27/8/23, 23:22 Yuri Averbakh - Wikipedia

Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (Russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич
Yuri Averbakh
Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian
chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR
Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. He was the first
centenarian FIDE Grandmaster. Despite his eyesight and
hearing having worsened, by his 100th birthday he continued
to devote time to chess-related activities.[1]

Early life
Averbakh was born in Kaluga, Russia. His father was German
Jewish,[2] and his ancestors were named Auerbach, meaning
"meadow brook". His mother was Russian. Both sets of
grandparents disapproved of their marriage because his father
was likely an atheist and his mother was Eastern Orthodox, as
well as the fact that his maternal grandmother died very
young, so his mother was expected to look after the family.
Averbakh called himself a fatalist. Averbakh in 1963
Full name Yuri Lvovich Averbakh
Career Country Soviet Union →
Russia
Born 8 February 1922
Tournament successes Kaluga, Russian
SFSR, Soviet Union
His first major success was the first place in the Moscow
Championship of 1949, ahead of players including Andor Died 7 May 2022
Lilienthal, Yakov Estrin and Vladimir Simagin. He became an (aged 100)
international grandmaster in 1952. In 1954 he won the USSR Moscow, Russia
Championship ahead of players including Mark Taimanov,
Title Grandmaster (1952)
Viktor Korchnoi, Tigran Petrosian, Efim Geller and Salo Flohr.
In the 1956 Championship, he came equal first with Taimanov Peak rating 2550 (July 1971)
and Boris Spassky in the main event, finishing second after the
playoff. Later Averbakh's daughter, Jane, would marry Taimanov. Averbakh's other major
tournament victories included Vienna 1961 and Moscow 1962. He qualified for the 1953
Candidates' Tournament (the last stage to determine the challenger to the World Chess
Champion), finishing joint tenth of the fifteen participants. He also qualified for the 1958
Interzonal tournament at Portorož, by finishing in fourth place at the 1958 USSR Championship at
Riga. At Portorož, he wound up in a tie for seventh through eleventh places, half a point short of
advancing to the Candidates' Tournament. He played in the 1993 Maccabiah Games in Israel,
coming in fourth.[3][4][5]

Playing style

His solid style was difficult for many pure attackers to overcome, as he wrote: "...Nezhmetdinov,
who if he had the attack, could kill anybody, including Tal. But my score against him was
something like 8½–½ because I did not give him any possibility for an active game. In such cases

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he would immediately start to spoil his position because he was looking for complications."[6]

He had plus records against the world champions Max Euwe and Tigran Petrosian.

Writings

Averbakh was also a major endgame study theorist. More than 100 studies were published during
his lifetime, many of which have made notable contributions to endgame theory. In 1956, he was
given by FIDE the title of International Judge of Chess Compositions and in 1969 that of
International Arbiter.

Averbakh was also an important chess journalist and author. He edited the Soviet chess
periodicals Shakhmaty v SSSR and Shakhmatny Bulletin. From 1956 to 1962 he edited (with
Vitaly Chekhover and others) a four-volume anthology on the endgame, Shakhmatnye
okonchaniya (revised in 1980–84 and translated as Comprehensive Chess Endings, in five
volumes).

Openings contributions

Averbakh is the eponym of several opening variations.

King's Indian Defence: Averbakh variation (E73): 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-
0 6.Bg5
King's Indian Defence: semi-Averbakh system (E73): 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6
5.Be2 0-0 6.Be3
Modern Defense: Averbakh variation (A42): 1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4
Ruy Lopez: Averbakh variation (C87): 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6.
Re1 d6

Death and tributes

Averbakh was born on 8 February 1922, in Kaluga, and died on 7 May
2022, in Moscow.[7][8][9][10][11] Averbakh is survived by a daughter,
who was married to Mark Taimanov for ten years.[8]

"He was an icon in the chess world. Apart from being the
archetypal Soviet chess grandmaster, during the heyday of
the USSR's chess imperium, Averbakh was the Renaissance
Man of chess: a highly successful player, awarded the
Grandmaster title in 1952, World Championship Candidate
in 1953, Soviet Champion 1954, International Judge of
chess composition (otherwise known as chess problems) in
1956, International Arbiter in 1969."[12]

— Raymond Keene, The Article: Yuri Averbakh, 1922– Yuri Averbakh in 2007

2022

Honours and awards

Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR

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Order of Friendship of Peoples (1981)

Medal "For Labour Valour" (1957)
Medal "For Distinguished Labour" (1970)
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich
Lenin" (1970)
Russian Imperial Family: Knight Commander of the Imperial Order of Saint Stanislaus[13]
Order of Honor (2022)[14]

Books
Averbakh, Yuri (1993). Chess Endings: Essential Knowledge. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-
1857440225.
Averbakh, Yuri; Chekhover, Vitaly (1983). Comprehensive Chess Endings, Volume 1: Bishop
Endings, Knight Endings. Pergamon. ISBN 978-4871875035.
Averbakh, Yuri (1985). Comprehensive Chess Endings, Volume 2: Bishop Against Knight
Endings, Rook Against Minor Piece Endings. Pergamon. ISBN 978-4871875042.
Averbakh, Yuri; Henkin, Victor; Chekhover, Vitaly (1986). Comprehensive Chess Endings,
Volume 3: Queen and Pawn Endings, Queen Against Rook Endings, Queen Against Minor
Piece Endings. Pergamon. ISBN 978-4871875059.

Averbakh, Yuri; Maizelis, Ilya (1987). Comprehensive Chess Endings, Volume 4: Pawn
Endings. Pergamon. ISBN 978-4871875066.

Averbakh, Yuri; Kopayev, Nikolai (1987). Comprehensive Chess Endings, Volume 5: Rook
Endings. Pergamon. ISBN 978-4871875073.

Averbakh, Yuri (1992). Chess Tactics for Advanced Players. Sportverlag Berlin, Chess Digest.
ISBN 978-0875682181.

Averbakh, Yuri (2012). A History of Chess: From Chaturanga to the Present Day. Russell
Enterprises. ISBN 978-1936490448.
Averbakh, Yuri; Beilin, Mikhail (2014). Journey to the Chess Kingdom. Chess Evolution.
ISBN 978-8393465668.
Averbakh, Yuri (2011). Centre-Stage and Behind the Scenes: A Personal Memoir. New In
Chess. ISBN 978-9056913649.
Averbakh, Yuri (1996). Chess Middlegames: Essential Knowledge. Everyman Chess.
ISBN 978-1857441253.
Averbakh, Yuri (1998). Averbakh's Selected Games. Cadogan. ISBN 978-1857445480.

Averbakh, Yuri (1978). Rook v. Minor Piece Endings. Batsford. ISBN 978-0713408683.

Averbakh, Yuri; Taimanov, Mark (1986). The World Chess Championship, Karpov-Kasparov:
Moscow 85. Raduga. ISBN 978-5050005533.

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Averbakh, Yuri (1980). Small Chess Dictionary. Sahovski Informator. ISBN 978-8672970128.

See also
List of Jewish chess players

Notes
1. "Yuri Averbakh celebrates his 100th birthday" (https://chess24.com/en/read/news/yuri-averbak
h-celebrates-100th-birthday). chess24.com. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
2. Yuri Averbakh turns 85 (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3657),
Chessbase, 8-2-2007
3. "Yuri L Averbakh - Chess Games" (https://chesstempo.com/gamedb/player/12966).
chesstempo.com.
4. "Maccabiah 1993" (https://www.365chess.com/tournaments/Maccabiah_1993/16407).
365Chess.com.
5. "Yuri Averbakh, the Oldest Living Grandmaster, Turns 100" (https://www.chess.com/news/view/
yuri-averbakh-100-years).
6. "Юрий Авербах" (http://www.bg.ru/article/8937/). Большой город (in Russian).
7. "Yuri Averbakh passes away at age 100" (https://chess24.com/en/read/news/yuri-averbakh-pa
sses-away-at-age-100). chess24.com. Retrieved 2022-05-07.
8. Chess.com: Yuri Averbakh, 1922–2022 (https://www.chess.com/news/view/yuri-averbakh-obitu
ary)
9. Chessbase: Yuri Averbakh passes away in Moscow (https://en.chessbase.com/post/yuri-averb
akh-passes-away-in-moscow)
10. FIDE: Yuri Averbakh (1922–2022) (https://www.fide.com/news/1738)
11. Chess Federation of Russia: Yuri Averbakh Has Passed Away (https://ruchess.ru/en/news/all/y
uri_averbakh_has_passed_away/)
12. The Article: Yuri Averbakh, 1922–2022 (https://www.thearticle.com/yuri-averbakh-1922-2022)
13. "Russian Imperial House - The Head of the Russian Imperial House and Her Heir Visit
Moscow, April 23-29, 2017" (http://www.imperialhouse.ru/en/allnews-en/news/the-head-of-the-r
ussian-imperial-house-and-her-heir-visit-moscow-april-23-29-2017.html).
www.imperialhouse.ru. Retrieved 2021-02-08.
14. 100-year-old grandmaster awarded the Order of Honor (https://www.zakon.kz/6013662-100-let
nii-grossmeister-mira-nagrazhden-ordenom-pocheta.html)

References
Petursson, Margeir (1996). King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation. Cadogan Books.
ISBN 978-1-85744-118-5.
Interview in The Day Kasparov Quit by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam

External links
Yuri L. Averbakh (https://ratings.fide.com/profile/4101529) rating card at FIDE
Yuri L. Averbakh (https://www.365chess.com/players/Yuri_L_Averbakh) chess games at
365Chess.com
Yuri L. Averbakh (https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=20559) player profile
and games at Chessgames.com

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Interview Part 1 (https://web.archive.org/web/20080227105124/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/

skittles181.pdf), ChessCafe.com
Interview Part 2 (http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles183.pdf), ChessCafe.com
Yuri Averbakh (1922-2022) (https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/averbakh.html), Edward
Winter

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