The Englund Gambit is a rarely played chess opening that starts with the moves:
78-448: Black's idea is to avoid the traditional closed queen's pawn games and create an open game with tactical chances, but at the cost of a pawn. The gambit is considered weak; Boris Avrukh writes that 1...e5 "seems to me the worst possible reply to White's first move". It is almost never seen in top-level play, although Paul Keres once tried it. The gambit is occasionally seen in amateur games and in correspondence chess , and
156-514: A 9–2 score. Korchnoi scored 7½–½ in his first eight games, then drew his last three games. On the January 2007 FIDE 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 , age 53, who was 22 years younger than Korchnoi. In 2011, Korchnoi was still active in
234-705: 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 , who worked at a candy factory. Both parents came to Leningrad with their families from Ukraine in 1928: mother from Borispol and father from Melitopol . 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
312-401: A Swiss citizen. 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 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
390-480: 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 tournament, as a means to prove Karpov was a worthy World Champion. Korchnoi was joint winner of the tournament, along with GM Tony Miles . At the end of the tournament, Korchnoi asked Miles to spell " political asylum " for him, whereupon Korchnoi entered
468-560: A book on rook endings. In 2001, Korchnoi won the Biel Chess Festival 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 , held in Arvier (Valle d'Aosta, Italy), at age 75, with
546-446: A clinching draw in a clearly favourable position in the final game. In the semifinal, held at Evian , France, Korchnoi won against GM Lev Polugaevsky , with a score of (+5−1=7). The final, in which he faced Spassky at Belgrade , 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
624-490: A gambit line of the Philidor Defence played by Blackburne. Black gets partial compensation for the pawn after 5.exd6 Bxd6 6.Be2 Ngf6 7.Nc3 Qe7. White obtains a large advantage, however, after 2...d6 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.Bg5 ! Qd7 5.exd6 Bxd6 6.Nbd2. The Soller Gambit, 2...Nc6 3.Nf3 f6, was named after Karl Soller . The immediate 2...f6 is sometimes seen as well, when 3.Nf3 Nc6 transposes, but 3.e4! Nc6 4.Bc4 gives White
702-625: A good response. Avrukh also considers this very strong, analyzing 8...Bxd2+ 9.Qxd2 Qxa2 10.Rd1 Kd8 11.Ng5 Nh6 12.e6! d6 (12...Qa5? 13.e7+! Ke8 14.Qxa5 Nxa5 15.Nxc7+ wins) 13.exf7 Rf8 14.Nxc7 Kxc7 15.Qxd6+ Kb6 16.Ne4! Qxc2 (or 16...Bf5 17.Nc3 Qxc2 18.Nd5+) 17.Nd2 Rxf7 18.Rb1+ Qxb1+ 19.Nxb1 with "a decisive advantage". Stefan Bücker offers 13...Qa5 for Black but concludes that White is clearly better after 14.c3 Rf8 15.Nxh7 Rxf7 16.Ng5 Rf8 17.g3 Ne5 18.Bg2 Nhf7 19.Nxf7+ Rxf7 20.Qd4. Avrukh also considers 8...Ba5 9.Rb5 Bxd2+ (9...a6? 10.Rxa5 Nxa5 11.Nxc7+) 10.Qxd2 Kd8 11.Ng5 (the traditional reply 11.e4 may allow Black
780-577: A greater advantage against the Englund than against the Budapest and Albin, against all approaches by Black. However, since the Budapest and Albin rely upon White continuing with 2.c4, and can thus be avoided by continuations such as 2.Nf3 (when 2...e5 ? can be met by 3.Nxe5 in either case), it is easier for exponents of the Englund Gambit to get their opening on the board and avoid getting into
858-516: 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. 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 by 6–3 at Bad Kissingen 1983. In
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#1732798516684936-563: A large advantage. In the Soller Gambit proper, International Master Gary Lane recommends 4.exf6 Nxf6 5.Bg5. In this line Black gets partial compensation via 5...h6!, e.g. 6.Bh4 Bc5 (or 6...g5 at once) 7.e3 g5 or 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.c3 Bc5, although White keeps some advantage. White can also return the pawn via 4.e4, securing the better chances. Then after 4...fxe5 5.Bc4, 5...Nf6 6.Ng5! leads to complications that are very good for White, but 5...d6 may be an improvement. Detailed analysis of
1014-574: 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. After
1092-488: A line of the Nimzowitsch Defence with 3.e4. Bibliography Glossary of chess#closed game This glossary of chess explains commonly used terms in chess , in alphabetical order. Some of these terms have their own pages, like fork and pin . For a list of unorthodox chess pieces, see Fairy chess piece ; for a list of terms specific to chess problems , see Glossary of chess problems ; for
1170-489: A list of named opening lines , see List of chess openings ; for a list of chess-related games, see List of chess variants ; for a list of terms general to board games , see Glossary of board games . Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (Russian: Виктор Львович Корчной , IPA: [vʲiktər ˈlʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj] ; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He
1248-459: A playable game after 11...a6!? according to Bücker) 11...Nh6 12.f4!? a6 13.Rb3 Qxa2 14.Nc3 Qa1+ 15.Rb1 Qa5 16.e3 when Black is "close to losing", for example 16...Re8 17.Bc4 Nxe5 18.fxe5 Qxe5 19.Bxf7! Qxg5 20.Bxe8 Kxe8 21.Nd5 Qe5 22.0-0 and "White wins." Bücker also considers 9.e4!? to be a strong alternative to 9.Rb5, leading to a clear advantage for White. Black therefore sometimes tries 4...d6 instead, continuing 5.exd6 Qf6 6.Qc1 (or 6.e3, returning
1326-414: A playable game with 8...f6 9.Bd2 c6 10.Nf4 Qb6. The Blackburne–Hartlaub Gambit, 2...d6, was Charlick's original idea to avoid the closed openings, aiming for compensation for a pawn after 3.exd6 Bxd6. A sample continuation is 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4, when White remains a pawn up with some advantage. White can also delay the immediate 3.exd6, playing 3.Nf3 first, when after 3...Bg4, 4.e4 Nd7 transposes into
1404-457: A secret training match against GM Anatoly Karpov , 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 at Moscow by (+4−1=3), after which he went down to defeat in
1482-412: 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 a few months later and Korchnoi placed fifth out of eight with an even score, 13½/27, which Tigran Petrosian won, winning the right to challenge Botvinnik. Korchnoi's results included two victories over Fischer, one a brilliant win employing
1560-562: 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 and Bronstein to London to play a Scheveningen-style event (where each team member competes against only
1638-474: A thematic tournament from late 1932 to early 1933 in which all games had to begin with the position after 4.Qd5; the 1.d4 e5 gambit complex was later named after him. Most common today is 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 Qe7 4.Bf4 Qb4+ 5.Bd2 Qxb2 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Rb1 Qa3. White can try to keep the extra pawn with 4.Qd5 !? , the Stockholm Variation. Black can try a queenside fianchetto with 4...b6, or attempt to regain
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#17327985166841716-534: A typical queen's pawn type of game. 1.d4 e5 is also known as the Charlick Gambit after Henry Charlick (1845–1916), the second Australian chess champion , who introduced the 2...d6 line in the early 1890s. The main line Englund Gambit (2...Nc6, 3...Qe7) was introduced by Kārlis Bētiņš (1867–1943), who also established the Latvian Gambit . The Swedish player Fritz Englund (1871–1933) sponsored
1794-470: Is 5.e3, but Black may get some compensation for the pawn after 5...d6. If 4.Bg5, then Black obtains a good game via 4...h6 5.Bh4 g5 6.Bg3 Nf5. Thus 4.Nc3 is the most critical response, when 4...Ng6 is ineffective in view of 5.Bg5! Be7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 7.Nd5, so Black may need to fall back upon 4...h6. White can decline the Englund Gambit in a number of ways, although doing so would be inaccurate. 2.d5
1872-614: Is also critical, when Black's best is 4...Qe7 as 4...f6 5.Bc4! gives White a large advantage. The Zilbermints Gambit, 2...Nc6 3.Nf3 Nge7, was named after the American chess player Lev D. Zilbermints who had extensive analysis published on the line in Blackmar Diemer Gambit World issues 61–63. German FIDE Master Stefan Bücker provided further analysis in Kaissiber 5 and 6. The idea is to play ...Ng6 and win
1950-443: Is also good for Black. also after 2...d6, 3.e4 offers black to regain the pawn the endgame will be more comfortable for white. After 2.dxe5 Nc6, instead of 3.Nf3, White can also defend the e5-pawn with 3.Bf4, when Bücker suggests either 3...g5 followed by 4...Bg7, or 3...f6 hoping to get an improved version of the Soller Gambit. 3.f4 is sometimes seen, but Black has reasonable chances after 3...f6 or 3...d6. White can also transpose to
2028-656: Is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion . Born in Leningrad , Soviet Union (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 . In 1974, Korchnoi lost the Candidates Tournament final to Karpov. Karpov
2106-596: Is effectively adopting the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit a move down. Bücker had advocated 5.Bg5 h6 and 5.Nc3 Bc5, generally preferred variations with ...d6, and considered 5...d5 lines to be dubious. However, Shirazi's games suggest that 5...d5 variations are playable in high level blitz chess. The Felbecker Gambit, 3...Bc5, usually followed by ...f6, is a variant on the Soller Gambit approach, when again Black may get partial compensation in such lines as 4.Nc3 f6 5.exf6 Nxf6 6.Bg5 d6 7.e3 h6, but 4.e4
2184-531: Is sometimes seen, but leaves Black with a good game after 2...Bc5, while 2.e3 can be met by 2...exd4 3.exd4 d5 transposing to the Exchange Variation of the French Defence , and in addition Black can avoid 3...d5 and simply develop with a good game. 2...Nc6 and 2...e4 may also be playable. After 2.Nf3, Black gets a good game with 2...exd4 3.Nxd4 d5, preparing ...c5, and 2...e4 3.Ne5 d6 4.Nc4 d5
2262-572: The 1972 World Chess Championship , 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 , 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
2340-604: The Blackmar–Diemer Gambit except that Black has one tempo less. The gambit can be considered an inferior relative of the Budapest Gambit and Albin Countergambit , as by comparison with those gambits, White has not weakened the b4-square with c2–c4, and may be able to put that tempo to better use in order to avoid giving away any key squares. Accordingly, with careful play White should be able to obtain
2418-460: The Pirc Defense with the black pieces. Korchnoi won at Havana 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
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2496-506: The 1950 Leningrad Championship, with 9/13. One year later, Korchnoi qualified for the finals of the USSR Chess Championship for the first time. In the semifinal at Minsk , 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 and GM Mark Taimanov came joint first. The next year, he again had to qualify through
2574-481: The 1974 Candidates' matches, Korchnoi first defeated the young Brazilian star GM Henrique Costa Mecking (who had won the other Interzonal in Petrópolis ), by (+3−1=9) at Augusta , Georgia , in what he later described in his autobiography as a tough match. Korchnoi next played Petrosian again, at Odesa . The two were not on friendly terms, and it was even rumored that the two resorted to kicking each other under
2652-568: 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 at Montpellier . 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 , Canada , losing to Iceland 's GM Johann Hjartarson in extra games, by 4½ to 3½. Finally, in
2730-549: The 1991–93 cycle, he defeated GM Gyula Sax of Hungary in the first round, by 5½ to 4½ at Wijk aan Zee . Then, at Brussels , he lost to GM Jan Timman of the Netherlands by 4½ to 2½, ending his run at the world championship, which stretched from 1962 to 1991. 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 team on top board, beginning in 1978, even though his Elo rating
2808-447: The 3...Qe7 version of the gambit was frequently used by Henri Grob . Black has numerous ways to continue after 1.d4 e5 2.dxe5. Black can offer to exchange the d-pawn for White's e-pawn with 2...d6, arguing that after White captures with exd6, ...Bxd6 will offer Black a lead in development to compensate for the pawn. After the continuation 2...Nc6 3.Nf3, Black may round up the e5-pawn with 3...Qe7, intending to meet 4.Bf4 with
2886-543: The Interzonal, staged at Sousse , Tunisia , 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 at Amsterdam in 1968 by (+3=5). His next opponent was GM Mikhail Tal , against whom Korchnoi had a large plus score in previous meetings. The match, held in Moscow 1968,
2964-605: The Interzonal. Korchnoi regained his form with an overwhelming triumph at Gyula, Hungary , in 1965 with 14½/15. He won at Bucharest 1966 with 12½/14, and at the Chigorin Memorial in Sochi 1966 with 11½/15. In the 1969 World Championship cycle , he tied for 3rd–5th places at the URS-ch34, held at Tbilisi 1966–67, with 12/20, and emerged from a three-way playoff, along with GM Aivars Gipslis , at Tallinn 1967, to
3042-461: The Soller Gambit in print has been restricted to two German language works by FM Stefan Bücker from the 1980s and 1990s. In recent years, however, International Master Kamran Shirazi has played the gambit on over 1,400 occasions in blitz and bullet games at Lichess . Shirazi has diverged from Bücker's work by favouring 1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 f6 4.exf6 Nxf6 5.Bg5 d5!? and well as 5.Nc3 d5!? and 5.e3 d5!?. In each case this results in play where Black
3120-454: The USSR through 1974. He won 21 medals for the USSR. His complete Soviet international team play results follow: Korchnoi rose to prominence within the Soviet chess school system, where he competed against his contemporaries and future GM stars such as Mikhail Tal , Tigran Petrosian , and Boris Spassky , following in the path laid out by Mikhail Botvinnik . Korchnoi's playing style initially
3198-465: 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 yogurt 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
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3276-413: 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 broke his contract by writing a book about the match (which appeared three days after
3354-533: The chess world with a notable win (in Gibraltar ) with black against the 18-year-old Fabiano Caruana , 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 . Till
3432-574: 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 and IM Iivo Nei to participate in a 1975 International Tournament in the Estonian SSR , Korchnoi was not allowed to play, and both Keres and Nei were reprimanded. Keres did play
3510-547: The development of future World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik , while Zak, who later co-authored a book with Korchnoi, had also helped train future World Champion Boris Spassky . 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 , Estonia . In 1951, he earned the Soviet Master title, following his second-place finish in
3588-413: The disruptive 4...Qb4+, and ensuring that White's only way to maintain the extra pawn is to expose the queen with 4.Qd5, but in subsequent play the queen can prove to be awkwardly placed on e7. 3...Nge7 intending 4...Ng6 is another way to round up the e5-pawn, but requires two tempi , while Black can also offer to exchange the f-pawn with 3...f6, or 3...Bc5 intending a subsequent ...f6, with similar play to
3666-579: The final match, at Meran , Italy, from December 1980 to January 1981, Korchnoi was leading West German GM Robert Hübner 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 , Italy . In what was dubbed the "Massacre in Meran", Karpov defeated Korchnoi by six wins to two, with ten draws. The headlines of
3744-464: 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 , Philippines . There was enormous controversy off
3822-420: 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
3900-450: The match to determine who would challenge reigning world champion Bobby Fischer in 1975. In the run-up to the match, Korchnoi 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
3978-582: The notorious trap 6.Bc3 ?? Bb4!, which wins for Black after 7.Bxb4 Nxb4 or 7.Qd2 Bxc3 8.Qxc3 Qc1#. After 6.Nc3, 6...Nb4? is refuted by 7.Nd4 c6 8.a4. The main line instead continues 6...Bb4 7.Rb1 Qa3 8.Rb3 Qa5 9.e4 Nge7 or 9.a3 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 Qc5, when White has some advantage due to the lead in development, but Black is not without chances due to the loose white pieces and shattered white pawn structure. However, in 2006 Bücker pointed out that 8.Nd5!, previously analysed by Grob as leading only to an unclear position, has been improved for White, and Black has yet to find
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#17327985166844056-530: The other team's players) against three young British masters: Jonathan Mestel , Michael Stean and David S. Goodman . 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 inherited the World Championship title forfeited by Fischer. Questions arose about how Karpov had qualified to be
4134-470: The pawn back. Gary Lane recommends the response 4.Bf4. After 4...Ng6 5.Bg3, Zilbermints recommends either 5...Bc5 or 5...Qe7 6.Nc3 Qb4, when White's main responses are 7.Rb1, 7.Qd2 and 7.a3. After 7.Rb1, a possible continuation is 7...Qa5 8.Qd5 Bb4 9.Qxa5 Bxa5 10.e3 0-0 11.Bd3 Re8 12.Bxg6 Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 fxg6, when Black's superior pawn structure compensates for the lost pawn, while both 7.Qd2 and 7.a3 lead to considerable complications. An alternative for White
4212-462: The pawn with 4...h6, but neither of those lines provide enough compensation for the pawn. Thus, Black usually challenges the e5-pawn immediately with 4...f6, when play continues 5.exf6 Nxf6 6.Qb3. Black does not get enough compensation with the delayed queenside fianchetto 6...b6, so the main line continues 6...d5. After 6...d5, 7.Nc3 Bd7!, threatening 8...Na5, leading to complications and good play for Black (e.g. 8.Bg5 Na5 or 8.Qxb7 Rb8 9.Qxc7 Qc5). After
4290-435: The pawn). White's other major try for advantage is 4.Nc3 Nxe5 5.e4, securing a lead in development and leaving Black's queen awkwardly placed on e7. Stefan Bücker recommends 5...Nf6 6.Bg5 c6 7.Nxe5 Qxe5 8.f4 Qe6, with a playable game but some advantage for White. Viktor Korchnoi won a miniature in a 1978 simultaneous exhibition with 4.Nc3 Nxe5 5.Nd5 Nxf3+ 6.gxf3 Qd8 7.Qd4 d6 8.Bg5!, but according to Bücker Black gets
4368-480: 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. 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
4446-466: 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 , his former teammate, in three games, winning one and drawing two; he then faced GM Vladimir Tukmakov in one game, drawing. Korchnoi was the only player to play for each side in the series of two team matches. Korchnoi, as the losing finalist, was exempt from qualifying for
4524-540: The second round, he was to play the young Soviet GM Garry Kasparov , 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 , 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
4602-533: The semifinal event held at Vilnius 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 Kyiv 1954, on 13/19, as GM Yuri Averbakh won. This high championship placing was rewarded with his first international opportunity, a participation in Bucharest 1954, where he finished in clear first place with 13/17. FIDE awarded him
4680-432: The semifinal versus GM Tigran Petrosian by (−1=9), also at Moscow, with the ninth game the only decisive result. 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. In the 1975 World Championship cycle Korchnoi and Karpov, the newest star of Soviet chess, tied for first in the 1973 Leningrad Interzonal . In
4758-423: The stronger responses 7.Bf4 and 7.Bg5 (intending 7...Bd7 8.e3), however, while Black retains some compensation for the pawn, White keeps an edge. Instead, White often allows Black to regain the pawn at the cost of lagging development. The main line runs 4.Bf4 Qb4+ 5.Bd2 (5.Nc3!? is perfectly playable, as 5...Qxf4 is well met by 6.Nd5!, while 5...Qxb2 6.Bd2 transposes to the main line) 5...Qxb2 6.Nc3! White must avoid
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#17327985166844836-416: 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,
4914-651: 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 , was also at first forfeited to Hungarian GM Zoltan Ribli , with their match set to take place in the United Arab Emirates . However, upon intervention by prominent British chess organizer GM Raymond Keene, who quickly stepped up to raise
4992-642: The title of International Master in 1954. He won the 1955 Leningrad Championship with a massive score of 17/19, and shared 1st–2nd places at Hastings 1955–56 on 7/9. He was awarded the Grandmaster title at the FIDE Congress in 1956. 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
5070-411: 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
5148-579: The twelfth world champion in April 1975, when Fischer refused to defend his title because of disputed match conditions. In the lead-up to the Candidates' Final in 1974, as part of a campaign to promote Karpov over Korchnoi, Tigran Petrosian 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 could no longer hope to compete successfully against him. At
5226-557: The two matches for the World Title, all overshadowed by the oppressive political climate of the Cold War . Korchnoi resided in the Netherlands for some time, giving simultaneous exhibitions . He played a short match against GM Jan Timman – the strongest active non-Soviet player at that time – and comprehensively defeated him. He moved to West Germany for a short period, and then eventually settled in Switzerland by 1978, becoming
5304-557: 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 . He played competitive chess until old age. At age 75, he won the 2006 World Senior Chess Championship and became the oldest person ever to be ranked among the world's top 100 players. Korchnoi was born on 23 March 1931 in Leningrad , USSR , to
5382-708: 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 1959 with 8½/11, shared 1st–2nd places with GM Samuel Reshevsky at Buenos Aires 1960 with 13/19, and won at Córdoba, Argentina 1960 with 6/7. After his victory at Budapest 1961 ( Géza Maróczy Memorial) with 11½/15 ahead of GMs David Bronstein and Miroslav Filip , each with 9½, Korchnoi
5460-480: Was close, but Korchnoi won by (+2−1=7), and moved on to face GM Boris Spassky in the Candidates' final. Spassky prevailed at Kyiv 1968, winning (+4−1=5). 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 , drawing three and losing one. In 1984, eight years after his defection, Korchnoi played board three in
5538-474: Was declared World Champion in 1975 when GM Bobby Fischer declined to defend his title. Korchnoi then won two consecutive Candidates cycles to qualify for World Chess Championship 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
5616-438: 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 and IM William Hartston . 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
5694-457: 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. As the losing world title match finalist, Korchnoi
5772-435: 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
5850-546: Was killed during the siege of Leningrad in 1941, and later lived with him in Switzerland). He graduated from Leningrad State University with a major in history. 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 , Andrei Batuyev, and Vladimir Zak. Model had earlier played a major role in
5928-419: Was recognized as one of the world's best players. Korchnoi won the USSR Chess Championship four times during his career. At Leningrad 1960 for URS-ch27, he scored 14/19. He won at Yerevan 1962, URS-ch30, with 13/19. He won at Kyiv 1964–65 with 15/19. His final title was at Riga 1970, for URS-ch38, with 16/21. He first qualified as a candidate from the 1962 Stockholm Interzonal , scoring 14/22 for
6006-467: 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 , Austria , by 5½ to 3½. This victory earned him a rematch with Polugaevsky, whom he had defeated in the previous cycle. At Buenos Aires during July and August 1980, Korchnoi again triumphed by 7½ to 6½; the match was tied following the regulation ten games. In
6084-401: Was sometimes considerably below that of compatriot Vadim Milov , 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
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