Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 163 views

    Lev Polugaevsky - Wikipedia

    Uploaded by

    AThaddeusAntonio
    chess

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Lev Polugaevsky - Wikipedia

    Uploaded by

    AThaddeusAntonio
    163 views2 pages
    chess

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    chess

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    163 views2 pages

    Lev Polugaevsky - Wikipedia

    Uploaded by

    AThaddeusAntonio
    chess

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    1/27/2020 Lev Polugaevsky - Wikipedia

    Lev Polugaevsky
    Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky (Russian: Лев Абрамович Полугаевский, IPA: [pəlʊɡɐˈjefskʲɪj]; 20
    Lev Polugaevsky
    November 1934 – 30 August 1995) was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International
    Лев Абрамович Полугаевский
    Grandmaster by FIDE in 1962 and was a frequent contender for the World Championship, although he
    never achieved that title. He was one of the strongest players in the world from the early 1960s until the
    late 1980s, as well as a distinguished author and opening theorist whose contributions in this field remain
    important to the present day.

    Contents
    Career
    Author
    Books by Polugaevsky Lev Polugaevsky in 1972
    Death Full name Lev Abramovich
    Legacy Polugaevsky

    Illustrative games Country Soviet Union →


    Russia
    References
    Born 20 November 1934
    External links
    Mogilev, Soviet Union
    Died 30 August 1995
    Career (aged 60)
    Paris, France
    Lev Polugaevsky was born in Mogilev, in the Soviet Union (now Mahilyow, Belarus). Unlike many of his Title Grandmaster (1962)
    grandmaster colleagues, his development in chess came slowly, and he did not receive the Soviet master
    Peak Elo 2645 (July 1972)
    title until he was an adult. His progress then accelerated rapidly, however, and by the late 1960s he was
    one of the world's strongest players, as was recognized by his participation in the famous "USSR vs. Rest rating
    of the World" match of 1970. In this match he occupied fourth board, losing one game to Vlastimil Hort
    and drawing his other three. Polugaevsky won at Mar del Plata in 1962 and 1971. He won or tied in the USSR Chess Championship three times.
    He played regularly in qualifying events to select a challenger for the world championship, qualifying for the Candidates matches on four
    occasions. His greatest advancement toward the title came during the 1977 and 1980 cycles, when he defeated Henrique Mecking and former
    world champion Mikhail Tal, respectively, in quarterfinal Candidates matches, before succumbing both times in the semifinals to the eventual
    challenger, Viktor Korchnoi.[1]

    Polugaevsky played on the Soviet national team in seven Chess Olympiads, in 1966, 1968, 1970, 1978, 1980, 1982 and 1984. His team won the
    gold medal on each occasion, except in 1978, when USSR finished second to Hungary.

    Author
    In addition to his over-the-board and theoretical successes, Polugaevsky was a highly respected chess author. His 1977 book Grandmaster
    Preparation (now out of print) is a classic that contains notable insights into his own thinking as he crafted the ultra sharp eponymous
    variation in the main line (6 Bg5 e6, 7 f4 b4) Najdorf Sicilian Defence. He went about his writing with the same meticulous care as
    characterized his analyses, and was contemptuous of the many less thorough authors who sought to profit from the post-Fischer chess boom
    with shoddy work, memorably commenting that "Ninety per cent of all chess books you can open at page one and then immediately close
    again for ever. Sometimes you see books that have been written in one month. I don't like that. You should take at least two years for a book,
    or not do it [at] all."[2]

    Books by Polugaevsky
    Queen's Gambit: Orthodox Defence
    Grandmaster Preparation, ISBN 0-08-024098-4
    Grandmaster Performance, ISBN 0-08-029749-8
    Grandmaster Achievement
    Art of Defence in Chess
    The Sicilian Labyrinth
    Sicilian Love – Lev Polugaevsky Chess Tournament 1994 (Buenos Aires), with Jeroen Piket, the New in Chess Editorial team, 1995, 240
    p., ISBN 90-71689-99-9

    Death
    To celebrate Polugaevsky's 60th birthday a Sicilian Defense themed tournament was held in recognition of his contributions to the opening.
    The event was funded by Luis Rentero and took place in Buenos Aires in October 1994. Polugaevsky was too ill to participate. He died of a
    brain tumour in 1995.

    Legacy

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Polugaevsky 1/2
    1/27/2020 Lev Polugaevsky - Wikipedia
    Polugaevsky was a noted theorist whose work on a number of openings has stood the test of time. He is best remembered for a variation of the
    Sicilian Defense that bears his name: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 b5!? This Polugaevsky Variation of the
    Najdorf Sicilian leads to extraordinarily complicated tactical play on which the last word has still not been said, although theory as of 2005
    seems to give White the upper hand.

    Illustrative games
    This game from the 1969 Soviet championship against Tal would seem at first glance to be an example of Polugaevsky beating "The Magician
    from Riga"[3] at his own sacrificial game. More subtly, however, it also reveals the depth of his opening knowledge and preparation.
    Polugaevsky had worked with Boris Spassky as the latter was preparing for his successful 1969 world championship match with Tigran
    Petrosian, and the two had made a searching analysis of the opening used in this game. Polugaevsky remarked later that the position as late as
    move 25 had appeared on the board during his analysis the morning of the game.[4][5][6]

    Polugaevsky–Tal, Queen's Gambit Declined


    1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.d4 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 0-0 11.Bc4 Nc6 12.0-0 b6
    13.Rad1 Bb7 14.Rfe1 Na5 15.Bd3 Rc8 16.d5 exd5 17.e5 Nc4 18.Qf4 Nb2 19.Bxh7+ Kxh7 20.Ng5+ Kg6 21.h4 Rc4 22.h5+ Kh6
    23.Nxf7+ Kh7 24.Qf5+ Kg8 25.e6 Qf6 26.Qxf6 gxf6 27.Rd2 Rc6 28.Rxb2 Re8 29.Nh6+ Kh7 30.Nf5 Rexe6 31.Rxe6 Rxe6 32.Rc2 Rc6
    33.Re2 Bc8 34.Re7+ Kh8 35.Nh4 f5 36.Ng6+ Kg8 37.Rxa7 1–0

    References
    1. PETERS, JACK (1995-09-10). "Chess : Polugaevsky Dies" (http:// 3. Polugaevsky, Lev (1981). Grandmaster Preparation (1st
    articles.latimes.com/1995-09-10/news/mn-44299_1_chess-openin translated ed.). Oxford, UK: Pergammon Press. p. 219. ISBN 0-
    gs). Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035 (https://www.worldcat.or 08-024098-4.
    g/issn/0458-3035). Retrieved 2016-04-05. 4. Polugaevsky, Grandmaster Performance, p. 5, Pergamon Press
    2. Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth, eds. (1992). The Oxford 1984
    Companion To Chess (https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompanion 5. Garry Kasparov, My Great Predecessors v3, p. 89, Everyman
    t0000hoop). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 314 (https://a Chess 2004
    rchive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000hoop/page/314). ISBN 0- 6. Polugaevsky-Tal (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gi
    19-866164-9. d=1111871)
    Bibliography

    Golombek, Harry (ed.) (1977). Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess. Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-53146-1.
    Polugayevsky, Lev (1991). The Sicilian Labyrinth Volume 2. Pergamon Russian Chess Series. Pergamon Chess. ISBN 0-08-037796-3.

    External links
    Lev Polugaevsky (https://www.365chess.com/players/Lev_Polugaevsky) games at 365Chess.com
    Lev Polugaevsky (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=13741) player profile and games at Chessgames.com
    Lev Polugaevsky (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/1r7zr77g.html) team chess record at Olimpbase.org
    Lev Polugaevsky (http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/player/Polugaevsky,%20Lev.html) FIDE rating history at Olimpbase.org
    GM Genna Sosonko's reminiscences on the Polugaevsky-Tal game (http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/chess2/diary_6.htm)
    Tribute to Lev Polugaevsky - TWIC 51 (http://theweekinchess.com/html/twic51.html)

    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lev_Polugaevsky&oldid=933829531"

    This page was last edited on 3 January 2020, at 06:52 (UTC).

    Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy
    Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Polugaevsky 2/2

    You might also like