Vitaly Valeryevich Tseshkovsky (russian: Виталий Валерьевич Цешковский; 25 September 1944, Omsk – 24 December 2011,

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...

) was a Russian

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 dist ...

Grandmaster and a former champion of the

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 ...

. Tseshkovsky (Cieszkowski) was born in Omsk (his noble ancestors lived in

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

). He was awarded the International Master title in 1973 and became an International Grandmaster in 1975. His best tournament victories include first at

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

1975,

Dubna Dubna ( rus, Дубна́, p=dʊbˈna) is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It has a status of ''naukograd'' (i.e. town of science), being home to the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, an international nuclear physics research center and one o ...

1976,

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

1980,

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

1981, Sochi 1981 and

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 ...

1982. He was co-winner of the 1978 Soviet Championship (with

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 ...

) and winner of the 1986 Championship. He beat some world champions:

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 t ...

at the Moscow Spartakiad 1974, Tal at Sochi 1970, and a young

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 ...

at the 1978 Soviet Championship. Tseshkovsky himself almost qualified for the World Championship candidates matches when he finished fourth in the 1976

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 ...

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 C ...

, one place lower than was needed to progress to the next stage. At the 27th Chess Olympiad in 1986, he scored 2½/5 as the second reserve board to help the USSR team win the gold medal. His 6/9 result in

Saint Petersburg 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 ...

, 2004 qualified Tseshkovsky to play in the Russian Championship final later in the year, alongside Russia's seven top players (including

who won) and five other qualifiers. In 2008 he tied for first with Farrukh Amonatov and Anton Filippov in the

Georgy Agzamov Georgy Tadzhikhanovich Agzamov (September 6, 1954, Tashkent – August 27, 1986, Sevastopol) was a Soviet chess Grandmaster, the first from Central Asia. He became an International Master in 1982 and was awarded the Grandmaster title in 1984. ...

Memorial tournament in

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

. In the following year he took clear first place in the same tournament. Tseshkovsky won the

European Senior Chess Championship The European Senior Chess Championship is a chess tournament for senior chess players organised by the European Chess Union (ECU). Beginning in 2001, entry was open to men aged sixty or over (60+) by January 1 of the year the tournament starts. The ...

in 2009 and 2010. In 2010, he also tied for 2nd-4th with Algimantas Butnorius and Nikolai Pushkov in the European Seniors’ Rapid Championship, which was won by

Viktor Kupreichik Viktor Davidovich Kupreichik (russian: Ви́ктор Давыдо́вич Купре́йчик, be, Віктар Давыдавіч Купрэйчык, ''Viktar Davydavič Kuprejčyk''; 3 July 1949 – 22 May 2017) was a Belarusian chess grandm ...

. In the opening, his choice was 1.e4 with the white pieces. With Black he played the Ruy Lopez, Sicilian Defence,

Pirc Defence 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 ...

and Modern Defence against 1.e4, and against 1.d4 he most often played the Grünfeld Defence and

Benko Gambit The Benko Gambit (or Volga Gambit) is a chess opening characterised by the move 3...b5 in the Benoni Defence arising after: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 c5 :3. d5 b5 Black sacrifices a pawn for enduring pressure. White can accept or decline the gambi ...

. Tseshkovsky maintained a high standard of chess throughout his career, registering his highest Elo rating of 2600 in October 2005. As a coach, he assisted with the training of many high-profile players including Vladimir Kramnik, Bartlomiej Macieja and Boris Savchenko. He died on 24 December 2011 in Krasnodar.

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References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tseshkovsky, Vitaly 1944 births 2011 deaths Chess grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Chess coaches Russian chess players Soviet chess players Sportspeople from Omsk