Alexander Beliavsky

Infobox chess player
playername = Alexander Beliavsky


caption= Beliavsky at the 35th chess olympiad, Bled 2002
birthname = Олександр Белявський
country = SLO
datebirth = birth date and age|1953|12|17
placebirth = Lviv, Soviet Union
datedeath =
placedeath =
title = Grandmaster (1975)
worldchampion =
womensworldchampion =
rating = 2641
(No. 79 on the April 2008 FIDE ratings list)
peakrating = 2710 (July 1997)

Alexander Henrikhovich Beliavsky (sometimes transliterated as Belyavsky, born December 17, 1953) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster.

Beliavsky was born in Lviv. He currently lives in Slovenia and he plays for the Olympic team there. He is noted for his uncompromising style of play and for his classical opening repertoire, including openings such as the Queen's Gambit, Ruy Lopez and French Defence, for example.

Beliavsky won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1973 and the USSR Chess Championship in 1974 and 1990.

In the World Chess Championship cycle, Beliavsky qualified for the Candidates Tournament only once, losing to eventual winner Garry Kasparov in the quarterfinals of the 1983 Candidates matches.

In tournaments, he was first equal at Baden 1980, first at Tilburg 1981, second equal at Tilburg 1984, joint winner at Wijk aan Zee 1984 and joint second at the same venue a year later. At the second Russia (USSR) vs Rest of the World match in 1984, he was top scorer for the victorious Soviet team, defeating Yasser Seirawan 2-0 and Bent Larsen 1½-½.

Beliavsky is also a first-class endgame study composer, having published about 50 studies, many together with Leopold Mitrofanov. He won six first prizes in composition tourneys.

As of January 2008, he is the second oldest person in the world's top 100 players, behind Anatoly Karpov.

Books

* Citation
surname1 = Beliavsky| given1 = Alexander
surname2 = Mikhalchishin| given2 = Adrian |authorlink2 = Adrian Mikhalchishin
year = 1995
title = Winning Endgame Technique
publisher = Batsford
ID=ISBN 0-7134-7512-9
* Citation
surname1 = Beliavsky| given1 = Alexander
surname2 = Mikhalchishin| given2 = Adrian
year = 2000
title = Winning Endgame Strategy
publisher = Batsford
ID=ISBN 0-7134-8446-2
* Citation
surname1 = Beliavsky| given1 = Alexander
surname2 = Mikhalchishin| given2 = Adrian
year = 2003
title = Modern Endgame Practice
publisher = Batsford
ID=ISBN 0-7134-8740-2

External links

*fide|id=14602377
*chessgames player|id=13755