Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1962 and was a frequent contender for the World Championship, although he never achieved that title. He was one of the strongest players in the world from the early 1960s until the late 1980s, as well as a distinguished author and opening theorist whose contributions in this field remain important to the present day.
Career
Lev Polugaevsky was born in Mogilev, in the Soviet Union. Unlike many of his grandmaster colleagues, his development in chess came slowly, and he did not receive the Soviet master title until he was an adult. His progress then accelerated rapidly, however, and by the late 1960s he was one of the world's strongest players, as was recognized by his participation in the famous "USSR vs. Rest of the World" match of 1970. In this match he occupied fourth board, losing one game to Vlastimil Hort and drawing his other three. Polugaevsky won at Mar del Plata in 1962 and 1971. He won or tied in the USSR Chess Championship three times. He played regularly in qualifying events to select a challenger for the world championship, qualifying for the Candidates matches on four occasions. His greatest advancement toward the title came during the 1977 and 1980 cycles, when he defeated Henrique Mecking and former world championMikhail Tal, respectively, in quarterfinal Candidates matches, before succumbing both times in the semifinals to the eventual challenger, Viktor Korchnoi. Polugaevsky played on the Soviet national team in seven Chess Olympiads, in 1966, 1968, 1970, 1978, 1980, 1982 and 1984. His team won the gold medal on each occasion, except in 1978, when USSR finished second to Hungary.
Author
In addition to his over-the-board and theoretical successes, Polugaevsky was a highly respected chess author. His 1977 book Grandmaster Preparation is a classic that contains notable insights into his own thinking as he crafted the ultra sharp eponymous variation in the main lineNajdorf Sicilian Defence. He went about his writing with the same meticulous care as characterized his analyses, and was contemptuous of the many less thorough authors who sought to profit from the post-Fischer chess boom with shoddy work, memorably commenting that "Ninety per cent of all chess books you can open at page one and then immediately close again for ever. Sometimes you see books that have been written in one month. I don't like that. You should take at least two years for a book, or not do it all."
To celebrate Polugaevsky's 60th birthday a Sicilian Defense themed tournament was held in recognition of his contributions to the opening. The event was funded by Luis Rentero and took place in Buenos Aires in October 1994. Polugaevsky was too ill to participate. He died of a brain tumour in 1995.
Legacy
Polugaevsky was a noted theorist whose work on a number of openings has stood the test of time. He is best remembered for a variation of the Sicilian Defense that bears his name: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 b5!? This of the Najdorf Sicilian leads to extraordinarily complicated tactical play on which the last word has still not been said, although theory seems to give White the upper hand.
Illustrative games
This game from the 1969 Soviet championship against Tal would seem at first glance to be an example of Polugaevsky beating "The Magician from Riga" at his own sacrificial game. More subtly, however, it also reveals the depth of his opening knowledge and preparation. Polugaevsky had worked with Boris Spassky as the latter was preparing for his successful 1969 world championship match with Tigran Petrosian, and the two had made a searching analysis of the opening used in this game. Polugaevsky remarked later that the position as late as move 25 had appeared on the board during his analysis the morning ofthe game.
