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Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Happy birthday to chess genius, concert pianist Mark Taimanov

Chess blog for latest news and trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2011



Hello everyone,

We greet the talented concert pianist and chess grandmaster Mark Taimanov on his 85th birthday. He has opening variations named after him in the Sicilian Defence, Benoni Defence and Nimzo-Indian Defence. He has written books on both of his named variations, as
well as an autobiographical best games collection.

He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurichin 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top ten players. He played in 23 USSR Chess Championships (a record equalled by Efim Geller), tying for first place twice. In 1952 he lost the playoff match to Mikhail Botvinnik, while in 1956, he beat Yuri Averbakh and Boris Spassky for the title.

You can find a very nice article on www.chess-news.ru.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Also see her personal blog at

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