Ratmir Kholmov
Encyclopedia
Ratmir Dmitrievich Kholmov (Russian
: Ратмир Дмитриевич Холмов, Lithuanian
: Ratmir Cholmovas, German
: Ratmir Cholmow) (13 May 1925 in Shenkursk
– 18 February 2006 in Moscow) was a Russian chess
Grandmaster. He won many international tournaments in Eastern Europe
during his career, and tied for the Soviet Championship title in 1963, but lost the playoff. Kholmov was not well known in the West, since he never competed there during his career peak, being confined to events in socialist countries. His chess results were impressive, so this may have been for security reasons, as Kholmov had been a wartime sailor. But he was one of the strongest Soviet players from the mid-1950s well into the 1970s, and was ranked as high as #8 in the world by Chessmetrics
.com from August 1960 to March 1961. Kholmov stayed active in competitive chess right to the end of his life, and maintained a high standard.
route. In 1945, he took 5th in Tula
. In 1946, he won in Zhdanovichi (Belarus
). In 1947, he took 4th in the 13th Belarusian championship
. Later that year, he made his first high-level appearance at the Mikhail Chigorin
Memorial, Moscow 1947, scoring 5.5/15 against a powerful international field. In 1948, Kholmov won the next BLR-ch in 1948, unbeaten, with 11.5/13.
Kholmov qualified for his first Soviet final
in 1948, Moscow URS-ch16, scoring 8.5/18 for 12th place, where the winners were David Bronstein
and Alexander Kotov
. He had to return to the Soviet semi-final level at Tbilisi
1949, where he placed 3rd with 10.5/17 to advance. At Moscow URS-ch17, 1949, he showed solid improvement, finishing tied 9th-10th with 10/19, as Bronstein and Vasily Smyslov
won.
In 1950, he took 3rd in Pärnu
, 7th in Tbilisi
, and tied 4th-5th in the Spartak Club Championship. He missed Finals qualifying at Tartu
1950 (URS-ch18sf) with 9.5/15 for fifth place. In 1954, he took 2nd, behind Vladas Mikėnas
in Vilnius
(Quadrangular). Kholmov won, or tied for 1st, in the Lithuanian championships
in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1960, making a total of ten outright or shared Lithuanian titles. This consistent success meant that he could be a full-time chess professional.
1954 with a tied 3rd-4th place, on 11/17, as Viktor Korchnoi
won. He placed 6th at Kiev
1954 in the URS-ch21 with 10.5/19, with Yuri Averbakh
winning; this heralded his arrival in the Soviet elite. FIDE awarded Kholmov the International Master (IM) title in 1954. He tied for 3rd-6th places at Leningrad
1955-56 with 10.5/18, as Vladimir Antoshin
won. Kholmov tied for 1st-2nd places at Dresden
1956 with Averbakh on 12/15. He earned the International Master title for this. A very solid tied 5th-7th place at URS-ch23 in Leningrad 1956, with 10.5/17, reinforced his high-echelon status. He maintained this standard at the next Soviet final, URS-ch24 at Moscow 1957, with 6th place on 12.5/21. He placed 2nd at Szczawno-Zdrój
1957 with 11/15 behind winner Efim Geller
. Kholmov won the Soviet semi-final at Tashkent
1958 with 11.5/15, ahead of Korchnoi and Geller. His first clear international title was at Balatonfured
1959, where he scored 10/13 to edge Wolfgang Uhlmann
. In the URS-ch26 at Tbilisi
1959, Kholmov continued his improvement at the top Soviet level with a tied 4th-5th place, with 12/19, as Tigran Petrosian
won.
, at URS-ch29 (December 1961), he scored 11/20 to tie for 8th-11th places. He was clear first at Bucharest
1962 with 11.5/15, ahead of Vladislav Shianovsky. He tied for 2nd-4th places in the Spartak Championship at Minsk
1962 with 11/17, behind Anatoly Bannik
. Kholmov won at Kecskemét
1962 with 11/15, ahead of Lajos Portisch
and Laszlo Szabo
, who tied for 2nd-3rd places. He placed 4th in the URS-ch30 at Yerevan
1962 with 13/19, a point behind champion Korchnoi. Kholmov was awarded the Grandmaster title by FIDE in 1962.
In 1963 he shared 1st–3rd, with Boris Spassky
and Leonid Stein
, at Leningrad at the 31st Soviet Chess Championships
. But Stein prevailed in the playoff. At Sochi
1964, Kholmov tied 2nd-3rd places with 10/15, behind winner Nikolai Krogius
. Then Kholmov suffered perhaps his greatest career disappointment in the Soviet Zonal tournament, Moscow 1964, where he scored 6/12 for 4th in a super-strong field, but fell one place short of advancing to the Interzonal
stage. At Kiev
in the URS-ch32 (1964/65), Kholmov tied 5th-6th places with 11.5/19, as Korchnoi won. He made a notable result at Havana
1965 with 5th place on 14.5/21, as Smyslov won, but Kholmov defeated Bobby Fischer
. At Tbilisi
1966/67 for URS-ch34, he scored 10/20 to tie for 10th-12th places, as Stein won again.
Kholmov moved to Moscow in 1967 and lived there for the rest of his life. He won at Belgrade
1967 with 6.5/9. One of his best career results was 2nd in a very strong field at Leningrad
1967 with 12/16, behind Korchnoi. He was 4th in an excellent field at Skopje
1967 with 11.5/17, as Fischer won. Kholmov won at Havana
1968 with a powerful 12/14, ahead of Stein and Alexey Suetin
.
His play in the next four Soviet finals continued to be strong. At Almaty
1968/69 for URS-ch36, he placed 6th-9th with 10.5/19, as Lev Polugaevsky
and Alexander Zaitsev won. The next Interzonal qualifier was URS-ch37 at Moscow 1969, and he finished tied 7th-9th with 12.5/22, with Polugaevsky and Petrosian winning; this was a point short of advancing to the Interzonal. At Riga
1970 for URS-ch38, he dropped a bit with just 10/21 for a tied 13th-14th, as Korchnoi won. Then in Baku
1972 for URS-ch40, he had 10.5/21 for a tied 10th-11th place, with Tal winning. This was his last Soviet final. His form in his late 40s had substantially fallen from his best years, and a new generation of Soviet players would earn most of the top tournament places and international opportunities.
Kholmov got just one chance to represent the USSR at full international level when he played board ten at the European Team Championships, Kapfenberg
1970. He won the board gold medal with 4.5/6 (+3 =3 -0), and helped his side to team gold. Kholmov did play in many national matches, such as against Hungary and Yugoslavia
, generally scoring well.
1973, he tied for 4th-5th places with 9/15, with Andras Adorjan
and Jan Smejkal
winning. At Sochi
1974, he scored 8.5/15 for a tied 4th-6th place, with Polugaevsky winning. He placed 2nd at Kecskemét
1975 with 8.5/13 behind winner Karolyi Honfi. One of Kholmov's best late-career results was his tied 3rd-5th place in a very strong Moscow 1975 tournament, with 9.5/15, as Geller won. He tied for 1st-2nd at Budapest
1976 on 10.5/15 with Laszlo Vadasz
. He placed 2nd at Zalaegerszeg
1977 with 7.5/12 behind Evgeni Vasiukov
. At age 63, Kholmov tied 3rd-6th at Sochi
1988 with 7/13, as Sergey Dolmatov
won. At Voskresensk
1990, Kholmov tied 3rd-6th on 6.5/11 behind winners Igor Naumkin and Valery Neverov. He had an excellent 2nd place at Moscow 1991 with 8.5/11 behind winner Mikhail Ivanov. At age 72, Kholmov tied for 1st-3rd at Moscow 1997 on 7.5/11 with Igor Zaitsev
and Andrey Rychagov.
at Rowy
, on 8/11 with Mark Taimanov
, Jānis Klovāns
, and Alexander Chernikov. Then he placed 2nd-4th in the same event the next year at Arco, again with 8/11, tied with Klovans and Vladimir Karasev, behind champion Vladimir Bukal Sr.
Kholmov played competitive chess virtually right up until his death in early 2006 at age 80. He appeared in a Senior event in Dresden, 50 years after he won a tournament there.
. Kholmov was comfortable as White with both 1.e4 and 1.d4, could play excellent classical chess with both colours, and had an occasional fondness for unusual openings, with which he had good success, as the game selection shows.
Kholmov had winning scores against David Bronstein
(+4 =12 −2), Tigran Petrosian
(+3 =8 −1), Viktor Korchnoi
(+3 =15 −2), Garry Kasparov
(+1 =0 −0), Laszlo Szabo
(+3 =10 −1), Borislav Ivkov
(+1 =2 −0), Alexander Tolush
(+2 =2 −1), Igor Bondarevsky
(+2 =2 −0), Evgeni Vasiukov
(+11 =9 −5), Andor Lilienthal
(+1 =3 −0), Nikolai Krogius
(+2 =6 −0), Leonid Shamkovich
(+4 =6 −2), Ilya Kan
(+1 =2 −0), Semyon Furman
(+4 =5 −3), and Lev Aronin
(+2 =1 −1).
Kholmov was level with Bobby Fischer
(+1 =0 −1), Anatoly Karpov
(+0 =2 −0), Paul Keres
(+1 =7 −1), Lajos Portisch
(+1 =1 −1), Mark Taimanov
(+6 =10 −6), Alexander Kotov
(+2 =2 −2), Wolfgang Uhlmann
(+1 =3 −1), Vladas Mikėnas
(+0 =5 −0), and Alexander Konstantinopolsky
(+1 =2 −1).
He had minus scores against Vasily Smyslov
(+0 =9 −3), Mikhail Botvinnik
(+0 =1 −3), Isaac Boleslavsky
(+0 =2 −4), Yuri Averbakh
(+1 =7 −2), Alexei Suetin (+6 =15 −7), Mikhail Tal
(+0 =17 −6), Boris Spassky
(+1 =9 −5), Efim Geller
(+3 =17 −6), Luděk Pachman
(+0 =2 −1), Leonid Stein
(+2 =11 −3) and Eduard Gufeld
(+2 =7 −3).
Chessmetrics
.com ranks his peak performance as 2760 at Leningrad 1967, and his peak rating at 2736 in May 1961, #8 in the world. There is a file of 2,265 of his games at chessgames.com.
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: Ратмир Дмитриевич Холмов, Lithuanian
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
: Ratmir Cholmovas, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Ratmir Cholmow) (13 May 1925 in Shenkursk
Shenkursk
Shenkursk is a town and the administrative center of Shenkursky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Vaga River. Municipally, it is incorporated as Shenkurskoye Urban Settlement of Shenkursky Municipal District. Population:...
– 18 February 2006 in Moscow) was a Russian chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
Grandmaster. He won many international tournaments in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
during his career, and tied for the Soviet Championship title in 1963, but lost the playoff. Kholmov was not well known in the West, since he never competed there during his career peak, being confined to events in socialist countries. His chess results were impressive, so this may have been for security reasons, as Kholmov had been a wartime sailor. But he was one of the strongest Soviet players from the mid-1950s well into the 1970s, and was ranked as high as #8 in the world by Chessmetrics
Chessmetrics
Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system.-Implementation:...
.com from August 1960 to March 1961. Kholmov stayed active in competitive chess right to the end of his life, and maintained a high standard.
Early years
Ratmir Dmitrievich Kholmov learned chess at age 12, and was near Master strength within three years. He served as a sailor in the Soviet merchant marine during World War II, sailing mainly the Northern ArcticArctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
route. In 1945, he took 5th in Tula
Tula, Russia
Tula is an industrial city and the administrative center of Tula Oblast, Russia. It is located south of Moscow, on the Upa River. Population: -History:...
. In 1946, he won in Zhdanovichi (Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
). In 1947, he took 4th in the 13th Belarusian championship
Belarusian Chess Championship
The 65th Belarusian Chess Championship was held 18–28 February 1999.GM Viacheslav Dydyshko won the 12-player, single round-robin tournament , earning his tenth championship in 26 attempts.-References:**...
. Later that year, he made his first high-level appearance at the Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also was a leading Russian chess player...
Memorial, Moscow 1947, scoring 5.5/15 against a powerful international field. In 1948, Kholmov won the next BLR-ch in 1948, unbeaten, with 11.5/13.
Kholmov qualified for his first Soviet final
USSR Chess Championship
This 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...
in 1948, Moscow URS-ch16, scoring 8.5/18 for 12th place, where the winners were David Bronstein
David Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
and Alexander Kotov
Alexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the...
. He had to return to the Soviet semi-final level at Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
1949, where he placed 3rd with 10.5/17 to advance. At Moscow URS-ch17, 1949, he showed solid improvement, finishing tied 9th-10th with 10/19, as Bronstein and Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...
won.
In 1950, he took 3rd in Pärnu
Pärnu
Pärnu is a city in southwestern Estonia on the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea. It is a popular summer vacation resort with many hotels, restaurants, and large beaches. The Pärnu River flows through the city and drains into the Gulf of Riga...
, 7th in Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, and tied 4th-5th in the Spartak Club Championship. He missed Finals qualifying at Tartu
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...
1950 (URS-ch18sf) with 9.5/15 for fifth place. In 1954, he took 2nd, behind Vladas Mikėnas
Vladas Mikenas
Vladas Mikėnas was a Lithuanian International Master of chess, an Honorary Grandmaster, and a journalist.- Early life :Vladas Mikėnas played for Lithuania at first board in five official and one unofficial Chess Olympiads....
in Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
(Quadrangular). Kholmov won, or tied for 1st, in the Lithuanian championships
Lithuanian Chess Championship
First unofficial Lithuanian championship was held in Kaunas in 1921. The Champion's title was granted after victorious or drawn match between previous champion and challenger, mostly a winner of Championship of Kaunas in the period from 1922 to World War II. The first official Lithuanian...
in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1960, making a total of ten outright or shared Lithuanian titles. This consistent success meant that he could be a full-time chess professional.
International debut
Kholmov made his international debut at BucharestBucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
1954 with a tied 3rd-4th place, on 11/17, as Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ; pronounced in the original Russian as "karch NOY"; Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, born March 23, 1931 is a professional chess player, author and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the tournament circuit...
won. He placed 6th at Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
1954 in the URS-ch21 with 10.5/19, with Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Lvovich Averbakh is a Soviet and Russian chess player and author. He is currently the oldest living chess grandmaster.-Life and career:...
winning; this heralded his arrival in the Soviet elite. FIDE awarded Kholmov the International Master (IM) title in 1954. He tied for 3rd-6th places at Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
1955-56 with 10.5/18, as Vladimir Antoshin
Vladimir Antoshin
Vladimir Sergeyevich Antoshin was a Soviet chess Grandmaster, a theoretician and a national champion of correspondence chess.-Student Olympiad performances:...
won. Kholmov tied for 1st-2nd places at Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
1956 with Averbakh on 12/15. He earned the International Master title for this. A very solid tied 5th-7th place at URS-ch23 in Leningrad 1956, with 10.5/17, reinforced his high-echelon status. He maintained this standard at the next Soviet final, URS-ch24 at Moscow 1957, with 6th place on 12.5/21. He placed 2nd at Szczawno-Zdrój
Szczawno-Zdrój
Szczawno-Zdrój is a spa town in Wałbrzych County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. Prior to 1945 it was in Germany....
1957 with 11/15 behind winner Efim Geller
Efim Geller
Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions...
. Kholmov won the Soviet semi-final at Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
1958 with 11.5/15, ahead of Korchnoi and Geller. His first clear international title was at Balatonfured
Balatonfüred
Balatonfüred is a popular resort town in Veszprém county, in Hungary, with a population of thirteen thousand, situated on the north shore of the Lake Balaton. It is considered to be the capital of the Northern lake shore and has significant yachting life. It is also a favorite location for coarse...
1959, where he scored 10/13 to edge Wolfgang Uhlmann
Wolfgang Uhlmann
Wolfgang Uhlmann is a prominent German International Grandmaster of chess. Despite being a dedicated professional chess player, and undoubtedly the GDR's most successful ever, he has also had a career in accountancy.-Chess career:...
. In the URS-ch26 at Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
1959, Kholmov continued his improvement at the top Soviet level with a tied 4th-5th place, with 12/19, as Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
won.
Grandmaster
Kholmov scored the best result of his career to date with a tied 1st-2nd, along with Smyslov, at the Moscow International 1960 with 8.5/11. The same year FIDE awarded him the Grandmaster (GM) title. He won the Soviet semi-final at Novgorod 1961 with 13/16. In BakuBaku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
, at URS-ch29 (December 1961), he scored 11/20 to tie for 8th-11th places. He was clear first at Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
1962 with 11.5/15, ahead of Vladislav Shianovsky. He tied for 2nd-4th places in the Spartak Championship at Minsk
Minsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
1962 with 11/17, behind Anatoly Bannik
Anatoly Bannik
Anatoly Bannik is a Ukrainian Chess Master, who was of Grandmaster strength during his peak years. He is a five-time Ukrainian champion, and qualified for the Soviet Chess Championship final seven times. He was among the top half-dozen Ukrainian players from 1944 to 1966...
. Kholmov won at Kecskemét
Kecskemét
Kecskemét is a city in the central part of Hungary. It is the 8th largest city of the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun.Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country's third-largest city, Szeged, 86 kilometres from both of them and almost equal distance from the two...
1962 with 11/15, ahead of Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik"...
and Laszlo Szabo
László Szabó (chess player)
László Szabó was a prominent Hungarian Grandmaster of chess.Born in Budapest, he burst onto the international chess scene in 1935, at the unusually young age of 18...
, who tied for 2nd-3rd places. He placed 4th in the URS-ch30 at Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...
1962 with 13/19, a point behind champion Korchnoi. Kholmov was awarded the Grandmaster title by FIDE in 1962.
In 1963 he shared 1st–3rd, with Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
and Leonid Stein
Leonid Stein
Leonid Zakharovich Stein was a Soviet chess Grandmaster from Ukraine. He won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s , and was among the world's top ten players during that era.- Early life :...
, at Leningrad at the 31st Soviet Chess Championships
USSR Chess Championship
This 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...
. But Stein prevailed in the playoff. At Sochi
Sochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
1964, Kholmov tied 2nd-3rd places with 10/15, behind winner Nikolai Krogius
Nikolai Krogius
Nikolai Vladimirovich Krogius is a Russian Chess Grandmaster, International Arbiter , psychologist, chess coach, chess administrator, and author. He won several tournament titles at Sochi and in eastern European events, and appeared in seven Soviet finals from 1958–1971...
. Then Kholmov suffered perhaps his greatest career disappointment in the Soviet Zonal tournament, Moscow 1964, where he scored 6/12 for 4th in a super-strong field, but fell one place short of advancing to the Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
stage. At Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
in the URS-ch32 (1964/65), Kholmov tied 5th-6th places with 11.5/19, as Korchnoi won. He made a notable result at Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
1965 with 5th place on 14.5/21, as Smyslov won, but Kholmov defeated Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
. At Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
1966/67 for URS-ch34, he scored 10/20 to tie for 10th-12th places, as Stein won again.
Kholmov moved to Moscow in 1967 and lived there for the rest of his life. He won at Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
1967 with 6.5/9. One of his best career results was 2nd in a very strong field at Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
1967 with 12/16, behind Korchnoi. He was 4th in an excellent field at Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
1967 with 11.5/17, as Fischer won. Kholmov won at Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
1968 with a powerful 12/14, ahead of Stein and Alexey Suetin
Alexey Suetin
Alexey Stepanovich Suetin was a Russian International Grandmaster of chess and author.-Biography:A resident of Moscow and a mechanical engineer by profession, he became an International Master in 1961 and a Grandmaster in 1965. His philosophy was always that "mastery is not enough; you must dare,...
.
His play in the next four Soviet finals continued to be strong. At Almaty
Almaty
Almaty , also known by its former names Verny and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500...
1968/69 for URS-ch36, he placed 6th-9th with 10.5/19, as Lev Polugaevsky
Lev Polugaevsky
Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky was an International Grandmaster of chess and frequent contender for the world chess championship, although he never achieved that title...
and Alexander Zaitsev won. The next Interzonal qualifier was URS-ch37 at Moscow 1969, and he finished tied 7th-9th with 12.5/22, with Polugaevsky and Petrosian winning; this was a point short of advancing to the Interzonal. At Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
1970 for URS-ch38, he dropped a bit with just 10/21 for a tied 13th-14th, as Korchnoi won. Then in Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
1972 for URS-ch40, he had 10.5/21 for a tied 10th-11th place, with Tal winning. This was his last Soviet final. His form in his late 40s had substantially fallen from his best years, and a new generation of Soviet players would earn most of the top tournament places and international opportunities.
Kholmov got just one chance to represent the USSR at full international level when he played board ten at the European Team Championships, Kapfenberg
Kapfenberg
Kapfenberg is a city in Styria, Austria, near Bruck an der Mur. The town's landmark is Burg Oberkapfenberg. Main employer in the city of Kapfenberg was and still is the steel manufacturer Böhler....
1970. He won the board gold medal with 4.5/6 (+3 =3 -0), and helped his side to team gold. Kholmov did play in many national matches, such as against Hungary and Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, generally scoring well.
Later years
Kholmov continued to stay very active in competitive play, and he was generally quite successful. At LuhacoviceLuhacovice
Luhačovice is a spa town in the Zlín Region, Moravia, Czech Republic.It occupies a valley, whose elevation is a minimum of 250 m above sea level...
1973, he tied for 4th-5th places with 9/15, with Andras Adorjan
Andras Adorjan
András Adorján is a Hungarian author and Grandmaster of chess , born in Budapest. He adopted his mother's surname Adorján in 1968....
and Jan Smejkal
Jan Smejkal
Jan Smejkal is a Czech chess player and, since 1972, an International Grandmaster. In the 1970s, he was among the world chess elite...
winning. At Sochi
Sochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
1974, he scored 8.5/15 for a tied 4th-6th place, with Polugaevsky winning. He placed 2nd at Kecskemét
Kecskemét
Kecskemét is a city in the central part of Hungary. It is the 8th largest city of the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun.Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country's third-largest city, Szeged, 86 kilometres from both of them and almost equal distance from the two...
1975 with 8.5/13 behind winner Karolyi Honfi. One of Kholmov's best late-career results was his tied 3rd-5th place in a very strong Moscow 1975 tournament, with 9.5/15, as Geller won. He tied for 1st-2nd at Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
1976 on 10.5/15 with Laszlo Vadasz
Laszlo Vadasz
László Vadász was a Hungarian chess Grandmaster.- External links :*...
. He placed 2nd at Zalaegerszeg
Zalaegerszeg
In 2001 Zalaegerszeg had 61,654 inhabitants . The distribution of religions were, 71.1% Roman Catholic, 3.8% Calvinist, 1.6% Lutheran, 11.6% Atheist .-Notable people:* Lajos Botfy , mayor...
1977 with 7.5/12 behind Evgeni Vasiukov
Evgeni Vasiukov
Evgeni Andreyevich Vasiukov is a Russian chess Grandmaster. During his career, he won the Championship of Moscow on six occasions and scored many victories in international tournaments, such as Belgrade Open 1961, Moscow International 1961, East Berlin 1962, and Manila 1974...
. At age 63, Kholmov tied 3rd-6th at Sochi
Sochi
Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...
1988 with 7/13, as Sergey Dolmatov
Sergey Dolmatov
Sergey Viktorovich Dolmatov is a Russian Grandmaster of chess and former World Junior Chess Champion.Born in Kiselevsk in the former Soviet Union, Dolmatov's solid yet enterprising style of play was soon to launch him to the forefront of youth chess, culminating in him winning the World Junior...
won. At Voskresensk
Voskresensk
Voskresensk is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located southeast from Moscow, on the shores of the Moskva River. Population: Town status was granted to Voskresensk in 1938.-Notable athletes:...
1990, Kholmov tied 3rd-6th on 6.5/11 behind winners Igor Naumkin and Valery Neverov. He had an excellent 2nd place at Moscow 1991 with 8.5/11 behind winner Mikhail Ivanov. At age 72, Kholmov tied for 1st-3rd at Moscow 1997 on 7.5/11 with Igor Zaitsev
Igor Zaitsev
Igor Arkadyevich Zaitsev is a Russian grandmaster of chess. He is of Armenian descent.-Early life and family:He was born in Ramenskoe, a town outside Moscow...
and Andrey Rychagov.
World Senior Champion
Kholmov tied for the title in the 2000 World Senior ChampionshipWorld Senior Chess Championship
The World Senior Chess Championship is an annual chess tournament established in 1991 by FIDE, the World Chess Federation.Participants must have reached 60 years old on 1 January of the year of the event...
at Rowy
Rowy
Rowy may refer to the following places in Poland:*Rowy, Łódź Voivodeship *Rowy, Pomeranian Voivodeship *Rowy, Podlaskie Voivodeship *Rowy, Garwolin County in Masovian Voivodeship...
, on 8/11 with Mark Taimanov
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov is a leading Soviet and Russian chess player and concert pianist.-Chess:He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top...
, Jānis Klovāns
Janis Klovans
Jānis Klovāns was a Latvian chess Grandmaster. He was a career officer in the Soviet Army.Jānis Klovāns won the Latvian Championship nine times , and participated in several Soviet Championships...
, and Alexander Chernikov. Then he placed 2nd-4th in the same event the next year at Arco, again with 8/11, tied with Klovans and Vladimir Karasev, behind champion Vladimir Bukal Sr.
Kholmov played competitive chess virtually right up until his death in early 2006 at age 80. He appeared in a Senior event in Dresden, 50 years after he won a tournament there.
Legacy
Kholmov was known as "The Central Defender" in Soviet chess circles, because of his great skill at repulsing enemy aggression. But he was also a very dangerous attacker, as most of the leading Soviet players learned. During his peak years, Kholmov was difficult to defeat, even at the top levels. He qualified for 16 Soviet finals between 1949 and 1972, with an aggregate well over 50 per cent. He scored wins over World Champions Petrosian, Spassky, Fischer, and Garry KasparovGarry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
. Kholmov was comfortable as White with both 1.e4 and 1.d4, could play excellent classical chess with both colours, and had an occasional fondness for unusual openings, with which he had good success, as the game selection shows.
Kholmov had winning scores against David Bronstein
David Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
(+4 =12 −2), Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
(+3 =8 −1), Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ; pronounced in the original Russian as "karch NOY"; Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, born March 23, 1931 is a professional chess player, author and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the tournament circuit...
(+3 =15 −2), Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
(+1 =0 −0), Laszlo Szabo
László Szabó (chess player)
László Szabó was a prominent Hungarian Grandmaster of chess.Born in Budapest, he burst onto the international chess scene in 1935, at the unusually young age of 18...
(+3 =10 −1), Borislav Ivkov
Borislav Ivkov
Borislav Ivkov is a Serbian chess Grandmaster. He was the first ever World Junior Champion in 1951. He won the Yugoslav Championship in 1958 , 1963 and 1972. He was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal tournaments, in 1967, 1970, 1973, and 1979...
(+1 =2 −0), Alexander Tolush
Alexander Tolush
Alexander Kazimirovich Tolush was a Soviet Russian chess grandmaster. He was one of Boris Spassky's mentors. Tolush was born and died in Saint Petersburg...
(+2 =2 −1), Igor Bondarevsky
Igor Bondarevsky
Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky was a Soviet Russian chess Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess, an International Arbiter, trainer, and chess author...
(+2 =2 −0), Evgeni Vasiukov
Evgeni Vasiukov
Evgeni Andreyevich Vasiukov is a Russian chess Grandmaster. During his career, he won the Championship of Moscow on six occasions and scored many victories in international tournaments, such as Belgrade Open 1961, Moscow International 1961, East Berlin 1962, and Manila 1974...
(+11 =9 −5), Andor Lilienthal
Andor Lilienthal
Andor Arnoldovich Lilienthal was a Hungarian and Soviet chess Grandmaster. In his long career, he played against ten male and female world champions, beating Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, and Vera Menchik...
(+1 =3 −0), Nikolai Krogius
Nikolai Krogius
Nikolai Vladimirovich Krogius is a Russian Chess Grandmaster, International Arbiter , psychologist, chess coach, chess administrator, and author. He won several tournament titles at Sochi and in eastern European events, and appeared in seven Soviet finals from 1958–1971...
(+2 =6 −0), Leonid Shamkovich
Leonid Shamkovich
Leonid Aleksandrovich Shamkovich was a chess Grandmaster, and chess writer.He was born in a Jewish family in Rostov-on-Don in Russia...
(+4 =6 −2), Ilya Kan
Ilya Kan
Ilya Abramovich Kan , was a Russian / Soviet International Master of Chess.He played ten times in Soviet Championships. In 1929, he took 3rd in Odessa . In 1931, he took 7th in Moscow . In 1933, he took 9th in Leningrad...
(+1 =2 −0), Semyon Furman
Semyon Furman
Semyon Abramovich Furman was a Soviet chess International Grandmaster and trainer. He is best known for developing Anatoly Karpov into a World Chess Champion, but was a formidable player himself, as well as a successful coach for several other world-class players...
(+4 =5 −3), and Lev Aronin
Lev Aronin
Lev Aronin was a Soviet International Master of chess. He was a meteorologist by profession.- Early years :...
(+2 =1 −1).
Kholmov was level with Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
(+1 =0 −1), Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
(+0 =2 −0), Paul Keres
Paul Keres
Paul Keres , was an Estonian chess grandmaster, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s....
(+1 =7 −1), Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik"...
(+1 =1 −1), Mark Taimanov
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov is a leading Soviet and Russian chess player and concert pianist.-Chess:He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top...
(+6 =10 −6), Alexander Kotov
Alexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the...
(+2 =2 −2), Wolfgang Uhlmann
Wolfgang Uhlmann
Wolfgang Uhlmann is a prominent German International Grandmaster of chess. Despite being a dedicated professional chess player, and undoubtedly the GDR's most successful ever, he has also had a career in accountancy.-Chess career:...
(+1 =3 −1), Vladas Mikėnas
Vladas Mikenas
Vladas Mikėnas was a Lithuanian International Master of chess, an Honorary Grandmaster, and a journalist.- Early life :Vladas Mikėnas played for Lithuania at first board in five official and one unofficial Chess Olympiads....
(+0 =5 −0), and Alexander Konstantinopolsky
Alexander Konstantinopolsky
Alexander Markovich Konstantinopolsky was a Soviet International Master of chess, chess coach and trainer, and a chess author. He was a five-time Kiev champion, and trained the world title challenger David Bronstein from a young age...
(+1 =2 −1).
He had minus scores against Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...
(+0 =9 −3), Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
(+0 =1 −3), Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky was a Soviet–Jewish chess Grandmaster.-Early career:Boleslavsky taught himself chess at age 9...
(+0 =2 −4), Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Lvovich Averbakh is a Soviet and Russian chess player and author. He is currently the oldest living chess grandmaster.-Life and career:...
(+1 =7 −2), Alexei Suetin (+6 =15 −7), Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
(+0 =17 −6), Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
(+1 =9 −5), Efim Geller
Efim Geller
Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions...
(+3 =17 −6), Luděk Pachman
Ludek Pachman
Luděk Pachman was a Czechoslovak-German chess grandmaster, chess writer, and political activist. In 1972, after being imprisoned and tortured almost to death by the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, he was allowed to emigrate to West Germany...
(+0 =2 −1), Leonid Stein
Leonid Stein
Leonid Zakharovich Stein was a Soviet chess Grandmaster from Ukraine. He won three USSR Chess Championships in the 1960s , and was among the world's top ten players during that era.- Early life :...
(+2 =11 −3) and Eduard Gufeld
Eduard Gufeld
Eduard Yefimovich Gufeld was a Soviet International Grandmaster of chess, and a chess author.By the late 1950s he established himself as one of the strongest players in the world...
(+2 =7 −3).
Chessmetrics
Chessmetrics
Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system.-Implementation:...
.com ranks his peak performance as 2760 at Leningrad 1967, and his peak rating at 2736 in May 1961, #8 in the world. There is a file of 2,265 of his games at chessgames.com.
Notable chess games
- Efim Geller vs Ratmir Kholmov, USSR Championship, Moscow 1949, Ruy Lopez, Bird's Defence (C61), 0-1 Two rising stars battle for position late in the tournament, and Kholmov scores with an offbeat variation, unleashing a lovely rook sacrifice in the endgame.
- Tigran Petrosian vs Ratmir Kholmov, USSR Championship, Moscow 1957, Blumenfeld Gambit (E10), 0-1 Another unusual defensive choice takes off the future World Champion.
- Viktor Korchnoi vs Ratmir Kholmov, USSR Championship semi-final, Tashkent 1958, Modern Benoni Defence (A64), 0-1 The Modern Benoni was just coming into fashion around this time.
- Ratmir Kholmov vs Paul Keres, USSR Championship, Tbilisi 1959, Sicilian Defence, Rossolimo Variation (B30), 1-0 It's highly unusual to see the powerful tactician Keres get knocked off so quickly.
- Ratmir Kholmov vs Laszlo Szabo, Kecskemet 1962, Slav Defence, Czech Variation (D19), 1-0 Kholmov overcomes the nine-time Hungarian champion.
- Ratmir Kholmov vs Leonid Stein, USSR Championship, Yerevan 1962, Sicilian Defence, Moscow Variation (B52), 1-0 Kholmov again scores with this unusual Sicilian line against one of his great rivals from this period.
- Mark Taimanov vs Ratmir Kholmov, USSR Championship, Leningrad 1963, Nimzo-Indian Defence, Rubinstein / Gligoric Variation (E54), 0-1 Taimanov was a recognized expert on both sides of this defence.
- Ratmir Kholmov vs Boris Spassky, USSR Zonal Tournament, Moscow 1964, Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation (B84), 1-0 Spassky was the tournament winner and a future World Champion.
- Ratmir Kholmov vs David Bronstein, USSR Championship, Kiev 1964-65, Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation (B99), 1-0 Kholmov outplays the creative attacker Bronstein for one of his most memorable victories.
- Robert Fischer vs Ratmir Kholmov, Havana 1965, Ruy Lopez, Closed / Chigorin Variation (C98), 0-1 Fischer lost exceptionally rarely on the White side of the Ruy Lopez, so this win was quite an achievement.
- Ratmir Kholmov vs Garry Kasparov, USSR Championship Qualifying Tournament, Daugavpils 1978, Caro-Kann Defence, Classical Variation (B18), 1-0 Kasparov, just 15 at the time, was the tournament winner and a future World Champion.