# 1989 in chess

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Events in [chess](/source/Chess) in 1989.

## Top players

Kasparov and Karpov remained the top two players in the world, positions that they had held since July 1982. Over the year, English players [Nigel Short](/source/Nigel_Short) and [Jonathan Speelman](/source/Jonathan_Speelman) moved up the list, whilst [Dutch](/source/Dutch_people) player [Jan Timman](/source/Jan_Timman) fell out of the top 10, having stood third in the January 1988 list.[1]

- {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+January 1989 FIDE rating list – Top 10 players |- !Elo !FIDE Top Ten Men !FIDE Top Ten Women[2] !Elo |- |2775||align="left"| [Garry Kasparov](/source/Garry_Kasparov) ([Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union)) |align="right"| [Judit Polgár](/source/Judit_Polg%C3%A1r) ([Hungary](/source/Hungary))||2555 |- |2750||align="left"| [Anatoly Karpov](/source/Anatoly_Karpov) ([Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union)) |align="right"| [Maia Chiburdanidze](/source/Maia_Chiburdanidze) ([Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union))||2520 |- |2650||align="left"| [Nigel Short](/source/Nigel_Short) ([England](/source/England)) |align="right"| [Susan Polgar](/source/Susan_Polgar) ([Hungary](/source/Hungary))||2510 |- |2640||align="left"|[Alexander Beliavsky](/source/Alexander_Beliavsky) ([Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union)) |align="right"| [Pia Cramling](/source/Pia_Cramling) ([Sweden](/source/Sweden))||2480 |- |2640||align="left"|[Jonathan Speelman](/source/Jonathan_Speelman) ([England](/source/England)) |align="right"|[Nana Ioseliani](/source/Nana_Ioseliani) ([Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union))||2480 |- |2635||align="left"|[Vassily Ivanchuk](/source/Vassily_Ivanchuk) ([Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union)) |align="right"|[Nona Gaprindashvili](/source/Nona_Gaprindashvili) ([Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union))||2435 |- |2630||align="left"| [Valery Salov](/source/Valery_Salov) ([Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union)) |align="right"| [Elena Akhmilovskaya](/source/Elena_Akhmilovskaya) ([Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union))||2430 |- |2625||align="left"| [Zoltán Ribli](/source/Zolt%C3%A1n_Ribli) ([Hungary](/source/Hungary)) |align="right"| [Irina Levitina](/source/Irina_Levitina) ([Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union))||2400 |- |2620||align="left"| [Ulf Andersson](/source/Ulf_Andersson) ([Sweden](/source/Sweden)) |align="right"| [Anna Akhsharumova](/source/Anna_Akhsharumova) ([United States](/source/United_States))||2395 |- |2620||align="left"| [John Nunn](/source/John_Nunn) ([England](/source/England)) |align="right"| [Ketevan Arakhamia](/source/Ketevan_Arakhamia) ([Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union))||2395 |}

## Events

The following major [chess tournaments](/source/Chess_tournament) took place in 1989:

### Grandmasters Association World Cup

The last three tournaments of the [Grandmasters Association's](/source/Grandmasters_Association) [World Cup](/source/Chess_World_Cup_1988%E2%80%931989) were held in 1989, with some of the world's best players invited.

- 20 March - 20 April: The [fourth tournament](/source/Chess_World_Cup_1988%E2%80%931989#Barcelona) was held in [Barcelona](/source/Barcelona) and won by Kasparov and [Ljubomir Ljubojević](/source/Ljubomir_Ljubojevi%C4%87), each with 11/16.[3]
- 3 June - 24 June: The [fifth tournament](/source/Chess_World_Cup_1988%E2%80%931989#Rotterdam) was held in [Rotterdam](/source/Rotterdam) and won by Timman with 10½/15, ahead of Karpov with 9½.[4]
- 12 August - 3 September: The [sixth and final tournament](/source/Chess_World_Cup_1988%E2%80%931989#Skellefteå) was held in [Skellefteå](/source/Skellefte%C3%A5), Sweden and won by Karpov and Kasparov, each with 9½/15. Kasparov won the World Cup series, and prize money of $175,000, with Karpov second.[5]

### European Team Championship

- 23 November - 3 December: The 9th [European Team Chess Championship](/source/European_Team_Chess_Championship) in [Haifa](/source/Haifa) was won by the [USSR](/source/USSR), ahead of [Yugoslavia](/source/Yugoslavia) in second and [West Germany](/source/West_Germany) in third.[6]

The gold medal on the first board was won by [Olivier Renet](/source/Olivier_Renet) of France with 6/9. [Valery Salov](/source/Valery_Salov) of USSR was second with 5/8.

### Other major tournaments

- 18 February - 5 March: The [Linares tournament](/source/Linares_chess_tournament) was won by Ivanchuk with 7½/10, ahead of Karpov with 7.[7]
- 9 September - 16 September: The 9th [World Microcomputer Chess Championship](/source/World_Microcomputer_Chess_Championship) was held in [Portorož](/source/Portoro%C5%BE), [Slovenia](/source/Slovenia), and won by Mephisto X from the United Kingdom with 6½/7.[8]
- 15 September - 2 October: The [Tilburg tournament](/source/Tilburg_chess_tournament) was dominated by Kasparov who won 10 games and drew only 4 to finish with 12/14. [Viktor Korchnoi](/source/Viktor_Korchnoi) was second with 8½/14. This event took Kasparov's rating past [Bobby Fischer](/source/Bobby_Fischer)'s record of 2780.[9]
- 28 December - 9 January 1990: The [Reggio Emilia tournament](/source/Reggio_Emilia_chess_tournament) was won by [Jaan Ehlvest](/source/Jaan_Ehlvest) with 7½/10, ahead of Ivanchuk with 6½.[10]
- The [Wijk aan Zee tournament](/source/Wijk_aan_Zee_chess_tournament) ended in a 4-way tie between [Viswanathan Anand](/source/Viswanathan_Anand), [Zoltán Ribli](/source/Zolt%C3%A1n_Ribli), [Predrag Nikolić](/source/Predrag_Nikoli%C4%87) and [Gyula Sax](/source/Gyula_Sax), each with 7½/13.[11]

## Titles awarded

### Grandmaster

In 1989, [FIDE](/source/FIDE) awarded the [Grandmaster](/source/Grandmaster_(chess)) title to the following 17 players:[12]

- [Michael Adams](/source/Michael_Adams_(chess_player)) (born 1971)
- [Evgeny Bareev](/source/Evgeny_Bareev) (born 1966)
- [Branko Damljanovic](/source/Branko_Damljanovic) (born 1961)
- [Alexey Dreev](/source/Alexey_Dreev) (born 1961)
- [Boris Gelfand](/source/Boris_Gelfand) (born 1968)
- [Alon Greenfeld](/source/Alon_Greenfeld) (born 1964)
- [Alexander Goldin](/source/Alexander_Goldin) (born 1965)
- [Ferdinand Hellers](/source/Ferdinand_Hellers) (born 1969)
- [Daniel King](/source/Daniel_King_(chess_player)) (born 1963)
- [Bachar Kouatly](/source/Bachar_Kouatly) (born 1958)
- [Zdenko Kožul](/source/Zdenko_Ko%C5%BEul) (born 1966)
- [Michał Krasenkow](/source/Micha%C5%82_Krasenkow) (born 1963)
- [Stefan Mohr](/source/Stefan_Mohr) (born 1967)
- [Jeroen Piket](/source/Jeroen_Piket) (born 1969)
- [Miodrag Todorcevic](/source/Miodrag_Todorcevic) (born 1940)
- [Evgeny Vladimirov](/source/Evgeny_Vladimirov) (born 1957)
- [Alexey Vyzmanavin](/source/Alexey_Vyzmanavin) (born 1960)

### Woman Grandmaster

In 1989, FIDE awarded the title [Woman Grandmaster](/source/Woman_Grandmaster) to the following 2 players:[12]

- [Anna Akhsharumova](/source/Anna_Akhsharumova) (born 1957)
- [Zsofia Polgar](/source/Zsofia_Polgar) (born 1974)

## Births

The following chess grandmasters were born in 1989:[13]

- 19 January [Maxim Rodshtein](/source/Maxim_Rodshtein) [14]
- 27 January [Avetik Grigoryan](/source/Avetik_Grigoryan)
- 10 February [Manuel León Hoyos](/source/Manuel_Le%C3%B3n_Hoyos)
- 11 March [Zaven Andriasian](/source/Zaven_Andriasian)
- 28 March [Sergei Zhigalko](/source/Sergei_Zhigalko)
- 29 March [Geetha Narayanan Gopal](/source/Geetha_Narayanan_Gopal)
- 6 April [Robin Swinkels](/source/Robin_Swinkels)
- 21 April [Li Chao](/source/Li_Chao_(chess_player))
- 30 April [Hrant Melkumyan](/source/Hrant_Melkumyan)
- 4 August [Wang Hao](/source/Wang_Hao_(chess_player))
- 28 August [Aleksandr Rakhmanov](/source/Aleksandr_Rakhmanov)
- 4 November [Axel Bachmann](/source/Axel_Bachmann)
- 27 December [Kateryna Lahno](/source/Kateryna_Lahno)
- [Abhijeet Gupta](/source/Abhijeet_Gupta)
- [Eduardo Iturrizaga](/source/Eduardo_Iturrizaga)
- [Davit Jojua](/source/Davit_Jojua)
- [Rinat Jumabayev](/source/Rinat_Jumabayev)
- [Aleksandr Lenderman](/source/Aleksandr_Lenderman)
- [Michal Olszewski](/source/Michal_Olszewski)
- [Tornike Sanikidze](/source/Tornike_Sanikidze)
- [Krisztián Szabó](/source/Kriszti%C3%A1n_Szab%C3%B3_(chess_player))
- [Daniele Vocaturo](/source/Daniele_Vocaturo)

## Deaths

The following leading chess personalities died in 1989:

- 4 April [Baruch Harold Wood](/source/Baruch_Harold_Wood) (born 1909): founded British magazine [CHESS](/source/CHESS_magazine) in 1935
- 15 October [Anatoly Lutikov](/source/Anatoly_Lutikov) (born 1933): Russian Grandmaster who finished third in the USSR Championships 1968-9[15]
- [Karen Grigorian](/source/Karen_Grigorian) (born 1947): Armenian International Master who was champion of Moscow in 1975 and 1979. Committed [suicide](/source/Suicide) by jumping from the tallest bridge in [Yerevan](/source/Yerevan)[16]

## Other events

The game between [Ivan Nikolić](/source/Ivan_Nikoli%C4%87) and [Goran Arsović](/source/Goran_Arsovi%C4%87) in [Belgrade](/source/Belgrade) 1989 lasted for over 20 hours and consisted of 269 moves. This is still the record number of moves played in a single tournament game. The game was eventually [drawn](/source/Draw_(chess)).[17]

## References

1. ["Top men's ratings 1970–1997"](https://web.archive.org/web/20091126000035/http://chess.eusa.ed.ac.uk/Chess/Trivia/AlltimeList.html). Archived from [the original](http://chess.eusa.ed.ac.uk/Chess/Trivia/AlltimeList.html) on 26 November 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. ["History of Elo ratings 1971–2001"](http://www.olimpbase.org/). *olimpbase.org*. Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. www.chessgames.com. ["Barcelona WC 1989"](http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1015954). Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. www.chessgames.com. ["Rotterdam WC 1989"](http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1015961). Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. www.chessgames.com. ["Skelleftea WC 1989"](http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1015939). Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. www.olimpbase.org. ["9th European Team Chess Championship, Haifa"](http://www.olimpbase.org/1989e/1989fa.html). Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. www.chessgames.com. ["Linares 1989"](http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1008359). Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. ["9th World Microcomputer Chess Championship"](https://web.archive.org/web/20101009095521/http://www.grappa.univ-lille3.fr/icga/tournament.php?id=75). Archived from [the original](http://www.grappa.univ-lille3.fr/icga/tournament.php?id=75) on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. ["Tilburg 1989"](https://chesstales.blogspot.com/2007/07/chess-in-attic-tilburg-1989.html). Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. www.chessgames.com. ["Reggio Emilia 1989/90"](http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1013985). Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. ["Wijk aan Zee 1989"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100609030235/http://www.coruschess.com/tournament.php?id=52). Archived from [the original](http://www.coruschess.com/tournament.php?id=52) on 2010-06-09. Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. Wall, Bill. ["List of rated players"](http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/players.htm). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20091028082835/http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/players.htm) 2009-10-28 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. FIDE. ["Chess grandmasters born in 1989"](http://ratings.fide.com/advaction.phtml?idcode=&name=&title=g&other_title=&country=%25&sex=&srating=0&erating=3000&birthday=1989&radio=name&line=asc). Retrieved 6 August 2010.

1. ["Maxim Rodshtein on chessgames.com"](http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=54702). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20091028101723/http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=54702) 28 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 November 2009.

1. ["Anatoly Lutikov at www.chessgames.com"](http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=31536). Retrieved 12 November 2009.

1. ["Karen Grigoryan at www.chessgames.com"](http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=15316n). Retrieved 12 November 2009.

1. chessgames.com. ["Nikolic-Arsovic, Belgrade 1989"](http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1268705). Retrieved 11 November 2009.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [1989 in chess](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_in_chess) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_in_chess?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.