Added on 05.15.2024
GRAND MASTER AND LEFT-WING GM Simen Agdestein - source: wikipedia.org Today is the birthday of Grandmaster Simen Agdestein, born in Asker, Norway, on May 15, 1967. He was promoted to Grand Master at eighteen and finished second in the 1986 World Junior Championship. Throughout his career, Agdestein has won the Norwegian Championship nine times (the first in 1982, the latest in 2023!) and has represented his country in nine Olympiads, winning a gold medal in 1982. Simen reached his peak...Full StoryAdded on 05.14.2024
THE THINKER Wilhelm Steinitz (Prague 14/05/1836-New York 12/08/1900) source: https://unoscacchista.com Today, we remember the former world champion Wilhelm Steinitz, born in Prague, Czech Republic, on May 14th (some sources report May 18th) in 1836. Steinitz learned the game at twelve and honed his skills in the cafés of Vienna, becoming known as the "Austrian Morphy." He won matches against Anderssen, Bird, Zukertort, and Blackburne before embarking on the first official world championship...Full StoryAdded on 05.13.2024
THE MICHELANGELO OF LJUBLJANA GM Luka Lenic - Source: fb / Chess Association of Slovenia Today is the birthday of Grandmaster Luka Lenic, born in Ljubljana on May 13th, 1988. A student of the International Master Zlatko Basagic, he became the world under 14 champion in 2002 and placed second in the European under 16 championships in 2004. Four-time Slovenian champion, he has represented his country in various international competitions. Lenic reached his highest rating in January 2018 with...Full StoryAdded on 05.12.2024
SPASSKY'S COACH Igor' Zacharovič Bondarevskij (1913-1979) Photo: Joop van Bilsen - Nationaal Archief NL - source: Wikipedia.org Today, we remember Grandmaster Igor' Zacharovič Bondarevskij, born in Roston-on-Don, Russia, on May 12, 1913. Bondarevskij was appointed Grandmaster in 1950 when the title was officially established by FIDE. In 1954, he earned the title of International Arbiter, and in 1961, he became a Grandmaster in correspondence chess. In 1960, Bondarevskij became Boris...Full StoryAdded on 05.11.2024
THE FIRST LOSS Deep Blue, the supercomputer that defeated the world champion Garry Kasparov On May 11, 1997, a computer named Deep Blue proved superior to a human for the first time, defeating the world chess champion Garry Kasparov. Kasparov, born in 1963 in Baku, Azerbaijan, learned to play chess from his father and was already a prodigy at 6. Deep Blue was created in 1989 at IBM and designed by Chinese computer scientist Feng-hsiung Hsu and Canadian Murray Campbell. Hsu and Campbell met...Full StoryAdded on 05.10.2024
THE CULT OF HARIKRISHNA Losanna 2005: Pentala Harikrishna - source: chessbase archive Today is the birthday of Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna, born in Dorf Vinjanam Padu, India, on May 10th, 1986. Pentala was the world champion under ten and then under 20, and became a GM at 15, a record for India, recently surpassed by Gukesh. Harikrishna has represented India seven times in the Olympics, won the Commonwealth Championship in 2001, and the Asian Championship in 2011. A fixture in various...Full StoryAdded on 05.09.2024
THE TACTICIAN OF STOCKHOLM Karlovy Vary 1948: Gösta Stoltz (05/09/1904-07/25/1943) Source: soloscacchi.altervista.com Today, we remember Grandmaster Gösta Stoltz, born in Stockholm on May 9, 1904. Along with Gideon Stahlberg and his contemporary Erik Lundin, he formed a trio of aces that led Sweden to win silver and bronze at the Olympics, to which Stoltz added an individual gold and bronze in his nine appearances. Stoltz, a five-time national champion, also won the European Championship in...Full StoryAdded on 05.08.2024
THE SPANISH TAL Montilla 1976: Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez - Source: europe-echecs.com Today is the birthday of Grandmaster Juan Manuel Bellon-Lopez, born in Valencia, Spain, on May 8, 1950. A five-time Spanish champion, he represented his country in eleven Olympiads between 1970 and 1992, winning a silver medal in 1978. Throughout his career, he defeated Spassky (in a simultaneous exhibition), Tal, Kortschnoi, Timman, Larsen, Gligoric, Hort, Beliavsky, Ribli, R.Byrne, Andersson, and...Full StoryAdded on 05.07.2024
THE FOLLOWERS OF MARAT GM Marat Makarov (07/05/1963-17/11/2023) - Source: chessbase.ru Today, we commemorate Grandmaster Marat Makarov, born in Omsk, Russia, on May 7, 1963. Becoming a Grandmaster at thirty, Makarov reached his peak rating in July 1996 with 2560 Elo points. He defeated numerous top players throughout his career, including Kortschnoi, Beliavsky, Ehlvest, Krasenkow, Rublevsky, Zvjaginsev, and Smirin. Later, he specialized primarily as a trainer, coaching several promising...Full StoryAdded on 05.06.2024
THE WALL STREET BISHOP GM Pascal Charbonneau - Source: gmpascal.com Today is the birthday of Grandmaster Pascal Charbonneau, born in Montreal, Canada, on May 6, 1983. He has been a twice Canadian champion (2002 and 2004), is an expert in mathematics and finance, and has worked on Wall Street. Charbonneau participated in the Olympics five times between 2000 and 2008 and was married to Grandmaster Irina Krush. Pascal reached his highest Elo rating in May 2007 with 2517 points. He returned to...Full StoryAdded on 05.03.2024
NONA, THE FIRST GM Nona Gaprindashvili Today is the birthday of Nona Gaprindashvili, the former women's world chess champion, who was born in Zugdidi, Georgia, on May 3rd, 1941. Initially trained by Karseladze, then by Shishov, and by GMs Gurgenidze, Gipslis, and Rashkovsky, Nona was the first woman to hold the title of Grandmaster, thanks to her victory in the prestigious Lone Pine Open in 1978. Nona was the women's world champion continuously from 1962 to 1978. She has won a total of...Full StoryAdded on 05.02.2024
PARIS IS WORTH A MOVE Igor Alexandre Nataf and Teimour Radjabov . Source: chessbase.in Today is the birthday of Grandmaster Igor-Alexandre Nataf, born in Paris, France, on May 2, 1978. He grew up in the Caissa Club of Chantal Chaudé de Silans (a historical opponent of Clarice Benini) and was mentored by GMs Murey, Renet, and Pavlovic. Second only to Peter Leko in the European Championships of 1992 in Italy, he is known for participating in various festivals, winning an edition of Montecatini...Full StoryAdded on 05.01.2024
A BAY STATER FROM RUSSIA GM Alexander Ivanov - source: Wikipedia.org Today is Grandmaster Alexander Vladimirovich Ivanov's birthday. He was born in Omsk, Russia, on May 1, 1956. Ivanov moved to the United States in 1988 and was awarded the GM title by FIDE in 1991. Alexander lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Esther Epstein, a notable chess player who holds the title of Woman International Master. Ivanov boasts a rich history in competitive chess, having participated in four FIDE World...Full StoryAdded on 04.30.2024
THE FOURTH HYPERMODERN Gyula Breyer - Source: wikipedia.org / chesshistory.com Today, we remember Gyula Breyer, born in Budapest on April 30, 1893. Hungarian champion in 1912, he achieved his greatest success with a victory in Berlin in 1920, ahead of Bogoljubow, Tartakower, Reti, and Tarrasch, just a few months before his premature death at only twenty-eight. A proponent of the hypermodern school alongside Nimzowitsch, Reti, and Tartakower, he became associated with the famous 9...Cb8...Full StoryAdded on 04.29.2024
FROM FATHER TO SON Cesenatico Chess Festival, 2015: GM Arkadij Rotstein - Source: thinkingsqaures.com Today is the birthday of Grandmaster Arkadij Rotstein, born in Lviv, Ukraine, on April 29, 1961. Born into a family of chess players, his father, Efim, was a FIDE Master. He was coached by Viktor Kart and Anatoly Lysenko. In 1999, he switched from the Ukrainian federation to the German one. Rotstein reached his peak rating in July 2002 with 2557 Elo points. Rotstein has defeated famous...Full StoryAdded on 04.26.2024
THE TOWNSMAN OF BORA KOSTIC "Svetozar Gligoric Cup", Paracin 2022: Boban Bogosavljevic - Source: vspep. edu.rs Today marks Grandmaster Boban Bogosavljevic's birthday, born in Vrsac (the same town that gave birth to GM Bora Kostic), Serbia, on April 26, 1988. Boban was promoted to GM at twenty and clinched the title of Serbian champion in 2013. He reached his peak rating in June 2022 with 2614 Elo points. Throughout his career, Bogosavljevic has defeated players of the caliber of Kiril...Full StoryAdded on 04.25.2024
THE ENGLISH GENIUS GM John Nunn - source: wikipedis.org Today is the birthday of Grandmaster John Nunn. He was born in London, UK, on April 25, 1955. Known as one of the most intelligent chess players, Nunn is a GM, an author, a composer, and a mathematician. Carlsen himself once said, talking about Nunn: "Being too intelligent can be a burden. It can get in your way. I am convinced that the reason [he] never became the World Champion is that he is too clever for that". His early prowess in...Full StoryAdded on 04.24.2024
UP AND DOWN GM Dmitry Gordievsky - Source: unoscacchista.com Today is Grandmaster Dmitry Gordievsky's birthday. He was born in Moscow, Russia, on April 24, 1996. Dmitry won the U12 World Championship in 2008 and the Moscow Championship twice, in 2013 and 2017. He reached his peak rating very early, in May 20018, with 2653 Elo points, but then he lost many points rapidly. In his career, Gordievsky defeated many elite players, such as Grischuk, Wang Hao, Sjugirov, Matlakov, Inarkiev,...Full StoryAdded on 04.23.2024
LUZIN SYNDROME GM Lembit Oll Today, we remember Grandmaster Lembit Oll, born in Kohtla-Järve, Estonia, on April 23, 1966. Oll was a student of Iivo Nei; he was the Estonian champion in 1982 and the U20 Soviet champion in 1984. Oll participated in four Olympiads with Estonia. He was among the participants in the PCA World Cup in 1993 and reached his peak rating in July 1998 with 2650 Elo points, which made him the 25th player in the world list. In his career, Oll defeated three world...Full StoryAdded on 04.22.2024
THE (ALMOST) OLDEST GM Wijk aan Zee 1979: GM Juraj Nikolac - Photo: Fernando Pereira / ANEFO Today is the birthday of Grandmaster Juraj Nikolac. He was born in Metkovic, Croatia, on April 22, 1932. Married to WIM Tanja Belamaric, Nikolac has never played in many tournaments, being a physics professor at the University until 1997. However, his career is very long. He played in the Croatian Team Championship until he was 85, always with honorable results and an incredibly consistent...Full Story
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