Anil Anand
Chess Tidbits

50 years since the historic Fischer-Spassky, Match of the century

50 years since the historic Fischer-Spassky, Match of the century Sept. 1, 1972 - exactly 50 years ago - Russian GM Boris Spassky had conceded the adjourned 21^st game of the stormy match in Reykjavik, Iceland, by phone making Bobby Fischer the 11^th official world chess champion and the first American to wear the crown. Fischer’s decisive 12½-8½ match win ended the Soviet Union’s quarter-century stranglehold on the title and set off a chess boom in the United States that has never been equaled.

For despite the popular accounts of Fischer as a remorseless, unbeatable machine, there were a slew of interesting, hard-fought games played in Reykjavik, and Spassky missed several chances during the match to narrow the gap.

In the string of draws in the second half of the match, it was often Fischer who had to work to save difficult positions and preserve his lead. One of Fischer’s greatest accomplishments in the match was the fact that he never “lost” an adjournment, able virtually on his own to find the most accurate continuations while an army of top Soviet grandmasters was enlisted to help Spassky. “Basically,” admitted Soviet Chess Sports Committee head Viktor Baturinsky, “the Soviet leadership and the powers that be in sport were interested in just one issue: how to stop Fischer from becoming world champion.“

Fischer famously began the match with Spassky - whom he had never beaten before - with a 0-2 score, with an inexplicable endgame blunder in the first game and a forfeit over match conditions in Game 2. The third game, played in a small back room away from the crowds at Fischer’s insistence, thus proved a turning point, with Black using a stunning opening innovation in a Modern Benoni, 11.Qc2 Nh5!? 12.Bxh5 gxh5, that rattles White and - as would happen repeatedly in the match -induced from nervous and uncertain responses from Spassky.

Having finally beaten his great Russian rival, Fischer stepped on the gas, with four wins and four draws in the next eight games to essentially decide the contest.

After twenty games the score was 11.5-8.5 for Challenger Bobby Fischer, who needed 12½ to win the title.

In the final Game 21, Fischer had the black pieces when he produced one of the most important novelties in a variation of Sicilian defense, he had never shown any liking for, and gained a distinct advantage. However, just when Bobby seemed to be succeeding in the struggle, Boris came up with a finely judged Exchange sacrifice which should have left little question about the draw. Unfortunately for him, he then blundered monstrously, throwing away the fruits of his intrepid defense. When the game was adjourned, Spassky sealed a losing move, 41.Bd7. The next day, September 1^st, 1972, Spassky resigned by telephone. At 2:35 p.m. Chief Arbiter Lothar Schmid congratulated Fischer and announced in the hall that Bobby was the new champion.

GM Averbakh passes away

Yuri Averbakh, a Russian chess grandmaster who was among the world’s best players for a decade, trained world champions and was the last surviving participant in one of the greatest competitions in history, the 1953 Candidates, died on May 7, 2022 in Moscow. He was 100 — the first grandmaster ever to reach that age. (Ed: he was featured in our last Bulletin of Feb 2022).

GM Kavalek passes away

One of the world top-10, GM Lubomir Kavalek passed away on Jan 18, 2021, at the age of 77. He was a two-time Czech champion and a three-time U.S. champion after his defection to the West in 1968. He also was an assistant to Bobby Fischer when the enigmatic US player claimed the world championship from Soviet grandmaster Boris Spassky in the iconic 1972 match.

Although he was covering the match as a journalist for Voice of America, Mr. Kavalek wrote that he “did not hesitate when Bobby asked me to help him with the adjournment of the 13^th game.” From then until the end of the match, Mr. Kavalek served as Fischer’s unofficial second, a term used in chess to describe an assistant who aides a player in charting his or her strategy.

“Bobby was obsessed with winning and was not happy until he had exhausted all possibilities,” Mr. Kavalek wrote in his final column for The Post. During Game 18, “we soon realized that every winning attempt was doomed. The chances tilted to Spassky, but was Boris winning? Bobby’s eyes lit up when I suggested a queen maneuver, forcing Spassky to repeat the moves.

“Great! We have a draw. Let’s go for the win again,” and we spent four more hours trying to find something that wasn’t there. For a single victory, Bobby would work himself to exhaustion, always giving his all.”

GM Kavalek later left Voice of America to pursue a full-time chess career, traveling around the world for tournaments. He represented both Czechoslovakia and the United States, where he became a citizen, in the Chess Olympiads. He was ranked among the top 100 players in the world continuously from 1962 to 1988, according to the World Chess Hall of Fame, where he was inducted in 2001. Kavalek rose in 1974 to world #10 in the official FIDE rating list at 2625. He qualified for the 1967 Interzonal in Sousse, where he was one of the three players to draw with Bobby Fischer. In the Manila Interzonal in 1976, Kavalek finished seventh. Kavalek also qualified for the 1979 and 1987 Interzonals, but never achieved a place in the Candidates Matches. Kavalek played in nine Chess Olympiads, representing Czechoslovakia in 1964 and 1966 and the US from 1972 through 1986, except 1980. In his seven appearances on the US team he played top board three times and second board twice, and the team collected one gold and five bronze medals. In 1976 he was a member of the first U.S. team to win a gold medal since the 1930s.

He wore multiple hats as a chess coach, organizer, teacher, commentator, author and award-winning columnist.

“Just to think about it as a game is degrading,” he once told The Post. “It has certain elements of science and art and some competitive elements that have even to do with sport. It tests your imagination; it tests a lot of things. Sometimes it is not all pleasure. Sometimes you suffer.“

Here is an early masterpiece by the young “Lubosh” Kavalek against Soviet grandmaster Eduard Gufeld. According to Larry Evans, Gufeld's soccer team had beaten Kavalek's the day before and Kavalek vowed to avenge!

Here is one of Kavalek's most remarkable games, played in 1975 in Wijk aan Zee, in which he sacrificed a queen for a bishop against the strong Hungarian grandmaster Lajos Portisch:

Chennai Chess Olympiad 2022:

Uzbekistan, in the Open, and Ukraine, in the women’s section, were the only teams that finished the tournament undefeated, and they took home gold medals in their respective categories.

Uzb Open team
Abdusattorov	Yakubboev	Sindarov	Vakhidov	Vokhidov

Ukr Women team
M. Muzychuk	A. Muzychuk	Ushenina	Buksa	Osmak

As for the Armenians, who for the first time played without their long-time star performer Levon Aronian (he is now a US citizen), it was all about Gabriel Sargissian stepping up in the final rounds. Sargissian had a quiet start on Board1, as he collected four draws and a loss in the first six rounds. From rounds 7 to 11, however, he scored 4½/5 points, with incredible wins over Caruana, Harikrishna, Mamedyarov and Alexei Shirov!

Arm Open team
Sargissian	Melkumyan	Ter-Sahakyan	Petrosyan	Hovhannisyan

Geo Women team
Dzagnidze	Batsiashvili	Javakhishvili	Melia, Arabidze

The incredibly young India 2 squad out-performed the India 1 squad and got third place in the Open, while the strong women’s team also got bronze in its section.

For Indians, getting bronze in both sections surely left a bittersweet taste. A single blunder under time pressure by Gukesh — who shocked the world by winning eight games in a row — prevented his team from beating Uzbekistan in round 10, while the Indian women never lost the lead or the shared lead until the final round loss to USA.

The top-10 team results:

Open:

Rank	Team	Wins	Draws	Losses
1.	Uzbekistan	8	3	0
2.	Armenia	9	1	1
3.	India 2	8	2	1
4.	India 1	7	3	1
5.	USA	7	3	1
6.	Moldova	7	3	1
7.	Azerbaijan	7	2	2
8.	Hungary	7	3	1
9.	Poland	6	4	1
10.	Lithuania	7	2	2

Uzbek beat Armenia in individual encounter in R9. Undefeated over the eleven rounds, the team coached by GM Ivan Sokolov edged out Armenia on tiebreak, automatically becoming national heroes.

Moldova (7W, 3 D,1L): greatest performance - 48^th seed with just 1 GM.

2026 Chess Olympiad will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Women:

Rank	Team	Wins	Draws	Losses
1.	Ukraine	7	4	0
2.	Georgia	8	2	1
3.	India 1	8	1	2
4.	USA	8	1	2
5.	Kazakhstan	8	1	2
6.	Poland	7	2	2
7.	Azerbaijan	7	2	2
8.	India 2	7	2	2
9.	Bulgaria	7	2	2
10.	Germany	8	0	3

Georgia lost to India in individual encounter in R6.

Best individual performances:

Open

Board 1:

Player	Score	Rating
Gukesh	9/11	2867
Nodirbek Abdusattorov	8.5/11	2803
Carlsen, Magnus	8/9	2803

Peak performances: Gukesh: (8/8), Abdusattorov (5/5)

Board 2:

Player	Score	Rating
Sarin, Nihal	7.5/10	2774
Theodorou, Nikolaos	7.5/9	2764
Yakubboev, Nodirbek	7.5/11	2759

Board 3:

Player	Score	Rating
David Howell	7.5/8	2898
Arjun Erigaisi	8.5/11	2767
Praggnanandha	6.5/9	2767

Board 4:

Player	Score	Rating
Jakhongir Vakhidov	6.5/8	2813
Paulius Pultinevics	8.5/10	2787
Santos Latasa, Jaime	8/10	2729

Reserve board:

Player	Score	Rating
Mateusz Bartel	8.5/10	2778
Hovhannisyan, Robert	8/11	2679
Onyshchuk, Volodymyr	7/9	2642

GM Sadhwani, Raunak #4 (2642)
IM Dragos Ceres rated 2378 scored (6.5/9) #7 (2618)
David Howell of UK had a 2898 performance, the best in the Olympiad!

Women

Board 1:

Player	Score
Pia Cramling	9.5/11
Roebers, Eline	9/10
Abdumalik, Zhansaya	8.5/10

Muzychuk, Mariya (7.5/10) #4

Board 2:

Player	Score
Batsiashvili, Nino	8.5/10
Anna Muzychuk	8/10
Balajayeva, Khanim	7/9

Board 3:

Player	Score
Oliwia Kiolbasa	9.5/11
Anna Ushenina	7.5/9
R.Vaishali	8/11

Peak performance: Kiolbasa: 9/9

Board 4:

Player	Score
Mungunzul, Bat-Erdene	9/10
Malicka, Maria	7.5/9
Tania Sachdev	8/11

Reserve board:

Player	Score
Schneider, Jana	9/10
Fataliyeva, Ulviyya	6/8
Divya Deshmukh	7/9

Gaprindashvili Cup (combined performance):

Rank	Team
1	India 1
2	USA
3	India 2

Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali were the second set of siblings to represent the country at the same Olympiad after N Saritha and N Sudhakar Babu played in the 1988 edition in Greece.

GM Pravin Thipsay was the Head of the Delegation. GM Srinath and GM RB Ramesh were the coaches for first team and second team of Open section respectively. GM Abhijit Kunte was the coach for the women’s first team.

The crucial Round 9 encounters practically dictated the final ranking at the Olympiad:

Men’s

Ind2 vs Azb, 2-2 (D. Gukesh’s streak 8/8 finally came to an end with a draw with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. R. Praggnanandhaa won vs, Durarbayli, but Raunak Sadhwani lost to Abasov.)

Uzb vs Arm: 3-1 (Sindarov won vs Ter-Sahakyan and Vakhidov won vs Hovhannisyan, others drawn.)

Women’s

Ind1 vs Poland : 1.5-2.5, (R. Vaishali lost to Oliwia Kiolbasa. others were drawn)

Ukr vs Geo: 2-2 (Anna Muzychuk lost to Batsiashvili, Nino but Buksa won the equalizer vs Arabidze)

It’s interesting to note that Poland fell out of medal contention due their final encounter with Ukraine: After Muzychuk, Mariya beat Kashlinskaya, superstar Kiolbasa’s was in a must-win situation vs Usha Ushenina but lost when she went all out for a win and blundered in a drawn position.

Vishy Anand didn’t play for India this time. He had represented India in five Olympiads between 1984 and 1992, then India's only Grandmaster and again in 2004, 2006 and lastly in 2018, a total of 8 times.

The Indian men's contingent won a bronze at the 2014 Olympiad in Norway. In Azerbaijan in 2016, both the men's and women's teams finished fourth, agonisingly close to a podium finish.

The teams

Open Team 1

1. GM Vidit Gujrathi
2. GM Harikrishna P
3. GM Erigaisi Arjun
4. GM S L Narayanan
5. GM K Sasikiran

Open Team 2

1. GM Gukesh D
2. GM Nihal Sarin
3. GM Adhiban B
4. GM Praggnanandhaa R
5. GM Raunak Sadhwani

Women’s Team 1

1. GM Koneru Humpy
2. GM Harika Dronavalli
3. IM R Vaishali
4. IM Tania Sachdev
5. IM Bhakti Kulkarni

Women’s Team 2

1. IM Soumya Swaminathan
2. WGM Mary Ann Gomes
3. IM Padmini Rout
4. WGM Vantika Agarwal
5. WGM Divya Deshmukh

Definitely the most shocking moment of the Olympiad was the illegal pre-move by Sam Shankland on Round 7 which cost the US team a win against eventual runner-up, Armenia. Shankland overlooked his opponent’s last move and touched the king with every move losing immediately.

Probably the biggest disappointment of the Olympiad was the performance of the USA team, which could only be fifth. In the absence of Russia and China, the Americans seemed the obvious favourite to win the gold. Being the top-seeded, their average rating of their players was an astonishing 2771, well ahead of India A (2696), Norway (2692) and Spain (2687). In view of these figures, not getting any medal at all seemed just unthinkable.

However, with Fabiano Caruana suffering three losses and Levon Aronian scoring only one victory, the tournament favourites struggled to keep pace with the other top teams.

Defending champions in Open and women’s event, China did not participate. Russia and Belarus were barred from participating in tournaments by the FIDE following Russian invasion of Ukraine in Feb 2022.

On the other hand, the biggest overachievers of the Olympiad were the Moldovan team, seeded 48th in the starting list, without one single player above 2500. But Schitcho, Macovei, Hamitevici, Baltag and Ceres, all scored above expectations, obtaining a historical result (6th) for their country.

Cuba (19^th) and Peru (24^th) were the best teams from Latin America, while Egypt (36^th) and Tunisia (41^st) were once again the top African teams. Israel (16^th), Iran (26^th) were best from the Middle East. Bangladesh (66^th) and Sri Lanka (68^th) were top teams outside of India in the sub-continent. Pakistan decided not to participate.

Pranav Anand becomes GM

15 year old, Pranav Anand from Bengaluru, became India’s 76^th Grand Master after winning against IM Emin Ohanyan of Armenia in the World Youth Chess Championship in Mamaia, Romania. He received the title after crossing an Elo rating of 2500.