From the London Chess Centre Publishing web site:

“Kupreichik: The Maestro from Minsk features tributes to the legendary attacker from those who regularly faced him at the board, including Alexander Beliavsky, Oleg Romanishin, Evgeny Sveshnikov and Vladimir Tukmakov. Kupreichik also inspired the next generation, as the contributions of Boris Gelfand, Garry Kasparov, Andrey Kovalev and Rauf Mamedov reveal.

Our picture of Viktor Kupreichik is completed by a series of pen portraits from his family, which make clear the kind and principled man this hero of Belarusian chess was, as well as his love for the 64 squares.

Translated by Ken Neat, this work is also a collection of Kupreichik’s best games, many annotated by the man himself. His wins over Tal and Zilbershtein are legendary examples of the power of a knight sacrifice on d5 in the Open Sicilian. Inside you will learn not just about handling Kupreichik’s favourite Classical Sicilian, Slav and King’s Indian, but attacking and sacrificial chess in general. Readers even have the chance to solve 26 positions and so play like Kupreichik!

Viktor Kupreichik (1949-2017) was a leading Soviet Grandmaster in the 1970s and 1980s, famed for his attacking prowess. He twice won a staggering five games in a row at the super-strong USSR Championship. A former world student champion, Kupreichik won many tournaments, including the Masters section at Wijk aan Zee in 1977 and the Hastings Premier of 1981/82.

with forewords by Anastasia Sorkina and Genna Sosonko”

If I asked you to guess who played this game you’d be forgiven for thinking Tal. (Click on any move in any game in this review for a pop-up window)

[pgn]

[Event “”]
[Site “”]
[Date “”]
[Round “”]
[White “”]
[Black “”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B82”]
[PlyCount “61”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bc4 Qb6 7. Nb3 e6 8. Be3 Qc7 9. f4 a6 10. Bd3 b5 11. a3 Be7 12. Qf3 Bb7 13. O-O Rc8 14. Rae1 O-O 15. Qh3 b4 {[#]} 16. Nd5 exd5 17. exd5 Nb8 18. Bd4 g6 19. Rf3 Bxd5 20. Rfe3 Bd8 21. Qh4 Nbd7 22. Qh6 Qb7 23. Rg3 Nc5 24. Nxc5 dxc5 {[#]} 25. f5 cxd4 26. fxg6 fxg6 27. Bxg6 Kh8 28. Qxf8+ Ng8 29. Bf5 Rb8 30. Re8 Qf7 31. Rh3 1-0

[/pgn]

You’d be partly right: Tal was playing – the black pieces. Spoilsport Stockfish will tell you he should have won, but it’s not easy, even for a genius, to defend against that sort of attack over the board. It was played in Sochi i n 1970, in a match tournament between a team of young  layers and a team of grandmasters.

On the white side was the hero of this book, Viktor Davydovich Kupreichik (1949-2017). This book, unusually without a credited author, was compiled by his family and friends after his death and published in Russian in 2019 to celebrate what would have been his 70th birthday. Here we have an English translation from London Chess Centre Publishing.

Genna Sosonko wrote the foreword to the English edition:

A master of attack, he demonstrated play that you rarely see nowadays. Even today when playing over games by Minsk’s favourite, an expression of Tal’s comes to mind – “tasty chess”.

Memories of him have been written by world champions, trainers, colleagues, friends and Viktor’s pupils. They all remember not only a wonderful chess player, but also an extraordinary personality. Even in the world of Soviet chess, Viktor was distinguished by his independence.

Mikhail Tal, Viktor’s idol, once said that his favourite squares on the chess board were d5 and f5. Viktor, who was similar to Tal not only in his constant striving for the initiative, but also the incredible boldness of his play, repeatedly placed his pieces en prise too on these very squares. And his most brilliant firework display began with a knight sacrifice on d5 in a game with Tal himself.

If you’re a fan of Tal’s games, then (and who isn’t?), you’ll enjoy Kupreichik’s games as well. You might put him in the same category as other chess mavericks such as Nezhmetdinov and Planinc: a player who valued creativity, beauty and excitement above results.

One of the contributors, Boris Gelfand, recalls, as an 11-year-old in 1979, being deeply impressed by this game.

[pgn]
[Event “URS-ch47 Final”]
[Site “Minsk”]
[Date “1979.12.??”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Tseshkovsky, Vitaly”]
[Black “Kupreichik, Viktor D”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B64”]
[WhiteElo “2560”]
[BlackElo “2365”]
[PlyCount “58”]
[EventDate “1979.11.29”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “17”]
[EventCountry “URS”]
[EventCategory “12”]
[SourceTitle “URS-ch”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7 8. O-O-O O-O 9. f4 h6 10. Bh4 Bd7 11. Nf3 Qa5 12. Bc4 {[#]} b5 13. Bxb5 Rfc8 14. Bc4 Nb4 15. Qe2 Rxc4 16. Qxc4 Rc8 17. Qb3 Nxe4 18. a3 {[#]} Nxc2 19. Qxc2 Nxc3 20. Be1 Bf6 21. Ne5 Ba4 22. Bxc3 Bxc2 23. Bxa5 Bxd1+ 24. Kxd1 dxe5 25. fxe5 Bxe5 26. b4 Rc3 27. a4 Ra3 28. Kc2 Bd4 29. Rd1 e5 0-1
[/pgn]

Kupreichik’s niece, Anastasia Sorokina, is President of the Belarus Chess Federation and a FIDE Vice-President. She wrote the foreword to the Russian edition.

The publication of this book is timed to coincide with the 70th birthday of an outstanding chess-player, the first Belarusian Grandmaster, a true friend and a wonderful person, Viktor Davydovich Kupreichik. Vitek – that’s what his friends and the fans called him.

In the distant 1980s the name of Kuprechik resounded throughout the country. He was recognised in the street, fans would queue up to watch him play, and largely thanks to him a chess boom began in the Republic.

and

A sensitive and tactful person, he did not like boasting and bravado, so when the idea of this book emerged I wanted to make it modest, like him, but at the same time show all the power of his chess talent and the charm of his human character.

The first half of the book, then, comprises tributes to Kupreichik from friends and colleagues, including Kasparov and Karpov, very often with annotated games.

His friend Andrey Kovalev describes this encounter as ‘one of the best King’s Indian games in the history of chess’.

See what you think.

[pgn]
[Event “URS-ch49 Final”]
[Site “Frunze”]
[Date “1981.12.??”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Agzamov, Georgy”]
[Black “Kupreichik, Viktor D”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “E73”]
[WhiteElo “2435”]
[BlackElo “2575”]
[PlyCount “74”]
[EventDate “1981.11.28”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “17”]
[EventCountry “URS”]
[EventCategory “12”]
[SourceTitle “URS-ch”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Qd2 e5 8. d5 Nc5 9. f3 Bd7 10. h4 Qe8 11. g4 h5 12. O-O-O hxg4 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. fxg4 Qd8 15. Qe1 Bg7 16. Nh3 f5 17. exf5 gxf5 18. g5 {[#]} b5 19. cxb5 a6 20. b4 axb5 21. bxc5 b4 22. Nb1 Rxa2 23. Bc4 Ra5 24. c6 {[#]} Qb8 25. Qe2 b3 26. cxd7 Qb4 27. Rd2 e4 28. Nf4 Ra1 29. Rh3 Bc3 30. Bxb3 Bxd2+ 31. Qxd2 Rxb1+ 32. Kxb1 Qxd2 33. Ne6 Rb8 34. d8=Q+ Rxd8 35. Nxd8 e3 36. Ne6 e2 37. Rh1 f4 0-1
[/pgn]

Throughout his long career, lasting 55 years or so, Kupreichik remained loyal to his favourite openings. He preferred 1. e4 with White, replying to 1. e4 with the Sicilian, and to 1. d4 with the King’s Indian or the Slav. If you enjoy these openings yourself you’ll find a lot of inspiration from the games in this book.

The second major section of the book is a collection of games annotated by Kupreichik himself. Those he annotated for Chess Informant have had verbal explanations added by the editorial team.

Here’s a quick win against Nigel Short.

[pgn]

[Event “Telechess ol2 8182”]
[Site “telex”]
[Date “1982.05.08”]
[Round “3.6”]
[White “Kupreichik, Viktor D”]
[Black “Short, Nigel D”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B07”]
[WhiteElo “2570”]
[BlackElo “2430”]
[PlyCount “43”]
[EventDate “1981.06.30”]
[EventType “team-k.o.”]
[EventRounds “4”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2000”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
[WhiteTeam “Soviet Union”]
[BlackTeam “England”]
[WhiteTeamCountry “URS”]
[BlackTeamCountry “ENG”]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 c6 5. Qd2 Nbd7 6. Nf3 Qa5 7. Bd3 e5 8. O-O-O b5 9. Kb1 Qc7 10. Bg5 Be7 11. h4 a6 12. dxe5 dxe5 13. h5 Nxh5 14. Bxe7 Kxe7 {[#]} 15. Rxh5 gxh5 16. Qg5+ Nf6 $6 17. Nxe5 Rg8 18. Qf4 Ra7 {[#]} 19. Nd5+ cxd5 20. exd5 Bb7 21. Ng6+ Kd7 22. Qf5+ 1-0
[/pgn]

By now you might be wondering why Kupreichik isn’t better known, or why he never reached the heights these games would suggest he deserved (his highest rating was 2575). I guess he was one of those players who loved chess too much, who valued beauty above success.

You might also think there are many higher rated players who deserve to be the subject of a games collection. You may well be right, up to a point, but were their games as entertaining as Kupreichik’s?

Here’s one final example: another spectacular miniature.

[pgn]
[Event “GMA Baleares op”]
[Site “Palma de Mallorca”]
[Date “1989.??.??”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Kupreichik, Viktor D”]
[Black “Sunye Neto, Jaime”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B43”]
[WhiteElo “2520”]
[BlackElo “2480”]
[PlyCount “45”]
[EventDate “1989.12.??”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “9”]
[EventCountry “ESP”]
[SourceTitle “TD”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1994.03.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1994.03.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. Nf3 b5 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bb7 6. Bd3 e6 7. O-O Qc7 8. Qe2 Nc6 9. Nxc6 Qxc6 10. a4 b4 11. Nd5 Nf6 12. Bc4 Bd6 13. Rd1 Bc5 14. Bh6 O-O-O{[#]} 15. Bb5 axb5 16. axb5 Qd6 17. Nxf6 Qf8 18. Bxg7 Qxg7 19. Qc4 d6 {[#]} 20. Rxd6 Qg5 21. Nd5 exd5 22. Qxc5+ Kb8 23. Rc6 1-0
[/pgn]

At the end of the book you’ll find a puzzle section: 26 tactical puzzles based on his games, spaciously laid out with only two diagrams per page. Finally, and charmingly, we have short memoirs from his closest family: his sister, niece and daughter.

There are also 16 pages of photographs, on glossy paper. Here you’ll see pictures of Kupreichik throughout his life, from the young boy with his parents to playing in tournaments at the end of his life: sadly he was denied the pleasures of old age. You’ll see him playing chess – and also playing football and volleyball.

All in all, it’s a delightful book: 85 games brimming with exciting tactics and sacrifices as well as reminiscences of someone who was a much loved human being as well as a highly creative player.

It’s beautifully produced as well: a handsome hardback which will look good on your bookshelf. It’s refreshingly free from typos and the translation is, as you’d expect from Ken Neat, outstanding. I very much hope that the London Chess Centre plan to publish more books of this quality.

The one thing that’s missing, for me, is a career summary. I’d have appreciated a full list of Kupreichik’s tournament results and perhaps also his ratings over the years. We do, however, have indexes of openings and opponents.

While it might not be an essential purchase, many readers will enjoy this book. If it appeals to you it comes with a strong recommendation.

If you enjoy games collections you’ll want this book. If you enjoy the games of players like Tal, Nezhmetdinov and Planinc, you certainly won’t be disappointed in this book. If you play the Sicilian (with either colour), the King’s Indian or the Slav, or you’re an e4 player looking for new ideas, you’ll find this book inspirational.

 

Here are some sample pages in pdf format.

Richard James, Twickenham 6th March 2023

Book Details :

• Hardback: 344 pages
• Publisher: London Chess Centre Publishing; New edition (10 Sept. 2021)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10:0948443960
• ISBN-13:978-0948443961
• Product Dimensions: 15.24 x 3.49 x 23.5 cm

Kupreichik: The Maestro From Minsk, Translated by Ken Neat, London Chess Centre Publishing; New edition (10 Sept. 2021), ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0948443961