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Artur Yusupov
He recently gave an interview, excerpts from which appear at the chess24 site. Thirty years ago he was arguably the third strongest grandmaster after Karpov and Kasparov.
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/yus...areer-and-more
On the 1991 Candidates Match he won against Vassily Ivanchuk:
I played an interesting match after I’d moved to Germany – against Ivanchuk. I’m afraid, though, that I spoiled Vassily’s sporting biography, because he had good chances in that cycle. And he played the match better than I did, and he was a better chess player at that moment. But it turned out my experience paid off, and besides that some events took place, which, at first glance, had nothing to do with either of us – the coup in Moscow. Naturally I was worried about what was happening in Russia, and my preparation for the games was interrupted by flicking between CNN and the BBC and studying what was going on at that moment in Moscow. It’s not a nice feeling when there are tanks in a city and I was worried for the people there, my friends, my relatives. Anything could have happened. In the match I was losing by a narrow margin, but at some point I managed to buckle down and even seize the initiative. Before the decisive eighth game (I was a point behind) the situation had clarified. The coup was over and it became clear that everything was going to be ok. Three people had died, but given the tanks on the street that was some kind of “study variation”. Minimal losses, and there just couldn’t have been any less… That gave me such an emotional boost that I hit top form. In two days I played that eighth game and then two tiebreak games – probably the best games of my life.
Candidates 1991
Brussels, Round 8
Yusupov, Artur - Ivanchuk, Vassily
E43 Nimzo-Indian, Fischer Variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nf3 O-O 7.O-O c5 8.Bd2 cxd4 9.exd4 d5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Rc1 Nc6 12.Re1 Rc8 13.Re4 Nce7 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Rh4 g6 16.Rxc8 Qxc8 17.Ng5 Be7 18.Qg4 Ba6 19.Qh3 h5 20.Rxh5 gxh5 21.Bh7+ Kg7 22.Qxh5 Nf6 23.Nxe6+ fxe6 24.Qh6+ Kh8 25.Bf5+ Kg8 26.Qg5+ Kh8 27.Qh4+ Kg8 28.Qg5+ Kh8 29.Qh4+ Kg8 30.Qg3+ Kh8 31.Qh3+ Kg7 32.Qg3+ Kh8 33.Qh3+ Kg7 34.Bxe6 Qxe6 35.Qxe6 Bd8 36.g4 Re8 37.Qf5 Bc4 38.g5 1-0
[From chessgames.com – It looks like there is something fishy about the end. Why did Yusupov repeat his moves? Was he testing Ivanchuk’s willingness to draw under perpetual check? Time trouble?
- No, according to Inside Chess he was gaining time on the clock as he tried to work out variations after the obvious sacrifice Bxe6. He was definitely not waiting to see if Ivanchuk would go for a perpetual check--he obviously would! This was the final (8th) game of the quarterfinals match and Ivanchuk was ahead by a point, so Yusupov had to go for a win. This was probably the reason Yusupov brought out his rook into the center of the board so early.
The first playoff game the next day was the famous game where Yusupov sacrificed half his pieces as black to mate, a game, which I think readers voted the best game of the first 64 issues of the Informant (1964-95).]
Candidates 1991
Brussels, Round 9
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Yusupov, Artur
E67 King’s Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Var.
1.c4 e5 2.g3 d6 3.Bg2 g6 4.d4 Nd7 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Nf3 Ngf6 7.O-O O-O 8.Qc2 Re8 9.Rd1 c6 10.b3 Qe7 11.Ba3 e4 12.Ng5 e3 13.f4 Nf8 14.b4 Bf5 15.Qb3 h6 16.Nf3 Ng4 17.b5 g5 18.bxc6 bxc6 19.Ne5 gxf4 20.Nxc6 Qg5 21.Bxd6 Ng6 22.Nd5 Qh5 23.h4 Nxh4 24.gxh4 Qxh4 25.Nde7+ Kh8 26.Nxf5 Qh2+ 27.Kf1 Re6 28.Qb7 Rg6 29.Qxa8+ Kh7 30.Qg8+ Kxg8 31.Nce7+ Kh7 32.Nxg6 fxg6 33.Nxg7 Nf2 34.Bxf4 Qxf4 35.Ne6 Qh2 36.Rdb1 Nh3 37.Rb7+ Kg8 38.Rb8+ Qxb8 39.Bxh3 Qg3 0-1
It took such cataclysms in the world to get me into optimal condition! I can’t play better chess than I played in the final games of that match. I never won anything in the “Informants”, except perhaps when featuring on the losing side, but for my games there I took first and second place. Some kind of extraordinary rise! The gift of a lifetime, a sign that this was the way I was capable, at times, of playing chess. Of course something like that could only happen on a single lucky day for me. A momentous creative surge! And so I managed to win that tiebreak, but I still feel somewhat uncomfortable towards Vassily even now, because it wasn’t entirely fair on him. Some outside forces intervened and he was simply unlucky. I repeat, at that point he was a better chess player than I was…
He recently gave an interview, excerpts from which appear at the chess24 site. Thirty years ago he was arguably the third strongest grandmaster after Karpov and Kasparov.
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/yus...areer-and-more
On the 1991 Candidates Match he won against Vassily Ivanchuk:
I played an interesting match after I’d moved to Germany – against Ivanchuk. I’m afraid, though, that I spoiled Vassily’s sporting biography, because he had good chances in that cycle. And he played the match better than I did, and he was a better chess player at that moment. But it turned out my experience paid off, and besides that some events took place, which, at first glance, had nothing to do with either of us – the coup in Moscow. Naturally I was worried about what was happening in Russia, and my preparation for the games was interrupted by flicking between CNN and the BBC and studying what was going on at that moment in Moscow. It’s not a nice feeling when there are tanks in a city and I was worried for the people there, my friends, my relatives. Anything could have happened. In the match I was losing by a narrow margin, but at some point I managed to buckle down and even seize the initiative. Before the decisive eighth game (I was a point behind) the situation had clarified. The coup was over and it became clear that everything was going to be ok. Three people had died, but given the tanks on the street that was some kind of “study variation”. Minimal losses, and there just couldn’t have been any less… That gave me such an emotional boost that I hit top form. In two days I played that eighth game and then two tiebreak games – probably the best games of my life.
Candidates 1991
Brussels, Round 8
Yusupov, Artur - Ivanchuk, Vassily
E43 Nimzo-Indian, Fischer Variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nf3 O-O 7.O-O c5 8.Bd2 cxd4 9.exd4 d5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Rc1 Nc6 12.Re1 Rc8 13.Re4 Nce7 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Rh4 g6 16.Rxc8 Qxc8 17.Ng5 Be7 18.Qg4 Ba6 19.Qh3 h5 20.Rxh5 gxh5 21.Bh7+ Kg7 22.Qxh5 Nf6 23.Nxe6+ fxe6 24.Qh6+ Kh8 25.Bf5+ Kg8 26.Qg5+ Kh8 27.Qh4+ Kg8 28.Qg5+ Kh8 29.Qh4+ Kg8 30.Qg3+ Kh8 31.Qh3+ Kg7 32.Qg3+ Kh8 33.Qh3+ Kg7 34.Bxe6 Qxe6 35.Qxe6 Bd8 36.g4 Re8 37.Qf5 Bc4 38.g5 1-0
[From chessgames.com – It looks like there is something fishy about the end. Why did Yusupov repeat his moves? Was he testing Ivanchuk’s willingness to draw under perpetual check? Time trouble?
- No, according to Inside Chess he was gaining time on the clock as he tried to work out variations after the obvious sacrifice Bxe6. He was definitely not waiting to see if Ivanchuk would go for a perpetual check--he obviously would! This was the final (8th) game of the quarterfinals match and Ivanchuk was ahead by a point, so Yusupov had to go for a win. This was probably the reason Yusupov brought out his rook into the center of the board so early.
The first playoff game the next day was the famous game where Yusupov sacrificed half his pieces as black to mate, a game, which I think readers voted the best game of the first 64 issues of the Informant (1964-95).]
Candidates 1991
Brussels, Round 9
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Yusupov, Artur
E67 King’s Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Var.
1.c4 e5 2.g3 d6 3.Bg2 g6 4.d4 Nd7 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Nf3 Ngf6 7.O-O O-O 8.Qc2 Re8 9.Rd1 c6 10.b3 Qe7 11.Ba3 e4 12.Ng5 e3 13.f4 Nf8 14.b4 Bf5 15.Qb3 h6 16.Nf3 Ng4 17.b5 g5 18.bxc6 bxc6 19.Ne5 gxf4 20.Nxc6 Qg5 21.Bxd6 Ng6 22.Nd5 Qh5 23.h4 Nxh4 24.gxh4 Qxh4 25.Nde7+ Kh8 26.Nxf5 Qh2+ 27.Kf1 Re6 28.Qb7 Rg6 29.Qxa8+ Kh7 30.Qg8+ Kxg8 31.Nce7+ Kh7 32.Nxg6 fxg6 33.Nxg7 Nf2 34.Bxf4 Qxf4 35.Ne6 Qh2 36.Rdb1 Nh3 37.Rb7+ Kg8 38.Rb8+ Qxb8 39.Bxh3 Qg3 0-1
It took such cataclysms in the world to get me into optimal condition! I can’t play better chess than I played in the final games of that match. I never won anything in the “Informants”, except perhaps when featuring on the losing side, but for my games there I took first and second place. Some kind of extraordinary rise! The gift of a lifetime, a sign that this was the way I was capable, at times, of playing chess. Of course something like that could only happen on a single lucky day for me. A momentous creative surge! And so I managed to win that tiebreak, but I still feel somewhat uncomfortable towards Vassily even now, because it wasn’t entirely fair on him. Some outside forces intervened and he was simply unlucky. I repeat, at that point he was a better chess player than I was…