Alexander Nikitin, the foremost trainer of the arena chess champion Garry Kasparov from the time Mr. Kasparov used to be 10 till years after he had develop into the titleholder, died on June 5 in Moscow. He used to be 87.
The World Chess Federation, the sport’s governing frame, introduced his dying on its website online. No motive used to be given.
Mr. Nikitin, a global grasp, met Mr. Kasparov relatively by accident in 1973. As Mr. Nikitin recalled in an interview printed this yr at the Russian Chess Federation’s web page, every other trainer, Anatoly Bykhovsky, used to be intended to paintings with the younger gamers at a formative years match in Vilnius, Lithuania. However Mr. Bykhovsky used to be leaving for a global match and requested Mr. Nikitin, who used to be already a longtime trainer, to visit Vilnius in his position.
Mr. Nikitin instantly spotted Mr. Kasparov, in part as a result of he used to be best 10 and everybody else on his crew used to be six or seven years older.
Mr. Nikitin took Mr. Kasparov on as a pupil, which used to be no longer simple; Mr. Kasparov used to be dwelling in Baku, Azerbaijan, the place he were born, and Mr. Nikitin used to be in Moscow. Mr. Nikitin despatched letters and analysis subject matter for Mr. Kasparov to review, and come what may the collaboration labored. (Mr. Kasparov sooner or later moved.)
Mr. Kasparov’s ascent used to be fast. He gained the Soviet Junior Championship when he used to be 12; gained a big global match in Yugoslavia when he used to be 15, catapulting him into the arena’s Best 20; and gained the Global Junior Championship in 1980. Via age 17, he used to be a grandmaster.
Mr. Kasparov certified for the cycle of the arena championship in 1982. Via now, he and Mr. Nikitin have been coaching complete time. They might opt for runs in combination to improve Mr. Kasparov’s stamina, a convention that quickly had a realistic payoff.
In September 1984, Mr. Kasparov confronted Anatoly Karpov, the reigning champion, in a fit for the identify. The winner will be the first participant to attain six wins.
The fit grew to become out to be a grueling one, stretching for 5 months and 48 video games — the longest in historical past. It began out disastrously for Mr. Kasparov, who, in part on account of inexperience, misplaced 4 of the primary 9 video games. However he settled down and started to grind out attracts.
After falling in the back of by way of 5-0, he got here again to win Sport 32 after which Video games 47 and 48. At that time, in February 1985, Florencio Campomanes, the president of the World Chess Federation, suspended the fit, announcing he used to be fearful concerning the gamers’ well being.
A brand new fit used to be arranged for later in 1985. It could be restricted to 24 video games. Mr. Kasparov gained it by way of a rating of 13-11.
He then confronted Mr. Karpov in a go back fit in 1986, once more eking out a win, this time by way of the rating of 12.5-11.5. The 2 confronted every different over again in 1987, with the fit finishing in a tie, 12-12 — permitting Mr. Kasparov to retain the crown, as a result of ties went to the reigning champion.
All the way through all the ones fits, Mr. Nikitin used to be Mr. Kasparov’s number one trainer. In a 2020 Chess Information Russia interview with Mr. Nikitin and Mr. Kasparov, Mr. Kasparov mentioned they have been “shut buddies.” However the pressure of the fits took its toll.
Mr. Nikitin defined: “All the ones international championship fits, from first to the closing, aren’t only a fierce battle between two gamers. The inner debates between coaches and their participant are similarly fierce. We attempted to turn out that our opinion used to be proper, the participant attempted to turn out his opinion. We have been at all times traumatic, and we burned out steadily.”
Mr. Nikitin and Mr. Kasparov persevered to paintings in combination thru 1989. However by the point of Mr. Kasparov’s 5th and ultimate fit with Mr. Karpov for the arena championship, in 1990, they’d parted techniques.
Mr. Nikitin used to be born on Jan. 27, 1935, in Moscow. Little is understood about his fast circle of relatives, and there used to be no phrase about survivors. He were married and divorced prior to he met Mr. Kasparov, and he by no means remarried.
Mr. Nikitin came upon chess when he used to be 7 and got here throughout a ebook by way of Emanuel Lasker, a prior international champion, in his uncle’s learn about. He used to be instantly entranced and browse the ebook quilt to hide.
He was one of the crucial perfect younger gamers within the Soviet Union, at the side of long term international champions together with Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian (with whom he would later educate) and Boris Spassky.
Regardless of his transparent ability, he used to be no longer certain that he sought after to develop into a qualified chess participant — a viable occupation within the Soviet Union — so he persevered his common training. He studied engineering in school and later labored for 15 years as a radio engineer.
In 1959, Mr. Nikitin certified for the primary and best time to play within the Soviet Union’s championship, which used to be then thought to be one of the crucial most powerful tournaments on the planet. Even though he used to be usually proud of the standard of his play, he completed closing. He learned that he may just no longer be a full-time engineer and a pro participant, so he closed the door on that chance.
Via the early Nineteen Seventies, Mr. Nikitin had grown bored with engineering and yearned for chess. Thankfully, there have been openings for chess coaches, and he had already established that he had some flair for that. Quickly after he started training complete time, he met Mr. Kasparov.
After operating with Mr. Kasparov, Mr. Nikitin persevered to train at a top stage. He coached Étienne Bacrot, a French prodigy who rose to No. 9 on the planet, and Dmitry Jakovenko, a Russian who peaked at No. 5 on the planet.
Mr. Nikitin additionally wrote a two-volume historical past of his years with Mr. Kasparov, “Training Kasparov, Yr by way of Yr and Transfer by way of Transfer.”
In 1993, regardless that he used to be now not a participant, Mr. Nikitin used to be awarded the sport’s second-highest identify, global grasp, by way of the World Chess Federation.
Mr. Nikitin and Mr. Kasparov remained pleasant even after their skilled courting ended. As Mr. Kasparov mentioned within the 2020 interview, “Now we have lived an entire chess lifestyles in combination.”
