May-07-04 | | PizzatheHut: Does anyone know anything about this guy? C'mon Honza, I know you do :) |
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May-07-04
 | | Chessical: Ilivitsky was undoubtedly of Grandmaster strength, but being in the post war Soviet Union denied him the opportunity to obtain the title. He was far stronger than may of the "GM's" of today, but his career was largely confined to internal Soviet events.
Ilivitsky was born in 1921 and died in 1989. He became an IM in 1955 and was twice Russian champion in 1948 and 1949. I do not have a full record of Ilivitsky's accomplishments in tournaments, but from the cross tables in the collected games of other Soviet players I can provide this: First in the 8th Russian championship 1948, 10th in the 16th USSR Championship 1948, first in the 9th Russian championship 1949, 7th in the 17th USSR Championship 1949, 6th in the Russian Championship 1950. 5th in the semi final of the 18th USSR Championship, 14th in the 20th USSR Championship, 15th in the 21st USSR Championship, 4th in the semi-final of the 22nd USSR Championship. Then a sudden epiphany. He was <5th in the 22nd USSR Championship>. This was one of the strongest of all time with: Geller, Smyslov, Botvinnik, Petrosian, Spassky, Keres, Taimanov and Korchnoi (finished second to last) participating. This qualified him for the the <Gothenberg Interzonal in 1955> where he scored +1 including a win over Geller. He later beat the Czech grandmaster Ludek Pachman in a play-off match. He did not make it to the 1955 Soviet Championship coming 9th in the semi-final. Unable to sustain himself at the very top of the Soviet system, he lacked opportunities to play outside and gain a grandmaster title (in a similar way to Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov). I do not have a full record of his tournaments, but later highlights include a 6th at the Tchigorin Memorial in 1965. I believe that died in very poor circumstances, and may have committed suicide. |
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Sep-12-04 | | percyblakeney: Apparently Ilivitsky committed suicide by jumping out of a window: http://www.chesscorner.com/cbreak/c... In the 22nd USSR Championship (in 1955) he finished equal with Botvinnik and Petrosian, and just half a point behind winners Geller and Smyslov. |
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Sep-29-04
 | | Honza Cervenka: I am not sure but I think that Ilivitsky's first name was not Grigory, but Georgy. By the way, there is another file of his games in the database. See Georgi A Ilivitzki |
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Dec-21-07
 | | Peligroso Patzer: Ilivitsky is discussed at pages 296-299 of A. Kotov and M. Yudovich, "The Soviet School of Chess", Dover Publications, (c)1961. The following win against Smyslov from the XXII Soviet Champiuonship is analyzed at pp. 298-299: Smyslov vs Ilivitsky, 1955 |
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Apr-30-09 | | sfm: <Chessical: Ilivitsky was undoubtedly of Grandmaster strength...>
That is a huge understatement! Scan over the list of names he played against, with a score of approx 50%. |
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Apr-30-09 | | Agent Bouncy: Hey, chessgames.com!! Where are the games of those matches against Boleslavsky (1944) and Suetin (1950) mentioned in the short Ilivitsky bio??? |
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Apr-30-09 | | Eastfrisian: Are there any photos from him in the net.? |
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Apr-30-09 | | WhiteRook48: which day exactly did he die? |
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May-07-09 | | shalgo: Ilivitsky's big moment came in 1955.
First, he tied for 3rd in the USSR Championship, behind Smyslov and Geller, but equal with Spassky, Petrosian, and Botvinnik, and ahead of players like Keres, Taimanov, Averbakh, Kotov, and Korchnoi. This championship served as a zonal tournament and Ilivitsky thus qualified for the Interzonal. In the Gothenburg Interzonal, Ilivitsky got off to a quick start, winning his first two games. He continued to play well, and after 16 rounds the leaders were: Bronstein 12/15
Keres 10.5/15
Panno 9.5/16
Ilivitsky 9/15
Szabo 9/16
The top 9 players would end up qualifying for the Candidates' Tournament, and Ilivitsky seemed well on his way to being one of them. But he then lost consecutive games to Najdorf and Guimard, eventually scoring only 1.5/5 in the rest of the tournament and finishing half a point from qualifying for the Candidates' Tournament. |
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Apr-30-10 | | wordfunph: <Chessical: I believe that died in very poor circumstances, and may have committed suicide.> sad fate...he may have turned 89 today. |
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Apr-30-10 | | whiteshark: <Eastfrisian: Are there any photos from him in the net.?> A 1st approach... http://www.perlukafarinn.is/skaksam... :D |
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Apr-25-12 | | Robeson: Ilivitsky is a sad case of what could happen to Soviet chess players. I think that the fact that he never appeared in another Soviet Championship after 1955 and the decrease in his chess activity after the Interzonal indicate either a nervous breakdown or- more likely, imo- some sort of censure that hurt his chess career chances. Both Panno and Pilnik *did* qualify to the Candidates, so the Soviet authorities probably wrote him off. It would be nice if someone like Gennady Sosonko would write on him in his NiC column. He hasn't yet, though, so he may not know much himself. |
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Apr-30-14 | | Nosnibor: Master Ilivitsky you are remembered today 25 years on.Apparently he moved to Sverdlosk,the capital of the Urals where he was a design engineer by profession and was resident there whilst competing in the 1955 USSR Championship.In the Gothenburg Interzonal he was only half a point off the qualifying place but to his credit he scored 50% against the nine qualifiers including a fine win against Geller. R.I.P |
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Apr-30-16 | | TheFocus: Happy birthday, Player of the Day Georgy Ilivitsky. |
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Dec-04-24
 | | Gottschalk: Susan is rejecting games for pure statistical
reasons, because she likes round numbers.
Stop that crazy woman!Put her in a straitjacket! [Event "Tournament (1 Category)"]
[Site "Sverdlovsk (Russia)"]
[Date "1945.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Shofman"]
[Black "Ilivitsky Georgi A (RUS)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B53"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "1945.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. Nc3 Nf6 8.
Bg5 e6 9. O-O Be7 10. Rfe1 O-O 11. Rad1 Qb6 12. Qd3 Rfd8 13. Nd4 Rac8 14. Bc1
Be8 15. Kh1 Qc5 16. f4 Qc4 17. Qf3 b5 18. a3 a5 19. Rd3 b4 20. axb4 axb4 21.
Nd1 Bf8 22. Ne3 Qc7 23. g4 Qb7 24. Ng2 e5 25. fxe5 dxe5 26. Nf5 Bc6 27. Rxd8
Rxd8 28. Bg5 Bxe4 29. Rxe4 Ra8 30. h4 Qxe4 31. Qxe4 Nxe4 32. Be3 Ra2 33. g5
Rxb2 0-1 |
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Dec-04-24 | | stone free or die: <Gottschalk> I doubt very much that <Suzz> is involved at that level. |
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Dec-04-24
 | | Gottschalk: <stone free or die> She doesn't deserve your innocence and sympathy. Definitely. |
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Apr-18-25
 | | FSR: Another sad case of a player who might have gone very far had the Soviets afforded him the opportunities he deserved. |
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