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.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
Also see her personal blog at
Happy Birthday to this very talented man!
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