The KGB and Chess

     Recently I bought another chess book, but not the usual kind. It's The KGB Plays Chess - The Soviet Secret Police and the Fight for the World Chess Crown by Boris Gulko, Vladimir Popov, Yuri Felshtinsky and Viktor Kortchnoi. 
     There are no games or instruction, but it tells us about players like Nikolai Krogius, Yury Averbakh, Tigran Petrosian, Rafael Vaganian, Eduard Gufeld and Lev Polugaevsky and many others were recruited to spy for the KGB. 
     At one time chess was a source of things that were in short supply for those living under the Soviets: freedom of expression and competition where the outcome was not determined by membership in the Communist Party and being of the right ethnic profile.
     For some professional chess players the game meant a decent income and trips to tournaments abroad. In exchange for these privileges these players brought prestige to the Soviet Union. The price the players paid was constant supervision by the the KGB. 
     Mikhail Botvinnik was an ideological Communist who from his youth set himself the goal of winning the world championship. Thus, when Grigory Levenfish, who was at the time the USSR champion, was invited to attend AVRO in 1938, Botvinnik ended up going because the Soviet government did not trust Levenfish and was afraid to allow him to leave the country. 
     In the middle of the 1948 world championship tournament, Botvinnik was summoned to a meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. He was told they were afraid that Reshevsky would win the tournament and Botvinnik was asked how he would feel if the other Soviet players lost to him. Botvinnik claimed he was humiliated and he categorically rejected the suggestion. 
     After Vasily Smyslov won the world championship in 1957, it turned out he wasn't the Soviet man the Communist officials thought he was. Smyslov was a devout Christian and deemed the Soviet government to be "demonic." In spite of that, he wasn't above writing letters to his supporters in the government to get rivals pulled from tournaments so he could take their place. 
     It's not believed that Tigran Petrosian was a Party member, but according to Gulko, he actively collaborated with the KGB. Mikhail Tal normally didn't; all he was interested in was playing in tournaments, but he was willing to compromise if he had to. For example, the government really didn't want Tal representing them, but because he served as a second to Karpov, a good Communist, it enabled him to receive some favors. 
     In1983, after his work with Karpov ended, Tal claimed Kasparov was the best player in the world and as a result, he instantly became Karpov’s enemy. And, when Korchnoi defected, Tal signed a letter condeming him because it was in his interest to do so. 
     Anatoly Karpov collaborated with the KGB and was known by the code name "Raoul."  He forced some players into assisting him and many were willing to do so because he was in a position to decide who got to travel to international tournaments. 
     Gulko claims that in 1979, Karpov’s manager offered him the opportunity to play in the prestigious Tilburg tournament if Gulko would withdraw his request for permission to emigrate. He refused and as a result he and his wife were considered “refuseniks" and ended up spending time in prison. 
     The KGB was not to be messed with. During the Chess Olympiad in Novi Sad in 1990, Tal told Korchnoi that if he (Korchnoi) had defeated Karpov in the world championship, the KGB would have killed Korchnoi. Apparently Tal found out that little piece of intelligence while working as Karpov’s coach. 
     Boris Spassky was the first openly dissident player. While he was world champion, a member of the American Communist Party named Angela Davis was on trial on conspiracy charges as an accomplice in the murder of a judge and Spassky refused to sign a letter in defense of her activities.  

Angela Davis

     Spassky also delighted in saying insulting things about the Communist government and mocking Lenin in the presence Soviet officials collaborating with the KGB. 
     He blamed his defeat by Fischer, in part, on interference by the KGB. One result was that he was persecuted by the KGB when he decided to marry an employee of the French embassy in Moscow, and later, when he wanted to join her in France. It's claimed that the KGB even tried to infect her under garments with venereal disease. 
     Spassky feared for his life and with the help of the West German steel magnate Egon Evertz he finally managed to flee the USSR.
     Gulko claims the KGB was really behind the aborted match between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. It's claimed that the former FIDE president Florencio Campomanes was recruited by the KGB and his decision to stop the first Karpov - Kasparov match is alleged to have been at the request of the KGB.
     Fascinating reading for less than $20. While you're at it, you may also want to spent $25 for Russian Silhouettes by Genna Sosonko. It's an engrossing book filled with stories about Tal, Botvinnik, Geller, Polugaevsky, the virtually unknown Vitolins, Levenfish, Zak, Furman and Koblenz and the impact of the Soviet government. There's also a fascinating profile of Capablanca by his widow, Olga.