Igor Ivanov

Igor Ivanov who has lived in Utah for the past few years passed away today. He was a great champion.

Truely a sum greater than his parts.

He was a GM, ranked about 50th in the nation, beat Karpov and had draws with Kasparov and Spassky.

Not to speak ill of the departed,but I know exactly what it will say on his death certificate as cause: cirrhosis of liver,acute alcohol poisoning.When he was playing in NYC,I never saw him anything but drunk. Didn't seem to affect his play much,tho.

Originally posted by sundown316
Not to speak ill of the departed,but I know exactly what it will say on his death certificate as cause: cirrhosis of liver,acute alcohol poisoning.When he was playing in NYC,I never saw him anything but drunk. Didn't seem to affect his play much,tho.

Shut up, cancer, you're pathetic for speaking ill of someone the day after their passing, especially when your comments are completely ignorant.

Originally posted by alexstclaire
Shut up, cancer, you're pathetic for speaking ill of someone the day after their passing, especially when your comments are completely ignorant.

Listen,jackass: Ivanov's drinking was the stuff of legend in chess circles. He put Tal,Blackburne, Tchigorin, and Mason to shame in that department. Many was the time I saw him practically had to be carried out of the room after a game,he was that wasted. So take your ignorant tag,assclown,and stick it where the sun don't shine.

Originally posted by sundown316
Listen,jackass: Ivanov's drinking was the stuff of legend in chess circles. He put Tal,Blackburne, Tchigorin, and Mason to shame in that department. Many was the time I saw him practically had to be carried out of the room after a game,he was that wasted. So take your ignorant tag,assclown,and stick it where the sun don't shine.

LOL, blast! 😛

Originally posted by sundown316
Listen,jackass: Ivanov's drinking was the stuff of legend in chess circles. He put Tal,Blackburne, Tchigorin, and Mason to shame in that department. Many was the time I saw him practically had to be carried out of the room after a game,he was that wasted. So take your ignorant tag,assclown,and stick it where the sun don't shine.

You're ignorant!! You're info was wrong not mine!! Can it be any more clear!! I never said he didn't drink or can't you read, I said he didn't die from it, you illiterate fool!!

i am sorry to hear of ivan's passing.

Originally posted by alexstclaire
You're ignorant!! You're info was wrong not mine!! Can it be any more clear!! I never said he didn't drink or can't you read, I said he didn't die from it, you illiterate fool!!

Calm down, puppy,before you spurt. You just said he died,I just supplied the relevant details. I am willing to back it up with a little $$,that is if your parents will let you raid your piggybank.

Nothing like a celebrity chess death to bring people together, is there?

Originally posted by Amaurote
Nothing like a celebrity chess death to bring people together, is there?

Wet behind the ears juveniles,like Alec whats-his-name,who think they know everything,are very annoying to people like me,who do!😀😉

Originally posted by sundown316
Not to speak ill of the departed,but I know exactly what it will say on his death certificate as cause: cirrhosis of liver,acute alcohol poisoning.When he was playing in NYC,I never saw him anything but drunk. Didn't seem to affect his play much,tho.

Try cancer. The USCF's official press release says so.

RIP Igor.

Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
Try cancer. The USCF's official press release says so.

RIP Igor.

BigDoggProblem,your word is good enough for me. I'm not a member of USCF anymore,so I don't get CL.

Russian defector and chess grandmaster dies

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


SALT LAKE CITY -- Igor Ivanov, a Russian defector who became Utah's greatest chess player, has died in St. George of cancer. He was 58.

Despite his illness, Ivanov tied for first place in the Utah Open tournament just three weeks ago.

He was Utah's only grandmaster, the highest rank in chess.

In 1979, he defeated then-reigning world champion Anatoly Karpov.

"He was our state champion," said John Coffey, vice president of the Utah Chess Association. "He was our best player by far. Nobody else even came close. Serious chess players like having someone of that caliber. He'll be missed for the great player that he was."

First place outright was denied him at the Utah Open in Salt Lake City on Oct. 29 when he became too ill to play one of his games. He was diagnosed with cancer in March.

At the time of his death, the U.S. Chess Federation ranked Ivanov 50th in the country.

Ivanov started playing chess at age five in his hometown of St. Petersburg (then Leningrad), Russia. Though he was taught the game by his mother, he wrote on his Web site: "It was not long before I could beat her."

Ironically, Ivanov's mother didn't see much of a future in chess and asked her son to focus on music, hoping he would become a concert pianist.

"He often wondered how far he might have gone had he devoted more time to the game in his youth," family spokesman Alan Crooks said. In addition to beating Karpov, Ivanov earned draws against former world champion Boris Spassky and later world champion Garry Kasparov.

This led to Ivanov's invitation to the Soviet chess team, giving him the opportunity to travel abroad and, in 1980, defect during a stop in Canada. Ivanov lived in Utah since 1991. He took first place in the Utah Open in 1991, 1992, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005, the only years he entered.

In August, Ivanov participated in the U.S. Open in Phoenix.

Playing against some of the toughest competition in the country, Ivanov won five games, drew two and requested half-point byes for health reasons in the first and final rounds to finish the tournament undefeated and tied for eighth place.

From Daily Herald