Vladimir Pavlovich Simagin

Picture of Simagins from his grave slab in the Novodevichy Cemetery

Vladimir Pawlowitsch Simagin ( Russian Владимир Павлович Симагин , scientific transliteration Vladimir 'Pavlovič Simagin ; born  June 21, 1919 in Moscow , †  September 25, 1968 in Kislovodsk ) was a Russian - Soviet chess player .

He was considered one of the strongest players in Moscow and achieved good results at the city championships: in 1946 he finished second behind David Bronstein , in 1947 shared first with Bronstein and Rawinski (Simagin was champion after a playoff), in 1956 second after a playoff against Tigran Petrosyan and in 1959 sole winner . In the city competition between Moscow and Budapest in 1949 he achieved a very good result with 12 points from 16 games. Between 1951 and 1965 he took part in seven USSR championships .

Simagin was awarded the title of International Master by the World Chess Federation FIDE in 1950 and that of Grand Master in 1962 . His greatest international successes include second place in 1963 in Sarajevo and victory at the tournament in Sochi in 1967. In the middle of the 20th century, Simagin was second to the then world chess champion Vasily Smyslow .

Simagin also played correspondence chess successfully . He already took part in the 1st correspondence chess championship of the USSR in 1948 and came there on the shared second place, whereby the tournament victory escaped him only by a gross mistake. Out of disappointment, he withdrew from correspondence chess for a few years and only played again in 1964 at the 6th USSR correspondence chess championship, which he won with 13 points from 17 games ahead of the later correspondence chess world champion Grigori Sanakojew . At the 7th USSR correspondence chess championship, he narrowly failed to defend his title and came in second. In 1965 he was awarded the ICCF title of International Correspondence Chess Master . He qualified for the final of the 6th World Correspondence Chess Championship, but tragically died in 1968 during a chess tournament in Kislovodsk after a heart attack.

Some variants of chess openings are named after Simagin , for example the Simagin variant in the Maroczy structure of the Sicilian Defense (7.… Ng8 – h6) or in the classic Grünfeld Indian (8.… b7 – b6).

His best historical rating was 2650 in October 1949, making him 22nd in the world.

Game example

Panov - Simagin
Moscow 1943

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

Black to move

In this position of the dragon variant Simagin played the quality sacrifice 12.… Bg7 – h8. This move is characteristic of the modern, dynamic understanding of chess, but back then it looked like a "bolt from the blue". Black sacrifices material, but keeps the valuable bishop and as a result gains good play on the black fields. Simagin won the game by attacking White castling after the next moves 13. Bxf8 Qxf8 14. Nd4 Bc4 15. g5 Nfd7 16. Bh3 e6 17. Kb1 Ne5 18. f4 Nf3 19. Nxf3 Bxc3 20. bxc3 d5 21. Qc1 Sa4 22. exd5 Bxa2 + 23. Ka1 Qc5 24. dxe6 Nxc3 25.Rd4 Bxe6 26.Bxe6 fxe6 27.Ra4 Nxa4 28.c4 Rd8 29. Ka2 Qb4 30.Re1 Rd3 31.Rxe6 Nc3 + 0: 1

Individual evidence

1. ^ Willy Iclicki: FIDE Golden book 1924-2002 . Euroadria, Slovenia, 2002, p. 75.
2. ↑ Alexander Beliavsky and Adrian Michaltschischin: Secrets of chess intuition . Gambit Publications, London 2005. ISBN 1-904600-25-5 . P. 57.

literature

• Aidan Woodger: Vladimir Simagin . The Chess Player, Nottingham 2000. ISBN 1-901034-26-4 .