Chess -The Scotsman 26/03/2012

By John Henderson
Published on 26/03/2012 00:00

Monday’s puzzle...

THE Russian Chess Federation announced the death last week of Yuri Razuvaev after a short illness at the age of 66. While his name may not be so well known in the West as other Soviet greats of his era, in his native Russia he was enormously respected, both as a player with a deep understanding of the game, and a truly exceptional trainer.

Yuri Sergeyevich Razuvaev was born in Moscow on 10 October 10, 1945. A historian, he went on to become one of the world’s top players between 1976, when he earned the Grandmaster title, and into the late 1980s just before the break-up of the Soviet Union.

His moment in the spotlight came during the second USSR v Rest of the World match in 1984, when he substituted for the ill Tigran Petrosian. Razuvaev performed superbly to limit his notoriously tough opponent, the much higher-rated Candidate Robert Hübner, to four straight draws. His list of tournament victories was impressive: Dubna 1978, Polanica-Zdrój 1979, Zalaegerszeg 1981, London 1983, Dortmund 1985, Jurmala 1987, Pula 1988, Protvino 1988, Reykjavik 1990, Leningrad 1992, Tiraspol 1994, Reggio Emilia 1996 and San Sebastian 1996.

Despite his talents as a player, Razuvaev found his true calling as a coach, and in 1976 he was awarded the title of Honoured Coach of Russia. He worked alongside world champion Anatoly Karpov and coached through the 1980s the gold medal-winning USSR team in the Chess Olympiads and European Championships; and later, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, coaching the Russian team led by Garry Kasparov.

Y Razuvaev - I Farago

Dubna, 1979

Queen’s Gambit Declined

1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 c5 5 cxd5 Nxd5 6 e3 Nc6 7 Bc4 cxd4 8 exd4 Be7 9 0–0 0–0 10 Bd3 Nxc3 11 bxc3 b6 12 Re1 Bb7 13 h4 Na5 14 Ng5 h6 15 Qh5 Bd5 16 Nh7 Re8 17 Bxh6! gxh6 18 Qxh6 f5 19 Re3 Bxh4 20 Rg3+ Bxg3 21 Qg6+ Kh8 22 Nf6 Bh2+ 23 Kh1 Qxf6 24 Qxf6+ Kg8 25 Kxh2 Rac8 26 Rh1 Rc7 27 Qg6+ Kf8 28 Kg1 Rf7 29 Qg5 Rg7 30 Rh8+ Kf7 31 Qh5+ 1-0