onegoodmove

Igor Ivanov, if you were to ask, will tell you that he was born in Russia many years ago. In 1980 at the age of thirty-three he left Russia and moved to America. During the past 20 plus years Igor has lived in Montreal, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Salt Lake his favorite. He has travelled all over the world playing chess in Paris, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, San Sebastian and many other exotic locations, but as Igor will tell you nothing is forever. A few years ago he quit travelling and with his dear wife Elizabeth moved to a lovely small town, Central, 25 miles North of St. George in Utah. Igor loves to play the piano having done so all his life. He occasionally gives recitals at the Tabernacle in St. George. On a recent visit to his home I found him playing the Fantasie Impromptu by Frederick Chopin. One year before leaving Russia Igor played the then World Champion Anatoly Karpov in a tournament in Moskow. Anatoly was World Champion from 1975 to 1985. Karpov's style is best described as positional. His philosophy of chess is clear from his own words, "Let us say the game may be continued in two ways: one of them is a beautiful tactical blow that gives rise to variations that don't yield to precise calculation; the other is clear positional pressure that leads to an endgame with microscopic chances of victory. I would choose the latter without thinking twice. If the opponent offers keen play I don't object; but in such cases I get less satisfaction, even if I win, than from a game conducted according to all the rules of strategy with its ruthless logic." Anatoly has lost very few games in his career but one day in 1979 he lost to Igor. Here is the game for which Igor has provided the annotations.