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Alexander Nikitin, the principal coach of the world chess champion Garry Kasparov from the time Mr. Kasparov was 10 till years after he had develop into the titleholder, died on June 5 in Moscow. He was 87.
The Worldwide Chess Federation, the sport’s governing physique, introduced his dying on its web site. No trigger was given.
Mr. Nikitin, a world grasp, met Mr. Kasparov considerably by probability in 1973. As Mr. Nikitin recalled in an interview revealed this yr on the Russian Chess Federation’s website, one other coach, Anatoly Bykhovsky, was imagined to work with the younger gamers at a youth match in Vilnius, Lithuania. However Mr. Bykhovsky was leaving for a world match and requested Mr. Nikitin, who was already a longtime coach, to go to Vilnius in his place.
Mr. Nikitin instantly observed Mr. Kasparov, partly as a result of he was solely 10 and everybody else on his group was six or seven years older.
Mr. Nikitin took Mr. Kasparov on as a pupil, which was not simple; Mr. Kasparov was dwelling in Baku, Azerbaijan, the place he had been born, and Mr. Nikitin was in Moscow. Mr. Nikitin despatched letters and analysis materials for Mr. Kasparov to check, and one way or the other the collaboration labored. (Mr. Kasparov finally moved.)
Mr. Kasparov’s ascent was fast. He received the Soviet Junior Championship when he was 12; received a significant worldwide match in Yugoslavia when he was 15, catapulting him into the world’s Prime 20; and received the World Junior Championship in 1980. By age 17, he was a grandmaster.
Mr. Kasparov certified for the cycle of the world championship in 1982. By now, he and Mr. Nikitin have been coaching full time. They might go for runs collectively to strengthen Mr. Kasparov’s stamina, a follow that quickly had a sensible payoff.
In September 1984, Mr. Kasparov confronted Anatoly Karpov, the reigning champion, in a match for the title. The winner can be the primary participant to attain six wins.
The match turned out to be a grueling one, stretching for 5 months and 48 video games — the longest in historical past. It began out disastrously for Mr. Kasparov, who, partly due to inexperience, misplaced 4 of the primary 9 video games. However he settled down and started to grind out attracts.
After falling behind by 5-0, he got here again to win Sport 32 after which Video games 47 and 48. At that time, in February 1985, Florencio Campomanes, the president of the Worldwide Chess Federation, suspended the match, saying he was nervous concerning the gamers’ well being.
A brand new match was organized for later in 1985. It could be restricted to 24 video games. Mr. Kasparov received it by a rating of 13-11.
He then confronted Mr. Karpov in a return match in 1986, once more eking out a win, this time by the rating of 12.5-11.5. The 2 confronted one another but once more in 1987, with the match ending in a tie, 12-12 — permitting Mr. Kasparov to retain the crown, as a result of ties went to the reigning champion.
All through all these matches, Mr. Nikitin was Mr. Kasparov’s major coach. In a 2020 Chess Information Russia interview with Mr. Nikitin and Mr. Kasparov, Mr. Kasparov mentioned they have been “shut buddies.” However the stress of the matches took its toll.
Mr. Nikitin defined: “All these world championship matches, from first to the final, aren’t only a fierce battle between two gamers. The interior debates between coaches and their participant are equally fierce. We tried to show that our opinion was proper, the participant tried to show his opinion. We have been at all times tense, and we burned out regularly.”
Mr. Nikitin and Mr. Kasparov continued to work collectively by 1989. However by the point of Mr. Kasparov’s fifth and ultimate match with Mr. Karpov for the world championship, in 1990, that they had parted methods.
Mr. Nikitin was born on Jan. 27, 1935, in Moscow. Little is understood about his speedy household, and there was no phrase about survivors. He had been married and divorced earlier than he met Mr. Kasparov, and he by no means remarried.
Mr. Nikitin found chess when he was 7 and got here throughout a e book by Emanuel Lasker, a earlier world champion, in his uncle’s research. He was instantly entranced and skim the e book cowl to cowl.
He turned the most effective younger gamers within the Soviet Union, together with future world champions together with Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian (with whom he would later train) and Boris Spassky.
Regardless of his clear expertise, he was unsure that he wished to develop into knowledgeable chess participant — a viable profession within the Soviet Union — so he continued his common training. He studied engineering in school and later labored for 15 years as a radio engineer.
In 1959, Mr. Nikitin certified for the primary and solely time to play within the Soviet Union’s championship, which was then thought of one of many strongest tournaments on the planet. Although he was typically proud of the standard of his play, he completed final. He realized that he couldn’t be a full-time engineer and knowledgeable participant, so he closed the door on that risk.
By the early Nineteen Seventies, Mr. Nikitin had grown bored with engineering and yearned for chess. Fortuitously, there have been openings for chess coaches, and he had already established that he had some aptitude for that. Quickly after he started teaching full time, he met Mr. Kasparov.
After working with Mr. Kasparov, Mr. Nikitin continued to teach at a excessive stage. He coached Étienne Bacrot, a French prodigy who rose to No. 9 on the planet, and Dmitry Jakovenko, a Russian who peaked at No. 5 on the planet.
Mr. Nikitin additionally wrote a two-volume historical past of his years with Mr. Kasparov, “Teaching Kasparov, Yr by Yr and Transfer by Transfer.”
In 1993, although he was not a participant, Mr. Nikitin was awarded the sport’s second-highest title, worldwide grasp, by the Worldwide Chess Federation.
Mr. Nikitin and Mr. Kasparov remained pleasant even after their skilled relationship ended. As Mr. Kasparov mentioned within the 2020 interview, “We have now lived an entire chess life collectively.”
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