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András Adorján (born András Jocha; 31 March 1950) is a Hungarian
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 (1973) and author. He adopted his mother's maiden name, Adorján, in 1968.


Chess career

In 1969–70, Adorján secured the title of European Junior Champion at the 'Niemeyer Tournament' in
Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
, and in 1969 at Stockholm, he finished runner-up in the
World Junior Chess Championship The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament (players must have been under 20 years old on 1 January in the year of competition) organized by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The idea was the brainchild of William Rits ...
to
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 Che ...
. Qualification as an
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 (chess), Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combinatio ...
came in 1970 and as a Grandmaster in 1973. The latter was also the year that he won (jointly) his first Hungarian Championship, going on to a further (this time outright) victory in 1984. Other tournament successes (finishing either first or joint first) included Varna 1972, Osijek 1978, Budapest 1982, Gjovik 1983, Esbjerg 1985 and New York Open 1987. In an interview, he recounts the story of his telephoned invitation to Luhacovice in 1973; he enquired—"Is there a GM norm on offer?", to which came the answer "Yes". His next question—"When does it start?" was met with the reply "Half an hour ago". He also went on to win that tournament. At the Riga
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 ...
of 1979, he finished joint third and qualified for the World Championship
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 ...
via tiebreaks, after drawing a match (+1 −1 =2) with fellow Hungarian Zoltán Ribli. At the Candidates he lost his quarter-final match to
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 Ch ...
. In team chess, Adorján has an excellent record. Competing at 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 ...
of 1978, he helped Hungary to capture the gold medal from the Soviet team who had convincingly won the event twelve consecutive times from 1952 through 1974. His further participation in 1984, 1986 and 1988 contributed to a top five finish on each occasion. Compatriots
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 ...
, Ribli and
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 ...
were also at the peak of their playing strength during this period. Adorján has also worked over the years, sometimes secretly, as a second to
Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak Elo rating system, rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the hi ...
and to
Peter Leko Peter Leko ( hu, Lékó Péter; born September 8, 1979) is a Hungarian chess player and commentator. He became the world's youngest grandmaster in 1994. He narrowly missed winning the Classical World Chess Championship 2004: the match was dra ...
, helping them to prepare for important
World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
matches. He is known as a leading expert on the
Grünfeld Defence The Grünfeld Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 g6 :3. Nc3 d5 Black offers White the possibility of 4.cxd5, which may be followed by 4...Nxd5 and 5.e4, giving White an imposing central pawn duo. If Whi ...
, which has been favored by both Kasparov and Leko.


Author

In recent years he has played less and concentrated more on writing, becoming renowned for his series of books championing the cause of the player of the black pieces—''Black is OK'', ''Black is Still OK'' and ''Black is OK Forever''. The books challenge the popular perceptions of Black's chances and diagrammed positions are even presented with the black pieces playing up the board. For their creativity with the black pieces, Adorján cites the games of
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 ...
and
Alexander Morozevich Alexander Sergeyevich Morozevich (russian: Александр Серге́евич Морозе́вич, translit=Aleksandr Sergéevich Morozévich; born July 18, 1977) is a Russian chess player. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE ...
as a source of inspiration. His writing is always imaginative, quirky and anecdotal. In one review, it was suggested that Adorján's books could have been co-authored by Botvinnik and
Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over fo ...
. In the field of
chess opening A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the " Sicilian Defens ...
theory, Adorján's passions have in many ways mirrored the theme of his books. Typical is his handling of the '
Hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduct ...
System' versus 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 t ...
. The system seeks to neutralise white's first move advantage by engineering rapid piece development on the queenside, behind flexible, low-key pawn moves (such as d6, a6 and b6). The formation is said to resemble the prickly spines of the hedgehog, repelling premature attacks and offering no soft targets.


Books

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Notes


References

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External links

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András Adorján at 365Chess.com
András Adorján Video Master Classes. {{DEFAULTSORT:Adorjan, Andras 1950 births Living people Sportspeople from Budapest Chess grandmasters Hungarian chess players Hungarian chess writers Chess theoreticians Chess Olympiad competitors sv:András Adorján