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"NOW THEY CANNOT FORCE ME TO LOSE ANYMORE." -- Viktor Korchnoi. From
THE CHESS BEAT a collection of 300 syndicated newspaper columns by GM
Larry Evans published by Pergamon Press in 1981.
KORCHNOI TALKS (1977)
At 46 Soviet ace Viktor Korchnoi is at the peak of his career. After
winning a match against former world champion Petrosian only two more
obstacles stand in the way of his title tilt with Anatoly Karpov, 26,
in 1978.
When Korchnoi defected to Holland in 1976 one of his few contacts with
the outside world was a cable to Police Headquarters in Amsterdam.
"Congratulations on your correct decision. Good luck in your new life.
Best regards." Signed: Bobby Fischer
In an interview in CHESS LIFE Korchnoi explained: "If you conform, you
have a great life. Many privileges. A salary far above the average.
Cars. Trips abroad. Certificates to buy goods in special shops that
are closed to the ordinary Soviet citizen. We could put part of the
money we won abroad in a bank account in the West. We even have the
unparalled right of uncensored speech on radio and TV. Yes, only about
chess, but even so it is unique.
"But you have to watch your step. For instance, it is unpardonable to
say that Fischer is a great player. You are not supposed to lose your
world title to him as Spassky discovered who was harassed in so many
ways after Reykjavik.
"From the start of my 1974 match with Karpov I was alone. And it was
meant to be that way. I said I was going to win, that I would accept
any condition by Fischer, and that he would beat me. This is bad
behavior for a Soviet grandmaster. Russians do not lose, you know.
"I had a difficult time getting a second. Nobody wanted that job.
Take, for instance, what happened to a well-kinown grandmaszter when I
invited him to my training camp. He said he would like to help me but
that he could not do so officially because he had an assignment to
cover the match for a big newspaper. When the Chess Federation learned
of his visit, they arranged for him to lose the job. Only in the last
quarter of the match, when I seemed completely lost, trailing by 3
points, did he come back. I won 2 games with his help.
"The atmosphere of the match became weird, menacing. I all but started
to lose games on purpose. That is exaggerated, but I had the feeling
that if it looked as though I would win something would happen to me,
like an accident in the street. That may sound paranoid, but there is
no clear difference between paranoia and real fear in Russia.
"Now they cannot force me to lose anymore."
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Date: 17 Feb 2009 03:11:00
From: help bot
Subject: Re: After Korchnoi defected
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On Feb 17, 4:55=A0am, Offramp <[email protected] > wrote:
> > > At 46 Soviet ace Viktor Korchnoi is at the peak of his career.
>
> > =A0 Not according to the statistical records at chessmetrics.com.
> Indeed he does. That quite surprised me. He was a couple of points
> ahead of Tal : VK 2775. MT: 2773 B Spass: 2755.
> But surely his results in 1977 to 1980 were better? In November 1978
> VK had a rating of 2814, behind AK @ 2827 and above B spass @ 2750.
The original claim was that VK had been at the
peak of his career-- not at his peak rating, nor at
his peak form, etc.
A glance at chessmetrics reveals that the magic
blue dot -- indicating a #1 world ranking -- appears
long before the matches VK lost to AK. So then,
we know that VK never snagged the FIDE world
champion title, and we don't particularly care if
his FIDE rating increased a bit right along with
the enlargement of the overall pool. What we
are supposedly looking for is... the peak of VK's
chess career.
I recall that even the hate-obsessed LP has
mentioned the article in the Soviet press wherein
VK's record was favorably compared to that of
Mr. Fischer... at the time the blue dot appears!
True, I erred in forgetting about Mr. Tal (duh),
but I wonder if the blue dot -- achieving #1 world
ranking -- is not the peak of VK's career, not his
losses to AK... and the many red dots which
indicate that he was a distant second.
Granted, the delusionals may pretend that
everybody was throwing their games to AK, so
he doesn't count. But these same delusionals
will insist that BF was #1 from the day he was
born to the day he died... and perhaps even
then, being undefeated you understand, still
retaining the title forever. Nevermind that by
this "reasoning", Dr. Alekhine or perhaps Mr.
Morphy would still be the true champion.
Hey, I clicked on a link in one of the VK
threads created by the delusional LP, and
played over the first several games of an AK
vs. VK match. Real snoozers, they were;
boring as all get-out. BOTH players were
to blame for this, IMO. Darn that (effective)
Queen's Indian/Nimzo Indian hooey! We
want real chess; we want blood and guts,
smashed all over the chessboard; we want
explosions and special-effects, like in an
Arnold Swarzenegger action flick!
-- help bot
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Date: 17 Feb 2009 01:55:05
From: Offramp
Subject: Re: After Korchnoi defected
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On Feb 17, 6:44=A0am, help bot <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Feb 15, 2:25=A0pm, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > At 46 Soviet ace Viktor Korchnoi is at the peak of his career.
>
> =A0 Not according to the statistical records at chessmetrics.com.
Indeed he does. That quite surprised me. He was a couple of points
ahead of Tal : VK 2775. MT: 2773 B Spass: 2755.
But surely his results in 1977 to 1980 were better? In November 1978
VK had a rating of 2814, behind AK @ 2827 and above B spass @ 2750.
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Date: 17 Feb 2009 01:42:06
From: Offramp
Subject: Re: After Korchnoi defected
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On Feb 16, 7:42=A0am, [email protected] (SAT W-7) wrote:
> I wonder what happened to Spasky after he lost to Fischer ...Id ask him
> that question if i were to interview him.....
And I am sure he would be delighted to give you a comprehensive answer.
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Date: 16 Feb 2009 22:44:46
From: help bot
Subject: Re: After Korchnoi defected
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On Feb 15, 2:25=A0pm, "[email protected]" <[email protected] > wrote:
> At 46 Soviet ace Viktor Korchnoi is at the peak of his career.
Not according to the statistical records at chessmetrics.com.
Looking at the appropriate player page, it appears that just
as Bobby Fischer was about to make his final and successful
run at the world championship title, VK notched the blue dot,
the signature of a first place world ranking. Afterward, only
red dots are achieved, at best. There seems to be a lapse
during which "third place Tigran Petrosian" and Mr. Spassky
allowed VK to slip past them in the rankings. One might add
the names Bent Larsen and perhaps even Mr. Botvinnik here,
plus the young Mr. Fischer.
> In an interview in CHESS LIFE Korchnoi explained: "If you conform, you
> have a great life. Many privileges. A salary far above the average.
> Cars. Trips abroad. Certificates to buy goods in special shops that
> are closed to the ordinary Soviet citizen. We could put part of the
> money we won abroad in a bank account in the West. We even have the
> unparalled right of uncensored speech on radio and TV. Yes, only about
> chess, but even so it is unique.
>
> "But you have to watch your step. For instance, it is unpardonable to
> say that Fischer is a great player.
Note how VK often wants to have things both ways;
he insists that Soviet grandmasters had free speech,
but then moans that speech was not free regarding
Mr. Fischer-- a glaring self-contradiction.
> You are not supposed to lose your
> world title to him as Spassky discovered who was harassed in so many
> ways after Reykjavik.
Mr. Spassky not only lost the title, he also
allegedly defied orders to accept the forfeit win he
had twice earned-- the first time when BF did not
show up by the deadline, and again after outplay-
ing the American in the endgame in game one.
Now, even here in the USA it is possible to
suffer after defying one's higher-ups (as many
arrogant Generals have discovered), so it is
ludicrous to attribute this to a particular
country, economic system, or ruler.
> "From the start of my 1974 match with Karpov I was alone. And it was
> meant to be that way. I said I was going to win, that I would accept
> any condition by Fischer, and that he would beat me. This is bad
> behavior for a Soviet grandmaster. Russians do not lose, you know.
They lose all the time! Look at Mr. Botvinnik:
he lost the title again and again, but kept on
looking until he found it again.
> "I had a difficult time getting a second. Nobody wanted that job.
> Take, for instance, what happened to a well-kinown grandmaszter
Larry Parr should book up on his spelling of
difficult chess terms.
> when I
> invited him to my training camp. He said he would like to help me but
> that he could not do so officially because he had an assignment to
> cover the match for a big newspaper. When the Chess Federation learned
> of his visit, they arranged for him to lose the job. Only in the last
> quarter of the match, when I seemed completely lost, trailing by 3
> points, did he come back. I won 2 games with his help.
And this despite supposed fear of being struck
down by a bus in the street? All of a sudden, the
purported forced losing disappears, to be replaced
by a delusion wherein one's second decides the
games.
> "The atmosphere of the match became weird, menacing. I all but started
> to lose games on purpose. That is exaggerated
Now we see VK denying that he threw any games
on purpose.
> but I had the feeling
> that if it looked as though I would win something would happen to me,
> like an accident in the street. That may sound paranoid, but there is
> no clear difference between paranoia and real fear in Russia.
>
> "Now they cannot force me to lose anymore."
And here, we have a quotation wherein VK admits
(or rather, claims) that he *did* throw games. The
poor fellows always want to have things both ways,
as it makes for a good story. Interestingly, there
was not a single quotation to reflect the other side
of this "story".
Another such "story" was told by Mr. Fischer, who
accused VK of throwing games to keep Him from
winning a tournament in which he was soundly
thumped. According to the other side, BF was full
of baloney; VK denied having thrown any games,
and complained that he was beaten because the
top finishers took quick draws with one another.
Mr. Kortchnoi twice almost made it to the very
top-- but he seems to have had two troublesome
opponents: Mr. Petrosian in the 1960s and Mr.
Karpov later on.
-- help bot
P.S. Did you catch my capitalization of "he" in
regard to BF? The Evans ratpackers probably
saw it and unthinkingly nodded in agreement... .
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Date: 16 Feb 2009 12:54:29
From: None
Subject: Re: After Korchnoi defected
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On Feb 16, 1:11=A0pm, "[email protected]" <[email protected] > wrote:
> WHAT IF KERES....
>
> Had disobeyed orders in 1948 by interfering with Botvinnik's capture
> of the crown?
>
> SAT W-7 wrote:
>
> =A0I wonder what happened to Spasky after he lost to Fischer ...Id ask
> him that question if i were to interview him....>
>
> "When we have troubles we play chess to forget our troubles. When we
> have no troubles, we play chess because there=92s nothing better to do."
> While I was there, a dissident told me Russia was only good for two
> things: chess and ballet.
>
> In 1972, after Bobby Fischer trounced Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, a
> Soviet grandmaster told me: "At home they don=92t understand. They think
> it means there=92s something wrong with our culture."
>
> You can just imagine the shock waves. Max Lerner wrote in the New York
> Post:
> "The Russians are in despair, as they should be. There were suspicions
> that Spassky might defect to the corrupt monied West. Their run of
> champions has been broken. Worst of all, it was done by a flamboyant,
> neurotic, authentic individual,
> against all the collective balderdash which says the individual is a
> cipher."
>
> No longer honored as a Soviet hero when he got home, Spassky was
> castigated by officials who had urged him to walk out while he was
> leading 2-0 after the upstart American forfeited the second game.
> Spassky=92s good sportsmanship cost the USSR a crown it had held for a
> quarter of a century. He was no longer free to compete abroad and
> endured many indignities.
>
> In the first test case of the Helsinki agreement, he caused an
> international outcry in 1976 that forced the Kremlin to let him marry
> a girl who worked for the French embassy in Moscow. The couple moved
> to a suburb of Paris.
>
> THIS CRAZY WORLD OF CHESS by GM Larry Evans
spammer
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Date: 16 Feb 2009 10:11:43
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: After Korchnoi defected
|
WHAT IF KERES....
Had disobeyed orders in 1948 by interfering with Botvinnik's capture
of the crown?
SAT W-7 wrote:
I wonder what happened to Spasky after he lost to Fischer ...Id ask
him that question if i were to interview him.... >
"When we have troubles we play chess to forget our troubles. When we
have no troubles, we play chess because there=92s nothing better to do."
While I was there, a dissident told me Russia was only good for two
things: chess and ballet.
In 1972, after Bobby Fischer trounced Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, a
Soviet grandmaster told me: "At home they don=92t understand. They think
it means there=92s something wrong with our culture."
You can just imagine the shock waves. Max Lerner wrote in the New York
Post:
"The Russians are in despair, as they should be. There were suspicions
that Spassky might defect to the corrupt monied West. Their run of
champions has been broken. Worst of all, it was done by a flamboyant,
neurotic, authentic individual,
against all the collective balderdash which says the individual is a
cipher."
No longer honored as a Soviet hero when he got home, Spassky was
castigated by officials who had urged him to walk out while he was
leading 2-0 after the upstart American forfeited the second game.
Spassky=92s good sportsmanship cost the USSR a crown it had held for a
quarter of a century. He was no longer free to compete abroad and
endured many indignities.
In the first test case of the Helsinki agreement, he caused an
international outcry in 1976 that forced the Kremlin to let him marry
a girl who worked for the French embassy in Moscow. The couple moved
to a suburb of Paris.
THIS CRAZY WORLD OF CHESS by GM Larry Evans
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Date: 15 Feb 2009 23:42:46
From: SAT W-7
Subject: Re: After Korchnoi defected
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I wonder what happened to Spasky after he lost to Fischer ...Id ask him
that question if i were to interview him.....
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Date: 16 Feb 2009 13:09:30
From: Strider
Subject: Re: After Korchnoi defected
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"SAT W-7" <[email protected] > wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I wonder what happened to Spasky after he lost to Fischer ...Id ask him
> that question if i were to interview him.....
>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Spassky#Continued_to_challenge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Spassky#Later_career
Strider
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