A man and his passion - some chess geography

From Amsterdam to Zagreb, from Buenos Aires to Yerevan, …

No other player in professional chess circuit was so busy beating such a bunch of chess fellows from different generations, have a look at Viktor's globetrotting list of first prizes added below and enjoy (t)his journey of memorable chess summits!


120+ !! Cities with Tournament, Team and/or Match Wins of Victorious Viktor:

Wijk aan Zee (Netherlands, the "Wimbledon" of yearly recurring chess top tournaments), Tilburg, Amsterdam, The Hague, Leeuwarden, Nijmegen, Harlingen, Arnhem, Rotterdam, Leningrad / Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Tbilisi, Kiev, Odessa, Poltava, Cheliabinsk, Molotov (today: Perm), Smolensk, Sochi, Suzdal, Sverdlovsk (today: Yekaterinburg), Tomsk, Volgograd, Voroshilovgrad (today: Luhansk), Sukhumi, Frunze (today: Bischkek), Riga, Tallinn, Yerevan, Copenhagen, Malmö, Uppsala, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Belgrade, Titograd (today: Podgorica), Zagreb, Rijeka, Skopje, Ohrid, Budva, Gyula, Paks, Budapest, Bucharest, Kraków, Krynica-Zdrój, Beersheba, Hastings, Bath, London, Paris, Enghien-les-Bains, Clermont-Ferrand, Val Maubuee, Royan, Roquebrune, Évian, Nice, Auxerre, Cannes, Antwerp, Brussels, Las Palmas, Palma de Mallorca, Banyoles, Marbella, Madrid, Merano, Arvier (Aosta Valley), Ciocco (Tuscany), Genoa, Rome, Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, Dresden, Siegen, Oberhausen, Bad Kissingen, Bad Homburg, Solingen, Münster, Kaiserslautern, Vienna, Velden, Kapfenberg, Prague, Ostrava, Luhačovice, Česká Třebová, Rogaška Slatina, Havana, Curaçao, Montreal, Toronto, New York City, San Francisco, Pasadena, Lone Pine (California), Augusta (Georgia), Mérida (Yucatán), Córdoba, Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Viña del Mar, Kapstadt, Johannesburg, Mauren (Principality of Liechtenstein), San Bernardino, Silvaplana, Arosa, Grächen, Leukerbad, Baden (Argovia), Basel, Berne, Lucerne, Lugano, Montreux, Biel, Geneva, Zurich, Wohlen and Wenzhou (Zhejiang, China), among others.

Grandmaster Korchnoi also played legendary chess battles, winning games but not winning the whole tournament, or only drawing a match in (devoid of team events with Switzerland):

Baguio City, Manila, Sousse, Kolkata, Groningen, Linares, Barcelona, Pamplona, Reggio Emilia, Herceg Novi, Rovinj, Ptuj, Polanica-Zdrój, Donetsk, Elista, Monte Carlo, Montpellier, Dortmund, Drammen, Oslo, Stockholm, Haninge, Reykjavik, Saint John, Las Vegas, Gibraltar, Horgen, a.o.

Korchnoi in Odessa 2008

Lion versus Tiger: draw

Viktor Korchnoi wins at Banyoles Open 2006, after beating top-seeded Sergei Tiviakov in the penultimate round, then a draw by repetition in the last round against "Tiger" Hillarp Persson was enough for the "Lion" to get the first prize, just a few months after his 75th anniversary! (The quality of the webcam video by original is a bit low, but it gives you a good impression ot the immense tension when both player are down on time increment)