Yuri Averbakh

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Yuri Averbakh
Averbakh in 1963
Full nameYuri Lvovich Averbakh
CountrySoviet UnionRussia
Born(1922-02-08)8 February 1922
Kaluga, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died7 May 2022(2022-05-07) (aged 100)
Moscow, Russia
TitleGrandmaster (1952)
Peak rating2550 (July 1971)

Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (Russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. He was the first centenarian FIDE Grandmaster. Despite his eyesight and hearing having worsened, by his 100th birthday he continued to devote time to chess-related activities.[1]

Early life

Averbakh was born in

fatalist
.

Career

Tournament successes

His first major success was the first place in the

World Chess Champion), finishing joint tenth of the fifteen participants. He also qualified for the 1958 Interzonal tournament at Portorož, by finishing in fourth place at the 1958 USSR Championship at Riga. At Portorož, he wound up in a tie for seventh through eleventh places, half a point short of advancing to the Candidates' Tournament. He played in the 1993 Maccabiah Games in Israel, coming in fourth.[3][4][5]

Playing style

His solid style was difficult for many pure attackers to overcome, as he wrote: "...Nezhmetdinov, who if he had the attack, could kill anybody, including Tal. But my score against him was something like 8½–½ because I did not give him any possibility for an active game. In such cases he would immediately start to spoil his position because he was looking for complications."[6]

He had plus records against the world champions Max Euwe and Tigran Petrosian.

Writings

Averbakh was also a major

International Arbiter
.

Averbakh was also an important chess journalist and author. He edited the Soviet chess periodicals Shakhmaty v SSSR and Shakhmatny Bulletin. From 1956 to 1962 he edited (with Vitaly Chekhover and others) a four-volume anthology on the endgame, Shakhmatnye okonchaniya (revised in 1980–84 and translated as Comprehensive Chess Endings, in five volumes).

Openings contributions

Averbakh is the eponym of several opening variations.

  • King's Indian Defence: Averbakh variation (E73): 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5
  • King's Indian Defence: semi-Averbakh system (E73): 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Be3
  • Modern Defense: Averbakh variation (A42): 1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4
  • Ruy Lopez: Averbakh variation (C87): 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 d6

Death and tributes

Averbakh in 2007

Averbakh was born on 8 February 1922 in Kaluga, and died on 7 May 2022, in Moscow.[7][8][9][10][11] Averbakh is survived by a daughter, who was married to Mark Taimanov for ten years.[8]

He was an icon in the chess world. Apart from being the archetypal Soviet chess grandmaster, during the heyday of the USSR's chess imperium, Averbakh was the Renaissance Man of chess: a highly successful player, awarded the Grandmaster title in 1952, World Championship Candidate in 1953, Soviet Champion 1954, International Judge of chess composition (otherwise known as chess problems) in 1956, International Arbiter in 1969.[12]

— Raymond Keene, The Article: Yuri Averbakh, 1922–2022

Honours and awards

Books

  • Averbakh, Yuri (1993). Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge. .

See also

Notes

References

External links