"Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you." - Arnold Palmer

Sunday 25 December 2011

GM Vitaly Tseshkovsky - In Memoriam


Legendary Russian Grandmaster Vitaly Tseshkovsky passed away on 24th December in Krasnodar. He attended the Final of Krasnodar Krai Rapid Cup and became ill during the first round.





Vitaly Valerievich Tseshkovsky 

(September 25, 1944 – December 24, 2011)
(Russian: Виталий Валерьевич Цешковский)  

was a Russian chess Grandmaster and a former champion of the USSR.
Tseshkovsky (Cieszkowski) was born in Omsk into a Polish family (his noble ancestors lived in Volhynia).
He was awarded the International Master title in 1973 and became an International Grandmaster in 1975.
His best tournament victories include first at Leipzig 1975, Dubna 1976, Yerevan 1980, Banja Luka 1981, Sochi 1981 and Minsk 1982. He was co-winner of the 1978 Soviet Championship (with Mikhail Tal) and winner of the 1986 Championship.  
He has beaten some world champions: Vasily Smyslov at the Moscow Spartakiad 1974, Tal at Sochi 1970, and a young Garry Kasparov at the 1978 Soviet Championship. 
Tseshkovsky himself almost qualified for the World Championship candidates matches when he finished fourth in the 1976 Manila Interzonal, one place lower than was needed to progress to the next stage. 
At the 27th Chess Olympiad in 1986, he scored 2½/5 as the second reserve board to help the USSR team win the gold medal.
His 6/9 result in St Petersburg, 2004 qualified him to play in the Russian Championship final later in the year, alongside Russia's seven top players and five other qualifiers. In 2010, he tied for 2nd-4th with Algimantas Butnorius and Nikolai Pushkov in the European Seniors’ Rapid Championship.

Throughout his career, Tseshkovsky has been 1.e4 player. With Black he has played the Ruy Lopez, Sicilian Defence, Pirc and Modern Defence against 1.e4, and against 1.d4 he has most often played the Grünfeld Defence and Benko Gambit.

In the July 2010 FIDE list, Tseshkovsky had an ELO rating of 2564.
He passed away on 24 December 2011.


I would like to present you the mastery of Vitaly Tseshkovsky. 
You will see three of his best games he had ever played (based on the ChessBase 11).






 




R.I.P.



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