Greetings Chess Players. My name is Chris Torres and this is my daily chess musing for Sunday, August 22, 2021.
The chess world is mourning the loss of Grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov who passed away on August 18th at the age of 71. Chess players have probably heard his name in relation to the popular Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian Defense, a one popular line championed by Emanuel Lasker that had fallen out of favor until Evgeny Sveshnikov revitalized it in the 1970’s. However, Sveshnikov’s influence as a theoretician extended into several other important openings such as the Alapin Sicilian and the French Advance. Beyond openings, Grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov will be forever remembered as a member of Russia’s gold medal winning Olympiad Teams, a very influential chess coach during the late Soviet hegemony of top level chess, a dangerous opponent who scored victories over scores of top grandmasters and becoming the World Senior Chess Champion in 2017.
Here is a puzzle worthy conclusion from Sveshnikov vs Ivanov, 1976 that I presented to a class just three months ago. Enjoy…
Chris Torres is a nationally renowned scholastic chess coach working in the San Francisco Bay Area. His classes have attracted players of strengths ranging from rank beginners to world champions. A chess professional since 1998, Chris is widely recognized as one of the main driving forces behind the explosion in popularity and sudden rise in quality of scholastic chess in California. Chris Torres served as the President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy from 2005-2020 and currently is recognized as a correspondence chess master with the United States Chess Federation. Since 1998 Chris Torres has taught 6 individual national champions as well as led multiple school teams to win national championship titles. In addition, Chris Torres has directed and taught at 10 different schools which have been California State Champions at chess. In 2011 and 2012, several former and current students of Chris Torres have been selected to represent the United States at the World Youth Chess Championships. Mr. Torres’ hobbies include playing classical guitar and getting his students to appear on the national top 100 chess rating lists.
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