1/27/2020 Lev Polugaevsky - Wikipedia

Lev Polugaevsky
Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky (Russian: Лев Абрамович Полугаевский, IPA: [pəlʊɡɐˈjefskʲɪj]; 20
Lev Polugaevsky
November 1934 – 30 August 1995) was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International
Лев Абрамович Полугаевский
Grandmaster by FIDE in 1962 and was a frequent contender for the World Championship, although he
never achieved that title. He was one of the strongest players in the world from the early 1960s until the
late 1980s, as well as a distinguished author and opening theorist whose contributions in this field remain
important to the present day.

Contents
Career
Author
Books by Polugaevsky Lev Polugaevsky in 1972
Death Full name Lev Abramovich
Legacy Polugaevsky

Illustrative games Country Soviet Union →

Russia
References
Born 20 November 1934
External links
Mogilev, Soviet Union
Died 30 August 1995
Career (aged 60)
Paris, France
Lev Polugaevsky was born in Mogilev, in the Soviet Union (now Mahilyow, Belarus). Unlike many of his Title Grandmaster (1962)
grandmaster colleagues, his development in chess came slowly, and he did not receive the Soviet master
Peak Elo 2645 (July 1972)
title until he was an adult. His progress then accelerated rapidly, however, and by the late 1960s he was
one of the world's strongest players, as was recognized by his participation in the famous "USSR vs. Rest rating
of the World" match of 1970. In this match he occupied fourth board, losing one game to Vlastimil Hort
and drawing his other three. Polugaevsky won at Mar del Plata in 1962 and 1971. He won or tied in the USSR Chess Championship three times.
He played regularly in qualifying events to select a challenger for the world championship, qualifying for the Candidates matches on four
occasions. His greatest advancement toward the title came during the 1977 and 1980 cycles, when he defeated Henrique Mecking and former
world champion Mikhail Tal, respectively, in quarterfinal Candidates matches, before succumbing both times in the semifinals to the eventual
challenger, Viktor Korchnoi.[1]

Polugaevsky played on the Soviet national team in seven Chess Olympiads, in 1966, 1968, 1970, 1978, 1980, 1982 and 1984. His team won the
gold medal on each occasion, except in 1978, when USSR finished second to Hungary.

Author
In addition to his over-the-board and theoretical successes, Polugaevsky was a highly respected chess author. His 1977 book Grandmaster
Preparation (now out of print) is a classic that contains notable insights into his own thinking as he crafted the ultra sharp eponymous
variation in the main line (6 Bg5 e6, 7 f4 b4) Najdorf Sicilian Defence. He went about his writing with the same meticulous care as
characterized his analyses, and was contemptuous of the many less thorough authors who sought to profit from the post-Fischer chess boom
with shoddy work, memorably commenting that "Ninety per cent of all chess books you can open at page one and then immediately close
again for ever. Sometimes you see books that have been written in one month. I don't like that. You should take at least two years for a book,
or not do it [at] all."[2]

Books by Polugaevsky
Queen's Gambit: Orthodox Defence
Grandmaster Preparation, ISBN 0-08-024098-4
Grandmaster Performance, ISBN 0-08-029749-8
Grandmaster Achievement
Art of Defence in Chess
The Sicilian Labyrinth
Sicilian Love – Lev Polugaevsky Chess Tournament 1994 (Buenos Aires), with Jeroen Piket, the New in Chess Editorial team, 1995, 240
p., ISBN 90-71689-99-9

Death
To celebrate Polugaevsky's 60th birthday a Sicilian Defense themed tournament was held in recognition of his contributions to the opening.
The event was funded by Luis Rentero and took place in Buenos Aires in October 1994. Polugaevsky was too ill to participate. He died of a
brain tumour in 1995.

Legacy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Polugaevsky 1/2
1/27/2020 Lev Polugaevsky - Wikipedia
Polugaevsky was a noted theorist whose work on a number of openings has stood the test of time. He is best remembered for a variation of the
Sicilian Defense that bears his name: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 b5!? This Polugaevsky Variation of the
Najdorf Sicilian leads to extraordinarily complicated tactical play on which the last word has still not been said, although theory as of 2005
seems to give White the upper hand.

Illustrative games
This game from the 1969 Soviet championship against Tal would seem at first glance to be an example of Polugaevsky beating "The Magician
from Riga"[3] at his own sacrificial game. More subtly, however, it also reveals the depth of his opening knowledge and preparation.
Polugaevsky had worked with Boris Spassky as the latter was preparing for his successful 1969 world championship match with Tigran
Petrosian, and the two had made a searching analysis of the opening used in this game. Polugaevsky remarked later that the position as late as
move 25 had appeared on the board during his analysis the morning of the game.[4][5][6]

Polugaevsky–Tal, Queen's Gambit Declined

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.d4 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 0-0 11.Bc4 Nc6 12.0-0 b6
13.Rad1 Bb7 14.Rfe1 Na5 15.Bd3 Rc8 16.d5 exd5 17.e5 Nc4 18.Qf4 Nb2 19.Bxh7+ Kxh7 20.Ng5+ Kg6 21.h4 Rc4 22.h5+ Kh6
23.Nxf7+ Kh7 24.Qf5+ Kg8 25.e6 Qf6 26.Qxf6 gxf6 27.Rd2 Rc6 28.Rxb2 Re8 29.Nh6+ Kh7 30.Nf5 Rexe6 31.Rxe6 Rxe6 32.Rc2 Rc6
33.Re2 Bc8 34.Re7+ Kh8 35.Nh4 f5 36.Ng6+ Kg8 37.Rxa7 1–0

References
1. PETERS, JACK (1995-09-10). "Chess : Polugaevsky Dies" (http://
articles.latimes.com/1995-09-10/news/mn-44299_1_chess-openin
gs). Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035 (https://www.worldcat.or
g/issn/0458-3035). Retrieved 2016-04-05.
2. Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth, eds. (1992). The Oxford
Companion To Chess (https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompanion
t0000hoop). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. p. 314 (https://a
rchive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000hoop/page/314). ISBN 0-
19-866164-9.
Bibliography
3. Polugaevsky, Lev (1981). Grandmaster Preparation (1st
translated ed.). Oxford, UK: Pergammon Press. p. 219. ISBN 0-
08-024098-4.
4. Polugaevsky, Grandmaster Performance, p. 5, Pergamon Press
1984
5. Garry Kasparov, My Great Predecessors v3, p. 89, Everyman
Chess 2004
6. Polugaevsky-Tal (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gi
d=1111871)

Golombek, Harry (ed.) (1977). Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess. Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-53146-1.
Polugayevsky, Lev (1991). The Sicilian Labyrinth Volume 2. Pergamon Russian Chess Series. Pergamon Chess. ISBN 0-08-037796-3.

External links
Lev Polugaevsky (https://www.365chess.com/players/Lev_Polugaevsky) games at 365Chess.com
Lev Polugaevsky (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=13741) player profile and games at Chessgames.com
Lev Polugaevsky (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/1r7zr77g.html) team chess record at Olimpbase.org
Lev Polugaevsky (http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/player/Polugaevsky,%20Lev.html) FIDE rating history at Olimpbase.org
GM Genna Sosonko's reminiscences on the Polugaevsky-Tal game (http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/chess2/diary_6.htm)
Tribute to Lev Polugaevsky - TWIC 51 (http://theweekinchess.com/html/twic51.html)

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