Antalya yeni yıla köpük ve havai fişek altında girdi
Güncelleme : 01 Ocak 2012 01:17
Antalyalılar yeni yılı Büyükşehir Belediyesi'nin açık
31 Aralık 2011 Cumartesi
1320. Yeni yıl
Güncelleme : 01 Ocak 2012 01:17
Antalyalılar yeni yılı Büyükşehir Belediyesi'nin açık
1318. Günlük Yaşam
Ekodiyalog jürisinden 2012 tahminleri!
5 kişiden oluşan Ekodiyalog jürisi dolar, enflasyon, büyüme ve cari açığın ne olacağına ilişkin tahminlerde bulundu. Jüriye göre dolar yine yüksek seyredecek, enflasyon ve büyüme düşüşe geçecek. Türkiye dalgalı geçen bir yılı daha geride bırakırken, 2012'ye ilişkin tahminler yapılıyor. Ekodiyalog jürisi enflasyon, büyüme, cari açık ve dolara ilişkin tahminlerini CNBC-e yayınında açıkladı. Asaf Savaş Akat, Taner Berksoy, Deniz Gökçe, Ege Cansen ve Servet Yıldırım birbirinden farklı öngörülerde bulundu. Mahfi Eğilmez ise tahmin yapmamayı tercih etti. En çok merak edilen konulardan biri rekor üstüne rekor kıran doların 2 TL olup olmayacağı. Akat ve Cansen'e göre dolar yeni yılı 2 TL'de tamamlayacak. Yıldırım 1,75, Berksoy 1,80, Gökçe 1,85 TL tahminini yaptı. Bu yılı çift hanede tamamlaması beklenen enflasyonun 2012 sonunda az da olsa düşmesi bekleniyor. En düşük enflasyon tahmini yüzde 6.5'le Akat'tan gelirken, Berksoy ve Gökçe yüzde 7.5, Yıldırım yüzde 7, Cansen yüzde 7.8 tahmininde bulundu. 2011'de hızlı büyüyen ekonominin yeni yılda yavaşlayacağı belirtiliyor. Ekodiyalog jürisinin tahminleri yüzde 3.5 ile yüzde 5 arasında değişiyor. Ekonomideki büyümeyle birlikte hızlanan cari açığın milli gelire oranıyla ilgili tahminler ise yüzde 6 ile yüzde 8.5 arasında.
1317. Günlük Yaşam
Nijerya kan gölü
yeni haber Giriş Saati : 01.01.2012 09:28 Güncelleme : 01.01.2012 09:29
Nijerya'da çatışmalar yılbaşı dinlemedi. İki etnik grup arasındaki çatışmada en az 50 ölü var. Nijerya yeni yıla kanlı girdi. 2012'nin ilk gününde iki etnik grup arasında çıkan çatışmalar sonucu en az 50 kişi hayatını yitirdi. Nijerya'nın doğusundaki Ebonyi eyaletinde, rakip etnik gruplar arasında çıkan çatışmalarda en az 50 kişinin öldüğü bildirildi. Hükümet sözcüsü, çatışmanın sebebinin Ezza ile Ezilo toplumları arasındaki arazi anlaşmazlığı olduğunu belirtti. Sözcü, Ebonyi'deki çatışmaların Ezza'dan bir gurubun Ezilo toplumunun bulunduğu yeri istila ederek onlara saldırmasıyla çıktığını söyledi. Hükümet sözcüsü, iki grup arasında 2008'de başlayan anlaşmazlıkların son olaya kadar hallolduğunu sandıklarını ifade etti. Eyalet valisi ile emniyet müdürünün çatışma bölgesini ziyaret ettiği de bildirildi. Bölgeye onlarca çevik kuvvet polisinin konuşlandırıldığı kaydedildi.
1316. Günlük Yaşam
ABD'de yanardağ faaliyete geçti
ABD'nin Alaska eyaletine bağlı Aletya adalarındaki Cleveland yanardağının dün erken saatlerde faaliyete geçtiği belirtildi
30 Aralık 2011 Cuma, 11:06:15
İlgili Haberler
Gamalama 8 yıl sonra uyandı: 4 ölü
Şili'de yanardağ alarmı
Anchorage kentinin güneybatısında, insanların yaşamadığı bir adada bulunan 1730 metre yüksekliğindeki yanardağın dün yerden 4570 metre yükseğe kül bulutu bırakması nedeniyle bölgedeki hava trafiği alarm durumuna geçirildi. Cleveland yanardağının Temmuz ayından beri lav ve gaz sızdırdığı bilindiğini belirten Alaska Yanardağ Gözlemevi bilimadamları, tepesinin Asya ve Kuzey Amerika arasında ticari uçuş güzergahının tam altında yer alması nedeniyle yanardağın faaliyete geçmesinin uçaklar için potansiyel bir tehlike oluşturduğunu kaydetti. Bilimadamları daha büyük miktarda kül bulutu bırakacak yeni yanardağ patlamalarının mümkün olduğuna ve hiçbir uyarı işareti vermeden meydana gelebileceğine dikkati çekti.
1315. Günlük Yaşam
HindisThane kabusu!
Güneydoğu sahilini vuran kasırga 33 can aldı
31 Aralık 2011 Cumartesi, 14:41:43
Hindistan'ın güneydoğu sahilini dün etkisi altına alan Thane kasırgasında ölü sayısının 33'e yükseldiği bildirildi. Yerel yetkililer, rüzgar hızının saatte 140 kilometreye ulaştığı Cuddalore kentinde 21, Tamil Nadu eyaletinde beş, Pondichery'de ise yedi kişinin öldüğünü belirtti. Kötü hava şartlarının bölgedeki uçak ve tren seferlerini etkilediğini duyuran Press Trust of India adlı basın kuruluşu, kasırganın bölgede maddi hasara yol açtığını, elektrik kesintilerinin devam ettiğini duyurdu.
1314. Günlük Yaşam
Japonya'da 7.0 büyüklüğünde deprem
İzu Adaları'nda 7.0 büyüklüğünde deprem meydana geldi.
01 Ocak 2012 Pazar, 07:57:49
Japonya'nın güney sahili açıklarında 7 büyüklüğünde deprem meydana geldi. Meteoroloji Kurumu, okyanusta meydana gelen depremin, deniz yüzeyinin çok altında olduğunu açıkladı. Tsunami uyarısı yapılmadı. Japonya'nın kuzeydoğusunu geçen yıl mart ayında vuran deprem ve tsunami felaketlerinde yaklaşık 20 bin kişi hayatını kaybetmiş ya da kaybolmuştu.
Japonya'nın güney sahili açıklarında 7 büyüklüğünde deprem meydana geldi. Meteoroloji Kurumu, okyanusta meydana gelen depremin, deniz yüzeyinin çok altında olduğunu açıkladı. Tsunami uyarısı yapılmadı. Japonya'nın kuzeydoğusunu geçen yıl mart ayında vuran deprem ve tsunami felaketlerinde yaklaşık 20 bin kişi hayatını kaybetmiş ya da kaybolmuştu.
1310. BS. Açılış kitabı
Hiarcs açılış kitabının en yeni uyarlaması çıktı. Oyun sayısı ve konum sayısının eylül ayındakine göre dörtte bir oranında arttığı belirtiliyor.
| First release May 2010, HIARCS opening book has 2,414,780 positions and 325,712 variations. Includes statistics from 545,826 top quality games. June 2010 HIARCS book update with 2,479,533 positions and 335,923 variations. Includes statistics from 583,896 top quality games. September 2010 opening book with 2,581,613 positions and 351,951 variations includes statistics from 719,857 top quality games. December 2010 opening book with 2,925,726 positions and 382,899 variations includes statistics from 678,641 top quality games. March 2011 opening book with 3,454,030 positions and 442,650 variations includes statistics from 1,077,116 top quality games. June 2011 opening book with 3,879,189 positions and 527,673 variations includes statistics from 1,363,537 top quality games. September 2011 opening book with 4,163,027 positions and 497190 variations includes statistics from 1,602,737 top quality games. Available now for book subscribers is the latest December 2011 opening book with 5,185,413 positions and 633,515 variations includes statistics from 2,083,695 top quality games. |
1309. BS. Açılış kitabı
Bilgisayar açılış kitapları arasında üst sıralarda değerlendirilen AntiMaster 23 yayınlandı. Kitap 1 e4 ilk hamlesine göre tasarlanmış; diğer hamlelere çok az yer verilmiş ve yüz binden fazla oyundan yararlanarak üretilmiş.
1307. FIDE Oyuncu Listesi
FIDE oyuncu listesindeki toplam oyuncu sayısı 307 840 oldu. Listede Türkiyeden 7547 oyuncu bulunuyor. Bu yüzde 2,45 oranına tekabül ediyor.
1306. UKD Listesi
2012 yılının ilk icraatı. UKD Listesi yayınlandı! Tebrikler.
Antalya Aktif/Inaktif En Üst 100 Oyuncu Listesi
Antalya'ya göz attığımızda, listenin 100. sırasındaki Hüseyin Aktaş'ın liste dışı kaldığını, yerine 1. sıradan Barış Esen'in girdiğini görüyoruz. Benim puanım 1737. Listeye girmek için 50 puanlık bir artış lâzım.
Antalya Aktif/Inaktif En Üst 100 Oyuncu Listesi
| SIRA | AD | SOYAD | UKD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BARIŞ | ESEN | 2525 |
| 2 | BURAK | FIRAT | 2422 |
| 3 | ADNAN | ŞENDUR | 2381 |
| 4 | OĞULCAN | KANMAZALP | 2348 |
| 5 | KEREM | LAÇİNER | 2342 |
| 6 | FARUK | KELER | 2339 |
| 7 | YASİN EMRAH | YAĞIZ | 2279 |
| 8 | BETÜL CEMRE | YILDIZ | 2278 |
| 9 | ENGİN | TOPAK | 2271 |
| 10 | ZEKİ | ARI | 2257 |
| 11 | TURHAN | YILMAZ | 2244 |
| 12 | HASAN | ALAYBEYOGLU | 2221 |
| 13 | BÜLENT | ERŞAHİN | 2217 |
| 14 | IRMAK | SİPAHİOĞLU | 2213 |
| 15 | ZAFER | GÜCİN | 2208 |
| 16 | TUFAN CAN | UZUNER | 2177 |
| 17 | REHA | BİLGİN | 2173 |
| 18 | SERKAN | KÖSE | 2170 |
| 19 | ALPER | KALINAĞA | 2167 |
| 20 | UFUK SEZEN | ARAT | 2165 |
| 21 | ATEŞ | ÜLKER | 2165 |
| 22 | BÜLENT | GÜNER | 2157 |
| 23 | HÜR | YASİN | 2153 |
| 24 | AHMET İSMAİL | DOĞANTUĞ | 2143 |
| 25 | ALİ | YAVUZ | 2130 |
| 26 | MELİH | YURTSEVEN | 2129 |
| 27 | VEDAT ALİ | ÇETİNKAYA | 2103 |
| 28 | DENİZ CAN | BERKÜN | 2088 |
| 29 | KADRİ YAVUZ | KEMALOĞLU | 2085 |
| 30 | İSMAİL | AYDIN | 2073 |
| 31 | FUAT | UZUN | 2065 |
| 32 | MUSTAFA NAMIK | TUNUR | 2060 |
| 33 | DOĞAN | KÜÇÜK | 2045 |
| 34 | ÇAĞATAY | BURCU | 2038 |
| 35 | HASAN KIVANÇ | ÇİL | 2037 |
| 36 | UMUT BARIŞ | ARAT | 2028 |
| 37 | ORHAN | AYDOĞDU | 2026 |
| 38 | YÜKSEL YALÇIN | YAMAÇ | 2023 |
| 39 | AHMET | YAPICI | 2022 |
| 40 | YASİN | SARI | 2022 |
| 41 | SÜLEYMAN SARP | KOÇ | 2014 |
| 42 | EZGİ | YILMAZ | 2010 |
| 43 | HALİL SERTAÇ | DALKIRAN | 2010 |
| 44 | TAYLAN CAN | TEKELİ | 2005 |
| 45 | HAKAN METE | TAŞTAN | 1998 |
| 46 | GİZEM | ACAR | 1998 |
| 47 | ZEKİ | DEMİR | 1997 |
| 48 | BUĞRA | MANCAR | 1991 |
| 49 | HİLMİ MUSTAFA | DEMİR | 1991 |
| 50 | AHMET | OLÇUM | 1989 |
| 51 | AYÇA FATMA | DURMAZ | 1983 |
| 52 | İBRAHİM ETHEM | AY | 1968 |
| 53 | NEZİHE EZGİ | MENZİ | 1967 |
| 54 | ADEM | AVCI | 1966 |
| 55 | SERHAT | ZENGİ | 1958 |
| 56 | TOLGAHAN | YAPICI | 1948 |
| 57 | FADLI | ALİGİL | 1939 |
| 58 | MUHARREM | YILDIRIM | 1937 |
| 59 | MÜNİP | ERMİŞ | 1936 |
| 60 | ÇETİN | MUTLU | 1934 |
| 61 | REHA | DİRİ | 1921 |
| 62 | KEREM | ÇALIŞKAN | 1919 |
| 63 | SABRİ | TAŞCI | 1918 |
| 64 | KUDRET | AVCI | 1918 |
| 65 | RAMAZAN | ERTEKİN | 1916 |
| 66 | VOLKAN | YOLERİ | 1915 |
| 67 | FUAT | POLAT | 1912 |
| 68 | ABİDİN | ÜNAL | 1908 |
| 69 | ZAFER RABİN | SABA | 1897 |
| 70 | BULUT | İLBİLGİ | 1886 |
| 71 | BURAK | AVCI | 1883 |
| 72 | AHMET | KULAKLI | 1881 |
| 73 | GÜREL | KULLEŞ | 1874 |
| 74 | ONUR | ÜNAL | 1861 |
| 75 | HASAN CAN | ÖZKARA | 1858 |
| 76 | ÖZKAL | ARAYICI | 1857 |
| 77 | İSMET | YÜCETAŞ | 1854 |
| 78 | KUVAY | SANLI | 1841 |
| 79 | ERCAN | ÇINAR | 1840 |
| 80 | ABDULLAH | BOROĞLU | 1837 |
| 81 | HASAN | KARA | 1835 |
| 82 | SERTAÇ | ANADOLLU | 1830 |
| 83 | MOHAMMAD SHEKIB | HOD | 1823 |
| 84 | RUKİYE BURCU | KORKMAZ | 1819 |
| 85 | ÖZGÜR | DEMİR | 1818 |
| 86 | YUNUS | ATAÇ | 1814 |
| 87 | CAN | SAKARYALI | 1813 |
| 88 | ZEYNEL | REYHAN | 1811 |
| 89 | AHMET | ÇALIŞKAN | 1807 |
| 90 | HASAN | GÜLER | 1806 |
| 91 | NİHAL | DUMAN | 1806 |
| 92 | FIRAT ÇAĞLAR | AKBULUT | 1804 |
| 93 | MEHMET RÜŞTÜ | DOĞAN | 1803 |
| 94 | ŞUARA | KESKİN | 1803 |
| 95 | TAYFUR | ALİGİL | 1803 |
| 96 | ERHAN | EREN | 1798 |
| 97 | UMUT UTKU | TAHAN | 1796 |
| 98 | MUSTAFA | ULUSOY | 1795 |
| 99 | SÜLEYMAN TUFAN | TURAN | 1792 |
| 100 | HAKAN | YAPICI | 1786 |
1304. BS. Popeye
Popeye 4.59 çıktı.
Popeye is a chess problem solving and testing software with strong support for fairy chess and heterodox genres.
30 Aralık 2011 Cuma
1300. SY. Ajedrez de Estilo
Ajedrez de Estilo. 1985 yılı 37. sayısı elleçlenmeye başlandı. Bu sayıdan bir problemi paylaşıyoruz.
Beyazlar oynar, yenişmezlik yapar.
1298. SY. Revista Jaque Mate
Revista Jaque Mate. 1967 yılı 10-11. sayısında meşhur devrimci "Che" yer alıyor.
1294. SY. British Columbia Chess Federation Email Bulletin
British Columbia Chess Federation Email Bulletin. 224-230 sayılı bültenler de kolleksiyona katıldı.
1293. SY. Deutsche Fernschach-Jugend Newsletter
Deutsche Fernschach-Jugend Newsletter. 2005-2011 sayılarının tümünün elleçlenmesine başlandı.
1292. BS. Stockfish
Stockfish 2.2 Mac sürümü çıktı, windows ve linux sürümleri de birkaç gün içinde çıkıyor. Kuvvet artışı 10-20 puan arasında kestiriliyor.
1288. SY. ICOfy Journal
Bilindiği gibi, çevrimiçi hale geçen ICOfy Journal yayınının daha önce 18 sayısı çıkmıştı. 19, 20 ve 21. sayılarının yeni yılın ilk çeyreğinde yayınlanması programlandı.
1287. OV. ICOfY Base
ICOfY Base, 2011 yılı güncellemeleri dört kısım halinde PGN formatında yayınlandı. 4 milyondan fazla oyun barındıran temel veritabanı ise üç farklı formatta Chess Assistant, PGN ve Scid formatlarında daha önce güncellenmişti.
1285. BS. Elektronik formatta satranç kitapları
Kiwi chess ebooks
If you have an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, then check out the new app e+Chess from kiwi company ePlusBooks.com Ltd. Read chess books anywhere, without a set. The app is free and comes with the classic Chess Fundamentals (Capablanca). Other books can be purchased - including the three-volume set The Art of Chess by NZ former national coach, Lev Aptekar. The members of ePlusBooks.com are NZCF patron Jim Benson, super-GM programmer Craig Anderson, Hilton Bennett, Helen Milligan, and well-known American author IM Jeremy Silman.
If you have an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, then check out the new app e+Chess from kiwi company ePlusBooks.com Ltd. Read chess books anywhere, without a set. The app is free and comes with the classic Chess Fundamentals (Capablanca). Other books can be purchased - including the three-volume set The Art of Chess by NZ former national coach, Lev Aptekar. The members of ePlusBooks.com are NZCF patron Jim Benson, super-GM programmer Craig Anderson, Hilton Bennett, Helen Milligan, and well-known American author IM Jeremy Silman.
1284. SY. Matematik Dünyası
Matematik Dünyası satranç köşesindeki yazıların bir kısmına çevrimiçi olarak erişilebilmektedir. Bazıları fazla akademik olan 15 yazıyı kolleksiyonuma ekledim.
Matematik Dünyası. 2010-1 sayısı satranç köşesi 108-111, 4 sayfa.
1283. SY. Bütün Dünya
Bütün Dünya dergisi satranç köşesine çevrimiçi olarak erişilebilmektedir. Kolleksiyonum için pdf/djvu formatındaki uyarlamalarını aramaktayım.
1282. SY. Satranç ve Yaşam
İstanbul mahreçli kuşe kağıda büyük boyda (A3) basılan Satranç ve Yaşam gazetesi 2009 mart - 2010 haziran arasında, önce 8 sayfa, sonra 4 sayfa ve nihaen 2 sayfa olarak 21 sayı çıktı. Yayın bir süre genelağda pdf dosya olarak da yayınlandı. Kolleksiyonumda 5-15. sayıları noksan görünüyor. Bu sayıları genelağda araştırdıysam da bulamadım. Bu sayıları tamamlamamda yardım edebilecek satrançseverlere müteşekkir kalacağım.
1281. SY. AICF Chronicle
AICF Chronicle. 2011 aralık sayısı, c5 s6, 52 sayfa.
AICF Chronicle. 2009 nisan - 2011 aralık arasındaki sayıları tamamlandı.
1280. SY. Cuadernos de Ajedrez
Cuadernos de Ajedrez. 2011 aralık, 48. sayı, 16 sayfa.
Çevrimiçi yayın Cuadernos de Ajedrez böylelikle dördüncü yılını tamamladı. 2008-2011 sayılarının pdf ve cbv formatlarında elleçlenmelerine başlandı.
1279. SY. Chess Chatter
Chess Chatter. Bu aylık bültenin 2011 yılına ait tüm sayılarını da (30. cilt) buldum. Böylece 28-30. ciltler tamamlanmış oldu. 1-27. ciltlerdeki sayılarının araştırmasını sürdürmekteyim.
1278. SY. Chess Chatter
Chess Chatter. 2010 aralık sayısı
Chess Chatter. Newsletter of the Port Huron Chess Club. 2009-2010 sayıları çevrimiçi olup elleçleme işlemi başlatılmıştır.
1277. SY. Lake Effect Chess
Lake Effect Chess. 2011 v4n4 çıktı. Böylelikle 2008-2011 yılları tamamlanmış oldu.
29 Aralık 2011 Perşembe
1276. SY. Northwest Chess
Northwest Chess. 2011 haziran sayısı, 761. sayı.
Northwest Chess. 2011 haziran - ekim sayıları çevrimiçi olarak yayınlandı. Elleçlemeye başladım.
1275. SY. Northwest Chess
Northwest Chess. 1966 haziran sayısı, 223. sayı
Northwest Chess. 1965-1966 yılları arasındaki 18 sayı ile 1987 yılından 12 sayı daha taranarak kolleksiyona eklendi. Elleçleme işlemlerine başlandı.
1274. SY. Washington Chess Letter
Washington Chess Letter. 1963 aralık sayısı, 193. sayı
Washington Chess Letter. 1962-1964 arasındaki 32 sayı daha taranarak WCL kolleksiyonuna katıldı. Bu sayıların elleçlenmesine başladım.
1272. Vitaly Tseshkovsky
Tseshkovsky dies at 67
ChessVibes
Sad news on Christmas Eve: two times Soviet Champion Vitaly Tseshkovsky passed away on December 24th in Krasnodar, Russia. The well-known Russian grandmaster died in harness: participating in the Krai Cup, Tseshkovsky became ill during the first round, lost consciousness and died. This was reported today by the Russian Chess Federation.
Tseshkovsky was born September 25, 1944 in Omsk into a Polish family (his noble ancestors lived in Volhynia). He was awarded the International Master title in 1973 and became an International Grandmaster in 1975.
His best tournament victories include first at Leipzig 1975, Dubna 1976, Yerevan 1980, Banja Luka 1981, Sochi 1981 and Minsk 1982. He was co-winner of the 1978 Soviet Championship (with Mikhail Tal) and winner of the 1986 Championship.
He has beaten several world champions: Vasily Smyslov at the Moscow Spartakiad 1974, Tal at Sochi 1970, and a young Garry Kasparov at the 1978 Soviet Championship. Tseshkovsky himself almost qualified for the World Championship candidates matches when he finished fourth in the 1976 Manila Interzonal, one place lower than was needed to progress to the next stage.
At the 27th Chess Olympiad in 1986, he scored 2.5/5 as the second reserve board to help the USSR team win the gold medal.
His 6/9 result in St Petersburg, 2004 qualified him to play in the Russian Championship final later in the year, alongside Russia's seven top players and five other qualifiers. In 2010, he tied for 2nd-4th with Algimantas Butnorius and Nikolai Pushkov in the European Seniors’ Rapid Championship.
Vitaly Tseshkovsky, 1944-2011
Dennis Monokroussos, Monday, December 26, 2011 at 6:08PM
Russian grandmaster Vitaly Tseshkovsky died this past Saturday, the day before Christmas, at the age of 67. He went out with his spurs on, while playing in the opening round of a chess tournament in Krasnodar.
I suspect that many if not most of my readers have never heard of him before (at least not unless they've already seen mention of his passing somewhere else), and even the few who have heard of him know very little about the man. While I've known of him for at least three decades, from whenever it was in my youth that I picked up the old R.H.M Press book on the 1974 USSR Championship, his performance in that event wasn't very good (7/15, tying for 10th-11th of 16) and he rarely played outside the Soviet Union during his salad days. For all I know, he might be a larger than life figure to Russian players and those from the former Soviet Union, but to most westerners who have heard of him he was probably "just" another random GM.
The last couple of days I've spent some time looking him up though, and he deserves more renown as a chess player than he has received. As those of us who can remember the Soviet Championships can attest, they were often super-tournaments in their own right. All the Soviet world champions from Mikhail Botvinnik through Garry Kasparov participated on a fairly regular basis, as did such figures as Paul Keres, David Bronstein, Efim Geller, Lev Polugaevsky, Leonid Stein, Alexander Beliavsky, Viktor Korchnoi and many other players in the world's absolute elite. Qualifying for such a tournament was an accomplishment, while winning a Soviet championship marked someone as an exceptionally able player.
Vitaly Tseshkovsky won it twice. In addition to those titles, gained in 1978 (with Tal, ahead of Polugaevsky, Beliavsky, Geller, Kasparov and others) and 1986 (ahead of a more contemporary crew including Evgeny Bareev, Leonid Yudasin, Mikhail Gurevich, Sergei Dolmatov, Alexander Khalifman, Beliavsky and others).
In addition, he was nearly a Candidate, coming in fourth in the 1976 Interzonal in Manila. Three players qualified for the next stage, but Tseshkovsky finished half a point behind Polugaevsky and Vlastimil Hort (and a point behind winner Henrique Mecking). Nevertheless, he showed his class by coming ahead of Boris Spassky, Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Zoltan Ribli and many other very strong players.
The man clearly has a resume. So why was he a relative unknown? For one thing, he doesn't seem to have done anything terribly flamboyant, so there aren't any amusing stories about him - at least none that seem to have escaped his homeland. As noted earlier, he rarely played outside the USSR in his heyday, so he didn't get the chance to make an impression on the Western press. Perhaps the biggest reason for his anonymity is that his results were extremely volatile. I mentioned that he won the Soviet Championship in 1978 and 1986, but guess who tied for dead last in 1979 and 1987? You guessed it: Tseshkovsky! (I told you they were strong tournaments!)
That volatility went in the opposite direction as well. For much of the 1990s his rating fluctuated between the high 2400s and low 2500s - not bad for a player who entered the decade in his mid-40s and left it in his mid-50s. But then in 2004-5 he had a series of good results that pushed his rating to 2600, achieved at the age of 61! In an amazing accomplishment, he qualified for the finals of the 2004 Russian Championship, where he participated against Kasparov, Alexander Grischuk, Alexey Dreev, Alexander Morozevich, Peter Svidler, Evgeny Bareev and three other strong, significantly younger players. That the 60-year-old Tseshkovsky, the lowest seed, came in last wasn't too surprising, but getting there was impressive. And so was his win over Morozevich, whom he defeated in a positional masterpiece. The man could play some great chess.
Tseshkovsky has passed, but apparently he did some work as a trainer too. Among the players who worked with him (to what degree and for how long, I do not know) were Boris Savchenko, Bartlomiej Macieja, and a player some of us have probably heard of - Vladimir Kramnik.
Rest in peace, Vitaly Tseshkovsky.
Russian grandmaster Vitaly Tseshkovsky died this past Saturday, the day before Christmas, at the age of 67. He went out with his spurs on, while playing in the opening round of a chess tournament in Krasnodar.
I suspect that many if not most of my readers have never heard of him before (at least not unless they've already seen mention of his passing somewhere else), and even the few who have heard of him know very little about the man. While I've known of him for at least three decades, from whenever it was in my youth that I picked up the old R.H.M Press book on the 1974 USSR Championship, his performance in that event wasn't very good (7/15, tying for 10th-11th of 16) and he rarely played outside the Soviet Union during his salad days. For all I know, he might be a larger than life figure to Russian players and those from the former Soviet Union, but to most westerners who have heard of him he was probably "just" another random GM.
The last couple of days I've spent some time looking him up though, and he deserves more renown as a chess player than he has received. As those of us who can remember the Soviet Championships can attest, they were often super-tournaments in their own right. All the Soviet world champions from Mikhail Botvinnik through Garry Kasparov participated on a fairly regular basis, as did such figures as Paul Keres, David Bronstein, Efim Geller, Lev Polugaevsky, Leonid Stein, Alexander Beliavsky, Viktor Korchnoi and many other players in the world's absolute elite. Qualifying for such a tournament was an accomplishment, while winning a Soviet championship marked someone as an exceptionally able player.
Vitaly Tseshkovsky won it twice. In addition to those titles, gained in 1978 (with Tal, ahead of Polugaevsky, Beliavsky, Geller, Kasparov and others) and 1986 (ahead of a more contemporary crew including Evgeny Bareev, Leonid Yudasin, Mikhail Gurevich, Sergei Dolmatov, Alexander Khalifman, Beliavsky and others).
In addition, he was nearly a Candidate, coming in fourth in the 1976 Interzonal in Manila. Three players qualified for the next stage, but Tseshkovsky finished half a point behind Polugaevsky and Vlastimil Hort (and a point behind winner Henrique Mecking). Nevertheless, he showed his class by coming ahead of Boris Spassky, Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Zoltan Ribli and many other very strong players.
The man clearly has a resume. So why was he a relative unknown? For one thing, he doesn't seem to have done anything terribly flamboyant, so there aren't any amusing stories about him - at least none that seem to have escaped his homeland. As noted earlier, he rarely played outside the USSR in his heyday, so he didn't get the chance to make an impression on the Western press. Perhaps the biggest reason for his anonymity is that his results were extremely volatile. I mentioned that he won the Soviet Championship in 1978 and 1986, but guess who tied for dead last in 1979 and 1987? You guessed it: Tseshkovsky! (I told you they were strong tournaments!)
That volatility went in the opposite direction as well. For much of the 1990s his rating fluctuated between the high 2400s and low 2500s - not bad for a player who entered the decade in his mid-40s and left it in his mid-50s. But then in 2004-5 he had a series of good results that pushed his rating to 2600, achieved at the age of 61! In an amazing accomplishment, he qualified for the finals of the 2004 Russian Championship, where he participated against Kasparov, Alexander Grischuk, Alexey Dreev, Alexander Morozevich, Peter Svidler, Evgeny Bareev and three other strong, significantly younger players. That the 60-year-old Tseshkovsky, the lowest seed, came in last wasn't too surprising, but getting there was impressive. And so was his win over Morozevich, whom he defeated in a positional masterpiece. The man could play some great chess.
Tseshkovsky has passed, but apparently he did some work as a trainer too. Among the players who worked with him (to what degree and for how long, I do not know) were Boris Savchenko, Bartlomiej Macieja, and a player some of us have probably heard of - Vladimir Kramnik.
Rest in peace, Vitaly Tseshkovsky.
Kramnik: Tseshkovsky “loved chess too much”
December 26, 2011 4:37 pm
Vitaly Tseshkovsky, who died on the 24th December, coached the young Vladimir Kramnik in the years when the future champion broke into the World Top-10. Kramnik has now shared his recollections of Tseshkovsky with the Russian Chess Federation website, noting that Tseshkovsky was a talent comparable to Jan Timman, but lacked the sporting and political qualities required to claim a place at the very top of world chess in that era.
The following is a full translation of Kramnik’s Russian text at the RCF website:
I’d heard, of course, that Vitaly Valeryevich’s health was no longer so great, but such things always come as a shock… After all, he was only 67, which isn’t such an advanced old age nowadays.
We hadn’t seen each other for a long time as our paths somehow never crossed – I’d play in some tournaments while he played in others; but we always had a good relationship. Of course, when I saw the sad news on the internet memories immediately flooded back…
We worked together very closely from 88-89 to 94. We were neighbours: I was living back then in Tuapse while Tseshkovsky was in Krasnodar. From time to time someone would work with me – one local master or another. At some point it became clear that I could develop into a very strong player, so they decided to find me a coach who had a very deep understanding of chess. Tseshkovsky automatically emerged as a candidate – in the Krasnodar Region there were no other chess players at his level.
Kramnik was born in Tuapse on the Black Sea coast, about 150 km from the regional centre of Krasnodar
The only problem was that Tuapse and Krasnodar weren’t located very close to each other, so it wasn’t that easy for us to meet often. Moreover, he was still playing regularly himself, and posting very decent results. So we spent more time together at tournaments, and sometimes at training camps. On more than one occasion we stayed in the same hotel room when he was helping me at junior competitions. Of course we talked and worked a lot on chess. Back then I was still very young, so we didn’t quite communicate as equals. He certainly didn’t treat me as a child – he shared his thoughts with me and told me a lot of interesting things – but there weren’t any disputes or long dialogues between us, as after all we were people from different generations. He was a very intelligent, scrupulous man and never applied pressure or imposed his opinion on me. He’d apologise five times before expressing his disagreement with something. He was an honest, decent man, and had no malice at all. He might not get on with someone very well, but I never heard malice in his voice. He had no desire to settle scores with anyone or take revenge and so on. It seems to me he never did anything bad to anyone.
Tseshkovsky was a very interesting, original and unconventional chess player. Above all, he really loved chess. He was one of those rare people who could analyse any position. I remember his favourite pose: half-lying on the bed, supporting his head in his hands; in front of him – a magnetic chess set from Riga, which he always took with him. At junior championships when I returned to the room I could find him, for example, analysing some game from the “64” magazine; let’s say, Rodriguez – Gutierrez from the Columbian Championship. If a position caught his interest he could analyse it for three or four hours. He moved the pieces, had a think, moved the pieces, and again had a think… That seemed a little strange to me and I once said: if you like analysing so much perhaps it would be better to take some position from your repertoire? But he was ready to study any idea that caught his interest. That, of course, is a rare quality, found only among people who genuinely love chess!
It seems to me that Vitaly Tseshkovsky didn’t achieve all he could because he loved chess too much: he had an enormous love of playing and analysing, while the practical result didn’t particularly bother him. Of course, he had to earn money and take care of his family, but essentially he simply loved playing chess. I’ve rarely met such enthusiasm for analysis! He could be drawn into some study or even a selfmate. He’d put it on the board and spend half a day solving it. I was amused by all that, and us kids would laugh at him when he’d enthusiastically tell us: “A difficult puzzle, but how interesting!” There’d be some irrational position on the board – a selfmate in 10 moves or some such madness! And he’d share his emotions: “I already have a sense of what the construction should be, but I just can’t grasp the correct path…” It was a unique spectacle, and there are less and less such people…
Whether Tseshkovsky was at the same level as the great or a little below them is something I won’t try to judge; in general, it’s very hard to judge the scale of anyone’s talent. But it’s obvious that his sporting qualities were zero. He “got by” on account of his love of chess and his talent. If only he could have added sporting qualities… When he was on fire he would rip everyone apart, and no-one understood what was happening on the board! He had an amazing style: he really loved complex positions, and would deliberately complicate, complicate and complicate play… Moreover, by complex positions I don’t mean simply that they were tactical; he loved it when a lot of pieces remained and when, as far as possible, the struggle was taking place across the whole board. He loved to provoke turmoil on the board, when it was difficult to grasp what on earth was going on. That was his element, in which he’d outplay very strong grandmasters, and at times outplay them as if they were mere children. Of course he also had weaker sides to his game, but overall his style was very original and unconventional; I don’t even know who you could compare Tseshkovsky to. He always approached a position without any clear criteria for evaluating it: this is better, this is worse. He “diluted” me in this sense: after all, I’d studied the books of Nimzowitsch and Tarrasch, and the criteria there are very strict – this is good, this is bad. Vitaly Valeryevich, of course, understood chess more deeply than I did at the time and he was able to demonstrate that chess is much more multifaceted and not so categorical; sometimes it’s hard to grasp in general whether a position’s better or not. He enriched me in that regard.
I remember either in 1990 or 91 that we were at a training camp in Novogorsk before the World Junior Championship. The camp lasted a long time, about a fortnight, and it was boring to study all the time. At some point we sat down at the board and I said, “Perhaps we can play a little blitz?” He said: “Come on, then!” I was about 15 or 16 years old at the time and I was already playing pretty well. Of course, he was a stronger chess player, but I was young and my mind worked very quickly. Like any young chess player I loved to play blitz, especially against such a great player. He also really enjoyed it. And so we wound up playing for three days in a row, only taking a break for food and sleep. We didn’t even take any walks!
At first we kept a score, then we stopped, but it was about even: over three days perhaps someone won with a maximum of +5, while we played more games than you could count! No-one was particularly bothered about the score as we were both so caught up in the game, but for the sake of interest from some point we started to divide our marathon into 10-game matches. Sometimes I’d win a match, sometimes he would, but the gap was always only 1-2 points, no more.
Vitaly Valeryevich undoubtedly had a serious influence on my development as a chess player. As a youngster it’s very important to spend time with a strong player. I wouldn’t say that we analysed a great deal, although that also took place, but if you’ve got the ability to learn then it’s very important to have contact with a major player who sees the game differently and simply understands chess better than you do. He didn’t prepare special topics for our work together, but we’d simply sit at the board and start to look at certain positions, more or less related to my repertoire, though at times with no relation whatsoever. Sometimes he’d simply say: “I played an interesting game. Let’s analyse it!” And we could spend a few hours investigating that game. Of course, such an analytical process really enriched me. Tseshkovsky shared his thoughts, ideas and conceptions, and that was very useful.
In about 94 our cooperation came to an end because at that point chess had started to change significantly. Computers had appeared, while Vitaly Valeryevich worked the same way he always had, and wasn’t quite able to keep up with the growing volume of information. He analysed at incredible depth, but very slowly. That’s perfectly natural, but I had the impression that I simply wouldn’t have the time to process the necessary volume of information; it was better to sacrifice a little depth but look at more. I started to try working with different, younger people, who knew how to handle computers. Vitaly Valeryevich and I had no personal problems, but in terms of cooperating our paths gradually began to diverge. He was a man from a different generation, and it was hard for him to adapt to start working with computers. He loved chess more as a game than a profession. I was already in the Top-10, and I had “to work my head off”, regardless of whether I liked positions or not. For example, a slightly worse endgame had to be brought to a clear draw. Vitaly Valeryevich, on the other hand, wasn’t mentally prepared for such work. He loved chess as creativity. I understand that perfectly and welcome it, but back then that was already insufficient in order to reach the top. Our paths diverged, although afterwards we would still sometimes see each other and talk. In any case, our cooperation was very useful for me.
Of course it’s sad that people are leaving us from the generation I was connected to in my childhood. Recently Igor Yulyevich Botvinnik passed away, and I was also very upset when I saw that news during the tournament in London. I didn’t expect it at all as he’d always been so optimistic and had never complained about anything… Frankly speaking, I didn’t even know that he was over sixty; it always seemed to me that he was quite young. Literally a year ago we met in Paris, where he’d come to visit with his family. We met, had a good time together, and everything was so cheerful…. When I was accepted into the Botvinnik School he’d handled all the technical details and was a very good-natured man. Such blows one after another, people passing away. It’s a great pity, as you lose a part of your past…
Igor Botvinnik, Mikhail Botvinnik's nephew, passed away at the age of 61 on 5 December, 2011 | photo: RCF website
There are very few people left who are as selflessly devoted to chess as Vitaly Valeryevich was. He was a very independent, proud man, who didn’t like any kind of pressure, and was absolutely incapable of any bootlicking – that was incompatible with his personality. That was probably why Tseshkovsky was very rarely allowed to play in overseas tournaments, as at the time you often needed to "grease palms", to smile at someone at the right moment, bring them a little present and so on. But he didn’t like any of that, so he rarely travelled. In that sense he was a man from a “lost generation”. I think if he’d gone abroad, like Korchnoi, he’d have become a major player, at Timman’s level – he’d have been a constant in the Top-10. Although it’s hard to imagine Tseshkovsky living abroad as he was so Russian, so connected to Russian culture. At home he soured a little: he had the talent, but no tournaments. He told me that at some point he lost interest in his chess career development. He realised that he wasn’t Karpov, he wasn’t so great that they’d give him all the tournaments, but on the other hand while he didn’t have the tournaments he had no chance of becoming great. Tseshkovsky said: “I’m not capable of behaving so that I beg for these tournaments”. In a certain sense he gave up and decided that he’d simply play chess for pleasure.
Of course, there are lots of funny stories about him. There was one he loved to tell himself. Tseshkovsky was offered the chance to move from Omsk to Krasnodar so that the region would have its own very strong chess player. They gave him a big flat in the centre of the town on Krasnaya Street and offered good financial conditions, which immediately made him an eligible bachelor. And then he had a very serious romance and he and his beloved were already thinking about marriage. But – things just wouldn’t go well with his potential mother-in-law. It seemed as though she also wanted her daughter to marry a famous chess player, but nevertheless she had a dislike of Tseshkovsky. Now I’ll try to reproduce how Vitaly Valeryevich would tell it:
“One fine day I was standing at the bus stop, waiting for a bus and smoking. At that moment my future mother-in-law passed by and after brief greetings she uttered the following phrase:
– So, Vitaly, it turns out you also smoke!
After that I couldn’t restrain myself and replied:
– I also drink and love chasing after women!
And with that the romance suddenly came to an end.”
Tseshkovsky was a very direct man, with a sense of his own dignity. He could tell the chess leadership things to their faces. He was highly respected, but other people who were, let’s say, more tractable, would be sent to tournaments. It’s a pity that he didn’t achieve all that he could have done in chess. And in general, he could have lived longer. It seems to me that nature had granted him colossal – genuinely Siberian – health.
In his case it’s very symbolic that he died at the chessboard. After all, he played to the end – simply because he loved to play. I don’t think it brought Tseshkovsky much money, and any straightforward coaching activity would have earned him no less.
Farewell, Vitaly Valeryevich! May you rest in peace.
December 26, 2011 4:37 pm
Vitaly Tseshkovsky, who died on the 24th December, coached the young Vladimir Kramnik in the years when the future champion broke into the World Top-10. Kramnik has now shared his recollections of Tseshkovsky with the Russian Chess Federation website, noting that Tseshkovsky was a talent comparable to Jan Timman, but lacked the sporting and political qualities required to claim a place at the very top of world chess in that era.
The following is a full translation of Kramnik’s Russian text at the RCF website:
I’d heard, of course, that Vitaly Valeryevich’s health was no longer so great, but such things always come as a shock… After all, he was only 67, which isn’t such an advanced old age nowadays.
We hadn’t seen each other for a long time as our paths somehow never crossed – I’d play in some tournaments while he played in others; but we always had a good relationship. Of course, when I saw the sad news on the internet memories immediately flooded back…
We worked together very closely from 88-89 to 94. We were neighbours: I was living back then in Tuapse while Tseshkovsky was in Krasnodar. From time to time someone would work with me – one local master or another. At some point it became clear that I could develop into a very strong player, so they decided to find me a coach who had a very deep understanding of chess. Tseshkovsky automatically emerged as a candidate – in the Krasnodar Region there were no other chess players at his level.
Kramnik was born in Tuapse on the Black Sea coast, about 150 km from the regional centre of Krasnodar
The only problem was that Tuapse and Krasnodar weren’t located very close to each other, so it wasn’t that easy for us to meet often. Moreover, he was still playing regularly himself, and posting very decent results. So we spent more time together at tournaments, and sometimes at training camps. On more than one occasion we stayed in the same hotel room when he was helping me at junior competitions. Of course we talked and worked a lot on chess. Back then I was still very young, so we didn’t quite communicate as equals. He certainly didn’t treat me as a child – he shared his thoughts with me and told me a lot of interesting things – but there weren’t any disputes or long dialogues between us, as after all we were people from different generations. He was a very intelligent, scrupulous man and never applied pressure or imposed his opinion on me. He’d apologise five times before expressing his disagreement with something. He was an honest, decent man, and had no malice at all. He might not get on with someone very well, but I never heard malice in his voice. He had no desire to settle scores with anyone or take revenge and so on. It seems to me he never did anything bad to anyone.
Tseshkovsky was a very interesting, original and unconventional chess player. Above all, he really loved chess. He was one of those rare people who could analyse any position. I remember his favourite pose: half-lying on the bed, supporting his head in his hands; in front of him – a magnetic chess set from Riga, which he always took with him. At junior championships when I returned to the room I could find him, for example, analysing some game from the “64” magazine; let’s say, Rodriguez – Gutierrez from the Columbian Championship. If a position caught his interest he could analyse it for three or four hours. He moved the pieces, had a think, moved the pieces, and again had a think… That seemed a little strange to me and I once said: if you like analysing so much perhaps it would be better to take some position from your repertoire? But he was ready to study any idea that caught his interest. That, of course, is a rare quality, found only among people who genuinely love chess!
It seems to me that Vitaly Tseshkovsky didn’t achieve all he could because he loved chess too much: he had an enormous love of playing and analysing, while the practical result didn’t particularly bother him. Of course, he had to earn money and take care of his family, but essentially he simply loved playing chess. I’ve rarely met such enthusiasm for analysis! He could be drawn into some study or even a selfmate. He’d put it on the board and spend half a day solving it. I was amused by all that, and us kids would laugh at him when he’d enthusiastically tell us: “A difficult puzzle, but how interesting!” There’d be some irrational position on the board – a selfmate in 10 moves or some such madness! And he’d share his emotions: “I already have a sense of what the construction should be, but I just can’t grasp the correct path…” It was a unique spectacle, and there are less and less such people…
Whether Tseshkovsky was at the same level as the great or a little below them is something I won’t try to judge; in general, it’s very hard to judge the scale of anyone’s talent. But it’s obvious that his sporting qualities were zero. He “got by” on account of his love of chess and his talent. If only he could have added sporting qualities… When he was on fire he would rip everyone apart, and no-one understood what was happening on the board! He had an amazing style: he really loved complex positions, and would deliberately complicate, complicate and complicate play… Moreover, by complex positions I don’t mean simply that they were tactical; he loved it when a lot of pieces remained and when, as far as possible, the struggle was taking place across the whole board. He loved to provoke turmoil on the board, when it was difficult to grasp what on earth was going on. That was his element, in which he’d outplay very strong grandmasters, and at times outplay them as if they were mere children. Of course he also had weaker sides to his game, but overall his style was very original and unconventional; I don’t even know who you could compare Tseshkovsky to. He always approached a position without any clear criteria for evaluating it: this is better, this is worse. He “diluted” me in this sense: after all, I’d studied the books of Nimzowitsch and Tarrasch, and the criteria there are very strict – this is good, this is bad. Vitaly Valeryevich, of course, understood chess more deeply than I did at the time and he was able to demonstrate that chess is much more multifaceted and not so categorical; sometimes it’s hard to grasp in general whether a position’s better or not. He enriched me in that regard.
I remember either in 1990 or 91 that we were at a training camp in Novogorsk before the World Junior Championship. The camp lasted a long time, about a fortnight, and it was boring to study all the time. At some point we sat down at the board and I said, “Perhaps we can play a little blitz?” He said: “Come on, then!” I was about 15 or 16 years old at the time and I was already playing pretty well. Of course, he was a stronger chess player, but I was young and my mind worked very quickly. Like any young chess player I loved to play blitz, especially against such a great player. He also really enjoyed it. And so we wound up playing for three days in a row, only taking a break for food and sleep. We didn’t even take any walks!
At first we kept a score, then we stopped, but it was about even: over three days perhaps someone won with a maximum of +5, while we played more games than you could count! No-one was particularly bothered about the score as we were both so caught up in the game, but for the sake of interest from some point we started to divide our marathon into 10-game matches. Sometimes I’d win a match, sometimes he would, but the gap was always only 1-2 points, no more.
Vitaly Valeryevich undoubtedly had a serious influence on my development as a chess player. As a youngster it’s very important to spend time with a strong player. I wouldn’t say that we analysed a great deal, although that also took place, but if you’ve got the ability to learn then it’s very important to have contact with a major player who sees the game differently and simply understands chess better than you do. He didn’t prepare special topics for our work together, but we’d simply sit at the board and start to look at certain positions, more or less related to my repertoire, though at times with no relation whatsoever. Sometimes he’d simply say: “I played an interesting game. Let’s analyse it!” And we could spend a few hours investigating that game. Of course, such an analytical process really enriched me. Tseshkovsky shared his thoughts, ideas and conceptions, and that was very useful.
In about 94 our cooperation came to an end because at that point chess had started to change significantly. Computers had appeared, while Vitaly Valeryevich worked the same way he always had, and wasn’t quite able to keep up with the growing volume of information. He analysed at incredible depth, but very slowly. That’s perfectly natural, but I had the impression that I simply wouldn’t have the time to process the necessary volume of information; it was better to sacrifice a little depth but look at more. I started to try working with different, younger people, who knew how to handle computers. Vitaly Valeryevich and I had no personal problems, but in terms of cooperating our paths gradually began to diverge. He was a man from a different generation, and it was hard for him to adapt to start working with computers. He loved chess more as a game than a profession. I was already in the Top-10, and I had “to work my head off”, regardless of whether I liked positions or not. For example, a slightly worse endgame had to be brought to a clear draw. Vitaly Valeryevich, on the other hand, wasn’t mentally prepared for such work. He loved chess as creativity. I understand that perfectly and welcome it, but back then that was already insufficient in order to reach the top. Our paths diverged, although afterwards we would still sometimes see each other and talk. In any case, our cooperation was very useful for me.
Of course it’s sad that people are leaving us from the generation I was connected to in my childhood. Recently Igor Yulyevich Botvinnik passed away, and I was also very upset when I saw that news during the tournament in London. I didn’t expect it at all as he’d always been so optimistic and had never complained about anything… Frankly speaking, I didn’t even know that he was over sixty; it always seemed to me that he was quite young. Literally a year ago we met in Paris, where he’d come to visit with his family. We met, had a good time together, and everything was so cheerful…. When I was accepted into the Botvinnik School he’d handled all the technical details and was a very good-natured man. Such blows one after another, people passing away. It’s a great pity, as you lose a part of your past…
Igor Botvinnik, Mikhail Botvinnik's nephew, passed away at the age of 61 on 5 December, 2011 | photo: RCF website
There are very few people left who are as selflessly devoted to chess as Vitaly Valeryevich was. He was a very independent, proud man, who didn’t like any kind of pressure, and was absolutely incapable of any bootlicking – that was incompatible with his personality. That was probably why Tseshkovsky was very rarely allowed to play in overseas tournaments, as at the time you often needed to "grease palms", to smile at someone at the right moment, bring them a little present and so on. But he didn’t like any of that, so he rarely travelled. In that sense he was a man from a “lost generation”. I think if he’d gone abroad, like Korchnoi, he’d have become a major player, at Timman’s level – he’d have been a constant in the Top-10. Although it’s hard to imagine Tseshkovsky living abroad as he was so Russian, so connected to Russian culture. At home he soured a little: he had the talent, but no tournaments. He told me that at some point he lost interest in his chess career development. He realised that he wasn’t Karpov, he wasn’t so great that they’d give him all the tournaments, but on the other hand while he didn’t have the tournaments he had no chance of becoming great. Tseshkovsky said: “I’m not capable of behaving so that I beg for these tournaments”. In a certain sense he gave up and decided that he’d simply play chess for pleasure.
Of course, there are lots of funny stories about him. There was one he loved to tell himself. Tseshkovsky was offered the chance to move from Omsk to Krasnodar so that the region would have its own very strong chess player. They gave him a big flat in the centre of the town on Krasnaya Street and offered good financial conditions, which immediately made him an eligible bachelor. And then he had a very serious romance and he and his beloved were already thinking about marriage. But – things just wouldn’t go well with his potential mother-in-law. It seemed as though she also wanted her daughter to marry a famous chess player, but nevertheless she had a dislike of Tseshkovsky. Now I’ll try to reproduce how Vitaly Valeryevich would tell it:
“One fine day I was standing at the bus stop, waiting for a bus and smoking. At that moment my future mother-in-law passed by and after brief greetings she uttered the following phrase:
– So, Vitaly, it turns out you also smoke!
After that I couldn’t restrain myself and replied:
– I also drink and love chasing after women!
And with that the romance suddenly came to an end.”
Tseshkovsky was a very direct man, with a sense of his own dignity. He could tell the chess leadership things to their faces. He was highly respected, but other people who were, let’s say, more tractable, would be sent to tournaments. It’s a pity that he didn’t achieve all that he could have done in chess. And in general, he could have lived longer. It seems to me that nature had granted him colossal – genuinely Siberian – health.
In his case it’s very symbolic that he died at the chessboard. After all, he played to the end – simply because he loved to play. I don’t think it brought Tseshkovsky much money, and any straightforward coaching activity would have earned him no less.
Farewell, Vitaly Valeryevich! May you rest in peace.
Spassky pays tribute to Vitaly Tseshkovsky
December 25, 2011 7:28 pm
Vitaly Tseshkovsky, a two-time USSR Chess Champion and influential coach, passed away on December 24th. Former World Chess Champion Boris Spassky has now joined Vugar Gashimov and many others in the chess world in paying his respects, with a moving tribute to his friend.
Spassky’s tribute was sent from Paris on Christmas Day to the Russian chess website e3e5.com:
B.V. Spassky: In Memoriam of V.V. Tseshkovsky
Dear Vitaly! You turned out to be too impatient and didn’t wait for me, and now I’m all in mourning and sorrow. Everyone loved you for your candour, integrity and decency. I’ve been remembering our chess encounters and recognising once again what a chess giant has left us. I recall how you brilliantly outplayed me in the Ufimtsev Defence in 1979 at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. You always fought to bare kings and were a staunch opponent of putting up a pretend fight, never mind of short pre-arranged draws. Over the whole course of your chess life you fought and created… You were and remain in our memory a great chess player of creative exploration. Your combinational attacks will forever remain in the memory of a great number of chess fans. You were a fierce fighter and left our world during a chess battle. You had many chess friends – Yuri Balashov, Viktor Kupreichik, Alexander Nikitin – now they’re also mourning your loss along with me. Receive our last declarations of love and respect. I can’t but end these sorrowful lines by expressing the very deepest of sympathy for the family and loved ones of our friend.
The Tenth World Chess Champion Boris Spassky
As we noted in our report on Tseshkovsky’s death, he was Vladimir Kramnik’s coach during the crucial years when the future World Champion went from being a talented boy to an elite grandmaster. He also coached Vugar Gashimov, who wrote (via Chess-News):
I was very sad when I heard about it. I want to express my sympathy to his family, friends and the whole chess world. We’ve lost a wonderful and remarkable man. I’m truly glad that Vitaly Tseshkovsky played an important role in my chess career. He was my coach and I still remember all his advice, which touched not only on ideas at the chessboard but also an approach to chess. I’ll always be grateful to him for that. May you rest in peace, Vitaly Valeryevich.
December 25, 2011 7:28 pm
Vitaly Tseshkovsky, a two-time USSR Chess Champion and influential coach, passed away on December 24th. Former World Chess Champion Boris Spassky has now joined Vugar Gashimov and many others in the chess world in paying his respects, with a moving tribute to his friend.
Spassky’s tribute was sent from Paris on Christmas Day to the Russian chess website e3e5.com:
B.V. Spassky: In Memoriam of V.V. Tseshkovsky
Dear Vitaly! You turned out to be too impatient and didn’t wait for me, and now I’m all in mourning and sorrow. Everyone loved you for your candour, integrity and decency. I’ve been remembering our chess encounters and recognising once again what a chess giant has left us. I recall how you brilliantly outplayed me in the Ufimtsev Defence in 1979 at the Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR. You always fought to bare kings and were a staunch opponent of putting up a pretend fight, never mind of short pre-arranged draws. Over the whole course of your chess life you fought and created… You were and remain in our memory a great chess player of creative exploration. Your combinational attacks will forever remain in the memory of a great number of chess fans. You were a fierce fighter and left our world during a chess battle. You had many chess friends – Yuri Balashov, Viktor Kupreichik, Alexander Nikitin – now they’re also mourning your loss along with me. Receive our last declarations of love and respect. I can’t but end these sorrowful lines by expressing the very deepest of sympathy for the family and loved ones of our friend.
The Tenth World Chess Champion Boris Spassky
As we noted in our report on Tseshkovsky’s death, he was Vladimir Kramnik’s coach during the crucial years when the future World Champion went from being a talented boy to an elite grandmaster. He also coached Vugar Gashimov, who wrote (via Chess-News):
I was very sad when I heard about it. I want to express my sympathy to his family, friends and the whole chess world. We’ve lost a wonderful and remarkable man. I’m truly glad that Vitaly Tseshkovsky played an important role in my chess career. He was my coach and I still remember all his advice, which touched not only on ideas at the chessboard but also an approach to chess. I’ll always be grateful to him for that. May you rest in peace, Vitaly Valeryevich.
Tseshkovsky dies aged 67
December 24, 2011 2:47 pm
Vitaly Tseshkovsky, a former world top-10 player, two-time Russian Champion and a coach of among others Vladimir Kramnik, passed away today in Russia. He collapsed while playing in the first round of the final of the Krasnodar Region Rapid Cup and failed to regain consciousness.
Vitaly Valeryevich Tseshkovsky was born into a Polish family in Siberia on September 25, 1944, and broke into the chess elite as a 30-year-old in the mid-70s. Chessmetrics ranks him as no. 7 in the world towards the end of 1976, and his career included wins over Mikhail Tal, Vasily Smyslov and Garry Kasparov (you can play through a selection of his games at ChessVibes).
The highlight of his many tournament victories was probably winning the formidable USSR Championship twice, once in 1978 (where he tied with Tal, with 6 wins to Tal’s 5) and again in 1986. He was unlucky to finish 4th at the Manila Interzonal in 1976, when 3rd place was required to qualify for the Candidates Matches. Instead, he remained one of the many highly-talented Soviet grandmasters who never quite made an impact on the world stage due to the fierce competition in the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, he maintained a high level of play well into his 60s, with a rating of 2564 as recently as September 2010.
Tseshkovsky playing Peter Svidler at the Russian Championship Superfinal in 2004 - although he lost this game and five more he beat Alexander Morozevich and came close to beating none other than Garry Kasparov. Anatoly Karpov commented before the event: "Here, in this top field of players, he will have a tough time and will probably lose some hair. But Vitaly is an interesting player and he will try to sell his scalp as dearly as possibly" | ChessBase reports on the 2004 Superfinal
As well as his impressive playing career, he was a sought-after coach, and most notably mentored Vladimir Kramnik in the future World Champion’s formative years. Evgeny Surov at Chess-News drew attention to the following extract from Sergey Shipov’s round-up of the 2000 Kramnik-Kasparov match (the original was published at the now-defunct kasparovchess.ru, though it can still be read here):
In 1996 three people were returning from the French town of Le Touquet to Paris (it doesn’t sound bad to say to Paris, not Uryupinsk) – Grandmaster Tseshkovsky, Master Nikolai Vlasov and your humble servant. Vitaly Valeryevich was in excellent spirits and us youngsters eagerly listened to his interesting stories from an eventful life. Half the time he talked about his favourite pupil, Kramnik. I recall that is was the two-time USSR Champion Tseshkovsky who took care of the young Volodya from around the age of 12 to 20, travelling with him to events and working together with him on chess – in short, coaching him. And Vitaly Valeryevich told us about his first impression of the boy. “When I looked at some of his games together with him, a 12-year-old, I was simply in awe! I told his parents – what do you mean a Candidate Master? He understands chess the way I do. I see a grandmaster in him!” (I hope the maestro will forgive me this loose retelling…)
Today at the KasparovChess forum Shipov wrote the following after hearing of Tseshkovsky’s death:
What a nightmare…
An outstanding chess player, a wonderful coach, a spirited story-teller.
I was lucky to have played against and spent time with him.
A pity. A real pity.
December 24, 2011 2:47 pm
Vitaly Tseshkovsky, a former world top-10 player, two-time Russian Champion and a coach of among others Vladimir Kramnik, passed away today in Russia. He collapsed while playing in the first round of the final of the Krasnodar Region Rapid Cup and failed to regain consciousness.
Vitaly Valeryevich Tseshkovsky was born into a Polish family in Siberia on September 25, 1944, and broke into the chess elite as a 30-year-old in the mid-70s. Chessmetrics ranks him as no. 7 in the world towards the end of 1976, and his career included wins over Mikhail Tal, Vasily Smyslov and Garry Kasparov (you can play through a selection of his games at ChessVibes).
The highlight of his many tournament victories was probably winning the formidable USSR Championship twice, once in 1978 (where he tied with Tal, with 6 wins to Tal’s 5) and again in 1986. He was unlucky to finish 4th at the Manila Interzonal in 1976, when 3rd place was required to qualify for the Candidates Matches. Instead, he remained one of the many highly-talented Soviet grandmasters who never quite made an impact on the world stage due to the fierce competition in the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, he maintained a high level of play well into his 60s, with a rating of 2564 as recently as September 2010.
Tseshkovsky playing Peter Svidler at the Russian Championship Superfinal in 2004 - although he lost this game and five more he beat Alexander Morozevich and came close to beating none other than Garry Kasparov. Anatoly Karpov commented before the event: "Here, in this top field of players, he will have a tough time and will probably lose some hair. But Vitaly is an interesting player and he will try to sell his scalp as dearly as possibly" | ChessBase reports on the 2004 Superfinal
As well as his impressive playing career, he was a sought-after coach, and most notably mentored Vladimir Kramnik in the future World Champion’s formative years. Evgeny Surov at Chess-News drew attention to the following extract from Sergey Shipov’s round-up of the 2000 Kramnik-Kasparov match (the original was published at the now-defunct kasparovchess.ru, though it can still be read here):
In 1996 three people were returning from the French town of Le Touquet to Paris (it doesn’t sound bad to say to Paris, not Uryupinsk) – Grandmaster Tseshkovsky, Master Nikolai Vlasov and your humble servant. Vitaly Valeryevich was in excellent spirits and us youngsters eagerly listened to his interesting stories from an eventful life. Half the time he talked about his favourite pupil, Kramnik. I recall that is was the two-time USSR Champion Tseshkovsky who took care of the young Volodya from around the age of 12 to 20, travelling with him to events and working together with him on chess – in short, coaching him. And Vitaly Valeryevich told us about his first impression of the boy. “When I looked at some of his games together with him, a 12-year-old, I was simply in awe! I told his parents – what do you mean a Candidate Master? He understands chess the way I do. I see a grandmaster in him!” (I hope the maestro will forgive me this loose retelling…)
Today at the KasparovChess forum Shipov wrote the following after hearing of Tseshkovsky’s death:
What a nightmare…
An outstanding chess player, a wonderful coach, a spirited story-teller.
I was lucky to have played against and spent time with him.
A pity. A real pity.
1271. SY. Szachista
Szachista. 2011 ağustos sayısı, 36 sayfa.
Böylelikle Szachista 2003-2011 yılları sayıları tamamlanmış oldu.
27 Aralık 2011 Salı
1270. Satrançsever siyasetçiler: Havel
The Chess Player Vaclav Havel
By GM Lubomir Kavalek
President Vaclav Havel died last Sunday and the sad news spread quickly. The Czechs lost one of their best statesmen – a good, modest man who was respected throughout the world. Thousands walked on Wednesday behind his casket from the center of Prague, across the Charles Bridge to the Prague Castle. Czech and foreign dignitaries will pay their last respects to Havel at a funeral ceremony in the St. Vitus cathedral on Friday.
Havel became perhaps the only head of state who played – and won – an actual chess game during a ceremonial opening of a chess tournament. It happened in Prague in 1990 and here is the account I wrote around that time:
I was trying to explain to the president and his advisor, Jiri Krizan (pictured in the middle), the protocol and how he would make a single move on a chessboard. But Havel interrupted me. "Can we play a little more?"
A meek entreaty, but since it was uttered in Czechoslovakia, by the president of Czechoslovakia, it amounted to a command. And so it was that on Aug. 26, 1990, the charismatic, enigmatic playwright-president Vaclav Havel and I played a game of chess.
It wasn't supposed to have happened. Havel was merely to have been the celebrity host of the opening ceremonies of "Prague 1990," the international grandmaster chess tournament I had organized under his auspices, as a tribute to the country's new democracy. At such events, dignitaries's play is symbolic, usually limited to one move. Often, they simply pose contemplatively at the chess board while cameras zoom in.
But Havel disdains the ceremonial. He did not wish to be limited to only one move he was supposed to play against his designated dignitary opponent – Bessel Kok. Kok, CEO of the Belgian financial telecommunications company SWIFT, was chairman of the Grandmasters Association, but he was not himself a grandmaster. For an amateur like Havel to defeat an experienced player like Kok may be a worthy triumph, but to defeat a grandmaster would be... well, about as heady, and about as unlikely, as dissident intellectual melancholic getting elected president of a Communist bloc country.
The logistics were tactfully scripted by presidential adviser Jiri Krizan, formerly a screenwriter. Krizan suggested that I could act as chess adviser to Kok – standing by him and helping plot his strategy – and in that way the president would get his wish and actually compete against me. I suggested that Krizan be Havel's adviser: "If my memory serves me, he used to play chess quite well," I told Havel, recalling my last game with Krizan. It was at a New Year's Eve party in Prague in 1967. Next year I would leave Czechoslovakia and we would not see each other for 22 years.
Havel agreed to the four-man game. When I announced to the crowd in the Congress Hall of the Hotel Intercontinental that the president would not only throw out the ceremonial first ball, but would be the home team's starting pitcher, pandemonium erupted. The attendance was encouragingly robust. And when Havel stepped up to the chess table, and the cheering crowds surged forward past helpless security guards, to secure the best tableside positions, it became evident that big-time chess was back in Prague.
About Havel and his chess, I knew nearly nothing; only that he had been imprisoned, and that political prisoners tended to play incessantly in prison. It was their means of communication. When the guards were far away, they would exchange information; when they were close by, they talked chess moves.
As a writer, Havel is impulsive, intuitive, a risk-taker, a dreamer. As a politician, he is a pragmatist, conciliator, a seeker of consensus. I wondered which man we would be playing. We shook hands all around. The president of Czechoslovakia pushed a white queen pawn forward, and the game was on.
Kok and I played well initially. By the ninth move, two things were clear: Havel knew how to play the game, but he was no expert. He had doubled up his pawns, cramping his queen and bishop, limiting his options. He was very likely heading for a loss. I offered a draw, a diplomatic resolution. Havel smiled, said nothing and answered by capturing a pawn. So we were playing the playwright, not the politician.
Kok was a little nervous. I think he began to suspect that it was actually three Czechs against one Belgian, since I could understand what the two gentlemen from the Prague Castle were whispering feverishly to each other across the table – and I was clearly more interested in a graceful solution than a win.
Kok wouldn't mind a peaceful solution, but Havel was in for a fight. After our 13th move, I again offered a draw, and Havel again declined it with a move of the hand. He advanced on a knight so impetuously that he forgot the rules, pushing a pawn one space farther than it was legal. His adviser smilingly pulled it back. But Havel had clearly decided on a strategy – he wanted that black knight – and he pursued it. It was risky, perhaps foolhardy, but he pursued it.
Coincidentally, his lapses at the beginning of the game were working in his favor now; in a sense, two wrongs had made a right. Because he had doubled up on his pawns, his rook was now clear, in a position to threaten our king.
There are moments when the game of chess takes over, when one does not notice the noise or the crowd. When one forgets his daily problems, does not think about the future or the past. This has happened for Kok and Havel. It was their game now. Krizan and I did not speak to each other, or exchange signs, but we simultaneously sensed it was time to let whatever would happen, happen.
Havel created his first mating threat, but Kok saw it and prevented it. After white's queen aggressively moved forward, the Belgian moved to shield his pawn, completely overlooking that his knight was also in jeopardy. Havel didn't notice either, though. No piece was taken. Neither Krizan nor I interfered. It was unsound chess, but good drama.
On move 20, Havel protected his pawn with his rook. It looked innocent, but it contained a trap. Kok impulsively attacked the rook, and Havel moved on black's queen. It seemed the queen could not remain where it was. It would have to retreat, forcing the loss of the knight.
Kok peered up at me uncertainly. "It doesn't look good," he said, and I agreed, as solemnly as I could.
Vaclav Havel accepts Bessel Kok's resignation. From left Havel, Krizan, Kavalek, Kok.
Kok held out a hand and Havel took it. Perhaps in the final position Kok had a way out, but it was irrelevant. The game lasted 15 minutes, and Havel's 15-minutes of chess fame could not have been written better either by him or by his advisor, the screenwriter Krizan. It was a spontaneous, impromptu performance, a perfect drama played in front of TV cameras.
The next day, perhaps, the president of Czechoslovakia would return to the grave business of being a statesman in a young democracy struggling to define itself. But for a moment, he was grinning, just like a slap-happy kid.
The game became known throughout the world. Havel never played in public again. He and Bessel Kok became good friends. Kok lives in Prague with his wife and son. He is a member of the Board of the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation and honorary member of the VIZE 97 foundation. He was also instrumental in staging Havel's last theater play "Leaving." Jiri Krizan died in October 2010.
(1) Havel,Krizan - Kok,Kavalek [D04]
Prague , 1990
[GM Lubomir Kavalek/The Huffington Post]
1.d4 d5 2.e3 White is playing the French defense with the white pieces. 2...Nf6 3.Nf3 Bg4 A natural development, pinning the knight. 4.h3! Away with the pin! 4...Bxf3 5.gxf3 In general, pawns should capture towards the center. In doubling them, president Havel follows some great chess masters. The world champion William Steintz recommended this move after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.gxf3!?, with the idea to attack the center after 5...dxe5 6. Qxd8+ Kxd8 with 7.f4. Mikhail Tal came up with a similar idea in the Caro-Kann: 1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.gxf3 when he won the world championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik in 1960. [We expected 5.Qxf3 ] 5...Nc6 6.Nc3 [Developing a piece, but 6.f4 stops the central advance e7-e5.] 6...e6 [6...e5 is more aggressive.] 7.Qe2 Bb4 8.Bd2 The president smiled after this move, pointing out that he is ready to castle long. 8...0-0 9.0-0-0 During the castling, Vaclav Havel began to place his king to the square b1, something the great Italian romantics would do in the 16th century. 9...e5 This sharp advance in the center is a hidden trap, luring white into a wrong combination. 10.dxe5 Nxe5
11.f4! [White discovers the trap and avoids it. After 11.Nxd5? Qxd5 12.Bxb4 Qxa2 13.Bxf8 Qa1+ 14.Kd2 Qxb2 15.Be7 Nd5 black is a rook down, but his knights secure him a marvelous counterplay. White has to watch out. For example white gets mated after 16.Ke1? Qc3+ 17.Rd2 Qa1+ 18.Qd1 (18.Rd1 Qa5+ 19.Rd2 Nc3 wins) 18...Nc3!! 19.Qxa1 Nxf3#] 11...Ned7 12.Rg1 A rook belongs on an open file. 12...c6 13.a3 Ba5 The bishop can't come back to protect the king and white begins the attack. 14.e4 Excited by good attacking prospects, Havel moved his pawn as far as the square e5. Krizan pushed it back to e4. 14...dxe4 [After 14...Bxc3 15.Bxc3 dxe4 Havel was ready to perform a wonderful combination: 16.Rxg7+!! Kxg7 17.Qg4+ Kh8 18.Rxd7 mating soon.] 15.Nxe4 [White could have opened the diagonal c1-h6 for his bishop with 15.f5 ] 15...Nxe4!? [Black could have equalized comfortably with 15...Bxd2+!? 16.Nxd2 (16.Rxd2 Nxe4 17.Qxe4 Re8 18.Qf3 Re1+ 19.Rd1 Rxd1+ 20.Qxd1 Nf6) 16...Qc7=] 16.Bxa5 Qxa5 17.Qxe4 Nf6 18.Qe7 A double attack: both the knight on f6 and the pawn on b7 are hanging. At this moment both players were completely engulfed in the fight, played quickly and their councelors could only helplessly stare on the board. 18...Rab8? "I have to protect this pawn," Bessel said and played quickly before I could change his mind. [18...Qf5 was a playable defense.] 19.Bc4? [White was winning immediately with 19.Qxf6+- Krizan saw it, but Havel's hand was too fast.] 19...Qf5 20.Rd4 [Threatening 20.Rg5, but 20.Qe5 was objectively better.] 20...c5?! [Black could have counterattacked with 20...Rbe8! 21.Qxb7 Ne4] 21.Rg5 "It's hopeless," said Bessel and thinking he must lose the knight offered Havel his resignation. [However, after 21.Rg5 black can minimize his losses with 21...Rbe8! 22.Rxf5 Rxe7 23.Rxc5 white is a pawn up, but black can still fight.]
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