At the age of 50, Korchnoi was still number two (in the official FIDE Elo list July - December 1981, with only 5 points behind number one, and 55 points ahead of number three).

At the age of 58 (July-December 1989), he was last in the Top-Five (five points behind to position three).

At the age of 68 (July-December 1999), he was last in the Top-Twenty of the World.

At exact 76, he last made the Elo Top-100, in March 2007, and Mighty Vic was never a player who has "frozen" his rating by playing just a few games periodically.

Korchnoi played beautifully to achieve three wins, one loss, and one draw in the first five games against Tigran Petrosian in Odessa, April 12-24, 1974. Just after the fourth game Tigran Petrosian went to the match committee and requested in writing that Victor Korchnoi be asked not to move his leg up and down beneath the table so much! It was just a Korchnoi nervous habit and did not seem to disturb anything really. No noise or offence intended probably. But Petrosian mentioned that Korchnoi had actually kicked him beneath the table while reaching out to make a move. Surely it was an accident.... Korchnoi knew absolutely nothing of Petrosian's complaint throughout the night, and it was only upon arriving for the fifth game that he was shocked by the formal request to quit moving his leg in a kicking motion beneath the table! Korchnoi was furious but did not say anything to his opponent, beginning to make moves against Petrosian in the fifth game. You're not going to believe what happened next and at the worst possible moment. Petrosian, while shifting in the chair to adjust his hearing aid, kicked Victor Korchnoi accidentally! As match officials looked on with complete horror and silence. Everybody knew the match could explode any second. Korchnoi, now thoroughly in flames, sat there for a second and found what has to be one of the truly great one-liner punch outs of all times... "Mister Petrosian, please look for your match chances above the chess table rather than below it." That's the real story, how a great match really ended -- never reported by the wire services. Petrosian exploded, refused to continue the fifth game, and resigned the match forthwith.>

<saffuna: Yes, by far. Ivanchuk is second with 2,774.>

At the time the KGB was very popular.

<At 79, ‘Viktor the Terrible’ Outsmarts an 18-Year-Old> By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN Published: January 29, 2011

The game’s mental and physical toll eventually forces most top players to stop competing. And those who continue to play tend to avoid the elite tournaments where the pressure is greatest.

Then there is Viktor Korchnoi.

He was a top player for more than 30 years and competed for the world title three times. The last of those battles was in 1981, when he was 50. Four years ago, when he was 75, he was still ranked No. 85 in the world.

Korchnoi will be 80 in March, and his ranking has slipped to No. 460. But he can still be a formidable opponent, and he has lost little of his zest for competition. (He earned the nickname Viktor the Terrible partly because of the way he reacted when he lost.)

He is currently entered in the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival. The tournament, in Gibraltar, has become a magnet for top players, and Korchnoi was seeded 38th.

After winning his first game, he faced Fabiano Caruana of Italy in the second round. The contrast between the two could not be more pronounced. Caruana, 18, is No. 25 in the world and is expected to breach the top 10 soon. As for Korchnoi, well, he probably has socks that are older than Caruana. <(LOL!)>

Though circumstances clearly favored Caruana, the old lion won in the end.

Korchnoi chose the Ruy Lopez opening, which is named after a 16th-century Spanish bishop who wrote a treatise about the system.

Caruana, rather than entering one of the systems that Korchnoi has played for decades, chose 5 d3, a quiet and relatively meek variation.

Korchnoi is known for his defense. But he also can attack, and once Caruana traded off his dark-squared bishop, Korchnoi threw his pawns forward with 13 ... g5, trusting in the power of his bishops.

Caruana’s 14 h3 was a mistake because it gave Korchnoi a target for his pawns; 14 Nc4, which would have created a retreat for his king knight, would have been better. Still, chances were about equal after 22 ... Rg8.

Caruana erred by playing 23 Qg3. He was afraid that after 23 ... g3, Korchnoi could have attacked down the h file. Caruana should have played 23 Rd1. For example, after 23 ... g3 24 Nf1 Qh4 25 d4, White’s development would have given him the advantage. After 23 ... gf3, Korchnoi had the edge, and he knew how to use it.

Korchnoi missed some chances to shorten the game (for example, 34 ... Rh5), but the result was no longer in doubt.

This is the game vs the young Caruana, Caruana vs Korchnoi, 2011 , Rest peaceful Mr. Korchnoi.

btw...

"When you play the Ruy López, it's like milking a cow."

And, in case you didn't know, Bronstein's quote was addressed to Fischer in reference to his great scoring percentage with the Ruy López

You must be a native Spanish speaker. For those that are not and may not know (and probably don't care), when pronouncing Spanish words ending in a vowel, "n", or "s" the emphasis is normally on the next to the last syllable and when pronouncing Spanish words ending in a consonant, not "n" or "s", the emphasis is normally on the last syllable. If for some reason the desired emphasis breaks these rules, then an accent mark is placed where the emphasis should be.

So "Lopez" without an accent mark would be pronounced "Lo<pez>" since it ends in a consonant that is neither "n" nor "s", although the fact that a "z" is pronounced like an "s" muddies the waters since some spell "López" as "Lopes" and pronounce it the same, which in that case it would be the correct pronunciation although likely the incorrect spelling. To put the emphasis on the proper (and I don't know how "proper" was determined; as a native Spanish speaker also I just go by what sounds right) syllable you put the accent mark on the "o" and pronounce it <Ló>pez. And I have heard it pronounced "Lo<pez>" following the Spanish pronunciation rules when the accent over the "o" is omitted.

Fortunately in this case English, which does not use accent marks, is much simpler, although it loses its simplicity when it comes to pronunciation. Maybe that's why the name "Spanish Opening" is replacing "Ruy López" in popularity? What do you think?

Perhaps we should consider ourselves lucky that we have only one accent mark. We could be native French speakers and have to deal with a multitude of accent marks. Although I suspect that if we were, it wouldn't be any problem for us.

<In 1995, at the magical age of 64, Kortchnoi won a strong tournament in Madrid. He explained his success saying: "I had to win, otherwise people would start to forget me..."

In his day-to-day life did he speak German, Italian or French, or perhaps English?

"I would say... Keres ... Spassky, Fischer [---] And the Champion, shall I complete the list with him? All right, put down Petrosian also"

"But what about Tal?"

"I am no fan of Tal's"

Some other quotes from the same interview (in Chess Life 2/1969)

"I learned from Alekhine, Nimzowitsch and Lasker, and in recent times from Bronstein. He had a great influence on me"

"Who is your most difficult opponent?"

"I am no fan of Tal's">

Korchnoi was no fan of Tal but he played together with him as an actor in 1972 Soviet movie "Grandmaster". In other lesser roles there were also Mark Taimanov, Yuri Averbakh and Alexander Kotov. In the film there were used also some shots from 1972 chess olympiad in Skopje, where you can see among others Vassily Smyslov, Ulf Andersson, Werner Hug and some other players.