The Chess Mind

Those who have been around US chess for a while will be very familiar with the peripatetic (this word should be updated for the automobile age: any suggestions?) Igor Ivanov. He has won the yearly Grand Prix nine times and in 1982 nearly qualified for the Candidates'. Despite his IM title, no one's fooled: he has long been a GM in everyone's eyes but FIDE's.

But no longer. According to IM John Donaldson's newsletter (item 3), FIDE has awarded the 58-year old American the GM title.

Plenty of his games can be found in the databases, and a few of Ivanov's games, including his win over then-world champion Anatoly Karpov, can be found on his website (linked above). A game many of you probably haven't seen, however, can be seen here.

As some of you already know, GM Igor Ivanov died this past Thursday (November 17) of esophageal cancer. He was a very strong player in his heyday, whose chess resume includes a victory over then-world champion Anatoly Karpov in 1979, and nearly qualifying for the candidates' matches in 1982. A mainstay of the American chess scene (even during those periods when he officially lived in Canada), he was a nine-time winner of the USCF Grand Prix.

He will be missed.

A short biography of GM Igor Ivanov, by IM John Donaldson, can be found here.