Rashid Nezhmetdinov

Rashid Gibyatovich Nezhmetdinov (15 December 1912 – 3 June 1974) was a Soviet chess player, chess writer, International Master and checkers player. Although he never attained the title of Grandmaster, he was a renowned tactician and created several brilliant games. Biographer Alex Pishkin compares him to Chigorin, Réti and Spielmann.

Early life

Nezhmetdinov was born in Aktubinsk, Russian Empire, in what is now Aktobe, Kazakhstan, to a Tatar family. His parents were "worked to death" when he was still very young, rendering him (and his two siblings) an orphan. (His older brother Kavi Nadzhmi became a notable Tatar poet during Soviet Times). Nezhmetdinov was then sent to live with his uncle, in a small town on the banks of the Volga river. From 1918-1923, the Russian Civil War devastated the region, particularly with the introduction of the Prodrazvyorstka policy, a system whereby peasants' foodgrain was confiscated at nominal prices, as per fixed quotas. The ensuing famine killed over 2 million children. But Nezhmetdinov endured, thanks in large part to his poet brother – – who secured him a place at a Kazan orphanage. Nezhmetdinov later regarded this orphanage as paradise, his only prior happy memory being "the time he got to eat fish soup on the banks of the Volga." In Kazan, Nezhmetdinov was well-fed for the first time in his life, learned the Tatar language, and was initiated into Islam. During this time, Nezhmetdinov developed a keen interest in history, literature and mathematics. Three years later, Nadzhmi brought Nezhmetdinov into his own home, also at Kazan. Here, Nezhmetdinov was thoroughly engaged in the Kazan "Palace of Pioneers," which marked the beginning of his chess career.

Nezhmetdinov had a natural talent for both chess and checkers, games he had learned by watching others play; and was quickly invited to join the Kazan Chess Club. At 15, he played in Kazan's Tournament of Pioneers, winning all 15 games. He also learned to play checkers at this time. During the same month, he won Kazan's checkers semi-final and placed second in the finals. In the same year, he placed sixth in the Russian Checkers Championship. Later, when he gave up checkers for chess, Nezhmetdinov commented, somewhat dismissively, that all checkers contests can be reduced to rook endgames.

Glory years (1946–1958)

And in Berlin, from 1946, Nezhmetdinov was able to resume his long-interrupted chess career and devoted himself entirely to it. In 1946, he won Championship of the Berlin Military District, winning 14 out of 15 games, and finishing ahead of future Ukrainian Champion, Isaac Lipnitsky.

Later that year, Nezhmetdinov, then 34 years old, returned to civilian life; his primary occupation was to serve as the captain of the DSO Spartak chess team. In 1947, Nezhmetdinov finished in shared second place at the All-Union Candidate Master tournament at Yaroslavl. This marked the beginning of a tumultuous friendship between Nezhmetdinov, Vitaly Tarasov (the winner), and Ratmir Kholmov (shared second).

With this performance, Nezhmetdinov had also earned his second Master norm. He now had the right to play an examination game for the title of Soviet Master. Georgy Lisitsin was appointed as Nezhmetdinov's examiner. However, after studying Lisitsin's games for many months, Nezhmetdinov received a telegram from the Soviet Chess Federation, merely days before his match, stating that his examiner would be Vladas Mikenas. Mikenas was a far more formidable opponent.

In his renewed preparations, Nezhmetdinov came across an article written by Mikenas on the Alekhine's Defense, in Shakhmaty v SSSR, a popular chess magazine of the day. Mikenas claimed it was his preferred response to 1. e4 (Nezhmetdinov's favorite first move). This must have been particularly intimidating considering Mikenas had only recently beaten the legendary Alexander Alekhine at the 1937 tournament in Ķemeri, Latvia, with the black pieces no less.

Nevertheless, the fearless Nezhmetdinov still played 1. e4 in their first game and even entered the "Hunt Variation" of the Alekhine Defense; Mikenas’ favorite. He crushed Mikenas in 17 moves. He beat Mikenas again, in the same variation, in Game 11. However, the match was drawn 7-7 and Nezhmetdinov did not gain the coveted Master title, because the examiner got draw odds. However, Nezhmetdinov was not discouraged, and this result only reinforced his belief that the title was within his grasp. However, this optimism must have led to a very few frustrating years for Nezhmetdinov, especially considering how brutally frank he was about his own performance.

His next breakthrough came in 1950, when he earned the right to play at the prestigious RSFSR Championship at Nizhny Novgorod (this Championship was limited to the Russian Federation and thereby second to the USSR Championship). The competition was fierce, with Masters like Isaac Boleslavsky (the tournament's favorite), among many others. Nezhmetdinov drew his game with Boleslavsky and went on to become the 10th Champion of the Russian Federation. He was finally a Soviet Master.

He returned to Kazan, where a hero's welcome awaited him. He went on to win the RSFSR Championship again, in 1951 at Yaroslavl. But his other tournament performances were relatively underwhelming. For instance, at the Baku International in 1964, Nezhmetdinov could only secure 4 points in 12 rounds; a performance he said owed to his underestimation of his opponents. He finished in third place, behind Vladimir Antoshin and Vladimir Bagirov. It is worth noting that around this time, Nezhmetdinov, Vitaly and Ratmir had become boisterous drinking buddies. As the story goes, in Baku, they treated their hotel rooms like they were rockstars. Nezhmetdinov is said to have hurled crockery out the window, and eventually gotten into an argument with Ratmir. Vitaly tried to defuse the situation, but to no avail. By this time, the commotion had caught the attention of GM Alexander Kotov, an observer on behalf of the Soviet Sports Committee. He reported all the three Masters to the Sports Committee. Ratmir and Vitaly received the worst of it (the reason for this is unclear, but some say it is because Nezhmetdinov was the only Communist Party member among them), with each receiving a one-year ban from tournaments and having governments stipends suspended. Nezhmetdinov retained his stipend, and was banned for a shorter period of time.

This marked a turning point in Nezhmetdinov's life and he turned a new leaf. He gave up the "party all night" lifestyle, and married Tamara Ivanovna (little is known about her apart from the fact that she is the mother of Nezhmetdinov's children). It was also around this time that Nezhmetdinov wrote the first-ever chess book in the Tatar language.

Nezhmetdinov's next major tournament was the 1953 RSFSR Championship at Saratov, which he won. And in 1954, Nezhmetdinov finally managed to play on the grand stage, the 21st USSR Championship at Kiev—the holy grail of Soviet Chess. This proved to be Nezhmetdinov's toughest competition so far, as it included other masters like Tigran Petrosian and Efim Geller, who were already ranked amongst the best players in the world. Nezhmetdinov finished the tournament in shared 7th place, but finishing with 4½ wins in 7 matches against grandmasters, was a great achievement in itself.

With the death of Stalin in 1953, Nezhmetdinov was finally able to play chess internationally. Nikita Khrushchev adopted a far less repressive regime, notably removing most travel restrictions for sportsmen. It was also around this time that the Russian Sports Committee came under fire from the international press for only ever sending their "strongest Grandmasters" abroad. The idea was for Russia to send four of their "mere Masters" to the 1954 international tournament at Bucharest. Nezhmetdinov was chosen along with Semyon Furman, Viktor Korchnoi and his old friend, Ratmir Kholmov. Prior to leaving for the tournament, the four masters were summoned to Moscow, where they underwent rigorous training under Isaac Bolevslavsky and David Bronstein.

Final years (1961–1974)

thumb|Nezhmetdinov's gravestone in the [[Arskoe Cemetery in Kazan, Tatarstan Republic, Russia]]

During the 1960's onwards - Nezhmetdinov gradually shifted his focus from tournament play to chess coaching. He coached Russian Federation Junior team where his students included Anatoly Karpov. In 1967, he competed in his fifth USSR championship at Kharkov. The competition was diluted, as over 120 players were invited in a bid to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. Nezhmetdinov still only finished in 27th place, a position he shared with 14 other players. His next major tournament, almost 6 years later, was the 1973 Latvian Open at Daugavpils. However he fell ill during the tournament and was unable to finish his last game. He finished in third place.

In his last few years, he coached the Kazan Chess team at the Old City Chess Club and regularly gave simultaneous exhibitions in his hometown. He was said to be an approachable and joyful man, who was always ready to discuss anything under the sun; especially chess. Nezhmetdinov passed on in the summer of 1974.

The elusive grandmaster title

There are a few schools of thought on why Nezhmetdinov never became a grandmaster. The first, believes that Nezhmetdinov was obsessed with attack, and played for tactics and complications, even when there was none. Accordingly, they believe it was his ineptitude for defence that led to him never receiving the title. Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh, a strong positional and endgame player, suggested this in his interview by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam in The Day Kasparov Quit:

Others believe he was discriminated against because he was a Muslim (tatar) and therefore given fewer chances to go abroad. Korchnoi remembered Nezhmetdinov:

<blockquote>I played my first tournament after my marriage in Sochi. This was the Russian SFSR championship, and it was won by Nezhmetdinov, one of the strongest Soviet masters. For some reason, he was very rarely allowed to go abroad, and obviously, he never became a grandmaster because of that.</blockquote>

As a consequence of living behind the "iron curtain" for many decades, he only left the USSR a total of three times.

Another popular explanation was the one advanced by Marat Khasanov:

<blockquote> Let us also consider the other Soviet Players who became GMs around the time Rashid should have (emphasis added) become one.

1954 - No player.

1955 - One player, Boris Spassky. He won the youth world chess championship and qualified for the Interzonal, where he got his grandmaster's norm. Boris was very lucky. The world championship in Antwerp ended on 8th August, and the Interzonal, which, luckily, was held in Gothenburg, began in a week - on 15th August. And Spassky got there in time, which, considering the Soviet bureaucracy of the time, was quite a feat.

1956 - One player, Viktor Korchnoi, by accumulated results, after winning at Hastings 1955/56.

1957 - One player, Mikhail Tal. He won the Soviet championship that year.

In 1958 and 1959, no Soviet players became grandmasters.

Therefore, in six years, from 1954 to 1959, only three Soviet players became grandmasters: Spassky, Tal and Korchnoi. How was Nezhmetdinov supposed to become a grandmaster if he never played in a tournament with grandmaster norms? </blockquote>

However, even without the title, Nezhmetdinov had a notable chess career, and a lifetime positive score against World Champions – an achievement that is usually exclusive to former world champions. Nezhmetdinov himself provided an explanation as well:

<blockquote> I came to chess too late, as a 17-year-old man with no theoretical knowledge, whereas all the champions — Botvinnik, Smyslov, Spassky, Petrosian and Tal received training from the age of seven or eight….Yes, I could play some games with brilliance, and win prizes for beauty, but I was never able to achieve the holistic skills necessary for Grandmaster level” and Korchnoi (+0-3=3).

Notable games

Nezhmetdinov vs. Mikhail Tal, USSR Championship 1961b, 1961, Round 15, Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation (B84), .

Just one year after his opponent had become the world champion, Nezhmetdinov recorded his most brilliant victory against Tal, completely dominating him with his own sacrificial style, giving up multiple pieces, including both his rooks to force resignation on the 29th move.

Lev Polugaevsky vs. Nezhmetdinov, Russian Championship, 1958, Sochi, Old Indian Defense (A53), .

In the midst of his record fifth Russian Chess Championship win, out of five attempts, Nezhmetdinov added another game against chess greats to his collection. From an Old Indian opening, Nezhmetdinov introduces imbalances and complications before locking the center and attacking his opponent in an example of a same-side castling attack, making multiple sacrifices, including a Queen sacrifice before walking his opponent's king to the other side of the board and forcing resignation.

Memorial

Kazan Chess school is currently named after Rashid Nezhmetdinov.

Notes

References

External links

"The Man from Kazan" by GM Nigel Davies
Nezhmetdinov chess biography (1/3) by Jessica Fischer (on YouTube)
Marat Khasanov's "The Chess History of Tataria"  <nowiki>http://www.tat-chess.ru/publ/pochemu_r_nezhmetdinov_ne_stal_grossmejsterom/1-1-0-14</nowiki>
Genna Sosonko's Smart Chip from St. Petersburg and other tales of a bygone chess era <nowiki>https://archive.org/details/Smart_Chip_from_St.Petersburg</nowiki>