Mark Taimanov

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Mark Taimanov

Full name	Mark Evgenievich Taimanov
Country	Russia
Born	February 7, 1926 (1926-02-07) (age 82) Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

Title	Grandmaster

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (Марк Евгеньевич Тайманов) (born February 7, 1926, Kharkov) is a leading Russian chess player and concert pianist.

He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top 10 players. He played in 23 USSR Chess Championships (a record equalled by Efim Geller) and tied for first place twice. In 1952 he lost the playoff match to Mikhail Botvinnik, while in 1956, he beat Yuri Averbakh and Boris Spassky for the title. He is probably best known for his 6-0 loss to Bobby Fischer in the 1971 World Championship Candidates match. However, few players have beaten as many world champions as Taimanov has, as Taimanov has beaten Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Spassky, and Anatoly Karpov.

After his loss to Fischer, the Soviet government was embarrassed, and, as Taimanov later put it in a 2002 interview, found it "unthinkable" that he could have lost the match so badly to an American without a "political explanation".^[1] They took away Taimanov's salary, and he was no longer allowed to travel overseas. The official reason given was for his bringing a book by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn into the country, but the official reasoning given for Taimanov's punishment was secondary in nature. They later "forgave" him, and lifted the sanctions against him. Fischer's 6-0 defeat of Bent Larsen later in 1971 may have helped change their minds.

He has opening variations named after him in the Sicilian Defence and Nimzo-Indian Defense – see Taimanov Variation. He has written books on both of his named variations, as well as an autobiographical best games collection.

With his wife, Lyobov Bruk, he formed a piano duo, some of whose recordings were included in the Philips and Steinway series Great Pianists of the 20th Century.