Viktor Korchnoi: My Life for Chess (Part one)

Viktor Korchnoi: My Life for Chess

Review by Prof. Nagesh Havanur

“On a cold autumn day in the hungry Leningrad of 1944, a thirteen-year-old youth simultaneously joined three clubs in the Pioneers’ Palace: recitation, music and chess. Fortunately for chess he was found to have incorrect pronunciation, and he had no piano at home… Chess became the main thing in his life, and then even life itself.” – Genna Sosonko

The lad was Viktor Korchnoi. He belongs to the select group of players who came close to winning the world championship title, but could not make it in the end. They are the uncrowned kings of chess. The charmed circle includes Akiba Rubinstein, Aron Nimzovitsch, Paul Keres and David Bronstein. What sets Korchnoi apart in this august company is his enviable record. He has beaten all the world champions from Botvinnik to Kasparov. While his great contemporaries have long since passed away or retired from chess, he alone battles on, defying the biological clock, it seems, for ever.

This DVD monograph comes as a surprise even for longstanding Korchnoi fans. What we see here is not Viktor the Terrible, at whose sight opponents used to tremble. No, it is a benign Viktor who appears more like an affectionate granddad regaling us with his anecdotes and observations. It is a pleasure to see this living legend and listen to his fruity mellow voice. His zest for life and childlike pleasure in recounting his experiences are evident throughout. And of course there is his wicked sense of humour, but there is little malice or ill-will in it.

Having said this, I cannot help feeling that Korchnoi has re-invented himself for this presentation. While his opposition to the Soviet state is described in some detail, his personal hostilities with fellow players like Petrosian and Geller are not even mentioned. Childhood friend Spassky is treated with kid gloves, and there is not a word of his abominable behaviour during the 1977 Candidates’ Match.

Anatoly Karpov, 57, and his three-time challenger Viktor Korchnoi, 77, in 2008

Only Karpov is singled out as an enemy, although Anatoly has done his best to build bridges with him. In recent years they have even played together on the same team.

And what about Fischer?

Korchnoi recounts how Fischer’s book My 60 Memorable Games was received in the Soviet Union. In just three days as many as 100,000 copies were sold out! Such was the phenomenal popularity of Fischer. Obviously, the chess public disdained the official propaganda against Bobby. Korchnoi also mentions with some wry amusement how there was a rumour that Fischer himself was going to be invited for the 1967 tournament commemorating the October Revolution. But it was abandoned – it wouldn’t have done for the tournament to be won by an American!

Korchnoi is all admiration for Fischer’s fierce sense of independence as a chess player. Unlike his contemporaries and the supergrandmasters today he seldom allowed his seconds to assist him in his preparation. His official second Bill Lombardy was not allowed to come anywhere near the board when he did his adjournment analysis during the 1972 World Championship match. Lombardy’s task was only to respond to Soviet demands and accusations. But Korchnoi’s admiration for Fischer turned into dismay when the latter accused him of playing pre-arranged matches with Karpov.

He has a different take on the present day grandmasters. He mentions with some affection and pride that they are like his grandchildren, or perhaps more like great-grand children. He also cherishes the fact that elite players like Ivachuk, Gelfand and Grischuk treat him with great respect.

What he fails to mention is that he treats humbler opposition with a strong mix of arrogance and contempt. They are often at the receiving end of his scorn and fury, especially when he loses. But Viktor does not always get away with it. On one occasion he was given a sharp dressing down by Irina Krush, and he beat a hasty retreat. The old war lord is not the epitome of courtesy and consideration to his opponents.

Here, however, we see a different persona, warm and friendly. The DVD begins with an interview by Frederic Friedel, the Master of Ceremonies for ChessBase. And Korchnoi’s answers are fascinating. When Friedel asks him a question on his life after he had emigrated to the West, Korchnoi corrects him. No, he did not emigrate. He defected to the West, and it was against the wishes of authorities. He also offers a more fundamental reason. He did not wish to submit to the rules of behaviour set by the state. “I wanted to be myself.” That’s Viktor, the supreme individualist speaking.

In response to a question on his formative years he says that he was first influenced by Botvinnik, the role model for his generation, and later by Lasker, the former World Champion. So now we know that the inspiration for Korchnoi’s adoption of the French Defence and English Opening came from Botvinnik. As for Lasker, he founded no school, and none of his contemporaries could emulate his psychological approach. But Korchnoi belonging to a later generation did.

When Friedel presses him to give an example of this use of psychology, he readily obliges. He explains how he set difficult problems for Curt Hansen, Danish grandmaster, by deliberately avoiding “correct’’ moves. The unsuspecting Hansen was outplayed. In the post-mortem that followed he explained to his opponent how he had taken risks to avoid the obvious line, the opponent was appalled and kept on exclaiming, “How could you?’’ Viktor cheekily replied, “That's psychology!”

Here is what happened:

The first part of the DVD includes eight games mainly from the period 1949-1979. Curiously enough, it also includes a game against young Navarra played in 2004. The second part of the DVD offers eight more games from the period 1979-2004. These 16 games, with personal commentary by Korchnoi, are the cream of the DVD. Korchnoi’s opponents here include world champions, Smyslov, Tal, Spassky, Karpov and Kasparov.

In the above picture we see Tal sitting with two young talents, Lautier and Anand.
Those standing are Larsen, Korchnoi, Kasparov, Bessel Kok, Timman and Spassky.

Personally speaking, I would have liked to see games against Botvinnik, Petrosian and Fischer in the first part of the DVD. Korchnoi has also played some memorable games against the present elite, like Anand, Kramnik and Shirov. They could have been included in the second part of the DVD. We do have a database of 4293 games for almost his entire career (1949-2004). It’s a pity that most of them are not annotated. Perhaps the next edition of this DVD should provide them. Incidentally, Korchnoi has played 4991games at the time of writing (14th June, 2012). One would not be surprised if he reaches the 5000 mark soon.

Meanwhile Viktor continues to play, undaunted by defeats. He shuns draws as ever before and seeks victory in every game.

• Read part two here

  
  Order the Viktor Korchnoi Monographs here

Krush on Korchnoi

I guess you could say that the other highlight of my tournament was my game against Korchnoi in round eight; certainly, playing someone who's been battling it out with the world's best players since the 1950's is a special opportunity. He's the only link left between that bygone chess generation and today, and I've always found his example inspiring. At 75, he's still traveling (someone told me that he said that after this tournament he was going home to "change suitcases" before moving on elsewhere), still playing chess, and what's more, he still cares a lot about his results. The downside to that last point is that he's known to be quite disagreeable to his opponents after losing, saying things along the lines of 'before this game, I knew you were a terrible player, but now I see that you don't understand chess at all', etc.

So it was a sudden, and really unfortunate, end to the game. I wasn't happy about winning due to such a blunder. He seemed pretty disgusted with himself, signed the score sheet, and left the playing area without saying anything. I was glad to have escaped his wrath, but a few minutes later I encountered him in the lounge/analysis area of the hotel, where I had come to show Elisabeth Paehtz the position that could have arisen had he correctly played 27.Rf8: Did I have any chances there with my rook and bishop?

Ah, seeing me there looking at the game was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. The first thing he said was "I could have had two extra pawns!" Then he would suggest some move and walk away, only to come back in a minute, and all this interspersed with insults such as "it's good to know theory, but you should learn how to play chess as well" (unfortunately, even the insults were not helpful – what theory? I was playing the White side of a Scheveningen with a tempo down, and I definitely did not feel very comfortable in the opening).

Finally, it came down to this: he suggested a move, and Elisabeth suggested a (stronger) alternative, both moves were quite simple, nothing special. So he says, about Elisabeth's suggestion, "no, this move is too good for her." I look up at him, waiting for the inevitable "she doesn't deserve this" which duly came. And really, that was just too much for me. What is that supposed to mean, that a move is too good for a person? "Why do you have to be so unpleasant?" I asked. I was incredibly angry. He sputtered something and walked away, this time for good.

As you can see, it wasn't exactly a 'highlight' moment for me. I guess I just don't like having abuse poured on my head. In a conversation about this episode over dinner that night, Greg Kaidanov tried to get me to view his behavior as part of what makes him great – if he wouldn't get so upset about losing, he'd never maintain the level that he has. I see his point, but somehow I can't accept the idea that these sorts of verbal assaults on people are justified, no matter what their end goal is.

Source USCF: Irina blogs from Gibraltar