Vladimir Konstantinovich Bagirov ( rus, Влади́мир Константи́нович Баги́ров; lv, Vladimirs Bagirovs; August 16, 1936 – July 21, 2000) was a
Soviet
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 nation ...
-
Latvian 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 ...
player, author, and trainer. He played in ten
USSR Championships, with his best result being fourth place in his debut in 1960. Bagirov was
world senior champion in 1998.
He was the coach of Mikhail Tal and Garry Kasparov, both of which are considered to be among the greatest chess players of all time.
Biography
Vladimir Bagirov was born to an
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
n father and a
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
mother in Baku. He showed chess talent as a youth, and came under the wing of the master and trainer
Vladimir Makogonov
Vladimir Andreevich Makogonov ( rus, Влади́мир Андре́евич Макого́нов, August 27, 1904 – January 2, 1993) was a chess player from Azerbaijan SSR. He was born in Nakhchivan but lived in Baku for most of his life. He ...
. He made his debut in the semi-finals of the Soviet Championship in 1957, but did not advance to the final. Bagirov qualified for the final for the first time in 1960, and finished in 4th place at the 27th
USSR Championship 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 ...
, which was won by
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. H ...
.
In 1961, he was selected to the Soviet team for the
European Team Championship at
Oberhausen 1961 and at the World Student Championship in Helsinki. Bagirov was awarded the title of
International Master by
FIDE in 1963 and that of
Grandmaster in 1978.
Bagirov moved into training work in the 1970s, and for a short time in 1975, as
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...
national coach, was the sole trainer of future World Champion
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 ...
. Following a dispute with chess officials, Bagirov moved to
Latvia in the late 1970s, and coached former World Champion
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 future grandmasters
Alexei Shirov
Alexei Shirov (, lv, Aleksejs Širovs; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994.
He won a match against Vladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classic ...
and
Alexander Shabalov.
Bagirov was also an
openings theoretician, with one of his favourites the unusual
Alekhine's Defence
The Alekhine's Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
:1. e4 Nf6
Black tempts White's pawns forward to form a broad , with plans to undermine and attack the white structure later in the spirit of hypermodern defence. White's im ...
. He published two books and a CD-Rom from 1994 to 2000.
Following the
collapse of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
in 1991, Bagirov played more tournament chess than he ever had before, taking part in many open tournaments in Europe. He won the 1998
World Senior Championship
The World Senior Championship was a golf match held between the winners of the American PGA Seniors' Championship (now Senior PGA Championship) and the British PGA Seniors Championship. It was held from 1954 to 1978. It was a 36-hole match-play e ...
at
Grieskirchen,
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 ...
, with a score of 8½/11.
Bagirov played for Latvia in
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 an ...
s:
* In 1992, at fourth board in the
30th Chess Olympiad in Manila (+1 –1 =6);
* In 1996, at third board in the
32nd Chess Olympiad
The 32nd Chess Olympiad ( hy, 32-րդ Շախմատային օլիմպիադա, ''32-rd Shakhmatayin olimpiadan''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both mal ...
in Yerevan (+3 –2 =3).
Bagirov played for Latvia in
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 ...
s:
* In 1992, at second board in the 10th European Team Chess Championship in Debrecen (+1 –1 =4).
Bagirov played for Latvia in
World Team Chess Championship
The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent. It is played every two years. In chess, this tournament and the Chess Olympiads ...
s:
* In 1993, at fourth board in the 3rd World Team Chess Championship in Lucerne (+0 –0 =5).
Bagirov died while playing a tournament in Finland in 2000. He had started the Heart of Finland Open event with three straight wins to take the lead and, after a time scramble, had an extra pawn in round four against Teemu Laasanen, but suffered a heart attack, and died the next day, on July 21, 2000.
Publications
*
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 t ...
: Classical and Indian, by Vladimir Bagirov, translated from the Russian by Ken Neat, London,
Cadogan Chess
Everyman Chess, formerly known as Cadogan Chess, is a major publisher of books and CDs about chess. "Everyman" is a registered trademark of Random House and the company headquarters is in London. Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov is the ...
, 1994, .
* English Opening: Symmetrical, by Vladimir Bagirov, translated from the Russian by Ken Neat, London, Cadogan Chess, 1995, .
*
Queen's Gambit Declined
The Queen's Gambit Declined (or QGD) is a chess opening in which Black declines a pawn offered by White in the Queen's Gambit:
:1. d4 d5
:2. c4 e6
This is known as the ''Orthodox Line'' of the Queen's Gambit Declined. When the "Queen's Gambi ...
, Exchange Variation, CD-Rom by Vladimir Bagirov, Amsterdam,
New In Chess, 2000.
Notable games
Leonid Stein vs Vladimir Bagirov, Leningrad 1963, French Defense: Tarrasch, Closed Variation (C05), 0-1Vladimir Bagirov vs Karen Ashotovich Grigorian, URS 1976, Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Indian Variation (A01), 1-0Vladimir Bagirov vs Mark Taimanov, URS 1977, Queen's Gambit Declined: Barmen Variation (D37), 1-0
References
External links
*
Grandmaster Games Database - Vladimir Bagirov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bagirov, Vladimir
1936 births
2000 deaths
Soviet chess players
Chess grandmasters
Chess theoreticians
Chess coaches
Chess players from Baku
Ukrainian people of Armenian descent
Soviet chess writers
Soviet male writers
20th-century male writers
Latvian chess players
Soviet emigrants to Latvia
World Senior Chess Champions
20th-century chess players