Victor Korchnoi

One of the saddest things for me during 2012 was to learn of the grave illness of Victor Korchnoi ChessBase.com – Chess News – Korchnoi in a clinic recovering from a stroke. I hope he recovers, and that (even more inconceivably) he hasn't played his last game, however unlikely that now seems.

Victor means a lot to me:

Firstly, of course, I beat him on 9th December 2010, in a simul, in what was probably my most memorable game. (http://tinyurl.com/cr8d4zs ), which I annotated in Chess magazine in February 2011. The joy of victory is as deep today as it was when I realised, a few moves before the end, that victory would be mine.

Secondly, he was a hero during my teenage years. I didn't have a great understanding, and more information of his plight came out afterwards, but seeing his titanic, if eventually all unsuccessful, struggles against Karpov, where key parts of my post Fischer formative years. If you add on the pressure of him fighting the Russian establishment, defecting, with pressure and pain in his wife and son, then the fact that he was the world no 2 for so many years is even more remarkable.

Thirdly, hearing him in Mallorca in 2004 explain why he plays chess…to keep alive….and how he survived the siege of Leningrad as a child, whilst taking relatives to the morgue in the depths of winter, is something which will be with me for life. When you know what he has been through, you forgive his more or less ever grumpy nature and irascible temperament.

Finally, I will always cherish that I visited the Gibraltar tournament in January 2011 when he beat the teenage Fabuana Caruana, now the world #5, but even at that time in the world elite Fabiano Caruana vs Viktor Korchnoi (2011) ; I stood literally next to the board (well placed so i could also watch my friend Nigel Short outplay Pia Cramling Pia Cramling vs Nigel Short (2011)) for much of the game, and could tell an upset was likely; and then I listened to every word of the post game commentary Victor gave in which he explained his overwhelming surprise of the passivity Fabuana showed.

Get well, Victor.

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