MARK RUBERY CHESS

In his twilight years it was customary that any young opponent of Viktor Korchnoi (1931-2016) would be subjected to numerous scathing remarks during the post-mortem, particularly if the great man happened to lose. In fact when (the not so young) Tim Kett was the victim of his barbed tongue after eventually being downed in a tense game, he considered it one of the highlights of his career! Thus when Irina Krush defeated Korchnoi in the 2007 Gibraltar Open she was neither exempt nor impressed… ‘My coach, GM Greg Kaidanov, tried to get me to view his behaviour as part of what makes him great – if he wouldn’t get so upset about losing, he’d never maintain the level that he has. I see his point, but somehow I can’t accept the idea that these sorts of verbal assaults on people are justified, no matter what their end goal is.’ Irina Krush (following her defeat of Viktor Korchnoi ... and the post-mortem)

The game in question sees Korchnoi turning a winning position into a lost one with one careless move, so one can appreciate, if perhaps not condone, his strong feelings when analysing the game with his opponent.

Korchnoi,V (2629) - Krush,I (2449) [A28]

Gibtelecom Masters Catalan Bay ENG (8) 2007 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.a3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Qc2 Be7 7.e3 0–0 8.Be2 Be6 9.0–0 f5 10.d3 Qe8 11.Nxd5 Bxd5 12.b4 a6 13.Bb2 Qg6 14.Rac1 Kh8 15.g3 Bf6 16.Nd2 e4 17.Bxf6 Rxf6 18.dxe4 fxe4 19.Qb2 Be6 20.f4 exf3 21.Bxf3 Bh3 22.Be4 Rxf1+ 23.Rxf1 Qe6 24.Rf4 Rd8 25.Qc3 Kg8 26.Qc5 g6? 27.Rf2? (Failing to spot that he could snare the queen via 27 Rf8+! Rxf8 28 Bd5 and instead allowing Black to win a piece and the game) 0–1 Korchnoi chose not to wait for 28 Qxe4! when the queen is immune due to Rd1+ followed by mate.

Many players are defined by their elegant style of play. Not Korchnoi, who died aged 85. He played chess as he lived life: battling, fighting and scrapping with anyone and everyone he could. “All of that geometry and classical elegance? He didn’t give a toss about it,” says Nigel Short, the British grandmaster who played Korchnoi many times. “It was all about the fight. He liked ugly games.” Korchnoi was often rude and the abrasive approach won him few friends. Then again, it appeared to suit him that way: he admitted that playing someone he disliked raised his game. Mr Short, while stressing that he got on with Korchnoi “reasonably well”, especially in the Russian’s latter days, depicts him as cantankerous and “hard as nails”. (Financial Times)

Dr Lyndon Bouah has just released his book ‘Reflections on Chess in the Rainbow Nation, 2020 Volume 1’ . This is his first volume of a series of reflections that he is publishing. It tells the stories of chess in Cape Town, South Africa, Africa and the world stage. ‘Reflections of Chess in the Rainbow Nation’ costs R250 (plus R100 courier fee if outside Cape Town). For more information contact: lyndon.bouah@gmail.com or 071 363 1306