Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (born February 7, 1926,
KharkivKharkiv , also spelled Kharkov is the second largest city in Ukraine.It was the first capital of Soviet Ukraine, now the administrative centre of the Kharkiv Oblast , as well as the administrative centre of the surrounding Kharkivskyi Raion within the oblast. The city is located in the northeast...
) is a leading
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n
chessChess is a board game played between two players. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from a similar, much older game of Indian origin...
player and
concertA concert is a live performance, usually of music, before an audience. The music may be performed by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band. Informal names for a concert include "show" and "gig"...
pianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
.
Chess
He was awarded the
International GrandmasterThe title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from "World Champion", Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
title in 1952 and played in the
Candidates TournamentThe Candidates Tournament was a triennial chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
in
ZurichZürich or Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. The city is Switzerland's main commercial and cultural centre and sometimes called the Cultural Capital of Switzerland, the political capital of Switzerland being Berne...
in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top ten players. He played in 23
USSR Chess ChampionshipThis is a list of all the winners of the USSR Chess Championship. It was the strongest national chess championship ever held, with eight world chess champions and four world championship finalists among its winners...
s (a record equalled by
Efim GellerEfim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player, a Grandmaster of world class at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice, in 1955 and 1979. Geller was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions . He won four Ukrainian Championship titles, in 1950, 1957, 1958, and 1959...
), tying for first place twice. In 1952 he lost the playoff match to
Mikhail BotvinnikMikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was a Soviet International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while playing top-class competitive chess...
, while in 1956, he beat
Yuri AverbakhYuri Lvovich Averbakh is a Russian chess player and author.-Biography and career:His father was German Jewish, and his ancestors came from Germany and were named Auerbach, meaning "meadow brook." His mother was Russian...
and
Boris SpasskyBoris Vasilievich Spassky is a Russian-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972....
for the title. He is probably best known for his 6-0 loss to
Bobby FischerRobert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster, and the eleventh World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Later in life he renounced his US citizenship and became an Icelandic citizen.Fischer's achievements are legendary...
in the 1971
World ChampionshipThe World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Both men and women are eligible to contest this title....
Candidates matchThe Candidates Tournament was a triennial chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
. However, few players have beaten six world champions (Botvinnik,
Vasily SmyslovVasily Vasilyevich Smyslov is a Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958....
,
Mikhail TalMikhail Tal was a Soviet-Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion....
,
Tigran PetrosianTigran Petrosian was World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969.He is often known by the Russian version of his name, Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian . He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
, Spassky, and
Anatoly KarpovAnatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was world champion from 1975 to 1985, played three more matches for the title from 1986 to 1990, then was FIDE World Champion from 1993 to 1999...
) as Taimanov has.
After his loss to Fischer, the Soviet government was embarrassed, and, as Taimanov later put it in a 2002 interview, found it "unthinkable" that he could have lost the match so badly to an American without a "political explanation". Soviet officials took away Taimanov's salary and no longer allowed him to travel overseas. The official reason given for punishing Taimanov was that he had brought a book by
Aleksandr SolzhenitsynAleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was a Soviet and Russian novelist, dramatist, and historian. Through his writings he made the world aware of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system — particularly The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, his two...
into the country, but that explanation was secondary in nature. The officials later "forgave" Taimanov, and lifted the sanctions against him. Fischer's 6-0 defeat of
Bent LarsenJørgen Bent Larsen is a Danish chess Grandmaster. He has been a six-time Danish champion, and a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on four occasions: 1965, 1968, 1971, and 1977. He won three Interzonal tournaments: Amsterdam 1964, Sousse 1967, and Biel 1976...
later in 1971 may have helped change their minds.
He has opening variations named after him in the
Sicilian DefenceThe Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the moves:The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4...
, Benoni Defence and
Nimzo-Indian DefenceThe Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:This hypermodern opening was developed by Grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch who introduced it to master-level chess in the early 20th century. Unlike most Indian openings the Nimzo-Indian does not involve an immediate fianchetto,...
. He has written books on both of his named variations, as well as an autobiographical best games collection.
Music
With his wife, Lyobov Bruk, he formed a piano duo, some of whose recordings were included in the
PhilipsKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , most commonly known as Philips, is a Dutch electronics company.Philips is one of the largest electronics companies in the world. In 2007, its sales were €26.79 billion...
and
SteinwaySteinway may refer to:* Steinway & Sons, an American and German piano manufacturer* Steinway Hall, a building housing concert halls, showrooms and sales departments for Steinway pianos-Steinway family members:* Albert Steinway* Charles G. Steinway...
series
Great Pianists of the 20th Century.
External links