Alexey Borisovich Vyzmanavin (sometimes written Vyzhmanavin; ; January 1, 1960 – January 6, 2000) was a Russian chess Grandmaster.

During the early part of his career, he regularly played in the Moscow Championships

Moscow City Chess Championship

-References: ****** from chessbase.com...

 and in 1981, with an Elo rating of 2200, finished sixth, ahead of several strong grandmasters including David Bronstein

David Bronstein

David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...

, Yuri Razuvaev, Artur Yusupov

Artur Yusupov

Artur Mayakovich Yusupov is a German International Grandmaster of chess, and a chess writer.-Chess career:...

, Alexey Suetin

Alexey Suetin

Alexey Stepanovich Suetin was a Russian International Grandmaster of chess and author.-Biography:A resident of Moscow and a mechanical engineer by profession, he became an International Master in 1961 and a Grandmaster in 1965. His philosophy was always that "mastery is not enough; you must dare,...

, Rafael Vaganian

Rafael Vaganian

Rafael Artemovich Vaganian, also transliterated Vahanyan is an Armenian chess grandmaster known for his sharp tactical style of play...

 and Evgeny Vasiukov. He went on to win the event in 1984 and 1986.

Qualifying as a grandmaster in 1989, he went on to tie for first place at the 1990 USSR Championship

USSR Chess Championship

This is a list of all the winners of the USSR Chess Championship. It was the strongest national chess championship ever held, with eight world chess champions and four world championship finalists among its winners...

 in Leningrad

Leningrad

Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...

 (the title going to Alexander Beliavsky

Alexander Beliavsky

-External links:...

 on tie-break). He placed 5th-9th the following year at the final (58th) Soviet Championship, held in Moscow. These championship successes contributed to his selection for the national team and this included participating at the 1992 Manila

Manila

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

 Olympiad

Chess Olympiad

The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...

. Playing board 2, he scored +3 =6 −0, helping the Russian team to the gold medal.

Among his international tournament successes were wins at Naleczow

Naleczów

Nałęczów is a spa town situated on the Nałęczów Plateau in Poland's Lublin Province. In the 18th century, the discovery there of healing waters initiated the development of a health resort; the main treatments are for circulatory disorders.Notable landmarks include the 18th-century...

 1986 and Tashkent

Tashkent

Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...

 1987. He shared first place at Moscow 1988 (with Razuvaev, Gregory Kaidanov

Gregory Kaidanov

Gregory Kaidanov is a Grandmaster of chess.As of April 2007, his Elo rating was 2587, making him the #9 player in the US and the 179th-highest rated player in the world. His peak rating was 2646 in 2002....

 and Lev Psakhis

Lev Psakhis

Lev Borisovich Psakhis is a naturalised Israeli chess grandmaster, trainer and author. Born in Siberia, he is also a two-time former champion of the Soviet Union.-Biography:...

) and won at Sochi

Sochi

Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...

 1989 (ahead of Joël Lautier

Joel Lautier

Joël Lautier is a French chess grandmaster and FIDE Senior Trainer .Born in Canada, of French father and Japanese mother, Lautier is one of the strongest grandmasters from France. He won the 1988 World Junior Chess Championship on tiebreak at Adelaide, and the French Chess Championships in 2004...

 and Alexander Khalifman

Alexander Khalifman

Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman is a Soviet and Russian chess Grandmaster of Jewish descent; he is also a former FIDE champion.When Khalifman was 6 years old, he was taught chess by his father....

). There followed his victory at the 1990/91 edition of the Rilton Cup in Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 and further success at the Gelsenkirchen

Gelsenkirchen

Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population in 2006 was c. 267,000....

 1991 tournament, where he won ahead of Vasily Smyslov

Vasily Smyslov

Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...

. He surprised the chess world at Leon

León, Spain

León is the capital of the province of León in the autonomous community of Castile and León, situated in the northwest of Spain. Its city population of 136,985 makes it the largest municipality in the province, accounting for more than one quarter of the province's population...

 in 1993, by placing second behind tournament victor Leonid Yudasin

Leonid Yudasin

Leonid Grigoryevich Yudasin is a prominent chess grandmaster and trainer, now living in New York City.Awarded the International Master title in 1982, he secured the International Grandmaster title in 1984, the year he became Leningrad Champion...

 and thereby restricting Anatoly Karpov

Anatoly Karpov

Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...

 to a share of third prize (with Veselin Topalov

Veselin Topalov

Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....

 and Peter Leko

Péter Lékó

On the way to winning the prestigious Corus chess tournament in 2005, Lékó defeated Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand with the black pieces. The moves were:...

).

As a player of rapid and blitz chess, his reputation was that of a 'speed demon', competing at the PCA

Professional Chess Association

The Professional Chess Association , which existed between 1993 and 1996, was a rival organisation to FIDE, the international chess organization...

 rapidplay events of the 1990s and frequently outplaying his more illustrious opponents. At the Moscow event in 1994, he reached the semi-final, narrowly losing out to Vladimir Kramnik

Vladimir Kramnik

Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007...

, having already beaten Alexei Shirov

Alexei Shirov

Alexei Dmitrievich Shirov is a Soviet-born Latvian chess grandmaster. He has consistently ranked among the world's top players since the early 1990s, and reached a ranking as high as number four in 1998...

 and Viktor Korchnoi

Viktor Korchnoi

Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ; pronounced in the original Russian as "karch NOY"; Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, born March 23, 1931 is a professional chess player, author and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the tournament circuit...

. Commentating at one such PCA event, Maurice Ashley

Maurice Ashley

Maurice Ashley is a chess grandmaster. In the October 2006 rating lists, he had a FIDE rating of 2465, and a USCF rating of 2520 at standard chess, and 2536 at quick chess. Ashley is associated with Chesswise. In 2005 he wrote the book Chess for Success, relating his experiences and the positive...

 described Vyzmanavin in predatory terms—"He's a dangerous one, the V-man, looking like a cat, ready to pounce."

His highest Elo rating was 2620 and he ceased playing around 1997.

Vyzmanavin's early death, aged 40, was officially described as being caused by a heart attack. He lived alone, but had been out with friends in Moscow on January 6, 2000 (the Russian New Year

New Year

The New Year is the day that marks the time of the beginning of a new calendar year, and is the day on which the year count of the specific calendar used is incremented. For many cultures, the event is celebrated in some manner....

) and his body was discovered some six days later. There were also reports of poverty and depression. Grandmaster Alexander Baburin

Alexander Baburin

Alexander Baburin is a Russian-Irish International Grandmaster of chess...

believes that there had been serious problems with drinking, which had worsened following the breakdown of his marriage.

External links