8th February 2022 ended on a sweet note for world chess as veteran Russian chess grandmaster Yuri Lvovich Averbakh cut his hundredth birthday cake. Averbakh is the first chess grandmaster in history to become a centenarian. On his hundredth birthday, the grandmaster let the world know that he is fit in body, mind and spirit.
The valiant figure had battled with Covid-19 in the summer of 2021. Though hospitalised, the oldest living chess grandmaster who has had the crown of the "Grandmaster" for over 70 years now, sprang back to life with his robust attitude to life.
The life & times of Yuri Averbakh
Born in Kaluga, Russia on 8th February 1922, Averbakh claims to be a fatalist. His mother was Russian and the ancestors of his Jewish father were of German descent. Both his parents were atheists.
Averbakh was a bright child. He joined the Bauman Higher Technical Institute when he was just 17 years old but his education was disrupted by World War. He returned to Moscow after 1943. As a youth, he had developed a liking for foreign languages and built his proficiency in English. This hobby helped him with his international chess competitions as well as writing books.
He has made commendable literary contributions to the world of chess. Pawn Endings, Chess Endings, Queen and Pawn Endings, Comprehensive Chess Endings Volume 4 Pawn Endings, Comprehensive Chess Endings: Bishop Endings, etc are some of his literary contributions.
Besides his love for chess and writing, Averbakh was an acclaimed chess trainer, an international-level arbiter, an endgame theoretician, a chess composer, and also a chess historian.
Averbakh’s Chess Career & Tournaments
The grandmaster played over 2,500 tournaments in his lifetime. Averbakh said that if he had to choose his favourite tournament out of all the 2,500 tournaments he played, the choice would be difficult to make. However, later he added that the 1940 tournament he had won against Sergey Belavenets would be the most memorable win for him. He affirmed that the victory was satisfactory for him as it was his first accomplishment against a well-known master player.
Sergey Belavenets was a strong opponent as well as a friend to Yuri Averbakh. Belavenets was the person who ingrained a taste of victory into Averbakh's brain. He made the centenarian work hard for the ultimate endgame and taught him the strategic ways to win.
In the year 1944, Averbak was vested with the crown of the USSR Master of Sports. Later in 1952, he acquired the title of a grandmaster. Back then, the cumulative number of grandmasters in the world was 35.
He is the only living player of the well-known 1953 Candidates Tournament held in Zurich. It is probably the most intense tournament in the history of chess with nine out of the top ten players present (Only the then world champion Mikhail Botvinnik was absent). David Bronstein’s book on the same went on to become a masterpiece in chess literature. The tournament was a 15-player dual round-robin that lasted from 30th August-23rd October 1953. The victory went to Vasily Smyslov. Averbakh was tied for 10th position with Isaac Boleslavsky, achieving a score of 13.5 out of 30.
Averbakh later retaliated with a sweet win at the 1954 USSR Championship. In the 1956 Championship, Averbakh was tied first with Taimanov and then with Boris Spassky. Now, for a fun trivia fact, Averbakh's daughter, Jane later got married to Taimanov!
Yuri Averbakh was also eligible for the Interzonal tournament of 1958 which was held at Portorož. He managed to finish at the fourth position in the USSR Championship of 1958 held at Riga. The 1961 Vienna and 1962 Moscow tournament victories are amongst Averbakh's supreme accomplishments. The veteran player also ranked fourth at the Maccabiah Games held in Israel back in the year 1993.
Yuri Averbakh: No stalemate!
Throughout his career and even upon his retirement from the chess scene, Yuri Averbakh received numerous awards and honours. He was bestowed as the Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR. In the year 1981, he received the "Order of Friendship of Peoples". The issuance of the award was discontinued after 1991. The Soviet Union also conferred upon him the medal "For Labour Valour" in 1957. He also received the Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" in the year 1970.
The centenarian still has his moves in life intact. Despite having trouble with dwindling his vision and hearing abilities, and being bogged down briefly by the Covid attack, Averbakh has bounced back to life like a Knight on the board. He keeps his mind and brain sharp with occasional analysis of chess tournaments. He practices a healthy lifestyle and does daily physical exercises. Meeting up with new players and guiding them with the solid experiences of his life and career helps the oldest GM to keep his vigour and vitality alive.
Conclusion
Yuri Lvovich Averbakh is the epitome of inspiration not just for chess players but to each and everyone who aspires to live life to the fullest. Throughout his lifetime, Averbakh brought immense pride to his country, Russia. Besides all of that, he has also been a charitable figure and helped several people in need. Just like the game of chess, Yuri Averbakh's legacy has been imprinted in the scrolls of history of chess and shall be passed down to future generations. As long as chess persists in our lives; Yuri Averbakh's name will keep chiming.