Mark Taimanov 1926-2016

Mark Taimanov, Hoogovens 1970

Born February 1926 – 28 November 2016 was one of the leading Soviet and Russian Chess players and Concert pianist. Taimanov became a grandmaster  in 1952 and in 1956 became the winner of the 23rd  USSR Championship..

         Spassky-Taimanov  0-1

[Event “USSR Championship”]
[Site “Leningrad (RUS)”]
[Date “1956.??.??”]
[EventDate “1956.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[Result “0-1”]
[White “Boris Spassky”]
[Black “Mark Taimanov”]
[ECO “C77”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[PlyCount “96”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 Be7 6. c3 b5 7. Bc2 O-O 8. O-O d5 9. d3 d4 10. Nbd2 Rb8 11. a4 dxc3 12. bxc3 b4 13. Nc4 Bg4 14. Bb2 Bc5 15. Rad1 bxc3 16. Bxc3 Nd4 17. Bxd4 Bxd4 18. h3 Bxf3 19. Qxf3 Nd7 20. Rb1 Qg5 21. Kh1 g6 22. Ne3 Nc5 23. Nc4 Kg7 24. Qe2 Ne6 25. g3 Bc5 26. Rxb8 Rxb8 27. Kh2 Qf6 28. Kg2 h5 29. h4 Nd4 30. Qd1 Qe6 31. Qd2 Bb4 32. Qd1 Be7 33. f4 exf4 34. Rxf4 f6 35. a5 Bd6 36. Rf2 Rb4 37. Qe1 c5 38. Bd1 Be5 39. Qd2 Nc6 40. Kh2 Bd4 41. Rg2 Ne5 42. Nxe5 Bxe5 43. Qe3 Rb1 44. Rd2 Bc3 45. Rc2 Rxd1 46. Qxc5 Be5 47. Qa7+ Qf7 48. Qxa6 Qd7 0-1

    Rd1    Zaitsev -Taimanov 0-1

Variations of the Sicilian and Nimzo-Indian named after Mark…

[Event “USSR Championship”]
[Site “Yerevan ARM”]
[Date “1962.11.22”]
[EventDate “1962.??.??”]
[Round “1”]
[Result “0-1”]
[White “Igor Arkadievich Zaitsev”]
[Black “Mark Taimanov”]
[ECO “B46”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[PlyCount “74”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 Qc7 7. a3 b5 8. Nxc6 Qxc6 9. Be3 Bb7 10. Qd4 Rc8 11. O-O-O Nf6 12. Rd2 Bc5 13. Qxc5 Qxc5 14. Bxc5 Rxc5 15. Bf3 g5 16. Rhd1 h5 17. Rd6 Bc6 18. h4 gxh4 19. Rh1 a5 20. Rd4 e5 21. Rd2 b4 22. axb4 axb4 23. Nd5 Bxd5 24. exd5 Rc4 25. d6 O-O 26. Rh3 Rf4 27. Kb1 Rb8 28. Ka2 Rb6 29. Kb3 Kg7 30. Rh1 Kg6 31. Ra1 h3 32. Rg1 Kh6 33. Ba8 hxg2 34. Rxg2 Ne8 35. Rd3 Rxd6 36. Re3 Nc7 37. Bf3 Ne6 0-1

 Top 5 Finish at the 27 th USSR Championships

1.Korchnoi  14.0 

2.Tal   13.5 

3.Taimanov  13.5 

4.Kholmov 13.0

5.Spassky  12.5   

….

Taimanov is probably best known for his 6–0 loss to Bobby Fischer in the 1971 in  the World Chess Championship Candidates Match, About this match Taimanov later recalled that Fischer “was an incredibly tough defender” and that “the third game proved to be the turning point of the match”.

Taimanov considered this match “the culminating point” of his chess career and later wrote a book about the match, titled How I Became Fischer’s Victim.

Although earlier in his life he did manage to give Bobby a game in Argentina in 1960

Rd9 Taimanov – Fischer 1/2 – 1/2

[Event “Buenos Aires”]
[Site “Buenos Aires ARG”]
[Date “1960.07.04”]
[EventDate “1960.06.23”]
[Round “9”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[White “Mark Taimanov”]
[Black “Robert James Fischer”]
[ECO “E46”]
[WhiteElo “?”]
[BlackElo “?”]
[PlyCount “174”]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. d4 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O dxc4 8. Bxc4 Bd6 9. Nb5 Be7 10. h3 a6 11. Nc3 Bd6 12. e4 e5 13. Be3 exd4 14. Nxd4 Bd7 15. Re1 Qe7 16. Bg5 Nxd4 17. Nd5 Qe5 18. f4 Nf3+ 19. Qxf3 Qd4+ 20. Kh1 Ng4 21. hxg4 Qxc4 22.  b3 Qb5 23.  a4 Qa5 24.  Red1 Bc6 25.  e5 Bb4 26.  Qe4 Bd5 27.  Rd5 Qb6 28.  f5 Bc3 29.  Rc1 Bb2 30.  Rb1 Bc3 31.  Rc1 Bb2 32.  Rc4 Rae8 33.  f6 c6 34.  fxg7 cxd5 35.  gxf8 Kf8 36.  Qh7 Be5 37.  Rf4 Qe6 38.  Rf1 b5 39.  axb5 axb5 40.  Bd2 Ke7 41.  Bb4 Kd8 42.  Rf7 Rh8 43.  Rf8 Rf8 44.  Bf8 Qf6 45.  Bc5 d4 46.  Kg1 Qf4 47.  Qe7 Kc8 48.  Qf8 Qf8 49.  Bf8 Bg3 50.  Kf1 d3 51.  Bb4 Kd7 52.  Be1 Bf4 53.  Bc3 Bg3 54.  g5 Ke6 55.  g6 Ke7 56.  Be1 Bf4 57.  Bh4 Kf8 58.  g3 Bd6 59.  Kf2 Bc5 60.  Kf3 Kg7 61.  Bg5 Kg6 62.  Bf4 Kh5 63.  Ke4 Kg4 64.  Kd3 Kf3 65.  Bc7 Bf2 66.  Bd6 Be1 67.  Kd4 Kg4 68.  Kc5 b4 69.  Kb5 Kf5 70.  Kc4 Ke6 71.  Bc7 Kf5 72.  Kd3 Kg4 73.  Bd6 Bc3 74.  Kc4 Be1 75.  Bb4 Bg3 76.  Bc3 Bd6 77.  Kd5 Be7 78.  Bd4 Bb4 79.  Kc4 Ba5 80.  Bc3 Bd8 81.  b4 Kf4 82.  b5 Ke4 83.  Bd4 Bc7 84.  Kc5 Kd3 85.  Kc6 Kc4 86.  Bb6 Bf4 87.  Ba7 Bc7 ..Draw