Ratmir Kholmov passes at 80

In Memoriam – Ratmir Kholmov (13.05.1925 – 18.02.2006)

By Dagobert Kohlmeyer

It has just become known that the well-known Russian grandmaster Ratmir Kholmov has died. He passed away a month ago, on the 18th of February, but his widow did not inform the chess world or anyone else about her husband’s death until now.

Young Ratmir learnt chess at the age of 12, and at 14 he was already the master of Archangelsk. His native town, in the north of Russia, has the fifth-largest harbour in the world, as he likes to remind his compatriots.

From 1960 to 1970 Ratmir Kholmov was one of the strongest Soviet GMs. He played in no less than 17 Soviet championships, sharing first with Spassky and Stein in 1963. In his best years he was a very interesting player, nicknamed "central defender" by the Soviet chess players. The reason for this: he was an extremely tough opponent for any attacking player to beat.

Kholmov himself was a supremely dangerous attacking player, possessing very sharp tactical skills. The originality of his unexpected ideas and combinations surprised many players, including world champions. But in spite of victories against such players as Keres, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky or even Fischer and Kasparov, Kholmov is not really known to the western people. For political reasons, during Soviet times Kholmov was allowed to participate only in a few tournaments abroad, all of them in Socialist countries.

Kholmov retained his dangerous attacking style in spite of advancing age, as he recently proved, impressively, at the Seniors Team Championship in Dresden. He had played in the same German city exactly fifty years earlier, in 1956. A few years ago he gave his last interview to me (Kohlmeyer).

I had no aversions, I just came to play chess. Dresden reminded me of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad). Both cities had been bombed to rubble. We played in the center of the city, but I can't remember when.

Juri Awerbach and I won the event with 12 points each. That was out of 15 games.

Yes, Wolfgang Uhlmann and Reinhart Fuchs. Nobody from West Germany played in the event.

It's an interesting story. When I was born, shortly after the October Revolution, parents gave their children names like KIM. That was the acronym of "Communist Youth Internationale". My parents were different. They called me Ratmir, which means "brave warrior", and occurs in Pushkin's famous poem "Ruslan and Ludmilla".

In my youth I was, for a while, a sailor in the merchant marine. That was during the Second World War. We mainly saild the Northern Route.

I moved to Moscow in 1967. Since then I play for clubs in the Russian capital.

Yes. For many decades I have been earning my living from chess.

That is 50 dollars per month. You cannot live on it, so I earn some extra money with chess.

In the Capablanca Tournament 1965 in Havanna I ended up fifth, but did not lose a single game. I played a very good game against Bobby Fischer. It was a Ruy Lopez, and I won it with black. Probably my best game was against Paul Keres, at the USSR Championship 1959 in Tbilissi. [Click to replay]

The battle, and the many different ways it can be fought.

Yes, although I know that Alexander Alekhine did not share this view. At the end of his career he apparently sighed and said: "If only I had become a politician!" Perhaps he said that because for so many years he was an emigrant.

Yes, in Soviet times I played for the Moscow chess club "Spartak", together with Tigran Petrosjan. Today the club no longer exists, and many others have also disappeared.

I am at odds. On the one hand it is good for us, the older generation. You don't have to sit there for five hours or longer. That is very tiring. But for the grand game of chess the short time controls are suicide.

You have to have both, classical chess and rapid chess. People should be able to choose, whether they play long games or in a tournament were the games last half an hour, or just one or two hours.

Chess activity of Ratmir Kholmov

Ratmir Kholmov – Career Highlights

Main Opponents