Chess career Mark Taimanov

1 chess career

1.1 soviet team play
1.2 soviet championships
1.3 loss fischer
1.4 international teams
1.5 chess legacy
1.6 major chess writings

chess career

he awarded international master title in 1950, , international grandmaster title in 1952. played in candidates tournament in zurich in 1953, tied eighth place. regularly in world s top 20 players on 25 years.;

soviet team play

he represented saint petersburg (then known leningrad) in internal soviet regional team competitions, scoring (+36, =56, -24) in 116 games, across 15 events, between 1948 , 1983. represented sports society burevestnik (students) in internal soviet club team competitions.

soviet championships

he played in 23 ussr chess championships (a record equalled efim geller), tying first place twice. in 1952 lost playoff match mikhail botvinnik, world champion @ time. in 1956, after finishing equal yuri averbakh , boris spassky in tournament proper, won match-tournament ahead of them, title.

loss fischer

taimanov lost bobby fischer in 1971 candidates quarterfinal unprecedented margin of 6-0. match, taimanov later recalled fischer incredibly tough defender , third game proved turning point of match . after loss fischer, soviet government embarrassed, and, taimanov later put in 2002 interview, found unthinkable have lost match badly american without political explanation . soviet officials took away taimanov s salary , no longer allowed him travel overseas. official reason given punishing taimanov had brought book aleksandr solzhenitsyn country, explanation secondary in nature. officials later forgave taimanov, , lifted sanctions against him. fischer s match wins later in 1971, first 6–0 against bent larsen, 6.5–2.5 against tigran petrosian, may have helped change minds. taimanov considered match culminating point of chess career , later wrote book match, titled how became fischer s victim.

international teams

taimanov represented ussr in international team play enormous success.

at 1956 moscow olympiad, first reserve scored (+6, =5, −0), winning team gold , board bronze medals. olympiad appearance.

taimanov represented ussr 4 times in european team championship. @ vienna 1957, played board seven, scored (+2, =3, −0), winning team , board gold medals. @ oberhausen 1961, played board eight, scored (+6, =3, −0), , won team , board gold medals. @ hamburg 1965, played board seven, scored (+3, =4, −1), , won team , board gold medals. @ kapfenberg 1970, played board six, scored (+4, =2, −0), , won team , board gold medals.

in inaugural russia (ussr) vs rest of world team match, belgrade 1970, played board seven, , scored (+2, =1, −1) against wolfgang uhlmann.

chess legacy

taimanov 1 of few players have beaten 6 world champions (botvinnik, vasily smyslov, mikhail tal, tigran petrosian, spassky, , anatoly karpov). opening variations named after taimanov in sicilian defence, modern benoni , nimzo-indian defence. wrote books on 2 of named variations, autobiographical best games collection. taimanov s favorite chess players alexander alekhine, mikhail tal, , garry kasparov.

major chess writings

note several of taimanov s books available in russian, german, , english languages.

slawisch bis reti-eroffnung, mark taimanov, general editor pavel kondratiev, german language, sportverlag, berlin, 1976
damengambit bis hollandisch, mark taimanov, general editor yakov neishtadt, german language, sportverlag, berlin, 1980
modernes benoni bis wolga-gambit, mark taimanov, general editor eduard gufeld, german language, sportverlag, berlin, 1982
hollandisch bis bird-eroffnung, mark taimanov, general editor pavel kondratiev, german language, sportverlag, berlin, 1983
sicilian: paulsen, mark taimanov, english language, batsford, london, 1983
koningsindisch bis altindisch, mark taimanov, general editor eduard gufeld, german language, sportverlag, berlin, 1984
zascita nimzovica, mark taimanov, russian language, 1985
englisch: klassisch bis seltene systeme 12. koningsindisch: samisch-systeme bis vierbauernvariante, mark taimanov, general editor eduard gufeld, german language, sportverlag, berlin, 1985
damenindisch bis katalanisch, mark taimanov, general editor eduard gufeld, german language, sportverlag, berlin, 1985
the world chess championship, karpov—kasparov: moscow 1985, yuri averbakh , mark taimanov, english language, 1986
the sicilian defence: taimanov system, mark taimanov, english language, batsford, london, 1989, isbn 0713456167
winning sicilian, mark taimanov, english language, batsford, london, 1991
ja byl zertvoj fisera (how became fischer s victim), mark taimanov, russian language, 1993
taimanov s selected games, mark taimanov, english language, batsford, london, 1996
the soviet championships, bernard cafferty , mark taimanov, batsford, london, english language, 1998 (softcover reprint 2016, everyman, london, isbn 978-1781943380)
sachmatnaja skola marka taimanova, mark taimanov, russian language, schachforum (german language), 2008; published st. petersburg 2003 (autobiography)




^ http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=14920%7ctitle=mark taimanov|publisher=chessgames.com
^ chessmetrics.com, mark taimanov lifetime ratings file
^ olimpbase.org, mark taimanov soviet team championship file
^ chessmetrics.com, mark taimanov results file
^ interview mark taimanov – life chess , music . chessbase. 23 may 2002. retrieved 8 july 2009. 
^ olimpbase.org, mark taimanov olympiad results file
^ olimpbase.org, mark taimanov european team results file