Out of the nearly 8 billion people in the world, there are only about 300,000 who are living centenarians (someone who has lived for at least 100 years.) Since 1950, FIDE (the world chess organization) has awarded less than 2000 Grandmaster titles in total. So, its not surprising that centenarian chess grandmasters are rare. In fact, as of February 8, 2022 there is only one. GM Yuri Averbakh who was born on February 8, 1922 is today, celebrating his 100th birthday, an accomplishment that is a true 8 billion to 1.
In celebration of GM Yuri Averbakh’s 100th birthday, I am sharing one of Averbakh’s most famous game winning moves from his illustrious career. The position below is from the game Efim Geller vs. Yuri Averbakh played in the 1954 USSR Championship in Kiev. Geller (white) has just played move 45. Rb5. What astonishing move did Yuri Averbakh (black) play here?
