| Vassily Ivanchuk | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Vasyl Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk |
| Country | Ukraine |
| Born | March 18, 1969 Kopychyntsi |
| Title | Grandmaster |
| FIDE rating | 2775 (No. 6 in the November 2011 FIDE World Rankings) |
| Peak rating | 2787 (October 2007) |
Vasyl Mykhaylovych Ivanchuk, also transliterated as Vasyliy or Vasyl (Ukrainian: Василь Михайлович Іванчук) (born March 18, 1969 in Kopychyntsi, Ukrainian SSR), is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster.
Ivanchuk has been a leading player in the world since 1988, ranking as high as No. 2 on the official FIDE Elo rating list (July 1991, July 1992, October 2007)[1] and No. 1 briefly on the unofficial live rating updates from September 10–12, 2008.[2] Ivanchuk often has erratic results, dropping as low as 30th in July 2009[3] before returning to the top ten in the very next list.[4]
He was the 2007–2008 World Blitz Chess champion.[5] He won the Amber blindfold and rapid chess championship in 1992 and 2010.
In 2011, by the decree of the President of Ukraine, Ivanchuk was awarded the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise IV degree.[6]
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Ivanchuk was born in Kopychyntsi, Ukraine. He won the 1987 European Junior Chess Championship in Groningen and first achieved international notice by winning the 1988 New York Open with 7.5/9, ahead of a field of Grandmasters. He tied for first place in the 1988 World Junior Chess Championship at Adelaide, but lost the title on tiebreak to Joël Lautier.[7] He was awarded the Grandmaster title in 1988, and entered the world top 10 the same year.[8]
Ivanchuk reached chess world fame at the age of 21 when he won the Linares tournament in 1991. Fourteen players participated, eight of them rated top-ten of the world, including World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, while the rest were all among the world's top 50 players. Ivanchuk narrowly edged Kasparov by a half-point,[9] defeating Kasparov in their individual game.[10]
It was widely believed that Ivanchuk might become World Champion, but this has not yet happened, although he came close in 2002 when he reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2002. Consistently among the top 10 since 1988, this did not prevent Mark Crowther's The Week in Chess from attributing his erratic play to a "poor temperament."[11] His inability to become World Champion despite his immense talent and longevity among the chess elite has been attributed to his admittedly poor nerves, which have been exposed during the high-tension atmosphere of World Championship match-format tournaments, such as in 2002 where he was heavily favored in the FIDE championship final after having defeated defending champion Viswanathan Anand in the semifinals, only to lose to countryman Ruslan Ponomariov in a significant upset, denying him the World Championship. Subsequent match-play tournaments in World Championship cycles have seen Ivanchuk consistently underperform; in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004, Chess World Cup 2005, Chess World Cup 2007, and Chess World Cup 2009, he failed to advance past the third round despite being seeded No. 5, No. 1, No. 1 and No. 6 respectively in those events.
Ivanchuk's world championship aspirations were also dampened by the unfortunate title split 1993 to 2006. Due to obligations with FIDE, Ivanchuk and Anand did not participate in the 2002 Dortmund Candidates tournament for the Classical World Chess Championship 2004.[12] He was then narrowly excluded, on the basis of rating, from the rival FIDE World Chess Championship 2005. Although he won one of the events of the FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010, his overall performance was not good enough to qualify him for the World Chess Championship 2012 candidates tournament.
"Chucky", as Ivanchuk is called, has been described by Viswanathan Anand as the most eccentric player in the chess world. Anand, tongue-in-cheek, gave his view on Ivanchuk like this:[13]
When he plays, Ivanchuk often stares at the ceiling and walls with a blank stare (although this is not uncommon with top players who calculate without looking at the board). His playing style is unpredictable and highly original, making him more dangerous but sometimes leading to quick losses as well.
After a string of unsuccessful performances culminated in his elimination at the early stages of the 2009 World Cup, Ivanchuk announced, in a highly emotional interview, his retirement from professional chess.[14] However, he soon recanted this decision.[15]
Ivanchuk has often been at his best in international team competitions. He has played in eleven Chess Olympiads, twice for the Soviet Union (1988 and 1990), and nine times for Ukraine, after the Soviet Union split up in 1991. He has won a total of twelve medals, and has been on four gold-medal winning teams (USSR in 1988 and 1990, Ukraine in 2004 and 2010). In 133 games, Ivanchuk has scored (+50 =77 -6), for 66.5 per cent. His detailed Olympiad records, from the site http://www.olimpbase.org/players/oeo8eigf.html, follow.
Ivanchuk was first married to chess Woman Grandmaster Alisa Galliamova. On November 18, 2006, he married for the second time.[16]
In 2011, Ivanchuk and his second wife were mugged by unnamed assailants the day they were set to leave from São Paulo, Brazil on a plane bound for Spain to finish the second half of the Bilbao Grand Slam Masters tournament. The muggers took the couple's money, identification, including passports, and cellular telephones, forcing Ivanchuk's wife to return to Ukraine. Ivanchuk threatened to withdraw from the tournament altogether, but his wife convinced him to continue. He had been leading in the tournament before this event, but did not play as well in the second half of the tournament.[17]
Ivanchuk was playing on board 1 for Ukraine in the 2008 Chess Olympiad held in Dresden. Going into the last round Ukraine was second with decent chances of placing 1st, and only a strong loss against a 10th-seeded USA would leave them without a medal. Ivanchuk was chosen to be tested for illegal substances in his system immediately after the last round.
In a major upset, the USA defeated Ukraine 3.5 to 0.5 with Ivanchuk losing his game against GM Gata Kamsky, causing Ukraine to fall to fourth and miss out on a medal. Ivanchuk was in such a distraught state after the game that he was seen "kicking a large concrete pillar" with such fury that bystanders were surprised he did not break any toes. When the officials tried to get Ivanchuk to participate in the doping control, he refused and stormed out. Missing the test is equivalent to being tested positive under the rules and could have resulted in a 2-year ban. Had it been enforced, its effect might have been minimal as many major tournaments are not under the control of FIDE and would likely still invite a player of Ivanchuk's caliber.
Under FIDE rules, a player found guilty of doping charges automatically forfeits all his or her games in the event concerned. This had previously happened to two amateur players who refused doping tests in the 2004 Chess Olympiad in Majorca. There was speculation that if this rule were applied to Ivanchuk, it would result in the USA's bronze medal being stripped and awarded to Hungary due to a change in tie-breaks.[18]
Ivanchuk was eventually found innocent of the charges, on the basis that he was not informed of the need for the doping test beforehand by a Doping Control Officer, in accordance with correct FIDE procedure, and that in his distraught frame of mind, he had not fully understood the arbiter's request.[19]
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alexander Grischuk |
World Blitz Chess Champion 2007 |
Succeeded by Leinier Dominguez |