Viktor Korchnoi biography
Viktor Korchnoi, (born March 23, 1931, Leningrad, Russia, U.S.S.R. [now St. Petersburg, Russia]—died June 6, 2016, Wohlen, Switzerland), world chess champion contender who was one of many fiercest rivals within the historical past of chess. During his prime years he was often known as “Viktor the Terrible.”
As a teen, Korchnoi lived by way of the World War II siege of Leningrad (1941–43). He turned a Soviet chess grasp in 1951, a global grasp in 1954, and a global grandmaster in 1956. In the years from 1960 to 1970, he gained 4 U.S.S.R. championships—by far the strongest nationwide chess championships on the earth throughout these years.
In 1974 Korchnoi misplaced a chess match to his countryman Anatoly Karpov to find out Bobby Fischer’s challenger for the world title. When Fischer declined to defend his title, Karpov turned world champion by default. In 1978 he misplaced a protracted, grueling return match with Karpov for the world championship by a rating of 5 wins to six losses. (The match’s 21 attracts didn't depend.) In 1981 he misplaced once more to Karpov.
In 1976 Korchnoi had sought political asylum within the Netherlands; he later turned a citizen of Switzerland. Korchnoi’s spouse and son have been refused exit visas till the mid-Eighties, and his son was jailed shortly earlier than the 1981 match after making an attempt to to migrate.
From 1954 to 1990, Korchnoi performed in about 70 worldwide chess tournaments and gained or shared first place 40 instances. He got here in decrease than third place solely seven instances in his profession. A rarity amongst chess masters, he continued to compete in sturdy grandmaster tournaments effectively previous center age.