Nickoloff, born of Bulgarian heritage in Toronto to emigre parents. He learned to play chess at the relatively late age of 15, but within three years he was of master strength.
He won the Toronto City Championship in 1978, and repeated in 1997 (shared) and 1998. He won the Canadian Open Championship in 1992 and 1995 as well as dozens of weekend events in his career.
He represented Canada six times in the Olympiads, but in nine attempts never managed to win the Canadian championship.
In his first championship in 1978, which was after he had been playing chess for only seven years and also happened to be a Zonal tournament, he scored 9-6 and shared 7th-8th places.
The closest he got to winning the Canadian title was in 1979 at Windsor (also a Zonal) when he scored 10-5 and tied for 2nd-3rd places with Leon Piasetski. In a four-game match at Toronto 1990 for the second Interzonal spot Nickoloff got off to a 1.5-0.5 lead and needed only a draw in the last two games because in the event of a tie he had the better tiebreaks. But, he lost the last two games and the match.
There was an unpleasant incident involving Nickoloff at the 1995 Canadian Championship in Ottawa. Nickoloff fell asleep at the board and his cock was running until another player, Robert Kiviaho. woke him up. The incident lead to a bunch of arguments and appeals that disrupted the rest of the event. You can read the details HERE.
In the late 1990s when he was in his early 40s, Nickoloff, a lover of alcohol, tobacco and late nights, was diagnosed with incurable stomach cancer and as a result lost a lot of weight and strength. Even so, he managed to play in tournaments at a high level until the end.
His last tournament was the 2004 Canadian Open Chess where, although emaciated and sick, he managed to score 6.5-3.5. He died two weeks later.
Here is a fantastic game he played at Lone Pine in 1977. There were 48 players and entrants needed an IM or GM title or a rating of 2350 or higher (2250 for juniors) to qualify. Nickoloff finished 43rd with a 3-6 score.
His opponent, David Strauss, finished in 41st place with 3.5 points.
Strauss was born in 1946 in London, England. In 1973 he won the California State Championship. He tied for first at the American Open in 1971, 1975, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1985, and 1992. He was awarded the IM title in 1982.
David J Strauss - Bryon Nickoloff
Result: 0-1
Site: Lone Pine
Date: 1977
Closed Sicilian
[...] 1.e4 c5 2.d3 ♘c6 3.♘c3 The Closed Sicilian is a competitive line that offers white attacking chances without knowing a mountain of theory. White expands on the K-side. On the other hand black has little theoretical challenge when it comes to equalizing. 3...g6 4.g3 ♗g7 5.♗g2 d6 6.f4 e6 7.♘f3 ♘ge7 8.O-O b6 9.♗e3 ♘d4
16...h5 17.h3 ♗h6 18.♘g5 ♘c6
38.♕f3 ♖xd6 39.exd6 ♔d7 40.cxb6 axb6 41.♕xg4+ ♖xg4 42.♗xb6 ♖xh4 Black has an extra piece and should win the ending. 37.♕h8+
9...d5 10.♗f2 dxe4 11.dxe4 ♗a6 12.♖e1 e5 13.♕c1 O-O 14.g4 exf4 15.♕xf4 ♕b8 is equal. Meinhardt,M (2394) -Guliyev,N (2559)/Viernheim GER 2014
10.♖b1 There seems little point to this anti-thematic move.
10.♕d2 ♗b7 11.♗xd4 cxd4 12.♘b5 O-O 13.♘bxd4 b5 14.c3 with equal chances. Marinskii,Y (2166)-Rakhmanov,A (2629)/St Petersburg 2018
(10.e5!? is worthy of consideration 10...dxe5 11.♘xe5) 10...♗b7 11.♘e2 ♘xe2+ 12.♕xe2 d5 13.♗f2 ♕c7 14.c3 ♖c8 15.e5 h6 16.♖be1 White is preparing for the advance of his f-Pawn and to that end adds support to the e-Pawn.
16.d4 cxd4 17.cxd4
17.♘xd4 is probably better, but the advance of the f-Pawn is out of the question.
17...O-O 18.g4 ♕c2 19.♕xc2 ♖xc2 20.♖fc1 ♖fc8 and black has fully equalized. 18...♗xg5 looks like a viable alternative 19.fxg5 d4 20.cxd4 cxd4 21.♗xd4 ♗xg2 22.♔xg2 ♕d7 with complete equality.
19.♗e3 ♖d8 20.f5 The push white has been aiming for. 20...gxf5
20...exf5 is strongly met by 21.e6 f6 22.♘f7 with the advantage.
21.♕xh5 ♕e7 22.h4 ♗g7 White's aggressive play has failed to gain anything positive and instead of admitting it and meekly retreating his Q he decides to play for complications that turn out to be unfavorable for him. 23.♘h7 After this the game enters an amazingly complicated phase!
23.♕d1 ♗xe5 24.♗f4 f6 25.♗xe5 fxe5 and black can claim a slight advantage.
23...♕f8 A surprise move! 24.c4 Missing an interesting chance to complicate with 24.Rxf5!? (24.♘xf8 ♖xh5 25.♘xe6 fxe6 26.d4 Black has won a piece.)
24.♖xf5 and now, after 24...exf5 White has two interesting, if insufficient, moves: 25.Bg5 and 26.Nf6+ or he can try 25.e6
24...♕g8 25.cxd5 ♖xh7 26.♕g5 exd5 27.♖xf5 ♘e7
27...♗c8 was also good. 28.e6 ♗xe6 29.♖xd5 ♖xd5 30.♗xd5 ♘e5 black is a piece up.
28.♖f6 ♗c8 29.♖d6 ♗e6
29...♖xd6 loses after 30.exd6 f6 (30...♘f5 31.♗xd5 ♖h6 32.♗f4+ ♖e6 33.♗xe6 ♗xe6 34.♕xf5 wins) 31.♕f4 ♘c6 32.♗xc5+ with the advantage.
30.b4 ♗h6 31.♕f6 After this white is quite lost. Trading Qs offered the best chance.
31.♕xg8+ ♘xg8 32.bxc5 ♗xe3+ 33.♖xe3 bxc5 34.♖c6 d4 35.♖e2 ♖g7 36.♔f2 ♘h6 37.♖xc5 ♘f5 but even here white's position must be considered lost.
31...♕xg3 32.♗f2 ♕g4 33.♔f1 ♖g7
33...c4 transitioning into an ending was even more forceful. 34.dxc4 ♖g7 35.♕f3 ♕xc4+ 36.♕e2 ♕xe2+ 37.♖xe2 ♖c8 Here, too, white would be helpless.
34.♗f3 ♕h3+ 35.♔e2 ♗g4 This is OK, but he missed a much stronger move. Time pressure may have been a factor at this point.
35...♖g6 36.♕h8+ ♘g8 And while white's Q cannot be won, it is completely out of play.
(35...♘c6 36.♖xd8+ ♘xd8 37.♖h1 ♕f5 38.♕xh6 ♕xe5+) 36.bxc5 ♖g6 With his B on g4 this has now lost some of its effectiveness.
36...♘c6 keeps an even firmer grip 37.♗xg4 (37.♖xd8+ fails because the B is pinned. 37...♘xd8 38.♖h1 ♕xh1) 37...♕xg4+
37...♖xg4 loses to 38.e6 (38.♖xc6 fails. 38...♖g6 39.♕h8+ ♔d7 White's Q is trapped.) 38...♖g7 39.♖xc6
39.♕xh6 is a bad alternative 39...♕g4+ 40.♔d2 ♕b4+ draws because white cannot escape the checks.
39...♕g4+ 40.♕f3 ♕xf3+ (40...fxe6 41.♕xg4 ♖xg4 42.♖xe6+) 41.♔xf3 and black's K is caught in a crossfire. 37.♗xg4 hoping against hope 37...♕xg4+ 38.♕f3 ♕xf3+ 39.♔xf3 bxc5 winning.
37...♘g8 38.♖xg6 ♗xf3#Powered by Aquarium
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