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Nick DeFirmian
Number of games in database: 1,180
Years covered: 1973 to 2009
Current FIDE rating: 2553
Highest rating achieved in database: 2637
Overall record: +429 -268 =483 (56.8%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (227) 
    B57 B89 B90 B47 B82
 Ruy Lopez (120) 
    C92 C80 C78 C67 C72
 French Defense (67) 
    C19 C11 C10 C12 C18
 Ruy Lopez, Closed (58) 
    C92 C89 C96 C95 C99
 Caro-Kann (50) 
    B17 B19 B16 B15 B18
 Sicilian Najdorf (36) 
    B90 B93 B99 B96 B94
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (194) 
    B90 B92 B99 B93 B50
 Sicilian Najdorf (122) 
    B90 B92 B99 B93 B91
 Modern Benoni (72) 
    A70 A61 A63 A56 A75
 English, 1 c4 c5 (72) 
    A33 A30 A37 A36 A35
 Nimzo Indian (68) 
    E32 E44 E43 E38 E41
 Queen's Pawn Game (65) 
    A46 E10 A45 E00 D01
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   DeFirmian vs P Nikolic, 1985 1-0
   F Hellers vs DeFirmian, 1989 1/2-1/2
   O Bjarnason vs DeFirmian, 2000 0-1
   DeFirmian vs Alburt, 1987 1-0
   DeFirmian vs R Byrne, 1994 1-0

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Intel Rapid Chess Grand Prix 1995 - New York by amadeus
   bktattack's favorite games by bktattack

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NICK DEFIRMIAN
(born Jul-26-1957) United States of America

[what is this?]
Nicholas Ernest DeFirmian was born on the 26th of July 1957 in Fresno, California, USA. Awarded the IM title in 1979 and the GM title in 1985 he was US Champion in 1987 (with Joel Benjamin), 1995 and 1998. He also played on the US Olympiad teams of 1980, 1984 and 1986. He has a physics degree from UC Berkeley. In 1986, he won the World Open and first prize of $21,000, a record prize for a swiss event at the time. He was a founding member of Prochess, a GM advocacy group dedicated to promoting chess in America.

 page 1 of 48; games 1-25 of 1,180  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves Year Event/LocaleOpening
1. S Bjarnason vs DeFirmian  0-156 1973 Bunadarbanka (Iceland)A37 English, Symmetrical
2. DeFirmian vs J L Arnason  0-131 1973 Bunadarbanka (Iceland)C72 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, 5.O-O
3. Larry Evans vs DeFirmian  1-035 1976 Lone Pine (USA)B22 Sicilian, Alapin
4. N Weinstein vs DeFirmian  1-077 1976 Lone Pine (USA)E74 King's Indian, Averbakh, 6...c5
5. DeFirmian vs Silman 0-135 1976 Lone Pine (USA)C92 Ruy Lopez, Closed
6. DeFirmian vs Seirawan  ½-½28 1976 Lone Pine (USA)A41 Queen's Pawn Game (with ...d6)
7. DeFirmian vs Martinovsky  1-051 1976 Lone Pine (USA)C62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense
8. D J Strauss vs DeFirmian 0-118 1976 Lone Pine (USA)B26 Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3
9. B Rogulj vs DeFirmian  1-042 1976 USAB92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation
10. K Spraggett vs DeFirmian 0-137 1976 Can. Open, TorontoB91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (Fianchetto) Variation
11. R Blumenfeld vs DeFirmian  0-141 1976 Lone Pine (USA)B99 Sicilian, Najdorf, 7...Be7 Main line
12. J D Tisdall vs DeFirmian  1-030 1976 USAE97 King's Indian
13. Z Harari vs DeFirmian  1-028 1977 USAA76 Benoni, Classical, 9...Re8
14. DeFirmian vs D Fritzinger  0-139 1977 USAC41 Philidor Defense
15. G Forintos vs DeFirmian  1-028 1978 London (England)E38 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, 4...c5
16. P Macpherson vs DeFirmian  1-050 1978 London (England)A14 English
17. DeFirmian vs R C Balinas  0-136 1978 London (England)C60 Ruy Lopez
18. DeFirmian vs N J Patterson  1-023 1978 London (England)B97 Sicilian, Najdorf
19. Kraidman vs DeFirmian  1-066 1978 London (England)E43 Nimzo-Indian, Fischer Variation
20. G Ligterink vs DeFirmian  ½-½44 1979 Lone Pine (USA)B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation
21. A Lein vs DeFirmian  1-044 1979 Lone Pine (USA)A07 King's Indian Attack
22. G Sigurjonsson vs DeFirmian  ½-½31 1979 Lone Pine (USA)B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation
23. DeFirmian vs M Diesen  ½-½14 1979 Lone Pine (USA)B08 Pirc, Classical
24. DeFirmian vs Hort  0-142 1979 Lone Pine (USA)B47 Sicilian, Taimanov (Bastrikov) Variation
25. Pachman vs DeFirmian  0-155 1979 Lone Pine (USA)E14 Queen's Indian
 page 1 of 48; games 1-25 of 1,180  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | DeFirmian wins | DeFirmian loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Dec-23-05   WTHarvey: Here are some combinations from DeFirmian's OTB wins: http://www.wtharvey.com/defi.html
Jan-11-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  refutor: i don't believe there will ever be another (paper) version of MCO or NCO. things change too quickly
Jan-11-06   Jim Bartle: Maybe so, but no matter what you have on CD or is available on the Internet, it's nice to have the opening reference book on the shelf where you can look something up in a moment.

My only objection to NCO, and MCO as well I assume, is the awkward format, that makes it hard to keep the book open (hands off). I ended up making a copy of NCO, spiral bound, with two pages per copy. It's much easier to use.

Jan-11-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  euripides: <Jim> I think MCO is better presented than NCO, at least in the British editions. The British MCO, which is published by Batsford, is a a well-made paparback that does seem to stay open; it's also nicely printed and laid out. It's actually quite fun to browse through. I've read that its coverage is more limited, but presentation really matters in this case.
Jan-11-06   hintza: <I ended up making a copy of NCO, spiral bound, with two pages per copy. It's much easier to use.> Good idea!
Jun-27-06   WMD: <<Publishers know that indolent and/or time-pressed vendors often make do with quoting from the back-cover blurb. As shown above, the Random House book states:

‘... de Firmian supplements Capablanca’s original lessons with principles mastered by contemporary chess greats such as Fischer, Kasparov, and Nimzovich.’

The presence of Nimzowitsch’s name is inexplicable, but the damning, deceitful word is ‘supplements’. De Firmian has not supplemented Chess Fundamentals. He has destroyed it.>

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

Jul-26-06   BIDMONFA: Nick DeFirmian

DE FIRMIAN, Nick E.
http://www.bidmonfa.com/de_firmian_...
_

Jul-26-06   Castle In The Sky: <WMD> Thanks for the link, it's an excellent site. It looks like DeFirmian really butchered Capablanca's Chess Fundamentals and then demonstrated incredible egotism by putting one of his own games in the book and devoting five pages to it!
Jul-26-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  Caissanist: I think this is probably more about business than egotism. Chess Fundamentals, along with the rest of Capablanca's books, is apparently now in the public domain in much of the world (though not, sadly, the United States). You can even download it off the net (in Spanish). Random House has to "improve" it in order to keep selling it, and this was the result.

I enjoy Winter's site and it's a terrific resource, but he insults everybody.

Jul-26-06   BaranDuin: < Caissanist: I think this is probably more about business than egotism. Chess Fundamentals, along with the rest of Capablanca's books, is apparently now in the public domain in much of the world (though not, sadly, the United States). You can even download it off the net (in Spanish). Random House has to "improve" it in order to keep selling it, and this was the result.

I enjoy Winter's site and it's a terrific resource, but he insults everybody.>

I do not agree. Mr. Winter sees it as his task to point out errors made by others. His claims are always supported by adequate proof.

Feb-14-07   HannibalSchlecter: "If you're a GM you should be able to overpower the IM tactically. The GM will often blow out the IM in this area." --- Nick de Firmian

Interesting quote. I wonder exactly why that is, is it because the GM can calculate deeper? Or the GM has a better sense of danger? Or the GM has accumulated more pattern recognition by studying more? I'm curious if any GM's out there can enlighten us.

Jul-10-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Karpova: <Caissanist: I enjoy Winter's site and it's a terrific resource, but he insults everybody.> No, he doesn't. He's just asking for sources and criticizes if necessary. Some people can't stand criticism but that's their problem. Winter is quite fair.
Jul-10-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  acirce: <Karpova>, <BaranDuin> Exactly so.
Aug-09-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Peligroso Patzer: < "If you're a GM you should be able to overpower the IM tactically. The GM will often blow out the IM in this area." --- Nick de Firmian >

Not to pick on a nice guy (which de Firmian genuinely seems to be) ... but it is a very dangerous thing ever to assume that the outcome of any chess game is a foregone conclusion. Exhibit A:

de Firmian, Nick (2540) - Thingstad, Even (1893), Arctic Chess Challenge (Tromsø), 08/04/2007, Round 1

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bf4 Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Bb4 13.c3 Be7 14.c4 Qc7 15.O-O-O Ngf6 16.Kb1 O-O 17.Ne4 c5 18.Bc3 Rfd8 19.d5 exd5 20.cxd5 Nxe4 21.Qxe4 Nf6 22.Qc4 Qd7 23.Ne5 Qf5+ 24.Ka1 Bd6 25.Rhe1 a6 26.g4 Qxf2 27.Rf1 Qg2 28.g5 b5 29.Qd3 c4 30.Qb1 Qxg5 31.Nxf7 Kxf7 32.Bxf6 gxf6 33.Qh7+ Kf8 34.Rg1 Bg3 35.d6 Qe5 36.Qxh6+ Kf7 37.Qg6+ Ke6 38.Qg4+ Kf7 39.Rxg3 Rxd6 40.Rxd6 Qxd6 41.Qg7+ Ke6 42.Re3+ Kd5 43.a3 Kc5 44.h6 Rd8 45.h7 b4 46.axb4+ Kxb4 47.h8=Q Qd1+ 48.Ka2 Qb3+ 0-1

Aug-09-07   Phoenix: Well, to be fair, Nick's quote refers to "IM players", not "Class A" players.
Aug-13-07   laskereshevsky: the Arctic Chess Challenge definetly isnt the life's best tournament x the GM Nick DeFirmian
Dec-24-07   mistreaver: I think he is GM, but he is also rapid chess expert.
Feb-11-08   DarthStapler: "If you're a GM you should be able to overpower the IM tactically. The GM will often blow out the IM in this area." --- Nick de Firmian

He's obviously never played Nehzmetdinov!

Apr-09-08   pazzed paun: does anybody know about the publication
date of M.C.O. 15? Now that David McKAY
publishing is out of business what will happen to the book?
Jun-06-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  whiteshark: Quote of the Day

<If you're a GM you should be able to overpower the IM tactically. The GM will often blow out the IM in this area.>

-- Nick de Firmian

I think it works with <strategically>, too. So what is the new realization?

Apr-13-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  talisman: this guy deserves a picture.
Apr-21-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Annie K.: He's got some in the Opening Explorer. :)
Jul-26-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  talisman: happy birtday nick!
Jul-26-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Marmot PFL: How come they replaced the players photos with these stupid ads?
Jul-26-09   WhiteRook48: "Thank you for getting this award for me before I'm dead." - Nick DeFirmian
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