10/11/2023 – Last year GM Yuri Averbakh turned 100 and set a world record. He became the oldest ever grandmaster in chess history. Sadly, he passed away in May. Averbakh led a rich and extraordinary life that he narrated himself in his autobiography, “Centre-stage and Behind the Scenes”. In the series here, our columnist draws on this important work and also explains much that was left unsaid. | Photo: Averbakh playing Kasparov (B. Dolmatovsky via Douglas Griffin’s website)

2/1/2023 – Most of all grandmasters were born under the sign of Aquarius. Among them romped the legends Taimanov, Eliskases and Sveshnikov. There is also a world champion - Boris Spassky. With Abhimanyu Mishra, we have not only the youngest grandmaster, but we also had Yuri Averbakh, the oldest, who died at the age of one hundred.| Photo: Pixabay

7/7/2022 – Early this year GM Yuri Averbakh turned 100 and set a world record. He became the oldest ever grandmaster in chess history. Sadly, he passed away in May. Averbakh led a rich and extraordinary life that he narrated himself in his autobiography, "Centre-stage and Behind the Scenes". In the series here our columnist draws on this important work and also explains much that was left unsaid. | Photo: Averbakh at the match USA vs. USSR, New York City, 1954 (via D. Griffith)

6/20/2022 – On May 7, 2022 the world received sad news when it was announced from Moscow that Yuri Averbakh passed away. Averbakh excelled in many fields and at this peak he was one of the world's best ten players but he is best known for his contributions to endgame theory. To pay tribute to the endgame expert, Zoran Petronijevic had a look at endgames that were close to Averbakh's heart. | Photo: Eric Koch / Anefo