics applying to chess; he also wrote a book on rook endings.
In 2001, Korchnoi won the
Biel Chess Festival
The Biel International Chess Festival is an annual chess tournament that takes place in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. It consists of two events, the Grandmaster Tournament, held with the Round-robin tournament, round-robin system, and the Master Open T ...
for the second time in the grandmasters division, having also won in 1979. This 22-year gap still stands as the longest time period between being champion at Biel tournament, or quite possibly any international chess tournament.
In September 2006, Korchnoi won the 16th
World Senior Chess Championship
The World Senior Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament established in 1991 by FIDE, the World Chess Federation.
Overview
Originally, the minimum age was 60 years for men, and 50 for women.
Since 2014, the Senior Championship is split i ...
, held in
Arvier
Arvier ( Valdôtain: ' or '; frp, Arviér); is a town and ''comune'' in the Aosta Valley region of northwestern Italy.
Geography
Wine
The local wine, Enfer d'Arvier, had its own DOC designation before being subsumed into the Valle d'Aosta ...
(Valle d'Aosta, Italy), at age 75, with a 9–2 score. Korchnoi scored 7½–½ in his first eight games, then drew his last three games.
On the January 2007
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 ...
rating list Korchnoi was ranked number 85 in the world at age 75, the oldest player ever to be ranked in the FIDE top 100. The second-oldest player on the January 2007 list was
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 pl ...
, age 53, who was 22 years younger than Korchnoi. As of 2011, Korchnoi was still active in the chess world with a notable win (in
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
) with black against the 18-year-old
Fabiano Caruana
Fabiano Luigi Caruana (born July 30, 1992) is an American chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy, Caruana became a grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, and 20 days—the youngest grandmaster in the history of both Italy and the United Sta ...
, who was rated above 2700 and 61 years Korchnoi's junior.
Korchnoi became the oldest player ever to win a national championship, when he won the 2009
Swiss championship at age 78. He won the national title again a few months after his 80th birthday in July 2011 after a playoff game with
Joseph Gallagher
Joseph Gerald Gallagher (born in London 4 May 1964) is a British-born Swiss chess player and writer. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1990 and has been the national champion of both Britain and Switzerland.
Career
Born to ...
.
Declining health
In late December 2012, it was reported that Korchnoi was recovering from a stroke and was unlikely to play competitive chess again. He was scheduled to play in the 37th
Zurich Christmas Open
The Zurich Christmas Open (german: Weihnachtsopen Zürich) is an annual chess tournament that takes place in Zurich, Switzerland. The tournament began in 1977 and has been held 38 consecutive times. In 2013, Polish Grandmaster Radosław Wojtasze ...
tournament in December 2013, but withdrew due to health reasons.
However, in 2014, he returned to the board to play a two-game match against GM
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 a ...
(1935–2020), winning both games; the combined age of the two players was 162 years, which is almost certainly a record for a standard play match between Grandmasters. In 2015 the two played a four-game rapid play match (25 minutes per player for all moves, plus 30 seconds extra per move), which was drawn 2–2. Korchnoi's final match against another Grandmaster was a similar four-game rapid play match in November 2015, against GM
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (russian: Марк Евгеньевич Тайманов; 7 February 1926 – 28 November 2016) was one of the leading Soviet and Russian chess players, among the world's top 20 players from 1946 to 1971. A prolific ch ...
(1926–2016) – the first time since 1980 that Korchnoi had played in an official or friendly match against an opponent older than himself. The combined ages of the players was 174. Korchnoi won the match 2–1 with one draw.
Death
Korchnoi died aged 85 on 6 June 2016 in the Swiss city of
Wohlen.
Legacy
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 ...
President
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov (russian: link=no, Кирса́н Никола́евич Илюмжи́нов, ; Kalmyk: Үлмҗин Кирсән, ''Ülmcin Kirsən'', ; born 5 April 1962) is a Russian business oligarch, administrator and po ...
said that Korchnoi "has contributed substantially to the popularisation of our sport and is considered rightly as one of the strongest and charismatic players in the entire history of world chess". One obituary, written by
Leonard Barden
Leonard William Barden (born 20 August 1929, in Croydon, London) is an English chess master, writer, broadcaster, journalist, organizer and promoter. The son of a dustman, he was educated at Whitgift School, South Croydon, and Balliol Colleg ...
, called him "the greatest player never to have been world champion".
Korchnoi was comfortable playing with or without the initiative. He could attack, counterattack, play positionally, and was a master of the
endgame
Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to:
Film
* ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film)
* ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film
* ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...
. He became known as the master of counterattack, and he was the most difficult opponent of
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 ...
, an out-and-out attacker. He had a large lifetime plus score against Tal (+13−4=17), and also had plus scores against world champions Petrosian and Spassky. He had equal records against Botvinnik (+1−1=2) and Fischer (+2−2=4). He defeated nine undisputed world champions from Botvinnik through to
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...
, and
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...
.
At times Korchnoi displayed his temper after losing games by sweeping all the pieces off the board. Among his colleagues, he had a reputation of being short tempered.
At times, however, he displayed genial manners. In the 1983
U.S. Open Chess Championship The U.S. Open Championship is an open national chess championship that has been held in the United States annually since .
History
The tournament was originally the championship of the Western Chess Association, and was called the Western Open. I ...
in Pasadena, California, Korchnoi was paired against GM
Larry Christiansen
Larry Mark Christiansen (born June 27, 1956) is an American chess player of Danish ancestry. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1977. Christiansen was the U.S. champion in 1980, 1983, and 2002. He competed in the FIDE World Champ ...
who was late showing up to the game when his "old jalopy" car ran out of gas on the way to the event. Rather than starting Christiansen's clock, Korchnoi waited until Christiansen arrived—a very kind gesture indeed.
Korchnoi never succeeded in becoming world chess champion, but many people consider him the strongest player never to have done so, a distinction also often attributed to
Akiba Rubinstein
Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1 December 1880 – 14 March 1961) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Rubinstein was granted the title Grandmaster (chess), ...
and
Paul Keres
Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...
. On the other hand, the 10th world champion
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 ...
argued that Korchnoi did not deserve to be champion, both because he did not play the best moves (sometimes taking 140 moves to win a game that could have been won in 40), and because he did not have any individuality.
One of the variations of the
English Opening
The English Opening is a chess opening that begins with the move:
:1. c4
A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, one of the four most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins th ...
is called the Korchnoi Variation, a variation for White against the French Defense is called the Korchnoi Gambit and a closed variation of the
Sicilian Defense
The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the following moves:
:1. e4 c5
The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. Opening 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for White b ...
is called the Korchnoi Defense.
Records
Korchnoi defeated nine undisputed world champions (Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov and Carlsen),
a record he shares with
Paul Keres
Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...
and
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 pl ...
.
He is the only player to have won or drawn—in individual game(s)—against every World Chess Champion, disputed or undisputed, since the world chess championship interregnum of World War II.
Books
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
In popular culture
* Korchnoi's 1976 defection is thought to have inspired in part the plot of the 1986 musical ''
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 ''
Dangerous Moves
''Dangerous Moves'' (french: La Diagonale du fou) is a 1984 French-language film about chess, directed by Richard Dembo, produced by Arthur Cohn, starring Michel Piccoli, Alexandre Arbatt, as well as Liv Ullmann, Leslie Caron, and Bernhard W ...
'', a film from 1984, the "match and the characters are reminiscent of the real-life 1981 match between Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov".
* The year 2018 saw the release of a documentary film, ''Closing Gambit'', which "tells the full story of the infamous
1978 Karpov–Korchnoi match".
See also
*
List of Eastern Bloc defectors
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of Jewish chess players
Jews, Jewish players and Chess theory, theoreticians have long been involved in the game of chess and have significantly contributed to the development of chess, which has been described as the "Jewish National game". Chess gained po ...
References
Further reading
*
*
Genna Sosonko
Gennadi "Genna" Sosonko (russian: Геннадий Борисович Сосонко, ''Gennady Borisovich Sosonk''o; born 18 May 1943) is a Soviet-born Dutch chess player and writer. He has been awarded the title Grandmaster (GM) by FIDE and is a ...
: ''Evil-Doer. Half a Century with Viktor Korchnoi''. Elk and Ruby, Moscow 2018. .
External links
Viktor Korchnoichess games at 365Chess.com
*
Comprehensive Biography of Viktor Korchnoiwith world ranking survey and chronology of first prizes, game collection, major tournaments and opponents
– contains detailed information on two matches Karpov–Korchnoi.
*
Edward WinterList of Books About Karpov and KorchnoiKorchnoi's interview: "Genii and wunderkinds"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Korchnoi, Viktor
1931 births
2016 deaths
Chess grandmasters
World Senior Chess Champions
Chess Olympiad competitors
Soviet defectors
Russian chess players
Swiss chess players
Soviet chess players
Jewish chess players
Polish chess players
Sportspeople from Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg State University alumni
Russian Jews
Swiss writers
Russian chess writers
People denaturalized by the Soviet Union
Soviet emigrants to Switzerland
Naturalised citizens of Switzerland