Igor Ivanov, former Canadian champion, has died at age 58 in St. George Utah, of cancer.
Ivanov's arrival in 1980 took chess in Canada to a new level. Only one player - Kevin Spraggett - was able to meet that level. Both advanced closer to the world championship than any Canadian before or since.
Soon after his emigration to Canada, Ivanov was spending most of his time in the United States, where he pursued the annual Grand Prix. Back in the Soviet Union, tournaments had progressed at the stately pace of one game per day, over the course of a week or two. The Grand Prix was composed largely of tournaments held over a single weekend, with two and sometimes three games per day. To win the Grand Prix, which Ivanov did nine times, a record likely never to be beaten, required playing chess about 50 weekends a year. He often used the bus to get from one Grand Prix event to the next.
By 1989, Ivanov had made the relationship official, changing his chess affiliation to the United States, although he retained Canadian citizenship. He played in a few U.S. Championships, but with less success than he found in Canada. Ivanov was no exception to the rule that players reach their peak strength around age 35; playing hundreds of tournament games a year could hardly help.
At the 2002 U.S. Championship in Seattle, Ivanov was walking with a limp, due in part to arthritis and the dampness of February weather. Even so, he scored a meritorious 5.5 points out of 9. He was still the quiet and kindly man I had met two decades earlier; gone were most of the exuberances of youth: He had given up vodka, but he still had a wicked sense of humour.
In this game from New York, 1989, Ivanov had Black against grandmaster Alexander Chernin.
1.c2-c4 c7-c5 2.g2-g3 g7-g6 3.Bf1-g2 Bf8-g7 4.Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 5.Nb1-c3 d7-d6 6.O-O Bc8-d7
The most popular moves are the unsurprising 6. ... Ng8-f6 or e7-e5, but the most successful are the text and 6. ... Ng8-h6.
7.b2-b3 Ng8-f6 8.Bc1-b2 O-O 9.e2-e3 Ra8-b8 10.d2-d4 Bd7-g4 11.Qd1-d2 e7-e5 12.d4-d5 Nc6-e7 13.Nf3-e1 Bg4-d7
The Bishop has taken two extra moves to reach this square, but White's dark-square Bishop is not well placed.
14.e3-e4 Nf6-h5 15.Ne1-c2
A strange square for the Knight. A better view of the centre and kingside is afforded from d3.
15. ... f7-f5 16.e4xf5 g6xf5 17.a2-a4 a7-a6 18.Qd2-e2 Qd8-e8 19.a4-a5 Qe8-g6 20.b3-b4
White continues to push on the queenside; any time over the past four moves, he might have tried f2-f4.
20. ... c5xb4 21.Nc2xb4 Rb8-c8 22.Nc3-a4
The consistent continuation. 22.Ra1-b1 is slow, and 22.f2-f4 exposes White to a withering attack. For example: 22. ... e5xf4! 23.Qe2xe7 Bg7-d4+ 24.Kg1-h1 Rf8-e8 25.Qe7-h4 (not Qe7xd7 Nh5xg3+ 26.h2xg3 Qg6-h6+) Rc8xc4 26.Nb4-a2 Bd4-f6 wins.
22. ... Bd7xa4 23.Ra1xa4 Diagram: 23. ... f5-f4!
A typical attacking move that cuts across the defensive possibilities of White's pieces.
24.Bg2-e4
A natural and aggressive move. White could try 24.Nb4-d3. Now for the first shocker.
24. ... f4-f3!!
Suddenly the light-square Bishop is cut off from defence of the King.
25.Qe2-d3 Qg6-g4 26.Kg1-h1 Rf8-f4! 27.Be4xh7+ Kg8-h8 28.Nb4-c2 e5-e4 29.Bb2xg7+?
With so many black pieces buzzing around the King, White underestimates the key idea, which is to bring yet another piece into the fray. After 29.Qd3-b3! Bg7xb2 30.Nc2-e3! Qg4-d7 31.Qb3xb2+ Kh8xh7 32.g3xf4 Qd7xa4 33.Qb2xb7 Qa4-e8 34.Ne3-f5 Rc8xc4 35.Nf5xd6 Qe8-g6 36.Qb7xe7+ Nh5-g7 37.Qe7-h4+ is drawn.
29. ... Kh8xh7 30.Qd3-c3 Ne7-f5! 31.Rf1-g1 Nh5xg3+
After 32.f2xg3 f3-f2 33.Rg1-f1 Rf4-f3, the threat of Nf5xg3+ and Qg4-h3 mate is too strong. White resigned.
In 1988, the world championship of rapid chess took place in Mazatlan, Mexico. Ivanov, who was there to compete, decided to swim to one of the islands, over two kilometres distant. The swim was uneventful, but as soon as he put his feet down on the rocks, he felt excruciating pain in his foot and up his leg. Seeing nobody on the island, he turned around and swam back despite the pain. It turned out that he had stepped on an echinoderm, a sea urchin. He was like that, seeking adventure.