major international
They are tired
In 1946, freshman at the Law School of the University of Amsterdam, Hein Donner went to Groningen at the Staunton Memorial. Student Donner was rarely seen in university auditoriums: captivated by chess, he sat in the chess cafes of Amsterdam from morning till night. And even played in January in Wijk aan Zee in this tournament – the third group C, gaining fifty percent of the points.
Donner knew that not only western, but also the strongest Soviet grandmasters arrived in Groningen, demonstrating, as everyone said, new, ultra-modern chess. And the most powerful of them is Mikhail Botvinnik.
“I don’t remember how I got to the hall where the tournament was played,” Donner recalled thirty years later, “only a huge space remained in the memory, in the center of which they were sitting. THEY ARE! Continue reading
Mair Mammadov: “Always believed in Rajabov”
In Khanty-Mansiysk, the World Cup is coming to its end. Unfortunately, not one of the Russians made it to the finals and won a ticket to the applicants’ tournament. But a stranger to us continues to fight for the Cup. The representative of Azerbaijan and the Baku chess school, Teymur Rajabov, will fight in a tie-break with the Chinese Ding Liren and, perhaps, for the first time in the history of his country, will win this trophy. The vice-president of FIDE and the ASF Mair Mammadov talks about the success of his compatriot.
The winner of the sixth Gashimov Memorial is Magnus Carlsen (left) and Mair Mammadov. Continue reading
Little-known facts about the 8-time winner of the World Chess Olympiads
In the days of the USSR, his name was well known to every student, and recently, almost nothing is known about him – after he moved from Russia to America. What made him make such a decision, what secrets he kept for many years and other little-known facts – further in the review.
The real name of the chess player is Harry Weinstein. His father was of Jewish origin, and his mother was of Armenian origin, so his nationality has caused controversy more than once. Until the age of 11, Harry bore the name of his father, and then his mother, frightened by the growing anti-Semitic sentiments in the USSR, insisted that her son take her name. His parents worked as engineers in Baku, and were also seriously fond of chess. At the age of 5, Harry helped his father solve a chess study – then Continue reading
