Remembering Alexander Zaitsev
We have four Grandmasters who were born "Today in Chess History:"
- Alexander Zaitsev of the Soviet Union, born 1935, GM 1967, died 1971.
- Alexander Fominyh of Russia, born 1959, GM 1994.
- Miroslav Tosic of Serbia, born 1960, GM 1998.
- Alexander Areshchenko of Ukraine, born 1986, GM 2002.
Alexander Nikolayevich Zaitsev was born June 15th, 1935 in Vladivostok,Russia. He was awarded the IM title in 1965 and the GM title in 1967. Perhaps his finest achievement was a share of first place in the 1968-69 USSR Championship at Alma Alta Kazakhstan. He also shared 1st place at Sochi in 1967.
Not to be confused with Igor Zaitsev, who also has opening lines named for him; the Zaitsev Gambit in the Grünfeld Defense is named for Alexander Zaitsev.
Zaitsev did not begin to play chess until he was 14 years old and, with no strong players within several hundred miles, he was only able to reach the first category by age 18. Despite a full time job, Zaitsev regularly spent 8 to 14 hours on chess per day. In 1958 he won a tournament consisting of the best Siberian and Far East players, and this was the turning point in his chess career.
Zaitsev suffered from an inflamed leg since the age of 3 and later from heart pain. At age 38 he had an operation to correct the problem, but he developed thrombosis in the process and he died in the hospital as a result.
The Chessmetrics website, which provides estimated ratings for older players, places him as 21st in the world in 1969.
