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Happened Today in the Chess World - Mar 12, 2024

KARPOV'S SHADOW

Orenburg 1965: Gennadij Timoshchenko, Anatoly Karpov, and Yuri Balashov - Source: chesspro.ru

Today is Grandmaster Yuri Balashov's birthday. He was born on March 12, 1949 in Shadrinsk, Russia.
Blashov was part of the Russian team that won the 1980 Valletta Olympiad, where he also won an individual gold medal as first reserve.
Bashov was often the second of Anatoly Karpov, and of Boris Spassky in the controversial rematch with Fischer in 1992.
Lithuanian champion in 1977 and second at the Soviet championship in 1976, Balashov reached his peak rating in January 1979, with 2600 Elo points, which made him the 11th player in the world at that time.
During his career, Balashov defeated four world champions, Tal, Smyslov, Karpov, and Khalifman, and super-strong players such as Keres, Bronstein, Kortschnoj, Timman, Geller, Jussupow, Andersson, and many others.

Yuri Balashov-Aleksandar Matanovic, Skopje 1970
White to move