Boris Gulko - Biography

Boris Franzevich Gulko (born February 9, 1947 in Erfurt, East Germany) is a U.S. International Grandmaster in chess. In Russian, his name is pronounced "bah-REES gul-KO".

As of May 2010, his Elo rating was 2535, making him the # 25 among active chess players in the US and the 520th-highest rated active player in the world. His peak rating was 2644 in 2000.

Life and career

His father was a soldier of the Red Army and was stationed in East Germany when Boris was born. His family returned in the Soviet Union after a few years. Gulko became an international master in 1975, and a grandmaster in 1976. He won the USSR Chess Championship in 1977. Shortly after, he applied to leave the country, but permission was refused. He and his wife, Anna Akhsharumova, who is a Woman Grandmaster of chess, became prominent Soviet Refuseniks. As a vehement anti-Communist, he was once arrested and beaten by KGB agents.

They weren't allowed in top-level chess competition until the period of glasnost arrived, and Gulko was finally allowed to immigrate to the United States in 1986. "39 is too old to start playing and training to reach the highest achievement in chess," said Boris, "those 7 years were a serious blow for my chess career, but I don’t regret them."

After moving to the U.S. he won the U.S. Chess Championship in 1994 and 1999. He is the only chess player ever to have held both the American and Soviet championship titles. Gulko also holds an amazing positive score against Garry Kasparov, with three victories, four draws, and only one defeat, in games played from 1978 to 2001 (according to ChessGames.com)

His Jewish faith interfered with his career again 20 years later. The 2004 World Chess Championship was held in Libya, and he qualified to play. The president of the Libyan Organizing Committee, dictator Gaddafi’s son, announced: “We did not and will not invite the Zionist enemies to this championship.” Gulko and other Jewish players from Israel and the United States withdrew from the tournament, and Gulko sent a scathing letter [1] to the president of FIDE, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, “I implore you not to be the first president of FIDE to preside over the first world chess championship from which Jews are excluded. Our magnificent and noble game does not deserve such a disgrace.”

Gulko played for Soviet Union in the Chess Olympiad of 1978 and for the USA in the Chess Olympiads of 1988-2004. He is still playing chess, although he does not participate in a large number of tournaments. Today the Gulkos live in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.

Notable games

Kasparov-Gulko, Russia 1982

Gulko has a plus record against Garry Kasparov (+3-1=4). He even beat Kasparov with black pieces in Russia in 1982:

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bxc4 e6 5.Nf3 c5 6.O-O a6 7.e4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nbd7 11.Nc3 Ne5 12.Ncxb5 Nxd3 13.Qxd3 axb5 14.Rfd1 Be7 15.Qxb5+ Qd7 16.Qb3 Bxe4 17.Nf5 Bd5 18.Nxg7+ Kf8 19.Qh3 h5 20.Qg3 Kxg7 21.Bxf6+ Kxf6 22.Rd4 Bd6 23.Qc3 Kg6 24.h3 Bc7 0-1

See also

• List of people who have beaten Garry Kasparov in chess

Books

• Boris Gulko, Yuri Felshtinsky, Vladimir Popov, Viktor Kortschnoi, The KGB Plays Chess: The Soviet Secret Police and the Fight for the World Chess Crown. Russell Enterprises, Inc. 2011, ISBN: 1888690755.

External links

• US Chess bio
• "An Open Letter to the President of FIDE, Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, from Grandmaster Boris Gulko," from gmsquare.com
• Interview With GM Boris Gulko