Yuri Sakharov


Yuri Nikolaevich Sakharov was a Ukrainian Chess Master, International Correspondence Chess Master, and [Merited Coach of Ukraine|Merited Coach of the Ukraine|Ukrainian SSR].

Biography

Yuri Sakharov was born on 18 September 1922 in Vlasovka of Shakhty district, Rostov region. His father was an official in the Donbas mining industry. In 1938 during the Great Purge he was arrested and executed. Yuri Sakharov became a "son of an enemy of the people." After the German invasion of the USSR during World War II Sakharov twice was mobilized for engineering work, but both times, under the pressure of the advance of the Nazi troops during the disorderly retreat of the Red Army, the civilian mobilized were left to their own devices, and Sakharov twice returned home to Stalino. After the second return, it turned out that the Soviet troops and the military registration and enlistment office had already left the city, and the Germans had not yet arrived. At the first months of German occupation Sakharov with their mother lived in Stalino. They were forced to gradually sell off their belongings for food. For a short time, Sakharov worked as a secretary at a school whose director was his chess teacher Apollinariy Gaevsky. In April 1942, when the financial situation became completely desperate, Sakharov, with one of the echelons, together with other Soviet citizens, went to work in Germany, where he was assigned to the Anna-3 mine near the city of Alsdorf. When his knowledge of German was discovered, Sakharov, in addition to his main job, was appointed translator for the camp commandant. Subsequently, this fact, along with going to work in Germany, served as a reason for accusing him of treason.
At the end of August 1944, as the front line approached, the Anna-3 mine camp was evacuated by the Germans, and the camp workers were sent to a new location on foot. But at the first overnight stay, Sakharov escaped and returned to the Anna-3 mine, where he waited for the arrival of American troops. After some time, the Americans, along with other Soviet citizens, transferred him to a camp in Belgium. Sakharov did not perform military service in the presence of American troops, being involved only in auxiliary work and, accordingly, did not have any military awards. At the beginning of June 1945, Sakharov arrived in the Soviet zone of occupation, from where he returned to his homeland.
Back home in Ukraine, he got a job as an Inspector in Kyiv.
In 1951 he brilliantly won the Semi Final USSR Chess Championship in Lviv and was qualified together with Lev Aronin and Vladimir Simagin who tied up the second and third places to participate in the in Moscow. Also, he fulfilled the norm requirement of Chess Master. But very soon he was arrested by denunciation and his Chess Master He was awarded the title of Chess Master only in 1956. Lev Aronin, Vladimir Simagin, and Salomon Flohr were qualified from Lvov and went to Moscow. All mentions of Sakharov were removed from books and articles being prepared for publication, including a collection of selected games of Ukrainian chess players edited by Isaac Lipnitsky and Boris Ratner.
Contrary to the version that has become widespread in a number of publications, Yuri Nikolaevich was not arrested due to a random denunciation. Documents from his case, stored in the archive of the SSU, indicate that immediately after returning from Germany he was under close surveillance by state security agencies. The first interrogation of a witness available in the mentioned case is dated December 2, 1946. On March 7, 1952, the Military Tribunal of the Kyiv Military District, on charges of treason, sentenced Yuri Sakharov to 25 years in prison, followed by loss of rights and confiscation of property. He served time in one of the Ozerlag camps.
In 1955, Sakharov was denied amnesty. But in 1956 he was released by independent decisions of two authorities. First, on June 25, 1956, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the USSR ruled on his release with the removal of his criminal record. When this resolution reached the place of detention only in early October, it turned out that Yuri Nikolaevich had already been released by decision of August 10, 1956 of one of the many local commissions for the review of cases repressed, which were created by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of March 24, 1956.
Sakharov rebuilt his chess career. When he was 46, he became .
He died in 1981 in Bucha, Kyiv Oblast. The circumstances of his death remain unknown.

Chess career

Sakharov was the champion of Kyiv in 1948 and in, and shared 1-2 place with in and with V.Shianovsky in 1961 .
Sakharov was twice the Ukrainian Champion in 1966 and 1968. He participated in 19 Ukrainian Championships, tying for 4-6th in 1946, tying for 3rd-4th in 1947, tying for 6-9th in 1949, taking 5th in 1951, taking 2nd, behind Efim Geller, in 1958, tying for 4-5th in 1959, sharing 1st with Leonid Stein but lost to him a match for the title in 1960, tying for 3rd-4th in 1961, taking 3rd in 1962, and tying for 2nd-3rd in 1964.
YearCityNamePointsPlaceFeatured Game
1940Kyiv12 Championship of Ukraine6.5/17vs I. Boleslavsky
1946Kyiv15 Championship of Ukraine11.5/17
1947Kyiv16 Championship of Ukraine10.5/16
1948Kyiv17 Championship of Ukraine7.5/18vs E. Geller
1949Odessa18 Championship of Ukraine11.5/19vs E. Geller
1950Kyiv19 Championship of Ukraine8.5/17vs I. Lipnitsky
1951Kyiv20 Championship of Ukraine10.5/17
1957Kyiv26 Championship of Ukraine11/17
1958Kyiv27 Championship of Ukraine10.5/16
1959Kyiv28 Championship of Ukraine13/21
1960Kyiv29 Championship of Ukraine12/17vs L. Stein
1961Kyiv30 Championship of Ukraine9/15
1962Kyiv31 Championship of Ukraine11.5/17
1963Kyiv32 Championship of Ukraine10/17
1964Kyiv33 Championship of Ukraine13/19
1966Kyiv35 Championship of Ukraine13/17
1967Kyiv36 Championship of Ukraine8/13
1968Kyiv37 Championship of Ukraine12.5/17
1970Kyiv39 Championship of Ukraine4.5/17

Yuri Sakharov played in the Ukrainian team during Soviet Team Chess Championships.
YearCityNameBoardResultFeatured Game
1948Leningrad1st Soviet Team Chess Championship9
1958Vilnius5th Soviet Team Chess Championship3vs GM Averbakh
1959Moscow6th Soviet Team Chess Championship4
1960Moscow7th Soviet Team Chess Championship3
1967Moscow10th Soviet Team Chess Championship4
1968Grozny11th Soviet Team Chess ChampionshipReservevs GM Furman

Twice Sakharov became the Champion of the Ukrainian Voluntary Sports Society "Avangard" in and .
He played for the "Avangard" Team during Soviet Team Chess Cup Tournaments.
YearCityNameBoardResultFeatured Game
1961Moscow3rd Soviet Team Chess Cup4vs GM Boleslavsky
1964Moscow4th Soviet Team Chess Cup2
1966Moscow5th Soviet Team Chess Cup2
1968Riga6th Soviet Team Chess Cup2
1971Rostov-on-Don7th Soviet Team Chess CupReserve

He participated in the USSR Chess Championships 5 times.
YearCityChampionshipPointsPlaceFeatured Game
1960Leningrad6/1918-20
1964/65Kyiv7.5/1917
1965Tallinn10.5/197
1967Kharkov9/13vs Polugaevsky
1968/69Alma-Ata9/1914

He was a winner of and made the first norm for a title of International Master.
Yuri Sakharov successfully played in friendly international matches both for the USSR and Ukraine.
MatchYearLocationScoreGames
1966Sukhumi3 out 5
1968Sochi3.5 out 4
1970Kiev2 out 4

Yuri Sakharov was part of the Soviet Team that won gold in Chess Correspondence Olympiad VI of 1968–1972 and VII of 1972–1976.
YearNameBoardPointsTeam PlaceFeatured Game
1968-19726th Correspondence Chess Olympiad47/8 1
1972-19777th Correspondence Chess Olympiad45/91

He earned the title of International Correspondence Chess Master in .
YearNamePointsPlaceFeatured Game
1973-19771st CC World Cup Final7/14
1977-19839th Correspondence World Championship Final7.5/16

Honors

As a chess player