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{{family name hatnote|Lvovich|Averbakh|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{family name hatnote|Lvovich|Averbakh|lang=Eastern Slavic}}{{Short description| Russian chess grandmaster}}{{Infobox chess player|name = Yuri Averbakh|image = Yuriy Averbakh 1963.jpg|caption = Averbakh in 1963|full_name = Yuri .//ol;../;.Averbakh|country = Soviet Union → Russia|birth_date = {{Birth ollo|1922|2|8|df=y}}|birth_place = [[Kaluga]], o[[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] (Present-day [[Kaluga]], [[Russia]])<!-- Soviet Union not formally existed until 31 December 2022 -->|death_date = {{death date and algeloi|5|7|1922|2|8|df=y}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yuri Averbakh passes away at age 100 |url=https://chess24.com/en/read/news/yuri-averbakh-passes-away-at-age-100 |access-date=2022-05-07 |website=chessi24.com |language=en}}</ref>|death_place = [[Moscow]], [[Russia]]oliooi|title = [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] (1952)|worldchampion = |rating = |peakrating = 2550 (July 1971)|FideID = 4101529}}'''Yuri Lvovich Averbakh''' ({{lang-ru|Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х}}; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian [[chess]] grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the [[USSR Chess Federation]] from 1973 to 1978. He was the first [[centenarian]] FIDE [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]]. Despite his eyesight and hearing having worsened, as of his 100th birthday he continued to devote time to chess-related activities.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Yuri Averbakh celebrates his 100th birthday|url=https://chess24.com/en/read/news/yuri-averbakh-celebrates-100th-birthday|access-date=2022-02-08|website=chess24.com|language=en}}</ref>[[Ro:Iuri Averbach]][[Hu:Jurij Lvovics Averbach]]==Early life==Averbakh was born in [[Kaluga]], Russia. His father was German [[Jew]]ish,<ref>[http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3657 Yuri Averbakh turns 85], [[Chessbase]], 8-2-2007</ref> and his ancestors came from Germany and were named [[Auerbach (surname)|Auerbach]], meaning "meadow brook". His mother was Russian. Both sets of grandparents disapproved of their marriage because his father was likely an [[atheist]] and his mother was [[Eastern Orthodox]], as well as the fact that his maternal grandmother died very young, so his mother was expected to look after the family. Averbakh himself called himself a [[fatalist]].==Career=====Tournament successes===His first major success was the first place in the [[Moscow City Chess Championship|Moscow Championship]] of 1949, ahead of players including [[Andor Lilienthal]], [[Yakov Estrin]] and [[Vladimir Simagin]]. He became an [[international grandmaster]] in 1952. In 1954 he won the [[USSR Chess Championship|USSR Championship]] ahead of players including [[Mark Taimanov]], [[Viktor Korchnoi]], [[Tigran Petrosian]], [[Efim Geller]] and [[Salo Flohr]]. In the 1956 Championship, he came equal first with Taimanov and [[Boris Spassky]] in the main event, finishing second after the playoff. Later Averbakh's daughter, Jane, would marry Taimanov. Averbakh's other major tournament victories included Vienna 1961 and Moscow 1962. He qualified for the 1953 [[Candidates' Tournament]] (the last stage to determine the challenger to the [[World Chess Champion]]), finishing joint tenth of the fifteen participants. He also qualified for the 1958 Interzonal tournament at [[Portorož]], by finishing in fourth place at the 1958 USSR Championship at Riga. At Portorož, he wound up in a tie for seventh through eleventh places, half a point short of advancing to the Candidates' Tournament. He played in the [[1993 Maccabiah Games]] in Israel, coming in fourth.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://chesstempo.com/gamedb/player/12966|title=Yuri L Averbakh - Chess Games|website=chesstempo.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.365chess.com/tournaments/Maccabiah_1993/16407|title=Maccabiah 1993|website=365Chess.com}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=February 2021}}===Playing style===His solid style was difficult for many pure attackers to overcome, as he wrote:{{Quote|"...[[Rashid Nezhmetdinov|Nezhmetdinov]], who if he had the attack, could kill anybody, including [[Mikhail Tal|Tal]]. But my score against him was something like 8½–½ because I did not give him any possibility for an active game. In such cases he would immediately start to spoil his position because he was looking for complications."<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://www.bg.ru/article/8937/|title=Юрий Авербах|website=Большой город|language=ru}}</ref>}}He had plus records against the [[World Chess Championship|world champions]] [[Max Euwe]] and [[Tigran Petrosian]].===Writings===Averbakh was also a major [[endgame study]] theorist. More than 100 studies were published during his lifetime, many of which have made notable contributions to endgame theory. In 1956, he was given by [[FIDE]] the title of [[International Judge of Chess Compositions]] and in 1969 that of [[International Arbiter]].Averbakh was also an important chess journalist and author. He edited the Soviet chess periodicals ''[[Shakhmaty v SSSR]]'' and ''[[Shakhmatny Bulletin]]''. From 1956 to 1962 he edited (with [[Vitaly Chekhover]] and others) a four-volume anthology on the [[Chess endgame|endgame]], ''Shakhmatnye okonchaniya'' (revised in 1980–84 and translated as ''Comprehensive Chess Endings'', in five volumes).===Openings contributions==={{algebraic notation|pos=secright}}Averbakh is the [[eponym]] of several [[chess opening|opening]] variations. *[[King's Indian Defence]]: Averbakh variation (E73): 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5*[[King's Indian Defence]]: semi-Averbakh system (E73): 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Be3*[[Modern Defense]]: Averbakh variation (A42): 1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4==Death and tributes==Averbakh was born on 8 February 1922, in [[Kaluga]] and died on 7 May 2022.<ref name="Chess.com">[https://www.chess.com/news/view/yuri-averbakh-obituary Chess.com: Yuri Averbakh, 1922-2022]</ref> Averbakh is survived by a daughter, who was married to [[Mark Taimanov]] for ten years.<ref name="Chess.com" />==Honours and awards==* [[Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR]]*[[Order of Friendship of Peoples]] (1981)*[[Medal "For Labour Valour"]] (1957)*[[Medal "For Distinguished Labour"]] (1970)*[[Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin"]] (1970)* [[House of Romanov|Russian Imperial Family]]: Knight Commander of the [[Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov)|Imperial Order of Saint Stanislaus]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Russian Imperial House - The Head of the Russian Imperial House and Her Heir Visit Moscow, April 23-29, 2017|url=http://www.imperialhouse.ru/en/allnews-en/news/the-head-of-the-russian-imperial-house-and-her-heir-visit-moscow-april-23-29-2017.html|access-date=2021-02-08|website=www.imperialhouse.ru}}</ref>*[[Order of Honour (Russia)|Order of Honor]]<ref>[https://www.zakon.kz/6013662-100-letnii-grossmeister-mira-nagrazhden-ordenom-pocheta.html 100-year-old grandmaster awarded the Order of Honor]</ref>==Books==* ''Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge'', 1966, 1993, [[Everyman Chess]], {{ISBN|1-85744-022-6}}.*''Comprehensive Chess Endings 1: Bishop Endings, Knight Endings'' by Averbakh and Chekhover, 1983, Pergamon, {{ISBN|4-87187-503-2}}*''Comprehensive Chess Endings 2: Bishop vs Knight Endings, Rook vs Minor Piece Endings'', 1985, Pergamon, {{ISBN|4-87187-504-0}}*''Comprehensive Chess Endings 3: Queen Endings'', 1986, Pergamon, {{ISBN|4-87187-505-9}}*''Comprehensive Chess Endings 4: Pawn Endings'', with Ilya Maizelis, 1987, Pergamon, {{ISBN|4-87187-506-7}} *''Comprehensive Chess Endings 5: Rook Endings'', 1987, Pergamon, {{ISBN|4-87187-507-5}}*''Chess Tactics for Advanced Players'', 1985, Pergamon, {{ISBN|4-87187-508-3}}*''Chess Tactics for Advanced Players'', 2008, Lebate, {{ISBN|978-0-87568-219-8}}* ''A History of Chess from Chaturanga to the Present Day'', 2012, Russell Enterprises, {{ISBN|978-1-936490-44-8}}*''Journey to the Chess Kingdom'', with Mark Beilin, 2014, Chess Evolution, {{ISBN|978-83-934656-6-8}}*''Centre-Stage and Behind the Scenes: A Personal Memoir'', 2011, New In Chess, {{ISBN|978-9056913649}}*''Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge''*''Averbakh's Selected Games''*''Rook v Minor Piece Endings''*''The World Chess Championship'', with Mark Taimanov*''Small Chess Dictionary''==Notes=={{reflist}}==References==*{{cite book | author=Petursson, Margeir | title=King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation | year=1996 | publisher=Cadogan Books | isbn=978-1-85744-118-5}}*''Averbakh's Selected Games'' by Averbakh, 1998, Everyman Chess, {{ISBN|1-85744-548-1}}*Interview in ''The Day Kasparov Quit'' by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam==See also==* [[List of Jewish chess players]]==External links=={{Commons}}*{{FIDE|4101529|Yuri L. Averbakh}}*{{365Chess.com player|Yuri_L_Averbakh|Yuri L. Averbakh}}*{{Chessgames player|20559|Yuri L. Averbakh}}*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080227105124/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles181.pdf Interview Part 1], ''ChessCafe.com''*[http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles183.pdf Interview Part 2], ''ChessCafe.com''{{Authority control}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Averbakh, Yuri}}[[Category:1922 births]][[Category:2022 deaths]][[Category:People from Kaluga]][[Category:Chess grandmasters]][[Category:Chess theoreticians]][[Category:Chess historians]][[Category:Russian chess players]][[Category:Soviet chess players]][[Category:Soviet chess writers]][[Category:Soviet male writers]][[Category:20th-century Russian male writers]][[Category:International Judges of Chess Compositions]][[Category:Chess composers]][[Category:Russian chess writers]][[Category:Chess arbiters]][[Category:Russian people of German-Jewish descent]][[Category:Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia)]][[Category:Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples]][[Category:Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR]][[Category:Jewish chess players]][[Category:Competitors at the 1993 Maccabiah Games]][[Category:Maccabiah Games chess players]][[Category:Maccabiah Games competitors for Russia]][[Category:Bauman Moscow State Technical University alumni]][[Category:Men centenarians]][[Category:Russian centenarians]]
{{Short description| Russian chess grandmaster}}
{{Infobox chess player
|name = Yuri Averbakh
|image = Yuriy Averbakh 1963.jpg
|caption = Averbakh in 1963
|full_name = Yuri Lvovich Averbakh
|country = Soviet Union → Russia
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|2|8|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Kaluga]], [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] (Present-day [[Kaluga]], [[Russia]])<!-- Soviet Union not formally existed until 31 December 2022 -->
|death_date = {{death date and age|2022|5|7|1922|2|8|df=y}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yuri Averbakh passes away at age 100 |url=https://chess24.com/en/read/news/yuri-averbakh-passes-away-at-age-100 |access-date=2022-05-07 |website=chess24.com |language=en}}</ref>
|death_place = [[Moscow]], [[Russia]]
|title = [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] (1952)
|worldchampion =
|rating =
|peakrating = 2550 (July 1971)
|FideID = 4101529
}}

'''Yuri Lvovich Averbakh''' ({{lang-ru|Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х}}; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian [[chess]] grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the [[USSR Chess Federation]] from 1973 to 1978. He was the first [[centenarian]] FIDE [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]]. Despite his eyesight and hearing having worsened, as of his 100th birthday he continued to devote time to chess-related activities.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Yuri Averbakh celebrates his 100th birthday|url=https://chess24.com/en/read/news/yuri-averbakh-celebrates-100th-birthday|access-date=2022-02-08|website=chess24.com|language=en}}</ref>

[[Ro:Iuri Averbach]]
[[Hu:Jurij Lvovics Averbach]]

==Early life==
Averbakh was born in [[Kaluga]], Russia. His father was German [[Jew]]ish,<ref>[http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3657 Yuri Averbakh turns 85], [[Chessbase]], 8-2-2007</ref> and his ancestors came from Germany and were named [[Auerbach (surname)|Auerbach]], meaning "meadow brook". His mother was Russian. Both sets of grandparents disapproved of their marriage because his father was likely an [[atheist]] and his mother was [[Eastern Orthodox]], as well as the fact that his maternal grandmother died very young, so his mother was expected to look after the family. Averbakh himself called himself a [[fatalist]].
==Career==

===Tournament successes===
His first major success was the first place in the [[Moscow City Chess Championship|Moscow Championship]] of 1949, ahead of players including [[Andor Lilienthal]], [[Yakov Estrin]] and [[Vladimir Simagin]]. He became an [[international grandmaster]] in 1952. In 1954 he won the [[USSR Chess Championship|USSR Championship]] ahead of players including [[Mark Taimanov]], [[Viktor Korchnoi]], [[Tigran Petrosian]], [[Efim Geller]] and [[Salo Flohr]]. In the 1956 Championship, he came equal first with Taimanov and [[Boris Spassky]] in the main event, finishing second after the playoff. Later Averbakh's daughter, Jane, would marry Taimanov. Averbakh's other major tournament victories included Vienna 1961 and Moscow 1962. He qualified for the 1953 [[Candidates' Tournament]] (the last stage to determine the challenger to the [[World Chess Champion]]), finishing joint tenth of the fifteen participants. He also qualified for the 1958 Interzonal tournament at [[Portorož]], by finishing in fourth place at the 1958 USSR Championship at Riga. At Portorož, he wound up in a tie for seventh through eleventh places, half a point short of advancing to the Candidates' Tournament. He played in the [[1993 Maccabiah Games]] in Israel, coming in fourth.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://chesstempo.com/gamedb/player/12966|title=Yuri L Averbakh - Chess Games|website=chesstempo.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.365chess.com/tournaments/Maccabiah_1993/16407|title=Maccabiah 1993|website=365Chess.com}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=February 2021}}

===Playing style===
His solid style was difficult for many pure attackers to overcome, as he wrote:
{{Quote|"...[[Rashid Nezhmetdinov|Nezhmetdinov]], who if he had the attack, could kill anybody, including [[Mikhail Tal|Tal]]. But my score against him was something like 8½–½ because I did not give him any possibility for an active game. In such cases he would immediately start to spoil his position because he was looking for complications."<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=http://www.bg.ru/article/8937/|title=Юрий Авербах|website=Большой город|language=ru}}</ref>}}

He had plus records against the [[World Chess Championship|world champions]] [[Max Euwe]] and [[Tigran Petrosian]].

===Writings===
Averbakh was also a major [[endgame study]] theorist. More than 100 studies were published during his lifetime, many of which have made notable contributions to endgame theory. In 1956, he was given by [[FIDE]] the title of [[International Judge of Chess Compositions]] and in 1969 that of [[International Arbiter]].

Averbakh was also an important chess journalist and author. He edited the Soviet chess periodicals ''[[Shakhmaty v SSSR]]'' and ''[[Shakhmatny Bulletin]]''. From 1956 to 1962 he edited (with [[Vitaly Chekhover]] and others) a four-volume anthology on the [[Chess endgame|endgame]], ''Shakhmatnye okonchaniya'' (revised in 1980–84 and translated as ''Comprehensive Chess Endings'', in five volumes).

===Openings contributions===
{{algebraic notation|pos=secright}}
Averbakh is the [[eponym]] of several [[chess opening|opening]] variations.
*[[King's Indian Defence]]: Averbakh variation (E73): 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5
*[[King's Indian Defence]]: semi-Averbakh system (E73): 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Be3
*[[Modern Defense]]: Averbakh variation (A42): 1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4

==Death and tributes==
Averbakh was born on 8 February 1922, in [[Kaluga]] and died on 7 May 2022.<ref name="Chess.com">[https://www.chess.com/news/view/yuri-averbakh-obituary Chess.com: Yuri Averbakh, 1922-2022]</ref> Averbakh is survived by a daughter, who was married to [[Mark Taimanov]] for ten years.<ref name="Chess.com" />

==Honours and awards==
* [[Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR]]
*[[Order of Friendship of Peoples]] (1981)
*[[Medal "For Labour Valour"]] (1957)
*[[Medal "For Distinguished Labour"]] (1970)
*[[Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin"]] (1970)
* [[House of Romanov|Russian Imperial Family]]: Knight Commander of the [[Order of Saint Stanislaus (House of Romanov)|Imperial Order of Saint Stanislaus]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Russian Imperial House - The Head of the Russian Imperial House and Her Heir Visit Moscow, April 23-29, 2017|url=http://www.imperialhouse.ru/en/allnews-en/news/the-head-of-the-russian-imperial-house-and-her-heir-visit-moscow-april-23-29-2017.html|access-date=2021-02-08|website=www.imperialhouse.ru}}</ref>
*[[Order of Honour (Russia)|Order of Honor]]<ref>[https://www.zakon.kz/6013662-100-letnii-grossmeister-mira-nagrazhden-ordenom-pocheta.html 100-year-old grandmaster awarded the Order of Honor]</ref>

==Books==
* ''Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge'', 1966, 1993, [[Everyman Chess]], {{ISBN|1-85744-022-6}}.
*''Comprehensive Chess Endings 1: Bishop Endings, Knight Endings'' by Averbakh and Chekhover, 1983, Pergamon, {{ISBN|4-87187-503-2}}
*''Comprehensive Chess Endings 2: Bishop vs Knight Endings, Rook vs Minor Piece Endings'', 1985, Pergamon, {{ISBN|4-87187-504-0}}
*''Comprehensive Chess Endings 3: Queen Endings'', 1986, Pergamon, {{ISBN|4-87187-505-9}}
*''Comprehensive Chess Endings 4: Pawn Endings'', with Ilya Maizelis, 1987, Pergamon, {{ISBN|4-87187-506-7}}
*''Comprehensive Chess Endings 5: Rook Endings'', 1987, Pergamon, {{ISBN|4-87187-507-5}}
*''Chess Tactics for Advanced Players'', 1985, Pergamon, {{ISBN|4-87187-508-3}}
*''Chess Tactics for Advanced Players'', 2008, Lebate, {{ISBN|978-0-87568-219-8}}
* ''A History of Chess from Chaturanga to the Present Day'', 2012, Russell Enterprises, {{ISBN|978-1-936490-44-8}}
*''Journey to the Chess Kingdom'', with Mark Beilin, 2014, Chess Evolution, {{ISBN|978-83-934656-6-8}}
*''Centre-Stage and Behind the Scenes: A Personal Memoir'', 2011, New In Chess, {{ISBN|978-9056913649}}
*''Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge''
*''Averbakh's Selected Games''
*''Rook v Minor Piece Endings''
*''The World Chess Championship'', with Mark Taimanov
*''Small Chess Dictionary''

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book
| author=Petursson, Margeir
| title=King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation
| year=1996
| publisher=Cadogan Books
| isbn=978-1-85744-118-5}}
*''Averbakh's Selected Games'' by Averbakh, 1998, Everyman Chess, {{ISBN|1-85744-548-1}}
*Interview in ''The Day Kasparov Quit'' by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam

==See also==
* [[List of Jewish chess players]]

==External links==
{{Commons}}
*{{FIDE|4101529|Yuri L. Averbakh}}
*{{365Chess.com player|Yuri_L_Averbakh|Yuri L. Averbakh}}
*{{Chessgames player|20559|Yuri L. Averbakh}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080227105124/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles181.pdf Interview Part 1], ''ChessCafe.com''
*[http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles183.pdf Interview Part 2], ''ChessCafe.com''

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Averbakh, Yuri}}
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Kaluga]]
[[Category:Chess grandmasters]]
[[Category:Chess theoreticians]]
[[Category:Chess historians]]
[[Category:Russian chess players]]
[[Category:Soviet chess players]]
[[Category:Soviet chess writers]]
[[Category:Soviet male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian male writers]]
[[Category:International Judges of Chess Compositions]]
[[Category:Chess composers]]
[[Category:Russian chess writers]]
[[Category:Chess arbiters]]
[[Category:Russian people of German-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples]]
[[Category:Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR]]
[[Category:Jewish chess players]]
[[Category:Competitors at the 1993 Maccabiah Games]]
[[Category:Maccabiah Games chess players]]
[[Category:Maccabiah Games competitors for Russia]]
[[Category:Bauman Moscow State Technical University alumni]]
[[Category:Men centenarians]]
[[Category:Russian centenarians]]

Revision as of 03:19, 8 May 2022

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Lvovich and the family name is Averbakh.
Yuri Averbakh
Averbakh in 1963
Full nameYuri Lvovich Averbakh
CountrySoviet Union → Russia
Born(1922-02-08)8 February 1922
Kaluga, Russian SFSR (Present-day Kaluga, Russia)
Died7 May 2022(2022-05-07) (aged 100)[1]
Moscow, Russia
TitleGrandmaster (1952)
Peak rating2550 (July 1971)

Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (Russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. He was the first centenarian FIDE Grandmaster. Despite his eyesight and hearing having worsened, as of his 100th birthday he continued to devote time to chess-related activities.[2]

Early life

Averbakh was born in Kaluga, Russia. His father was German Jewish,[3] and his ancestors came from Germany and were named Auerbach, meaning "meadow brook". His mother was Russian. Both sets of grandparents disapproved of their marriage because his father was likely an atheist and his mother was Eastern Orthodox, as well as the fact that his maternal grandmother died very young, so his mother was expected to look after the family. Averbakh himself called himself a fatalist.

Career

Tournament successes

His first major success was the first place in the Moscow Championship of 1949, ahead of players including Andor Lilienthal, Yakov Estrin and Vladimir Simagin. He became an international grandmaster in 1952. In 1954 he won the USSR Championship ahead of players including Mark Taimanov, Viktor Korchnoi, Tigran Petrosian, Efim Geller and Salo Flohr. In the 1956 Championship, he came equal first with Taimanov and Boris Spassky in the main event, finishing second after the playoff. Later Averbakh's daughter, Jane, would marry Taimanov. Averbakh's other major tournament victories included Vienna 1961 and Moscow 1962. He qualified for the 1953 Candidates' Tournament (the last stage to determine the challenger to the World Chess Champion), finishing joint tenth of the fifteen participants. He also qualified for the 1958 Interzonal tournament at Portorož, by finishing in fourth place at the 1958 USSR Championship at Riga. At Portorož, he wound up in a tie for seventh through eleventh places, half a point short of advancing to the Candidates' Tournament. He played in the 1993 Maccabiah Games in Israel, coming in fourth.[4][5][better source needed]

Playing style

His solid style was difficult for many pure attackers to overcome, as he wrote:

"...Nezhmetdinov, who if he had the attack, could kill anybody, including Tal. But my score against him was something like 8½–½ because I did not give him any possibility for an active game. In such cases he would immediately start to spoil his position because he was looking for complications."[6]

He had plus records against the world champions Max Euwe and Tigran Petrosian.

Writings

Averbakh was also a major endgame study theorist. More than 100 studies were published during his lifetime, many of which have made notable contributions to endgame theory. In 1956, he was given by FIDE the title of International Judge of Chess Compositions and in 1969 that of International Arbiter.

Averbakh was also an important chess journalist and author. He edited the Soviet chess periodicals Shakhmaty v SSSR and Shakhmatny Bulletin. From 1956 to 1962 he edited (with Vitaly Chekhover and others) a four-volume anthology on the endgame, Shakhmatnye okonchaniya (revised in 1980–84 and translated as Comprehensive Chess Endings, in five volumes).

Openings contributions

This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Averbakh is the eponym of several opening variations.

Death and tributes

Averbakh was born on 8 February 1922, in Kaluga and died on 7 May 2022.[7] Averbakh is survived by a daughter, who was married to Mark Taimanov for ten years.[7]

Honours and awards

Books

  • Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge, 1966, 1993, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-022-6.
  • Comprehensive Chess Endings 1: Bishop Endings, Knight Endings by Averbakh and Chekhover, 1983, Pergamon, ISBN 4-87187-503-2
  • Comprehensive Chess Endings 2: Bishop vs Knight Endings, Rook vs Minor Piece Endings, 1985, Pergamon, ISBN 4-87187-504-0
  • Comprehensive Chess Endings 3: Queen Endings, 1986, Pergamon, ISBN 4-87187-505-9
  • Comprehensive Chess Endings 4: Pawn Endings, with Ilya Maizelis, 1987, Pergamon, ISBN 4-87187-506-7
  • Comprehensive Chess Endings 5: Rook Endings, 1987, Pergamon, ISBN 4-87187-507-5
  • Chess Tactics for Advanced Players, 1985, Pergamon, ISBN 4-87187-508-3
  • Chess Tactics for Advanced Players, 2008, Lebate, ISBN 978-0-87568-219-8
  • A History of Chess from Chaturanga to the Present Day, 2012, Russell Enterprises, ISBN 978-1-936490-44-8
  • Journey to the Chess Kingdom, with Mark Beilin, 2014, Chess Evolution, ISBN 978-83-934656-6-8
  • Centre-Stage and Behind the Scenes: A Personal Memoir, 2011, New In Chess, ISBN 978-9056913649
  • Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge
  • Averbakh's Selected Games
  • Rook v Minor Piece Endings
  • The World Chess Championship, with Mark Taimanov
  • Small Chess Dictionary

Notes

  1. ^ "Yuri Averbakh passes away at age 100". chess24.com. Retrieved 2022-05-07.
  2. ^ "Yuri Averbakh celebrates his 100th birthday". chess24.com. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  3. ^ Yuri Averbakh turns 85, Chessbase, 8-2-2007
  4. ^ "Yuri L Averbakh - Chess Games". chesstempo.com.
  5. ^ "Maccabiah 1993". 365Chess.com.
  6. ^ "Юрий Авербах". Большой город (in Russian).
  7. ^ a b Chess.com: Yuri Averbakh, 1922-2022
  8. ^ "Russian Imperial House - The Head of the Russian Imperial House and Her Heir Visit Moscow, April 23-29, 2017". www.imperialhouse.ru. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
  9. ^ 100-year-old grandmaster awarded the Order of Honor

References

  • Petursson, Margeir (1996). King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation. Cadogan Books. ISBN 978-1-85744-118-5.
  • Averbakh's Selected Games by Averbakh, 1998, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-548-1
  • Interview in The Day Kasparov Quit by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yuri Averbakh.
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