Igor Vasilyevich Ivanov

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Igor Wassiljewitsch Ivanov ( Russian Игорь Васильевич Иванов ; spelling: Igor Ivanov ; born January 8, 1947 in Leningrad ; † November 17, 2005 in St. George , Utah ) was a Canadian chess player of Russian origin.

Ivanov learned to play chess at the age of 5. At the age of 14 he was already playing tournaments in the boarding school he attended.

He later studied mathematics at the University of Saint Petersburg (then: Leningrad), but soon broke off his studies with the intention of becoming a professional chess player. At times he worked as a trainer in the army chess club. In the Soviet team championship in 1979 he defeated the then world champion Anatoly Karpov .

In 1980 he played the Capablanca Memorial in Havana as part of a Soviet delegation . When the plane landed at Gander Airport on the return flight to refuel in Canada , he took the opportunity and set off for Canada. He only carried his clothes, some change and a pocket chess game with him. Although the Soviets made considerable efforts to achieve repatriation (including through the KGB ), Ivanov received Canadian citizenship and won numerous tournaments in the following years, including the national championship three times (1981, 1986 and 1987) . When world championship match in 1981 he was Sekundant of Viktor Korchnoi . In the interzonal tournament in 1982 Ivanov finished fourth. He also played for Canada at the 1982 and 1988 Chess Olympiads .

From 1990 he lived with his wife Elizabeth in Utah and worked as a chess trainer. It was only shortly before his death from cancer that he was awarded the title of grandmaster in 2005, delayed by bureaucratic hurdles .

His last Elo rating was 2424 and his highest rating of 2550 was in January 1984.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Igor Ivanov's results at the Chess Olympiads on olimpbase.org (English)
  2. ↑ Igor Ivanov's award calculation for the January 2006 rating list at FIDE (English)
personal data
SURNAME Ivanov, Igor Wassiljewitsch
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Иванов, Игорь Васильевич (Russian); Ivanov, Igor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian chess player
DATE OF BIRTH January 8, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Leningrad
DATE OF DEATH November 17, 2005
Place of death St. George, Utah