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Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (also Korchnoy, Kortchnoy, Kortschnoj, etc) (Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й), born March 23 1931 in Leningrad, USSR, is a professional chess player and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the world tournament circuit. Korchnoi lost three matches against Anatoly Karpov for the World Chess Championship (two official matches in 1978 and 1981, and the 1974 Candidates' Final which later won Karpov the title by forfeit against Bobby Fischer). He is a four-time USSR chess champion (1960, 1962-63, 1964-65, 1970), two-time winner of the Interzonal tournaments, winner of two Candidates Tournaments (1977, 1980) and a five-time European champion. He also was a six-time member of Soviet teams that won the Chess Olympiad. In September 2006 he became the World Senior Chess Champion. Early career Korchnoi graduated from Leningrad State University with a major in History. He learned to play chess from his father at the age of seven. In 1943, he joined the chess club of the Leningrad Pioneer Palace, and was trained by Abram Model, Andrei Batuyev and Vladimir Zak. In 1947, he won the youth championship of the USSR, and in 1951 he earned the Master title. One year later he first qualified for the USSR Chess Championship, which he won four times throughout his career (1960, 1962, 1964, 1970). FIDE awarded him the title of International Master in 1954, and that of Grandmaster in 1956. Korchnoi rose into prominence within the Russian chess school system, where he competed with stars such as Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky, following in the path laid out by Mikhail Botvinnik. Korchnoi never succeeded in becoming World Champion, but many people consider him the strongest player never to have done so, a distinction also often attributed to Paul Keres. When Spassky beat Petrosian to claim the World Title in 1969, the Russian chess federation started pursuing a youth policy which largely classed Korchnoi and Smyslov as the old vanguard; as a consequence, they were overlooked when it came to distributing of opportunities to play in international chess tournaments. A Russian Grandmaster Korchnoi's playing style initially was an aggressive counter-attack. He excelled in difficult defensive positions. During the sixties he became more versatile, mastering all the required techniques like Bobby Fischer and Petrosian. Korchnoi's mood largely dictated his plan for the game. He was comfortable playing with and without the initiative. He could attack, counterattack, play positionally, and was a master of the endgame. He became known as the master of counter-attack, and strangely enough he was Mikhail Tal's (an out-and-out attacker) most difficult opponent. He has a large lifetime plus score against Tal, and also has plus scores against world champions Petrosian and Spassky. He has equal records against Botvinnik and Bobby Fischer. He has beaten the eight undisputed world champions from Botvinnik to Garry Kasparov, as well as FIDE world champions Ruslan Ponomariov and Veselin Topalov. Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov, the newest young star of the Soviet chess school, tied for first in the 1973 Leningrad Interzonal.* In the 1974 Candidates matches, Korchnoi first beat the young Brazilian star Henrique Costa Mecking (who had won the other Interzonal, in Petropolis) fairly easily, 7.5-5.5. Korchnoi next played former world champion Tigran Petrosian. 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 the Candidates Final, the match to determine who would challenge reigning World Champion Bobby Fischer in 1975. Korchnoi's opponent was Karpov, against whom he had played a friendly training match some months before. Karpov won this epic battle, played in 1974 in Moscow, by a 12.5-11.5 score. By default, Karpov became the Twelfth World Champion when Fischer refused to defend his title. During the match between Karpov and Korchnoi, an amusing incident occurred. In the 21st game, Korchnoi played a strong opening novelty and, after a terrible blunder by Karpov, had achieved an overwhelming position. During this game, Korchnoi got up from the board, walked over to the arbiter and, showing a surprising ignorance of the rules, asked whether he could legally castle king-side in the current position, in which a bishop was attacking his rook on h1. The arbiter, Salo Flohr, informed him that he could. Korchnoi did so, and Karpov soon resigned. Defection In the lead-up to the Candidates Final in 1975, as part of a campaign to promote Karpov over Korchnoi, Tigran Petrosian made a public statement in the press against Korchnoi. 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, and even when invited by Paul Keres and Iivo Nei to participate in an International Tournament in Estonia, Korchnoi was not allowed to play, and both Keres and Nei were reprimanded. 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 (resigned by Bobby Fischer). Questions arose about how Karpov qualified to be a World Champion, when he had never beaten Fischer. Since Korchnoi wasn't publicly visible, it was largely believed that he (and Karpov) couldn't 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 Tony Miles. At the end of the tournament, Korchnoi asked Miles to spell 'political asylum' for him. As a result, after the chess tournament in Amsterdam Korchnoi was the first strong Russian grandmaster to defect from the Soviet Union. (Many masters had previously defected from the former Soviet Union, but Korchnoi was the first top-ranked GM to do so.) His 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. Korchnoi resided in the Netherlands for a few years, giving simultaneous exhibitions. He played a short match against Jan Timman - the strongest active non-Soviet player at that time - and comprehensively beat him. There was a vacuum in World Chess after the non-appearance of Fischer. Karpov was branded a "paper champion," having never won a match for the world title. But there wasn't a recognised contender to his dominance. Up stepped Korchnoi, after winning his way through another physically and psychologically demanding Candidates cycle. First World Championship match against Karpov The World Championship match of 1978 was held in Baguio in the Philippines, and deserves its reputation as the most bizarre World Championship match ever played. Karpov's team included a Dr. Zukhar (a well known hypnotist), while Korchnoi adopted a local renegade currently on bail for murder. There was more controversy off the board, with histrionics ranging from X-raying of chairs, protests about the flags used on the board, the inevitable hypnotism complaints and the mirror glasses used by Korchnoi. When Karpov's team sent him a blueberry yogurt during a game without any request for one by Karpov, the Korchnoi team protested, claiming it could be some kind of code. 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.* Second World Championship match against Karpov Korchnoi won the next Candidates cycle to again earn the right to challenge Karpov in 1981. The match was held in Merano (Italy). The headline of the tournament again largely centered on the political issues. Korchnoi's wife and son were still in the Soviet Union. His son was promised to be released to join his father in exile if he gave up his passport. When he did so he was promptly drafted into the Russian army. Korchnoi took the opportunity of the match to publicize the situation of his wife and son, drafting an open letter to the Soviet government to release them both. This continuing effort likely led to his dismal performance as Karpov swept to victory in what was dubbed the "Massacre in Merano". In spite of the protests, Korchnoi's son was arrested for evading army service, sentenced to two and half years in labour camp, and served the full sentence. After the release, he was again refused permission to leave the USSR. Six years after Korchnoi's defection, his son finally succeeded in leaving the country. Later career Korchnoi, however, still had a vital part to play in the next (1984) Candidates cycle, although he never reached the highest pinnacle again. Korchnoi had moved to the United States, and was matched to play the young Russian Garry Kasparov who at the time was battling against the Russian chess federation that was clearly in favour of Anatoly Karpov. Korchnoi seems to have great fondness for Garry Kasparov - possibly, because he recognized the situation Kasparov was in - a prominent talent overlooked by the Russian bureaucracy. The match was to be held in Pasadena, California, where Bobby Fischer was residing at the time, but the Russian chess federation protested (possibly because Korchnoi was a defector and the match was in the cold-war enemy's back yard), and Kasparov was not allowed to fly there to play the match. This defaulted the match to Korchnoi. However, after a remarkable series of events Korchnoi agreed to replay the match in London. This was a gracious gesture by Korchnoi, since technically he had already won by default. After a good start, Korchnoi was blown away by Kasparov's attacking play. During the eighties Korchnoi continued playing at a top level, although overshadowed by the Karpov - Kasparov conflicts. He qualified for the Candidates Tournament (the final 16) in the 1987, 1990 and 1993 World Championship cycles. He continues playing in Europe to this day, living in his adopted country of Switzerland, which he represents on the top board of the World Chess Olympiad. Korchnoi is noted for his unusual longevity at the chessboard. He has been at or near the top of the game for nearly half a century. Even at age 75, he is ranked number 134 in the world.* World Senior Chess Champion In September 2006 Korchnoi won the 16th World Senior Chess Championship, held in Arvier (Valle d’Aosta, Italia), with a 9-2 score. Korchnoi scored 7.5-.5 in his first eight games, then drew his last three games.* This is the first world title Korchnoi has won. Books | |||||||
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