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Lev Polugaevsky
Polugaevsky 
Courtesy of the Dutch National Archives, The Hague
Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANeFo), 1945-1989
Nummer toegang 2.24.01.05 Bestanddeelnummer 926-4780
 

Number of games in database: 2,184
Years covered: 1950 to 1994
Highest rating achieved in database: 2640
Overall record: +793 -253 =1066 (62.8%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 72 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 English (111) 
    A15 A17 A14 A13 A16
 King's Indian (107) 
    E75 E88 E73 E92 E83
 Queen's Indian (86) 
    E12 E15 E17 E19 E14
 English, 1 c4 c5 (72) 
    A30 A34 A35 A33 A36
 Nimzo Indian (55) 
    E54 E46 E21 E55 E42
 Reti System (53) 
    A04 A05 A06
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (419) 
    B96 B93 B84 B46 B92
 Queen's Indian (150) 
    E15 E12 E17 E14 E16
 Sicilian Najdorf (140) 
    B96 B93 B92 B90 B94
 Nimzo Indian (91) 
    E54 E32 E46 E53 E21
 English (73) 
    A15 A17 A13 A14 A16
 English, 1 c4 c5 (62) 
    A30 A33 A36 A34 A35
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Polugaevsky vs E Torre, 1981 1-0
   Polugaevsky vs Tal, 1969 1-0
   Polugaevsky vs Korchnoi, 1980 1-0
   Polugaevsky vs E Torre, 1984 1-0
   Polugaevsky vs Mecking, 1971 1-0
   Polugaevsky vs Petrosian, 1960 1-0
   Polugaevsky vs I Bilek, 1969 1-0
   Polugaevsky vs Ivkov, 1969 1-0
   Spassky vs Polugaevsky, 1961 0-1
   Polugaevsky vs L Maslov, 1963 1-0

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Marianske Lazne (1959)
   Mar del Plata (1962)
   Mar del Plata (1971)
   Amsterdam IBM (1972)
   Amsterdam IBM (1970)
   Chigorin Memorial (1972)
   Skopje Solidarnost (1971)
   USSR Championship 1961b (1961)
   USSR Championship 1968/69 (1968)
   Chigorin Memorial (1966)
   USSR Championship (1965)
   Riga Interzonal (1979)
   Capablanca Memorial (1962)
   Solidarity Tournament (1968)
   USSR Championship (1956)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   0ZeR0's Favorite Games Volume 42 by 0ZeR0
   0ZeR0's Favorite Games Volume 43 by 0ZeR0
   Grandmaster Performance (Polugaevsky) by Okavango
   Grandmaster Performance by Benzol
   Grandmaster Performance (Polugaevsky) by Qindarka
   Grandmaster Polugaevsky by Okavango
   Grandmaster Polugaevsky by Resignation Trap
   Dry Polugaevsky by Gottschalk
   0ZeR0's Favorite Games Volume 129 by 0ZeR0
   USSR Championship 1968/69 by suenteus po 147


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LEV POLUGAEVSKY
(born Nov-20-1934, died Aug-30-1995, 60 years old) Russia
PRONUNCIATION:
[what is this?]
Lev Abramovich Polugayevsky was born in Mogilev*. In 1953, he took second place in a strong Russian tournament, gaining his master norm. Polugaevsky was twice Soviet champion, in 1967 [rusbase-1] and 1968 [rusbase-2] and twice finished runner-up. He participated in five Candidates matches. Polugaevsky had an excellent record in the Olympiads as well. He was one of the most influential theoreticians of his day and contributed heavily to the development of the Sicilian Najdorf. One of the most complex variations of the opening bears his name, the Sicilian, Najdorf (B96) Polugaevsky variation: 1.e4 c5 2.♘f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.♘xd4 ♘f6 5.♘c3 a6 6.♗g5 e6 7.f4 b5. He passed away in 1995 in Paris, France from a brain tumour.

*Wikipedia article: Mahilyow

Wikipedia article: Lev Polugaevsky


Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 88; games 1-25 of 2,184  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Polugaevsky vs Simkin  1-0301950USSR Junior Team ChampionshipE00 Queen's Pawn Game
2. Spassky vs Polugaevsky  ½-½151950USSR Junior Team ChampionshipD31 Queen's Gambit Declined
3. Polugaevsky vs R Nezhmetdinov ½-½591953Russian ChampionshipE67 King's Indian, Fianchetto
4. Polugaevsky vs V Skotorenko  1-0471953Russian ChampionshipE98 King's Indian, Orthodox, Taimanov, 9.Ne1
5. G Ilivitsky vs Polugaevsky 0-1441953Russian ChampionshipD48 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran
6. P Dubinin vs Polugaevsky  0-1371953Russian ChampionshipD48 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran
7. N Novotelnov vs Polugaevsky  0-1341953Russian ChampionshipD31 Queen's Gambit Declined
8. Polugaevsky vs N Sorokin 1-03619533rd Soviet Team Championship FinalA24 English, Bremen System with ...g6
9. M Ostrauskas vs Polugaevsky  1-0561953Ch URS (team) (1/2 final)B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation
10. A Roizman vs Polugaevsky  0-13519533rd Soviet Team Championship FinalB95 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6...e6
11. N Aratovsky vs Polugaevsky  1-0241954Russian ChampionshipE98 King's Indian, Orthodox, Taimanov, 9.Ne1
12. M Yudovich Sr vs Polugaevsky 1-0321954URS-ch sf GorkyB43 Sicilian, Kan, 5.Nc3
13. Polugaevsky vs A Khasin  0-1301954URS-ch sf GorkyE02 Catalan, Open, 5.Qa4
14. Polugaevsky vs Simagin  ½-½411954URS-ch sf GorkyE01 Catalan, Closed
15. Polugaevsky vs V Soloviev  ½-½411954URS-ch sf GorkyB76 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack
16. Polugaevsky vs Lutikov 0-1371954Russian ChampionshipA54 Old Indian, Ukrainian Variation, 4.Nf3
17. Polugaevsky vs I Veltmander  1-0361954URS-ch sf GorkyD36 Queen's Gambit Declined, Exchange, Positional line, 6.Qc2
18. V Zagorovsky vs Polugaevsky  0-1261954URS-ch sf GorkyB67 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 8...Bd7
19. A Novopashin vs Polugaevsky  1-0361954URS-ch sf GorkyB69 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 11.Bxf6
20. Polugaevsky vs G Uusi  ½-½411954URS-ch sf GorkyE59 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line
21. V Liavdansky vs Polugaevsky 1-0551954URS-ch sf GorkyB58 Sicilian
22. Geller vs Polugaevsky ½-½411954URS-ch sf GorkyB92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation
23. Polugaevsky vs Shamkovich  ½-½421954Russian ChampionshipC78 Ruy Lopez
24. Boleslavsky vs Polugaevsky  ½-½411954URS-ch sf GorkyB58 Sicilian
25. D Grechkin vs Polugaevsky  1-0401954Russian ChampionshipD34 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
 page 1 of 88; games 1-25 of 2,184  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Polugaevsky wins | Polugaevsky loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 6 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Mar-29-06  Raskolnikov: <offramp> He moved to France like Spassky.
Mar-29-06
Premium Chessgames Member
  Benzol: His grave is not far away from Alyekhin's according to Sosonko.
Aug-12-06  Bonol: Polugaevsky's was a great chess writer, the best chess book i learned from was his book Grandmaster preperation. One of his quotes is so true, "90% of chess books you can open read page 1 and close the book for ever.". That can't be said for polugaevsky's books, he took other 2 years to write his books, and took has much care. He was meticulous with his opening preperation and a truly great player.
Aug-12-06  Karpova: "Grandmaster Preparation" is really a great book! You learn about the daily life of one of the best chessplayers of his time, about chess, lev's najdorf-variation and it's also quite entertaining! Never becomes boring and is interesting to read.
Apr-23-07  Maatalkko: I was reading in "Karpov on Karpov" that Polugaevsky was the "World Champion at playing White". He made the first move a big advantage by delivering a slow crush to his opponents. He believed in White's superiority so much that as Black he would play sharply and recklessly (e.g. the Polu Najdorf). He saw Black's position as so hopeless that he strived for complications from move one.

Karpov's opinion is quite interesting. Does anyone familiar with Polugaevsky's games have some examples of him being a "White World Champion"?

Apr-23-07  ughaibu: Have a look at the notable games.
Apr-23-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  tamar: One example with White not on the notable list is
Polugaevsky vs Korchnoi, 1980 which introduced the long-range sacrifice in the Queen's Indian 7 d5 exd5 8 Nh4

A Linares game this year reprised this line, which resists being completely solved. Aronian vs Ivanchuk, 2007

Oct-15-07  Resignation Trap: On November 20, 2006 (the 72nd anniversary of Polugaevsky's birth) the Samara Chess Museum officially opened in his honor: http://www.riasamara.ru/rus/news/re... .
Dec-27-07  MoonlitKnight: Why is there no picture of Lyova and his curly hair?
Dec-27-07  Resignation Trap: <MoonlitKnight> Here is one such photo: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped... .

My guess is that it was taken during the game Polugaevsky vs I Nei, 1966 , since I can see the game T Van Scheltinga vs Filip, 1966 from the same round on the demonstration board in the background.

Feb-02-08  talisman: need a picture.
Feb-02-08  MichAdams: Isn't <Resignation Trap>'s avatar a picture of Lev?
Feb-02-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Open Defence: no its one the 3 stooges.. but Polugaevsky did look a bit like that :)
Feb-04-08  brankat: Lev A. Polugaevsky was a handsome man. Had a strong, deep voice, very calm disposition, firm handshake, always looked You straight in the eye.

More importantly, a decent and honest person. And a great chess master.

It is good to see him being honoured by his compatriots.

Feb-06-08  M.D. Wilson: Polu is one player well worth studying. I have looked at many of his Sicilian games (as black) and always come away with something new, even though I have used the Sicilian as my primary weapon against the King's pawn for years. Along with Geller and Stein, Polu is one of the finest Soviet GMs not to be WC. Perhaps not on the same level as Fischer, Karpov and Petrosian, he was still one of the World's best for years.
Feb-13-08  M.D. Wilson: This guy should really be more well known!
Feb-13-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  TheAlchemist: A great player, unfortunately it seems he didn't have such a competitive spirit and will to win as his contemporaries and always fell short.
Feb-13-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  plang: <A great player, unfortunately it seems he didn't have such a competitive spirit and will to win as his contemporaries and always fell short.> I don't understand this comment. As great a player as he was isn't it possible that his match losses to Karpov and Korchnoi were due to him being slightly less great than they were.
Feb-13-08  nescio: plang: <isn't it possible that his match losses to Karpov and Korchnoi were due to him being slightly less great than they were.> As a player, yes, but in his insights on and feeling for chess positions he was probably the equal of all of them, Spassky and Petrosian included. He couldn't prove it at the board, however, due to nerves or lack of drive or whatever, like for example Rubinstein and Boleslavsky before him. I think that is what <TheAlchemist> wanted to say.
Feb-14-08  brankat: Add to the list: Keres, Bronstein, Nimzowitsch, Schlechter, Stein, Korchnoi, Larsen, Portisch, and many other great masters.

Very few were possessed of all necessary Champion-like Qualities.

Feb-14-08  nescio: <brankat> There is no list, so I can't add anyone. Besides I don't agree. I mentioned Rubinstein and Boleslavsky because I think they had superb chess qualities, but I can't imagine them as a Champion, just like Polugaevsky (and probably Ivanchuk, but I don't know enough of him to judge).

You may be right about Stein, but with the others it is only the coincidence that there were such strong world champions already and that they were just not good enough. Keres and Bronstein would have gained the title if it weren't for Botvinnik being in their way. Karpov and Kasparov have frustrated the ambitions of many.

But I should add this is only my opinion, objection is allowed :)

Feb-14-08  Red October: some were content to train a future champion like Boleslavsky
Feb-14-08  brankat: <nescio> <Besides I don't agree.>

After reading Your post, I concluded that we are saying the same thing. So, You actually do agree :-)

Feb-23-08  MoonlitKnight: Besides Korchnoi, Polugaevsky and Stein must have been the strongest players from this generation to never reach the summit of chess.

Polugaevsky's class was very high. His understanding of the game and ability to calculate variations was that of a world champ. He was probably also the hardest working chess player in the world at one point. He was famous for having the deepest opening preparations of all. What he lacked was the ability to make good practical decisions OTB. That's what made Karpov so much stronger.

Apr-21-08  TheDude: I found some pictures in Google and i must say that he has a similarity with Garry Kasparov. Ok, ok, maybe in 30 years. ;-)
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