Viktor Korchnoi - Strong Grandmaster

Strong Grandmaster

Korchnoi rose to prominence within the Soviet chess school system, where he competed against stars such as Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, and Boris Spassky, following in the path laid out by Mikhail Botvinnik.

Korchnoi's playing style initially was an aggressive counter-attack. He excelled in difficult defensive positions. His results during the 1950s were often inconsistent, as dominance alternated with disaster. One horrific result was his 19th place (only one from bottom) at the URSch-22, Moscow 1955, with just 6/19. During the 1960s he became more versatile, mastering all the required techniques to become a world championship contender. He won at Kraków 1959 with 8.5/11, shared 1st–2nd places with Samuel Reshevsky at Buenos Aires 1960 with 13/19, won at Córdoba, Argentina 1960 with 6/7. After his victory at Budapest 1961 (Géza Maróczy Memorial) with 11.5/15 ahead of Bronstein and Miroslav Filip each with 9.5, Korchnoi was recognized as one of the world's best players.

Korchnoi won the USSR Chess Championship four times during his career. At Leningrad 1960 for URS-ch27, he scored 14/19. He won at Yerevan 1962, URS-ch30, with 13/19. He won at Kiev 1964–65 with 15/19. His final title was at Riga 1970, for URS-ch38, with 16/21.

He never succeeded in becoming World Champion, but many people consider him the strongest player never to have done so, a distinction also often attributed to Paul Keres. When Spassky beat Petrosian to claim the World Title in 1969, the Soviet Chess Federation started pursuing a youth policy which largely classed Korchnoi and Vasily Smyslov as the old vanguard; as a consequence, they were sometimes overlooked when it came to distribution of opportunities to play in international chess tournaments.