Another living chess legend will take part in the Open Group of the Univé tournament in Hoogeveen this year. Alexander Beliavsky, born in Ukraine and a citizen of Slovenia since 1996, is a famous player from the generation of Jan Timman. Already in 1975 he became a grandmaster, and he has always been feared for his immensely broad opening knowledge, his all-round playing qualities and his fighting spirit. In the 1980’s, Beliavsky was among the absolute world top players, although he was never able to shine in the struggle for the world title; in a Candidates’ match in 1984 Garry Kasparov himself barred his way.
Beliavsky became Junior World Champion in 1973, and in 1987 he became champion of Russia. Throughout the years he has played a lot in the Netherlands – first in several Interpolis and Hoogovens tournaments. In 1984 he won Wijk aan Zee together with Viktor Kortchnoi. More recently he was a member of the Experience team in the NH-tournaments in Amsterdam. There, in 2009, during his most recent performance in the Netherlands, he defeated Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan. Today, at 60, he is still a formidable opponent who has to be considered one of the favourites for the tournament victory.
