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…