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Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) Polugaevsky Tournament 1994 (Read 7458 times)
JonathanB
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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #19 - 05/29/20 at 23:28:50
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Oh yes. Good point.

He actually used to teach a Salsa class at one point apparently.

So Chris Ward is currently dance-chess world champion until anybody suggests otherwise.
  

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Stigma
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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #18 - 05/29/20 at 20:34:19
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JonathanB wrote on 05/29/20 at 19:48:56:
I would imagine, best dancer chessplayer is very much a funniest German/tallest dwarf kind of competition

Grin

Seriously though, I have seen Chris Ward connected to dancing several times. His bio on the main ChessPublishing site includes this:

Quote:
Salsa King

Indeed not perhaps your stereotypical chess player, he can often be seen strutting his stuff in London's Salsa dancing clubs and likes to keep fit through a variety of sports.


So look no further than right here on ChessPublishing for a strong contender for best dancer chessplayer!
  

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JonathanB
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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #17 - 05/29/20 at 19:48:56
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an ordinary chessplayer wrote on 05/29/20 at 19:19:08:
JonathanB wrote on 05/27/20 at 22:11:17:
Perhaps I was distracted by a photograph on the facing page that shows the FFL that is Gata Kamsky with a tango dancer

How much of a dancer is Kamsky? Apparently "legend" is a specific term in ballroom dancing.


Hard to tell from the one photograph but to my inexpert eye he doesn't look massively comfortable.

I would imagine, best dancer chessplayer is very much a funniest German/tallest dwarf kind of competition
  

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an ordinary chessplayer
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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #16 - 05/29/20 at 19:19:08
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JonathanB wrote on 05/27/20 at 22:11:17:
Perhaps I was distracted by a photograph on the facing page that shows the FFL that is Gata Kamsky with a tango dancer

How much of a dancer is Kamsky? Apparently "legend" is a specific term in ballroom dancing.
  
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JonathanB
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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #15 - 05/28/20 at 17:26:19
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an ordinary chessplayer wrote on 05/28/20 at 00:32:26:
JonathanB, what is FFL? I can't guess, and none of these are likely:
https://www.acronymfinder.com/FFL.html


Sorry - yes, explanation as given above.  I didn’t spell it out because I thought that anyone who didn’t know the context might be offended.

Ironic that he was hardly a legend before (famous - yes. To chess fans of my age anyway) but has now become one. Albeit probably not in the way he imagined
  

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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #14 - 05/28/20 at 15:13:37
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JonathanB wrote on 05/27/20 at 08:05:59:
LeeRoth wrote on 05/26/20 at 21:52:40:
Apparently, Polugaevsky selected Buenos Aires. 

Kasparov accepted his invitation and then cancelled, but I thought that it was Polugaevsky himself whom Salov replaced?


Oh you could be right - might well have misread the intro.  I’ll check later.

But why Buenos Aires? I know he’d played matches there before but it seems a tad random.
On the other hand if someone offered me a chess tournament in my name I’d probably not ask for it to be held just around the corner from my house either.


I don´t know if I can put a link here, but the exlanation of polu´s choice is here chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=83483 he was impressed by his fans from Argentina
  
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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #13 - 05/28/20 at 00:40:39
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FFL = "Famous F***ing Legend," as Kamsky referred to himself (in a bit of a meltdown during the Banter Blitz Cup).
  
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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #12 - 05/28/20 at 00:32:26
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JonathanB, what is FFL? I can't guess, and none of these are likely:
https://www.acronymfinder.com/FFL.html
  
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JonathanB
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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #11 - 05/27/20 at 22:11:17
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LeeRoth wrote on 05/26/20 at 21:52:40:
Apparently, Polugaevsky selected Buenos Aires. 

Kasparov accepted his invitation and then cancelled, but I thought that it was Polugaevsky himself whom Salov replaced?


This is correct.  Somehow my brain edited out the first sentence of a paragraph that switched to discussing Polugaevsky having to drop out having previously been talking about Kasparov   Perhaps I was distracted by a photograph on the facing page that shows the FFL that is Gaya Kamsky with a tango dancer
  

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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #10 - 05/27/20 at 20:40:21
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Well, I suppose you could also ask it in reverse.  Why not Buenos Aires?  According to the tourney book, it’s one of the great chess cities of the world and Polu had warm memories of playing there. 

The tourney book makes it sound as if Buenos Aires was Polu’s first and only choice, and Van Oosterman just agreed.  I haven’t seen anything that suggests otherwise, but could easily imagine it.  “Look, Lev, I know you wanted London or Rome, but the hall in Buenos Aires is available and we can get it at half price.  Shirov, Larsen and Najdorf are already there ...”
Wink
  
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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #9 - 05/27/20 at 08:05:59
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LeeRoth wrote on 05/26/20 at 21:52:40:
Apparently, Polugaevsky selected Buenos Aires. 

Kasparov accepted his invitation and then cancelled, but I thought that it was Polugaevsky himself whom Salov replaced?


Oh you could be right - might well have misread the intro.  I’ll check later.

But why Buenos Aires? I know he’d played matches there before but it seems a tad random.
On the other hand if someone offered me a chess tournament in my name I’d probably not ask for it to be held just around the corner from my house either.
  

www.streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.com  "I don't call you f**k face" - GM Nigel Short.
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LeeRoth
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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #8 - 05/26/20 at 21:52:40
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Apparently, Polugaevsky selected Buenos Aires. 

Kasparov accepted his invitation and then cancelled, but I thought that it was Polugaevsky himself whom Salov replaced?
  
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JonathanB
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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #7 - 05/26/20 at 19:58:53
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kylemeister wrote on 03/13/20 at 21:38:28:
I have a recollection that Ljubojevic prepared and attempted to play 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cd 4. Qxd4, only to be told it was against the rules.


Funnily enough that's how I remembered it too, but it was Salov who tried to play 4 Qxd4 against Ljubo in round 6.

What I didn't know until I got the tournament book recently was that Salov - who won the event - was a late replacement for Kasparov who dropped out.  Also, Polugaevsky apparently considered trying to get Fischer to step in for Gazza at one point.

The tournament book confirms the event was not rated.

Piket analyses most of the games in the book. He was also on the appeals committee.

The tournament organiser was Joop van Oosterom and Piket used to work for him iirc.  That's probably why he was so involved.

The really interesting question given van Oosterom seems to have been the primary organiser with some French involvement - and Polugaevsky being resident in Paris at the end of his life - why did they hold the tournament in Buenos Aires?

I've not seen any explanation in the book yet, but there's a lengthy introduction so maybe there's something in there.
  

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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #6 - 05/24/20 at 20:42:21
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Probably the biggest surprise was the participation of Karpov, who was generally still clear #2 in the world but surely no top-level Sicilian player anymore! A chess-wise mediocre and disappointing result for Karpov was predictable. Obviously Karpov and Polugaevsky were on really got terms since the 1970s when Polu helped Karpov preparing for Fischer. So Karpov really played this tournament only for the honour of his friend.

Top-seeded Karpov achieved 6.5/14 points, place #5 out of 8 players and, if rated, a performance of -120 !
A nice example for true friendship in chess. Or at least thankful loyality.

tracke  Smiley
  
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Re: Polugaevsky Tournament 1994
Reply #5 - 05/24/20 at 04:38:05
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The tournament was a Sicilian thematic in honor of Polugaevsky’s 60th birthday.  I don’t think it was rated.  Polugaevsky himself did not play as he was recovering from an operation.  He was to pass away the next year from a brain tumor.
  
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