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Vladimir Savon

Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

VLADIMIR SAVON (born Sep-26-1940, died Jun-01-2005, 64 years old) Ukraine PRONUNCIATION: [what is this?] Vladimir Andreyevich Savon was born in Chernigov, Ukraine (formerly USSR). He learned chess at the age of 11 from his father. FIDE awarded him the IM title in 1967 and the GM title in 1973. Savon competed in the Soviet championship eleven times, from 1961 (at age 21) to the last championship in 1991. His best result was his first place in the 1971 championship with an undefeated 15/21. Only an international master, he finished 1.5 points ahead of former world champions Mikhail Tal and Vasily Smyslov. Future world champion Anatoly Karpov finished another half point back. Taimanov and Bernard Cafferty, in their book on the Soviet championships, described Savon's win "the least plausible result for decades". One possible factor was the distraction of Fischer's Candidates matches. It was claimed that Fischer's 6–0 wins against Larsen and Taimanov had hypnotised the top Soviet players, who were now following Petrosian's similar demise in the Candidates match that was to finish only days after this tournament. Savon's next-best result in the Soviet championship came the following year, when he tied for 3rd–5th and qualified for the Interzonal. FIDE awarded Savon the International Master title in 1967, and the International Grandmaster title in 1973. In the latter year, he finished eighth out of 18 at the Petropolis Interzonal. He shared the title of Ukrainian Champion with Gennady Kuzmin in 1969. His greatest victory was winning the USSR Championship (1971) with an outstanding score of 15-6, undefeated, ahead of Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Anatoly Karpov and Leonid Stein amongst others. In international competition his best results were 1st at Debrecen 1970, 1st= at Vilnius zonal 1975, 2nd= at Portoroz 1977 and 2nd= at Kiev 1978. He passed away in Kharkiv in 2005 at the age of 64. Wikipedia article: Vladimir Savon Last updated: 2023-09-26 23:55:26

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page 1 of 72; games 1-25 of 1,792  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. V Karlson vs Savon   1-0 28 1958 5th Soviet Team Championship Final B96 Sicilian, Najdorf 2. Savon vs A Volchok 1-0 31 1959 Ukrainian Championship D85 Grunfeld 3. S Kvyatkovsky vs Savon   ½-½ 20 1959 Ukrainian Championship E93 King's Indian, Petrosian System 4. Savon vs J Rotstein   ½-½ 42 1959 Ukrainian Championship C16 French, Winawer 5. V Zurakhov vs Savon   ½-½ 26 1959 Ukrainian Championship B08 Pirc, Classical 6. Savon vs Geller   ½-½ 24 1959 Ukrainian Championship C96 Ruy Lopez, Closed 7. I Pogrebissky vs Savon ½-½ 61 1959 Ukrainian Championship A07 King's Indian Attack 8. Savon vs Y Sakharov   0-1 35 1959 Ukrainian Championship A62 Benoni, Fianchetto Variation 9. Y Polyak vs Savon   0-1 42 1959 Ukrainian Championship A15 English 10. Savon vs B Korsakov   ½-½ 40 1959 Ukrainian Championship E88 King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox, 7.d5 c6 11. A Kostiuchenko vs Savon   ½-½ 15 1959 Ukrainian Championship B23 Sicilian, Closed 12. Savon vs N Levin   1-0 26 1959 Ukrainian Championship A57 Benko Gambit 13. Gufeld vs Savon   ½-½ 14 1959 Ukrainian Championship B95 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6...e6 14. Savon vs M Usachy   1-0 33 1959 Ukrainian Championship C96 Ruy Lopez, Closed 15. M Levin vs Savon 0-1 39 1959 Ukrainian Championship B06 Robatsch 16. Savon vs Stein   ½-½ 13 1959 Ukrainian Championship E53 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 17. Savon vs A Bannik   ½-½ 35 1959 Ukrainian Championship E88 King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox, 7.d5 c6 18. Y Nikolaevsky vs Savon   ½-½ 20 1959 Ukrainian Championship D69 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Classical, 13.de 19. Savon vs A Makarov   ½-½ 23 1959 Ukrainian Championship A84 Dutch 20. A Zamikhovsky vs Savon   1-0 33 1959 Ukrainian Championship E81 King's Indian, Samisch 21. Savon vs V Shiyanovsky   ½-½ 13 1959 Ukrainian Championship A97 Dutch, Ilyin-Genevsky 22. O Feldman vs Savon 0-1 15 1959 Ukrainian Championship A15 English 23. V Chernykh vs Savon   1-0 30 1959 2nd Soviet Spartakiad qual-1 E73 King's Indian 24. Savon vs A Izvozchikov   ½-½ 39 1959 2nd Soviet Spartakiad Final-A B01 Scandinavian 25. A Genin vs Savon   1-0 28 1959 2nd Soviet Spartakiad Final-A B62 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer  page 1 of 72; games 1-25 of 1,792

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> Oct-02-04    Knight13: This Grandmaster plays not bad at all. Oct-02-04    nikolaas: Did you ever see a grandmaster that played bad? (In general, not in particular games. I know Benkö used to blunder away a rook some times.) Oct-02-04    ughaibu: Savon has been Soviet Champion, to say he "plays not bad at all" is a considerable under statement. Oct-02-04    Knight13: <nikolaas: Did you ever see a grandmaster that played bad?> What I mean is that some Grandmasters are considerd Weak and some Grandmasters are considerd as Strong. For example, Bobby Fischer, Mikhail Tal, Karpov. Those are Grandmasters but they play very well, aren't they? There are Strong GMs and Weak GMs. <This Grandmaster plays not bad at all.> I said this because Vladimir A Savon is a very well player in a rating like 2500. No GMs plays that bad. Nov-03-04    Eggman: Savon is best remembered for his stunning upset at the 1971 USSR championship, taking first place, undefeated, 1.5 points ahead of a 21-player field that included Smyslov, Tal, Karpov, Stein, Bronstein, Polugaevsky, Taimanov, and Geller. Dec-17-04    kostich in time: Savons victory at the 71 championship was one of the all-time chess upsets. However, judging by his results before and since,it was also a bit of a fluke. Savon is alos famous for Reshevskys infamous superblunder against him at Petropolis 73. One quote on Savon, from Keene and Levy's excellent book on the 72 Olympiad. "The Soviet team was handicapped by the presence of their 71 Champion, Savon" Savons wek play almost helped the Soviets lose their firsat olymiad ever. Jun-01-05    Tigran Petrosian: This guy just died. Jun-01-05    Akavall: <Tigran Petrosian> Sorry, but your post looks kinda odd. Jun-01-05    Benzol: <Tigran Petrosian> Will you supply more details please. Jun-06-05    offramp: "GM Vladimir Savon (1940-2005) has died in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Vladimir Savon won the 1971 USSR Championship ahead of players such as Bronstein, Geller, Karpov, Polugaevsky, Smyslov, Stein, Taimanov, and Tal." Jun-07-05    Mameluk: Anyone else finds it strange and sad, that even TWIC doesn´t mention this?? Jun-07-05    Benzol: <Mameluk> Yes, I do too. Wonder where <Tigran Petrosian> and <offramp> heard about it? Jun-07-05    offramp: I heard about it on a chess newsgroup; I posted it here exactly as I saw it there. I'll bet that that's where TP saw it as well. I doubt that it's a hoax. We get signal. Jun-09-05    aw1988: What ! Jun-12-05    offramp: There is an obituary by Malcolm Pein here, http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:... Jun-12-05    TheAlchemist: May he rest in peace. Nov-14-05    pazzed paun: <Knight13> there has been some significant inflation in elo ratings since the early 1970"s a median rating of 2500 back then would have been quite respectable ,back then no more than ten players were rated over 2600! A story- a patzer says to Grandmaster are you a weak G.M. OR a strong GM- he replies -some elephants are big some not so big-the end! Dec-19-05    PizzatheHut: On www.ebay.com, I actually just ordered 13 older tournament books complete with all of the games. Both the 1971 Soviet Championship and Petropolis 1973 are included. I can't wait until they arrive! Dec-19-05    greyfox: someone here playing at chessmaniac.com??? i cant view the site anymore and i certainly dont know why.. i will lose my games if i cant link there until 6am.. please if someone here also playing there and does know something about my frustration you can reply to this message now or send me message via e-mail at greyfox_24@yahoo.com.. any reply is highly appreciated.. Dec-20-05    PizzatheHut: I see that Savon won the 1971 Soviet Championship, but does anyone know what years were his prime years? I assume that '71 would be the peak, but I'm curious as to when he rose to the upper ranks. Sep-26-06    BIDMONFA: Vladimir A Savon SAVON, Vladimir A. http://www.bidmonfa.com/savon_vladi... _ Sep-26-06    Caissanist: <Did you ever see a grandmaster that played bad? (In general, not in particular games. I know Benkö used to blunder away a rook some times.)> Nowadays yes, most famously the 2588-rated Alexandru Crisan. Back when Savon got his title, no. Sep-26-06    positionalgenius: "Did you ever see a GM that played bad?" Well yes every once in awhile.Anand at Dortmund 2001,he scored 3/10. Sep-26-07    brankat: Topalov & Leko in 2007 Linares tied for last spot :-) Sep-26-07    Manic: How about Shirov's 0.5/9 in that rapid tourney? That must've hurt. search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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