The Russian-Latvian grandmaster, former world senior champion, chess opening
revolutionary, writer, trainer, and outspoken GM passed away at the age of 71.
Evgeny Sveshnikov in 2016. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.
PeterDoggers
Updated: Aug 18, 2021, 1
51|Chess Event Coverage
The Russian-Latvian grandmaster, former world senior champion, chess opening revolutionary, writer, trainer, and outspoken GM Evgeny Sveshnikov has passed away at the age of 71.
PeterDoggers
Updated: Aug 18, 2021, 1
51|Chess Event Coverage
The Russian-Latvian grandmaster, former world senior champion, chess opening revolutionary, writer, trainer, and outspoken GM Evgeny Sveshnikov has passed away at the age of 71.
His death came only a few months after his mother had died at the age of 97.
Evgeny Ellinovich Sveshnikov was born February 11, 1950, in Chelyabinsk, just east of the Ural mountains in Russia, then the Soviet Union. As a talented youngster, his early chess education included several lectures by the famous Soviet trainer Igor Bondarevsky. His main coach, who became a good friend, was Leonid Gratvol, himself a candidate master.
Sveshnikov's first major chess tournament was at age 17, when he played in the 35th edition of the Soviet Championship, held in December 1967 in Tbilisi, Georgia. For the first time, the tournament was held in the format of a 13-round Swiss with 130 players.
Just like for later GMs such as Lev Alburt, Boris Gulko, Genna Sosonko, and Rafael Vaganian, it was Sveshnikov's debut in the Soviet Championship as he scored a decent 7/13. GMs Lev Polugaevsky and Mikhail Tal shared first place.
Sveshnikov graduated in 1972 and began working as a research engineer in the Department of Internal Combustion Engines. In a ChessPro article dedicated to his 60th birthday, he was quoted about that period (translation by Chessbase):
"I worked in the laboratory for 10-12 hours a day. Under laboratory conditions, by changing the shape of the combustion chamber and increasing the degree of boost, we managed to get 100 horsepower from a single-cylinder engine of a tank. At the time the maximum was 45-50 hp. Today, tanks have 12 cylinders and 1,200 horsepower. All my life I will remember the saying of my boss, Dr. Gennady Borisovich Dragunov: 'The laws of physics are there to be circumvented by other laws.' At the time I decided to become a chess professional, I had almost finished my Ph.D. thesis on the shape of the combustion chamber."
Finally able to focus on chess, Sveshnikov won the All-Union Tournaments of Young Masters in 1973 and 1976 and also the All-Union Tournament in 1975. He tied for first place with GM Sergey Makarychev in the 1983 Moscow Championship.
He came in first or shared first in a number of international tournaments, such as Plovdiv (1973), Decin (1974), Sochi (1976, 1985), Le Havre (1977), Marina Romeo (1977), Cienfuegos (1979), and Hastings (1984/1985).
In team competitions, he scored several successes. In 1976, he was part of the gold medal-winning Soviet team at the World Student Team Championship. He then won both team and individual gold at the 1977 European Team Championship, the same year when FIDE awarded his GM title.
Evgeny Ellinovich Sveshnikov was born February 11, 1950, in Chelyabinsk, just east of the Ural mountains in Russia, then the Soviet Union. As a talented youngster, his early chess education included several lectures by the famous Soviet trainer Igor Bondarevsky. His main coach, who became a good friend, was Leonid Gratvol, himself a candidate master.
Sveshnikov's first major chess tournament was at age 17, when he played in the 35th edition of the Soviet Championship, held in December 1967 in Tbilisi, Georgia. For the first time, the tournament was held in the format of a 13-round Swiss with 130 players.
Just like for later GMs such as Lev Alburt, Boris Gulko, Genna Sosonko, and Rafael Vaganian, it was Sveshnikov's debut in the Soviet Championship as he scored a decent 7/13. GMs Lev Polugaevsky and Mikhail Tal shared first place.
Sveshnikov graduated in 1972 and began working as a research engineer in the Department of Internal Combustion Engines. In a ChessPro article dedicated to his 60th birthday, he was quoted about that period (translation by Chessbase):
"I worked in the laboratory for 10-12 hours a day. Under laboratory conditions, by changing the shape of the combustion chamber and increasing the degree of boost, we managed to get 100 horsepower from a single-cylinder engine of a tank. At the time the maximum was 45-50 hp. Today, tanks have 12 cylinders and 1,200 horsepower. All my life I will remember the saying of my boss, Dr. Gennady Borisovich Dragunov: 'The laws of physics are there to be circumvented by other laws.' At the time I decided to become a chess professional, I had almost finished my Ph.D. thesis on the shape of the combustion chamber."
Finally able to focus on chess, Sveshnikov won the All-Union Tournaments of Young Masters in 1973 and 1976 and also the All-Union Tournament in 1975. He tied for first place with GM Sergey Makarychev in the 1983 Moscow Championship.
He came in first or shared first in a number of international tournaments, such as Plovdiv (1973), Decin (1974), Sochi (1976, 1985), Le Havre (1977), Marina Romeo (1977), Cienfuegos (1979), and Hastings (1984/1985).
In team competitions, he scored several successes. In 1976, he was part of the gold medal-winning Soviet team at the World Student Team Championship. He then won both team and individual gold at the 1977 European Team Championship, the same year when FIDE awarded his GM title.
Evgeny Sveshnikov in 1981.
Photo: Rob Bogaerts/Anefo/Dutch National Archives.
In the 1990s, Sveshnikov moved to Riga and started representing Latvia in Chess Olympiads. He played for that country in 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010. He also played for Latvia in the European Team Championship in 2011.
In 2016, 40 years after he had done so as a student, Sveshnikov won team gold for Russia, this time in the 65+ section of the World Senior Team Championship. A year later, he also clinched the 65+ World Senior Chess Championship.
Sveshnikov also worked as a coach. For 10 years, he was one of the leaders of the All-Russian Chess School and later he headed many regional schools, in particular in the city of Satka, close to Chelyabinsk.
During his career, Sveshnikov beat several strong grandmasters, including GM Judit Polgar, GM Viktor Korchnoi, GM Nigel Short, and GM Mark Taimanov as well as drew with (future) world champions Viswanathan Anand, Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Vasily Smyslov, and Mikhail Tal. Here's a selection:
In the 1990s, Sveshnikov moved to Riga and started representing Latvia in Chess Olympiads. He played for that country in 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010. He also played for Latvia in the European Team Championship in 2011.
In 2016, 40 years after he had done so as a student, Sveshnikov won team gold for Russia, this time in the 65+ section of the World Senior Team Championship. A year later, he also clinched the 65+ World Senior Chess Championship.
Sveshnikov also worked as a coach. For 10 years, he was one of the leaders of the All-Russian Chess School and later he headed many regional schools, in particular in the city of Satka, close to Chelyabinsk.
During his career, Sveshnikov beat several strong grandmasters, including GM Judit Polgar, GM Viktor Korchnoi, GM Nigel Short, and GM Mark Taimanov as well as drew with (future) world champions Viswanathan Anand, Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Vasily Smyslov, and Mikhail Tal. Here's a selection:
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