Russia vs USA Chess Match

Forty years after the greatest American chess player, Bobby Fischer, slayed Boris Spassky and the Russians to win the World Chess Championship, another classic chess battle between East and West will taking place. Officially starting on February first, 2013, Russia and the United States will do battle in a correspondence chess match for honor and pride. The last time a match such as this occurred was in 1982 when the Soviets crushed the Americans. This time round, the players representing the United States aspire to even the score.

I am honored to be representing team USA on board 16 versus the infamous Russian chess master, Andrey Terekhov. Mr Terekhov has already earned the title of FIDE Master and appears to be on his way toward earning an International Master title in correspondence chess. Andrey’s successes on the chess board are only matched by his achievements in computer science. On occasion, Andrey Terekhov is able to combine his hobbies as can be seen in a recent article about his simul versus the Caltech Chess Club.

For the next month, leading up to my first move, I will be busy preparing inventions and traps and placing them in a folder marked “Andrey Terekhov.” Should he attempt to alter his play to avoid my mischief, I look forward to unleashing some unexploded opening bombs that I have been waiting for an opponent of his caliber to victimize with. Serious correspondence chess players understand the need for preparation and I take my correspondence chess games very seriously.

Below are the top 20 boards for the upcoming Russia vs. United States of America correspondence chess match:

Russia                                                                          United States