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LobowolfXXX Inner circle La Famiglia 1196 Posts |
The same week that Muhammad Ali died, so did Viktor Korchnoi, arguably the greatest chess player to never become world champion. Korchnoi narrowly lost two matches to Anatoly Karpov, either of which would have made him world champion. He was a 10-time world championship candidate, and a regular fixture and frequent board medal winner on Soviet Olympiad and European Team Championships.
Amazingly, Korchnoi came into prominence in the 1950s, and continued to play high level chess well into the 21st century. At age 75, he was ranked #85 in the world; the second oldest player in the top 100 was Alexander Beliavsky, who was in his early 50s(!!!). At age 79, he scored a win with black against Fabiano Caruana, rated over 2700 at the time (a very exclusive club). He won the Swiss championship at age 78, becoming the oldest player to win a national title (in the 79s, he became the first top-echelon grandmaster to defect from the Soviet Union), and he won it again at the age of 80. He played an exciting, uncompromising style, most comfortable using a "coiled spring" counterattacking technique. He finished in third place at the first world speed chess championship at Herceg Novi in 1970, 1/2 point out of second, and was the only player to defeat Bobby Fischer in the tournament.
"Torture doesn't work" lol
Guess they forgot to tell Bill Buckley. "...as we reason and love, we are able to hope. And hope enables us to resist those things that would enslave us." |
Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
Quite a resume. I play a little and really suck, but I still enjoy the game!
Thanks for sharing.
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Not very magical, still... » » (Belated) RIP Viktor Korchnoi (3 Likes) |
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