Sunday, January 11, 2009

Emmanuel Lasker Society in Berlin honored Victor Korchnoi

Okay, I am not one of the biggest fan of the legendary Grandmaster Victor Korchnoi all these years. Maybe I still view chess as a gentleman's sports more than anything on the planet which Mr Korchnoi is not the best representative of the traditional moral of this game. How one could forget the tragic incident between Mr. Korchnoi and Susan Polgar's sister Sofia when Mr. Korchnoi get really cranky when he lost to Sofia in a blitz match sometime in early 2000 I beleive? Or when he shockingly smack and sent the king flying of a little boy in a simultaneous games and yelled at the poor boy "you lost! It's over!" or simply refusing to shake hands with his opponents after a destructive lost? Or the most arrogant showing of disrespect when he refuses to shake the offer hands of both FIDE President Kirsam Ilyumzhinoz and FIDE honorary President Florencio Campones and some of the top officials of the Chess governing bodies with no apparent reasons? Everything perhaps because of age, the man is already 77 years of age, or simply a chauvinistic guy, a many time World Chess Championship Challenger. But anyway setting aside the character for achievements, Mr. Korchnoi is indeed one of the most consistent chess player in the history of the sport and we must give all the credit to him for what he had done for chess. He is the undisputed, one and only true "Iron Man" of this ancient sport. Congratulation to Mr. Victor Korchnoi for the Honor conferred to him by the Emmanuel Lasker Society in Berlin. Cheers!

Full detailed report can be read at chessbase.com and the Emmanuel Lasker Society official website

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just really don't understand what point you are trying to make when you said "simply a chauvinistic guy." What are you actually disputing when you made this point? ;)

Des Catolos said...

it all goes down to ego, dude. I think :)

Ted Teodoro said...

Well, for one, I am not sure if Emmanuel Lasker himself would have approved of Korchnoi's rude behaviour. Why was Korchnoi honored by the society? They share a common interest in chess, but does Korchnoi share Lasker's interest in mathematics and philosophy? Certainly, they share a certain longevity in chess. The chess world seem to have a peculiar ability, or willingness, to set aside the man from the games. Fischer is an example of this.