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Seirawan 
 
Yasser Seirawan
Number of games in database: 1,141
Years covered: 1973 to 2012
Last FIDE rating: 2620
Highest rating achieved in database: 2658
Overall record: +327 -221 =489 (55.1%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      104 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 King's Indian (67) 
    E77 E73 E70 E81 E75
 English, 1 c4 e5 (48) 
    A28 A25 A20 A21 A29
 English (48) 
    A10 A13 A19 A16 A18
 Queen's Indian (47) 
    E12 E15 E17 E19
 English, 1 c4 c5 (46) 
    A36 A30 A34 A31
 Nimzo Indian (39) 
    E32 E39 E34 E38 E33
With the Black pieces:
 Caro-Kann (150) 
    B12 B18 B19 B10 B14
 French Defense (53) 
    C16 C10 C14 C00 C03
 Queen's Pawn Game (50) 
    A41 E00 A46 D02 A40
 Queen's Indian (49) 
    E12 E15 E16 E17 E14
 Queen's Gambit Accepted (44) 
    D21 D20 D26 D27 D24
 Pirc (26) 
    B08 B09 B07
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Seirawan vs Timman, 1990 1-0
   Seirawan vs Karpov, 1982 1-0
   V Kovacevic vs Seirawan, 1980 0-1
   Seirawan vs Z Kozul, 1991 1-0
   Seirawan vs B Kogan, 1986 1-0
   Seirawan vs Kasparov, 1986 1-0
   Seirawan vs Ivanchuk, 1997 1-0
   Seirawan vs A Kuligowski, 1983 1-0
   Hort vs Seirawan, 1981 0-1
   Seirawan vs Xu Jun, 1988 1/2-1/2

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Seirawan's Excellent Games by Everett
   Seirawan! by larrewl
   Melody Amber 1992 (Rapid DRR) by amadeus
   Melody Amber 1993 by amadeus
   Reykjavik World Cup 1991 by suenteus po 147
   Skelleftea World Cup 1989 by suenteus po 147
   Wijk aan Zee Hoogovens 1986 by suenteus po 147
   Phillips & Drew Kings Chess Tournament 1982 by keypusher
   Wijk aan Zee Hoogovens 1992 by suenteus po 147
   Wijk aan Zee 1983 by EmperorAtahualpa

GAMES ANNOTATED BY SEIRAWAN: [what is this?]
   Kramnik vs Deep Fritz, 2006

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Yasser Seirawan
Search Google for Yasser Seirawan
FIDE player card for Yasser Seirawan


YASSER SEIRAWAN
(born Mar-24-1960) Syria (citizen of United States of America)

[what is this?]
Yasser Seirawan was born in Damascus, Syria. When he was seven, his family emigrated to Seattle, Washington, USA, where he learned the game at the age of twelve. He is a four-time United States Champion 1981 http://graeme.50webs.com/chesschamp... 1986 http://graeme.50webs.com/chesschamp... 1989 http://graeme.50webs.com/chesschamp... and 2000 http://graeme.50webs.com/chesschamp... , won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1979, and played in the Candidates events at Montpelier 1985 and Saint John 1988. In July, 1990, he was #10 on the FIDE rating list at 2635.

Seirawan is a notable author of instructional and historical works, and was the editor of Inside Chess.

In 2001 he released a plan to reunite the chess world; Ruslan Ponomariov had gained the FIDE championship in 2003, while Vladimir Kramnik had beaten Garry Kasparov for the Braingames title. Seirawan's plan called for one match between Ruslan Ponomariov and Garry Kasparov, and another between Vladimir Kramnik and the winner of the 2002 Einstein tournament in Dortmund, Peter Leko. The winners of these matches would then play each other to become undisputed World Champion. This plan became the Prague Agreement and was signed by all parties in question. Four years later the unification process was completed, although not under the exact terms dictated by the agreement.

Interview with IM Ana Matnadze on 28 October 2011: http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp...

Wikipedia article: Yasser Seirawan


 page 1 of 46; games 1-25 of 1,141  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves Year Event/LocaleOpening
1. Seirawan vs Suttles 0-125 1973 USA opA42 Modern Defense, Averbakh System
2. A Mengarini vs Seirawan 0-123 1974 US opB07 Pirc
3. Seirawan vs Bisguier 1-053 1975 It (open)A28 English
4. Benko vs Seirawan 1-056 1975 US OpenB08 Pirc, Classical
5. J Peters vs Seirawan  ½-½47 1975 US OpenB19 Caro-Kann, Classical
6. D Saxton vs Seirawan  0-166 1975 US OpenB06 Robatsch
7. F Street vs Seirawan ½-½25 1976 Lone PineA42 Modern Defense, Averbakh System
8. Rohde vs Seirawan 1-058 1976 USAB01 Scandinavian
9. Seirawan vs K Regan  1-046 1976 USA-ch U18A10 English
10. D Fritzinger vs Seirawan  ½-½29 1976 Lone PineB12 Caro-Kann Defense
11. Seirawan vs M Diesen  ½-½23 1976 USA-ch U18A28 English
12. Seirawan vs R Henley 1-041 1976 USA-ch U18A28 English
13. Seirawan vs D Berry  0-139 1976 Lone PineA07 King's Indian Attack
14. DeFirmian vs Seirawan  ½-½28 1976 Lone PineA41 Queen's Pawn Game (with ...d6)
15. Miles vs Seirawan 1-060 1976 Lone PineB08 Pirc, Classical
16. Fedorowicz vs Seirawan  1-029 1976 USA-ch U18B96 Sicilian, Najdorf
17. Seirawan vs J Meyers ½-½100 1976 Lone PineA34 English, Symmetrical
18. DeFirmian vs Seirawan 1-044 1976 USA-ch U18B01 Scandinavian
19. Seirawan vs J D Tisdall 1-033 1976 USA-ch U18A13 English
20. Seirawan vs C Barnes  0-130 1976 Lone PineA25 English
21. N Weinstein vs Seirawan  1-066 1977 Lone PineC10 French
22. Seirawan vs R Costigan  1-029 1977 openA28 English
23. Seirawan vs K Frey Beckman 1-065 1977 Lone PineA13 English
24. Seirawan vs L Shamkovich  ½-½50 1977 Lone PineA36 English
25. M Diesen vs Seirawan  ½-½18 1977 Lone PineD48 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran
 page 1 of 46; games 1-25 of 1,141  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Seirawan wins | Seirawan loses  
 

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 18 OF 18 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Mar-16-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: Got a simul with Yaz? cool. Play something fun. You're going to get killed anyway, so get a signed scoresheet with some fireworks. Play the Kings Gambit. Or, the Cochrane Gambit, or maybe a Benko Gambit. Go for it, baby.
Mar-16-12  Nova: Thanks for the advice!

There are 30 people signed up, so not too many. I would love to win (but a draw would surely suffice!) My favorite openings as black are the sicilian and king's indian defense, so if he plays d4 or e4 I will steer towards them. I like the idea of keeping things complicated, and I will surely notate so that you may see the game!

Mar-16-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  spawn2: <Nova>

King Indian and Sicilian eh..then its going to be a slambang affair. Fastest with the mostest as one chess columnist always writes..go for mate!

Will wait for the pgn. May the Force be with you..

Mar-18-12  pazzed paun: no criticism of Yasser but if he has not played in a tournament in 8 years joins the U.S. championship at the last minute, finishes with a less than 50% score, and is STILL ranked in the top ten of U.S. players is it just impossible to be a 2650+ player in the USA?
Mar-18-12  Nova: <spawn2>

Here is the pgn. A tough game, but ended once Yasser trapped my queen!

[Event "Yasser Simul"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.03.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Seirawan, Yasser"]
[Black "Nova"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E84"]

E84: King's Indian: Samisch Panno: 7 Nge2 a6 8 Qd2 Rb8

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Nge2 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Qd2 Rb8 9. Rc1 e5 10. d5 Ne7 11. Ng3 c6 12. Be2 Nd7 13. O-O c5 14. a3 f5 15. exf5 Nxf5 16. Nxf5 Rxf5 17. b4 b6 18. Rb1 Qh4 19. g4 Rf7 20. Bg5! Qh3 21. Rf2 Rf4 (my desperation) 22. Bf1 Rxg4+ 23. fxg4 Qxg4+ 24. Rg2 Qf5 25. Bd3 1-0

Not exactly my best game, but a nice queen trap that I will never forget! Is there a way to submit this game to the database?

Mar-18-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  wordfunph: <Nova> try PGN Upload Utility.
Mar-19-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  spawn2: <Nova>

Thank you very much. Will go through the game later. As expected, he opened with d4. How did GM Yasser fare against the 30 participants?

Mar-19-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: <Nova> 20. B-g5...a Bishop attacking a Queen on the diagonal *behind* the Queen often leads to horrible things (as if I would have fared better).

Nice effort. Did he sign your scoresheet? Yaz was always a cool dude. He beat Karpov, back when nobody beat Karpov except for Kasparov.

Mar-20-12  Nova: <spawn2> Yasser had 20 Wins 5 Draws 1 Loss. Funnily enough, the draws and his loss came near the end of the simul, I guess when he became very tired from all the games (if only I lasted till move 40!)

<HeMateMe> 20. Bg5! Came out of the blue. What amazes me is that he saw this when he played g4 the move before. I had never seen such a trap and thus was caught off guard.

I must say that Yasser was a super cool guy. He is the strongest player I have ever met, and was so cheerful and enthusiastic about the game of chess that he took a picture with me, signed my chess board, and even talked about chess books and funny anecdotes. Definitely an event I will never forget!

Mar-20-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  spawn2: <Nova>

<Definitely an event I will never forget!>

I know how you feel: )

Being able to play with your chess idol, whether win, lose or draw is an experience you will carry with you until old age.

Mar-20-12  Everett: Yasser is going to be in the US Championship again! Yay!
Mar-24-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  brankat: Happy Birthday Yasser!
Mar-24-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  twinlark: Still one of the best. Happy birthday.
Mar-24-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  talisman: happy birthday to one of the good guys...anyway to get your "no regrets" book?
Mar-24-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  wordfunph: "It was only after about eighty games that I discovered castling."

- GM Yasser Seirawan

Yasser, happy birthday!

Mar-24-12  Penguincw: Happy Birthday Yasser Seirawan. Keep playing chess!
Mar-24-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  Check It Out: Great to see you're back playing! Happy birthday, come visit Seattle again soon.
Mar-24-12  laurenttizano: 2040 huh! March 24,2012 the calendar must
not be joking?!
Happy B-day Sir Yasser!!!!!!!
Mar-24-12  Nova: Happy Birthday Yasser! It was an honor to play you in the simul!
Mar-24-12  kamalakanta: Happy Brithday, Yasser!

Kamalakanta

May-20-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  ketchuplover: username Linden Lyons on redhotpawn.com is starting a quarterly periodical on Seirawan chess.

To subscribe,contribute article(s),or contribute game score(s) email llyons.hawkelephant@gmail.com

Jun-10-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  ketchuplover: Good luck vs. Karpov!
Jun-11-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  whiteshark: < Quote of the Day

< Bobby is the most misunderstood, misquoted celebrity walK the face of this earth. >>

-- Seirawan

any updates?

Oct-18-12  ughaibu: How much colloquial russian did Seirawan understand in 1983?
Nov-30-12
Premium Chessgames Member
  norami: I just got the book on Anand's games by Anand and Nunn and at the end it quoted Seirawan from his book saying that he thought Anand was the 4th best player of all time. It didn't say who his top three were, but if you put Anand at #4 you must favor recent players, in which case the logical choices for the top three would be Kasparov, Fischer, Karpov, probably in that order. Anyone know?
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