A blog post dedicated to two remarkable games by Vyacheslav Ragozin, in which the outstanding Soviet theoretician developed the opening system that was to bear his name – the Ragozin Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined. Some brief biographical details of Ragozin are also presented. Vyacheslav Ragozin, pictured in play v. Salo Flohr in the…
A blog post dedicated to Mikhail Botvinnik’s annotations to three of his games from the 7th USSR Championship, with some background to that event. None of the games appear in any of Botvinnik’s later collections of games, but they are nonetheless full of interest. The final of the 7th USSR Championship took place in Moscow…
In the course of three years in the second half of the 1980s, Mikhail Tal twice had occasion to play six-game matches against the leading Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman. In both cases his second Vladimir Bagirov annotated the match-games for the Soviet Latvian magazine Shakhmaty (Riga). This blog post features translations of these annotations, plus…
A blog post featuring translations of the annotations (by Capablanca and others) of some of the games of the ex-World Champion from the 2nd great international tournament in Moscow (1935), plus some background to the event. Capablanca and Botvinnik in play during the 2nd round of the 2nd Moscow International, 1935 (Photo source: http://mamm-mdf.ru.) By…
The draw for the quarter-finals of the 1980 Candidates’ series pitted Lev Polugaevsky against his old adversary, Mikhail Tal. Both had qualified from the Riga Interzonal, where Tal had taken first place, a full 3½ points clear of the field, in one of the greatest victories of his later career. Indeed, that success had lifted…
A biographical article on the outstanding Russian grandmaster Ratmir Kholmov, featuring translations of his annotations to some of his most famous games. Ratmir Kholmov (left), in play in the Tartu Semi-final of the 18th USSR Championship, September 1950. (Photo credit: L. Matt / Edasi, via http://www.e-varamu.ee.) INTRODUCTION Ratmir Dmitrievich Kholmov was an outstanding Soviet grandmaster;…
A blog post dedicated to the tense 1980 Candidates’ Semi-final between Korchnoi and Polugaevsky, featuring translations of the annotations of the games to the match from the contemporary Soviet press, and some background to the event. Viktor Korchnoi & Lev Polugaevsky in happier times together, toasting their success at the Amsterdam IBM tournament of July…
A blog post dedicated to one of the Tal’s greatest games, played towards the end of his life. A translation of his detailed annotations to it, from the Soviet Latvian magazine Shakhmaty, is available to download. The cover of the magazine Shakhmaty (№ 10, 1987) Twenty years after his first visit to Iceland, when he…
A blog post dedicated to the Keres-Spassky Candidates’ Quarter-final match (Riga, 1965), with translations of contemporary annotations to all ten of the games, by Mikhail Tal and Alekander Koblencs, Igor Bondarevsky, Boris Spassky, Paul Keres and Iivo Nei, and some background to the match. Boris Spassky (left) in play v. István Bilek in the Amsterdam…
A short blog post featuring translations of annotations, by Spassky and by his trainer Bondarevsky, to several of Spassky’s games from the Interzonal tournament in Amsterdam, and some brief background to the event. Boris Spassky at the Amsterdam Interzonal tournament (photo credit: P. van Zoest / ANP, via http://www.geheugenvannederland.nl). The Interzonal tournament in Amsterdam was…
A blog post dedicated to the Spassky-Tal Candidates’ final, featuring translations of the annotations of the games of the match – by Spassky himself, and by the players’ seconds and trainers. Boris Spassky and his trainer, Igor Bondarevsky, mid-1960s (source: e3e5.com) The final contest in the series of matches held to decide who would challenge…
Mikhail Mikhailovich Yudovich was a prominent figure in Soviet chess circles. Born in Roslavl (Smolensk district) in 1911, he studied the game along with his close friend from childhood, Sergei Belavenets, under the direction of the latter’s uncle, Konstantin Vygodchikov. In the 1930s, to pursue their further education the pair moved to Moscow, where they…
