Krum Ivanov Georgiev, 1958-2024

by Efstratios Grivas
8/2/2024 – Grandmaster Krum Ivanov Georgiev was born in Pazardzhik (Bulgaria), May 24th, 1958 and passed away in Sofia (Bulgaria), July 31st 2024, after a short illness, at the age of 66. GM Kiril Georgiev wrote: >"Today is a sad day for Bulgarian chess! We lost Grandmaster Krum Georgiev. He was best known for beating the future FIDE World Champion Garry Kasparov in a wild game in the Malta Olympiad, 1980." You can enjoy the annotated game that spread around the globe.
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Grandmaster Krum Ivanov Georgiev (Bulgarian  Крум Иванов Георгиев) was Greek-born – both his parents were Greeks who had moved to Bulgaria after WWII.

Krum earned the International Master (IM) title in 1977 and the grandmaster (GM) title in 1988. He competed under the Bulgarian flag, but has also made history in Greece, as he had a dual citizenship. A key member of the Bulgarian National Team, he took part in Olympiads and Pan-European Championships and had competed in dozens of strong international tournaments.

In Greece he took part in many international tournaments and was an athlete of many Greek teams, such as: O.A.A. ‘Heraklion’, S.A. ‘Galaxias’ Thessaloniki’s, ‘Palamedes Evvoevs’, A.S. Papagou S.A. Corinthia ‘Argonautis’, Chess Communication Heraklion Attica, S.O. Katerinis and Panelinios G.S.

We were good friends since something around 1982, and he was a frequent visitor of my home in Athens. I also visited his home in Pazardzhik, where I had the pleasure of meeting his parents, somewhere around 1985.

Needless to say that Krum Georgiev spoke the Greek language quite well, and I still remember his answer when I was cursing for another lost chance to get a GM-nom, somewhere around the end of the 1980’s, when there were no more than 250 GM worldwide: "Do not worry my friend, Krum said, "one day everybody will be GM!"

Krum was modest, responsive and always positive. At the same time, he was an exceptional professional in his work and very strong on the chessboard. He was a great tactician and loved to play complicated games, full of extreme time troubles. But quite early he was diagnosed with several heart problems, and he had to try to avoid 'complicated' positions; a fact that ruined his promising career.

Rest in peace, Krum! We will always remember you!

The victory of Krum against Garry Kasparov at the Malta Olympics in 1980 is especially valuable!

Georgiev, Krum24651–0Kasparov, Garry2595
Olympiad
La Valletta30.11.1980[Efstratios Grivas]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Qf3 b5 9.0-0-0 b4 10.e5 Bb7 (D)
11.Ncb5 A more or less forced line. axb5 Black had declined the offer in the stem-game by 11...Qb6? 12.Nxd6+? 12.Qh3!+- 12...Bxd6 13.Qb3? 13.Qh3!± 13...Be7 14.exf6 gxf6 15.Bh4 Nd7 16.f5 e5 17.Nf3 Nc5 18.Qe3 Na4 19.Qb3 Nc5 20.Qe3 Na4 ½:½ Georgiev,Kr-Rashkovsky,N Dubna 1979. 12.Bxb5+ (D)
12...Nfd7? (D)
A difficult position to access has arisen. Usually, the one who wins is the player who has made his homework! The stem-game (see above) was published in Informator 27 (likely G.Kasparov saw it there) and the annotator (Lepeshkin) suggested that 11...axb5 12.Bxb5+ Nfd7 13.Qh3, would give White the initiative. Nowadays, we perfectly know that the best way for Black is by 12...Nbd7! 13.Qh3 b3! (no doubt G.Kasparov had discovered that the text 'wins' for Black - mentioned by Kr.Georgiev in his Informator notes to this game) 14.Qxb3 Bd5 15.c4 Ne4! 16.Rhe1 Nxg5 17.fxg5 Bxc4! 18.exd6 Bxb3+ 19.dxc7 Bxd1 20.Rxd1 Bd6 21.Nxe6! Ke7 22.Nd4 Bf4+ 23.Kb1 Nb6 24.Nc6+ Ke6 25.Nd8+ Ke7 26.Nc6+ Ke6 27.Nd8+ ½:½ Miton,K-Vachier Lagrave,M Dresden 2008. 13.Nxe6! Best by home preparation! Bad would be the immediate 13.Qh3? b3! 13...Bd5 14.axb3 14.Qxb3 Bd5 14...dxe5 15.Nxe6 Ra1+ 16.Kd2 Rxd1+ 17.Rxd1 Qd6+-+ . 13...fxe6 13...Qb6 , fails to satisfy after 14.exd6! 14.Qh3? d5! 15.Nd4 Rxa2∞ 14...fxe6 15.Qh3 Kf7 16.Bc4 Nc5 17.Bxe6+ Ke8 18.Rhe1 Bxd6 19.Bb3+ 1-0 Tzidkiya,Y-Nedobra,M Petah Tikva Elitzur 2020. 14.Qh3! White's attack on the uncastled king, cannot fail... Kf7 What else? If 14...Bd5 , then 15.Rxd5! Kf7 15...exd5 16.Qe6+ Be7 17.Qxe7# 16.exd6 Bxd6 17.Re1!+- . 15.f5! A pawn storm is underway! Be4 There is no decent alternative for Black: a. 15...Nxe5 16.fxe6+ Kg8 16...Kg6 17.Rhf1+- 17.e7 Bxe7 18.Qe6+ Nf7 19.Bxe7 Bc8 20.Qd5 Bb7 20...Qb7 21.Bc4 Qxd5 22.Bxd5 Bb7 23.Be6 Be4 24.Rhf1 Bg6 25.Rxd6 Na6 26.Bd5 Nc7 27.Bxa8 Nxa8 28.Rd8+! 1-0 Yeo,M-Rose,M England 1997 21.Qe6 Bc8 22.Qc4! Qxc4 23.Bxc4 Ba6 24.Bd5+- . b. 15...b3 16.fxe6+ Kg8 17.Qxb3! Nc5 18.Qc4 d5 19.Rxd5+- . c. 15...Bd5 16.fxe6+ Bxe6 17.Rhf1+ Nf6 (D)
18.Be8+! Kxe8 19.Qxe6+ Qe7 20.Qc8+ Qd8 21.Qb7+- . 16.fxe6+ Kg8 (D)
Or 16...Kg6 17.Bd3 Nxe5 18.Bxe4+ Kxg5 19.Rhf1+- . 17.Qb3! This was actually the novelty of the game. 17.Bd3? Bxd3 18.Rxd3 Nxe5? 18...Nc5!-+ 19.e7 Bxe7 20.Qe6+ Kf8 21.Bxe7+ Qxe7 22.Rf1+ Ke8 23.Qc8+ ½-½ was seen in Yeo,M-Banks,T London 1979. 17...Bxc2 Or 17...Nc5 18.Qc4 d5 19.Rxd5!+- . 18.Qxc2 White had an alternative and probably shorter win by 18.exd6 Bxd6 19.Qxc2 Rxa2 20.Qxc7 Bxc7 21.exd7+- , which was also fine. 18...Qxc2+ 19.Kxc2 Nxe5 20.e7 Bxe7 21.Bxe7 Nbc6 22.Bxd6 (D)
The complications are over and White has emerged with an extra pawn and the bishop pair vs. the knight pair; in other words, he has obtained a won position. 22...Ra5 23.Rd5 Rxb5 24.Rxb5 Nd4+ 25.Kb1 Nxb5 26.Bxe5 (D)
Further piece exchanges are helpful to the side with extra material. 26...Kf7 27.Rc1 Ke6 28.Rc5 Nd6 29.Kc2 Rf8 30.Bd4 Rf1 31.Re5+ Kd7 32.Bc5 Kc6 33.Bxb4 A second pawn to the good! The rest was hardly difficult: Rf2+ 34.Kc1 Nb7 34...Rxg2 35.Re6+- . 35.Rg5 g6 36.a3 Re2 37.Kb1 Rf2 38.Ka2 Nd8 39.Rc5+ Kb7 39...Kd7 40.Rd5+ Kc8 41.Rd2+- . 40.Rd5 Nc6 41.Bc3 Rxg2 42.Rd7+ Kb6 43.Rxh7 Kb5 (D)
44.Kb3 Rg4 45.Rd7 Rh4 46.Rd2 Rh3 47.Rg2 Nd4+ 48.Ka2 Nf5 49.Be5 Re3 50.Bb8 Re6 50...Re8 51.Rg4! Rxb8? 52.Rb4+ . 51.Rg4 Ne7 52.Bg3 Nc6 53.a4+ Kc5 54.Ka3 Rf6 55.b3 Kd5 56.Rg5+ Ke4 57.Rc5 Re6 58.a5 Kd3 59.b4 Nd4 60.Be5! Nf3 61.Bb2 Nd2 61...Nxh2 62.b5+- . 62.Rc3+ Ke2 63.Ka4 1–0

Further games by Krum Ivanov Georgiev

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1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg4 5.Be3 e6 (D)
6.d5 Best, but a novelty at the time played. The alternative is 6.h3 Bh5 7.Bb5 a6 8.Ba4 Nd7 9.d5± Tseshkovsky,V-Miles,A Palma de Mallorca 1989. 6...exd5 7.exd5 Ne5 8.Bb5+ Nfd7 (D)
Black didn't like to enter a pleasant position for White after 8...Bd7 9.Bxd7+ Qxd7 10.h3± . 9.Nxe5 A great inspiration, sacrificing the queen for just two pieces and gaining positional compensation. But also good was the 'modest' 9.Be2 Nxf3+ 10.Bxf3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Be7 12.0-0-0 Ne5 13.Qe2 Qd7 14.f4± Yuksel,A-Kerigan,D Mersin 2008. The next moves are forced: 9...Bxd1 10.Bxd7+ Ke7 11.Nc6+! bxc6 12.dxc6 (D)
12...f6? 12...Bxc2? 13.Nd5# , is nice, but Black had to return the 'invested' material by 12...Qxd7! 13.cxd7 Bg4 14.f3 Bf5 15.Nd5+ Kxd7 16.0-0-0 h5∞ . But who wants to return an ‘extra’ queen.... A great optimist like the late Tony Miles, surely couldn’t be one of them… 13.Rxd1 (D)
It is time to take stock and evaluate the position. White has plenty of compensation for his queen. It is not only about the two pieces and the pawn (on materialistic grounds), but the bad placement of the black king as well. And Black seems to have no decent plan... 13...Kf7 14.Nd5 Be7 15.0-0 f5 (D)
Not much to try anymore, as otherwise White will play f4-f5, Bd4 and Rfe1-e6, struggling Black. 16.Bd4! 16.Bxf5 Bf6 17.b4± , was good as well, but White prefers to improve the position than grabbing pawns. 16...Bf6 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.Rfe1 (D)
Black's queen and rooks are wondering on their back-rank, while White can improve his rooks on the e-file. 18...Rb8 19.b3 Rb5 20.c4! Ra5 21.Re2! Well, the poor a5-rook hasn't really improved from a8 and probably his only 'mission' is to be sacrificed for the d5-knight at a certain moment. The careless 21.Re7+? Qxe7 22.Nxe7 Kxe7 , would make Black quite happy! By the text, White not only protects his a-pawn, but more important, he prepares the doubling of his rooks down the e-file, penetrating in Black's camp. 21...f4 (D)
22.Rde1 Now entering on e7 is a real threat. Black's hand is more or less forced... Rxd5 22...Rf8 23.Re7+ Kg8 24.Be6+ Kh8 25.Bf5+- . 23.Be6+! Kg6 24.Bxd5 (D)
Black is plain lost - the white pieces are dancing around his king... 24...Qb8 25.Re7 Qb4 26.R1e6! Qc3 27.h4! The advance of the h-pawn not only eliminates back-rank mates, but is also assisting in the attack! Qa1+ 28.Kh2 Qd4 29.Be4+ Kh5 30.Bf3+ Kg6 (D)
31.Re4 Qd2 32.Rxc7 A dangerous passed pawn has been created as well. Qxf2 33.Rxf4 Qe1 34.Be4+! f5 34...Kh5 35.Rf7 a5 36.Bf3+ Kg6 37.R4xf6# . 35.Bxf5+ Kh6 36.Be4! Kh5 (D)
37.Rcf7 37.Rg7 , was an alternative win: Qc3 38.Rgf7 Kh6 39.Re7!+- . 37...Qe3 38.R7f6 And Black resigned, due to the nasty threat Bf3. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Georgiev,K2505Miles,A25651–01992B00Iraklion Open5
Georgiev,K2465Ivanchuk,V2625½–½1988C68Olympiad13
Polugaevsky,L2595Georgiev,K2480½–½1989E97ECU-Ch tt9
Kotronias,V2590Georgiev,K24900–11997B81Ano Liosia Open5
Pinter,J2590Georgiev,K25300–11997E70ECU Club Cup tt2
Bologan,V2589Georgiev,K25210–12000B84Aubervilliers Open R9
Georgiev,K2516Andersson,U2594½–½2003B50ECU-Ch3
Georgiev,K2468Socko,B26151–02005C08GRE-Ch tt1
Georgiev,K2421Suat Atalik26081–02012A07Golden Sands Open2

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Efstratios (30.03.1966) is a highly experienced chess trainer and chess author. He has been awarded by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) the titles of International Chess Grandmaster, FIDE Senior Trainer, International Chess Arbiter and International Chess Organiser.
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