1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 Re8 8. Qc2 Be4 9. Qb3 c5 10. Nc3 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Nc6 12. dxc5 Nd4 13. Qa4 Nxf3+ 14. exf3 bxc5 15. Bf4 d5 16. cxd5 exd5 17. Be5 d4 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Ne4 Be7 20. Rac1 Bf8 21. b3 Re5 22. f4 Rd5 23. Qc4 Qd7 24. Qd3 Re8 25. Nd2 Rxe1+ 26. Rxe1 Rd6 27. Re5 Re6 28. Nc4 f6 29. Rxe6 Qxe6 30. f5 Qd5 31. f3 Bd6 32. Kf2 Bc7 33. Qe4 Qxe4 34. fxe4 g6 35. h3 Kg7 36. Nd2 Kf7 37. g4 Bf4 38. Nc4 Ke7 39. Ke2 Kd7 40. fxg6 hxg6 41. h4 Ke6 42. Kd3 f5 43. gxf5+ gxf5 44. a4 Kf6 45. a5 a6 46. Nb6 fxe4+ 47. Kxe4 Bd2 48. Nd7+ Kg6 49. Nxc5 Bxa5 50. Kxd4 Kh5 1/2-1/2

[Event "Empresa A"]
[Site "Montreal CAN"]
[Date "2006.08.12"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gulko,B"]
[Black "Timofeev,Arty"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2570"]
[BlackElo "2657"]
[EventDate "2006.08.08"]
[ECO "D35"]

[Event "Internet"]
[Site ""]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "COMP Deep Shredder, "]
[Black "Gulko, Boris Frantsevich"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "2601"]
[NIC "FR 14.1.6"]
[ECO "C03"]
[PlyCount "49"]

<He's been Czech Champion in 1962 and 1968, was joint US Champion in 1973 and West German Champion in 1981.> !!!

"Boris Gulko, Vladimir Popov, Yuri Felshtinsky and Viktor Kortschnoi [sic], The KGB Plays Chess: The Soviet Secret Police and the Fight for the World Chess Crown (Russell Enterprises, 2010). 176 pp. $19.95.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. –Thoreau

Get busy living, or get busy dying. –The Shawshank Redemption

The KGB Plays Chess is a fascinating volume, focused primarily on the seven years GM Boris Gulko and his wife, WGM Anna Akhsharumova, spent as “Refuseniks” in the USSR. Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov both feature in the story in an integral way, and many other chess players show up in cameo roles. It’s really the Gulko story that’s at the heart of the book, however, so for those who weren’t around when all of this was going on, I’ll offer a brief recap.

Gulko was an extremely strong GM in the late 1970s, twice winning the Soviet Championship, and his wife was one of the strongest women in the country as well. In 1979 they, along with many other Soviet Jews, applied for permission to emigrate to Israel, and they were refused (thus “Refuseniks”). There may have been any number of reasons for the refusal, but among them was the fear that Gulko might help the defector Korchnoi to beat Karpov in a subsequent world championship match.

Korchnoi, who defected in 1976, was persona non grata to the Soviet establishment, while Karpov was the communist government’s golden boy. Karpov’s power and prestige were such that legendary players like Mikhail Tal, Lev Polugaevsky and Efim Geller had to work in his employ to ensure their good standing in the USSR. Worse yet, Korchnoi’s son was basically held hostage in the USSR, and Gulko was trapped as well. Korchnoi himself stated in the Western press that Gulko would help train him, and this worrisome prospect only helped keep Gulko stuck in the USSR. (In fact, Gulko seems to think Korchnoi harmed his family by omission as well as commission. Korchnoi's failure to include the Gulkos' release as one a precondition for making up the Candidates match with Kasparov "prolonged our stay in the USSR for two and a half years".)"

<HeHateMe>,
Gulko gave an excellent interview in the 'New York Magazine', dated December 17, 1984, in which he discusses in detail the "Refusenik" years. In 1980, Gulko and his wife went on a hunger strike to protest their non-participation in tournaments. Gulko was allowed to compete in the 1980 Moscow City Championship, which he won.

When being presented with the trophy at the Central Chess Club, Gulko made a speech stating that Viktor Korchnoi's wife and son be allowed to emigrate from the USSR.

In 1982, the Gulkos demonstrated outside the Interzonal, and were thrown in jail. When Gulko returned to the tournament as a spectator, he was assaulted, and thrown in jail again - "The crowd got to see a more interesting show than inside the hall - a former champion of the Soviet Union being kicked on the street".