Kasparyan started with chess problems, mainly three-movers, but soon discovered that his best field was endgame studies. He wrote several books and collections and composed about 600 studies, many on the theme of domination, winning 57 first prizes. He won the USSR Composing Championship several times.
He was more than a composer, he was also a Soviet master and he became an IM in 1950. A civil engineer by profession, Kasparyan won the 1931 championship of Tibilisi which qualified him for the 1931 USSR Championship. He finished first in the semi-final, but failed to score enough points to get promoted to Master. Back in the days when there wasn’t any Elo system the only way you could achieve the title in the Soviet Union was to defeat an established master in a match or score enough points in tournament play.
Kasparyan was awarded the Soviet master title in 1936 when he defeated the redoubtable Vitaly Chekhover who was no garden variety master. Chessmetrics assigns Chekhover a rating at that time in the mid-2500s placing him in in the top 60 or 70 players in the world.
It would be difficult to name another Soviet master whose playing style was as original...he was able to combine great attacking ability with, as might be expected, a deep positional understanding of endings. As for openings, he paid little attention to them, often selecting little studied openings.
Kasparyan worked very hard to sharpen his tactical abilities which according to Botvinnik marked him as a player of high caliber. His weakness was in positions where he had to defend himself or faced positional pressure. It was suggested that this lack of balance prevented him from obtaining steady tournament results.
In the following years he excelled in tournament play winning the Armenian championship ten times from 1934 to 1956 and the Tiflis championship three times (1931, 1937, 1945). He reached the USSR Championship finals four times (1931, 1937, 1947, 1952), but never finished higher than tenth place. By the late 1940s, Chessmetrics assigns Kasparyan a rating of 2600+ placing him in the world’s top 30, so he could clearly do more than compose endings!
The following win over Chekhover in their 1936 match gives an example of Kasparyan’s play.
Vitaly Chekhover - Genrikh Kasparian
Result: 0-1
Site: Moscow City Championship
Date: 1936.12.12
E67: King's Indian: Fianchetto
[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 d6 3.♘f3 g6 4.g3 ♗g7 5.♗g2 O-O 6.O-O ♘bd7 This defense was played at a time when the K-Indian was classified as Irregular, but thanks to Soviet players, it became a mainstay in modern play. 7.♘c3 e5 8.dxe5 This isn't very promising. Better was 7.e4 which is standard today. 8...dxe5 9.♕c2 ♖e8 White now has a couple of promising moves here. 10.h3 followed by 11.Be3 or 10.Rd1. Instead, he plays a move that gives black an opportunity to launch promising complications and Kasparyan jumps at the chance. 10.b3 e4 11.♘d4 This questionable, but the other main alternative, 14.Ng5, leads to complications acceptable fo black.
11.♘g5 h6
11...e3 Not this which was recommended by Kotov. 12.♗xe3 ♖xe3 13.fxe3 ♘g4 14.♘xf7 Overlooked by Kotov. White is better.
12.♘h3 ♘e5 with a promising position. White should now play 13.Bb2 and not take the P. 13.♘xe4 ♘xe4 14.♕xe4 ♘g4 attacking the Q and R. 11.♘e1 This is the best defense, but who wants to retreat like this? 11...c6 12.♗b2 ♕e7 13.♖d1 with about equal chances.
11...e3 A promising, if not quite perfect, P sacrifice. 12.f4
12.♗xe3 allows black to get a promising position after 12...♘g4 13.♕d2 ♘xe3 14.fxe3 c6
12...c6 13.♗b2 ♕a5 The idea of this move is to transfer the Q to the K-side, but better was 13...Ng4. (13...♘g4 14.♘f3 ♘df6 with a nice position.) 14.♘f3
14.f5 Both players missed this excellent move which allows white to seize the initiative. 14...♘e5 15.♘e4
14...♕h5 15.♘d1 This is a solid, but passive, defense.
15.♘h4 ♘f8 It's either this or admit the whole Q maneuver was a bad idea and retreat it to a5 which amounts to a huge loss of time than can only benefit white. 16.♖ad1 ♗f5 17.♘xf5 gxf5 is good for white.
15...♘c5 16.♗e5 One square too far. 16.Bd4 was better as black would have to prove that he has anything worth crowing about. 16...♗f5 17.♕b2 This move meets a surprising refutation. The Q should have retreated to c1.
17.♕c1 ♖xe5 fails after 18.fxe5 ♘g4 19.♘xe3 Eliminating the P on e3 which is the fly in the ointment.
17...♖xe5 18.fxe5 ♘g4 19.h3 This only further weakens his K's position. (19.♘c3 ♘e6 20.♕c1 ♘xe5 isn't especially promising for white either.) 19...♘xe5 20.♘xe5 ♗xh3 21.♖c1 (21.♗xh3 runs into 21...♕xh3 22.♖f3 ♘d7 23.♖xe3 ♗xe5) 21...♗xe5 22.♕c2 There was not anything better. All that's left is for black to concoct a mating attack. 22...♗xg3 23.♘xe3 ♗xg2 24.♔xg2 ♕h2 25.♔f3 ♗h4 26.♖g1 ♕h3 27.♔f4 ♖e8 (27...g5 28.♖xg5 ♗xg5 29.♔xg5 ♘e6 30.♔f6 ♕h4 mate next move.) 28.♘g4 ♘e6 (28...♔f8 29.♕f5 gxf5 30.♖c3 ♖e4 31.♔xf5 ♗g3 32.a3 ♕xg4 mate next move.) 29.♔e5 ♘g5 (29...♗g3 30.♖xg3 ♕xg3 31.♔f6 ♕f4 mate next move.) 30.♔d6 The K has no choice but to continue on this dangerous journey. 30...♗g3
30...♘e4 also leads to mate. 31.♕xe4 ♖xe4 32.♖cd1 ♗g3 33.♔c5 ♕xg4 34.e3 ♕g5 35.♔b4 a5 36.♔a3 ♕xe3 37.♖xg3 ♕c5 38.♔b2 ♖e2 39.♔c3 ♕e5 40.♖d4 ♕xg3 41.♖d3 ♕e1 42.♔d4 ♕g1 43.♔c3 ♕a1#
31.♖xg3 ♕xg3 32.♔d7
32.♔c5 holds out longer, but still loses. 32...♕xg4 33.♖d1 ♖xe2 34.♕d3 ♘e6 etc.
32...♕xg4 (32...♔f8 mates in 3. 33.♕e4 ♘xe4 34.c5 ♕xg4 35.♔c7 ♕c8#) 33.♔xe8 Now the K is quickly mated. 33...♕c8 34.♔e7 ♕c7 35.♔e8 ♘e6 36.♖d1 ♘g7# Combative play by Kasparyan! Powered by Aquarium
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