Aleksandr Sergeyevich Nikitin (; 27 January 1935 – 5 June 2022) was a Russian

chess player This list of chess players includes people who are primarily known as chess players and have an article on the English Wikipedia. A * Jacob Aagaard (Denmark, Scotland, born 1973) * Manuel Aaron (India, born 1935) * Nijat Abasov (Azerbaijan, bor ...

, chess coach,

theorist A theory is a systematic and rational form of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the conclusions derived from such thinking. It involves contemplative and logical reasoning, often supported by processes such as observation, experimentation, ...

; and

Master of Sports of the USSR Unified All-Russian Sports Classification () is a system which regulates the Russian physical education system requirements for both athletes and coaches. History In the Soviet period Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR () exist ...

(1952). He was a coach of the Azerbaijan SSR (1980) and the USSR (1986) teams, and was a coach for

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...

from 1976 to 1990.

Life and career

Aleksandr Nikitin was born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He attended and graduated from the

Moscow Power Engineering Institute National Research University "Moscow Power Engineering Institute" (MPEI; ) is a public university based in Moscow, Russia. It offers training in the fields of Power Engineering, Electric Engineering, Radio Engineering, Electronics, Information ...

. Afterwards, Nikitin worked on a production at the MPEI Special Design Bureau. At the age of 17, Nikitin became a chess master. He participated in a number of championships in Moscow (the best result in 1954 - 2nd-5th place), in an international tournament in Kislovodsk (1966 - 9th place) and in the 1959 USSR Chess Championship. As a member of the USSR team Nikitin won the World University Championships in 1955, 1957 and 1958. Nikitin retired from chess for a while, concentrating on scientific research; however, he came back and became one of the most distinguished chess coaches in history. Nikitin made his debut as a coach in 1963, when he and

Igor Bondarevsky Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky (; May 12, 1913 – June 14, 1979) was a Soviet Russian chess player, trainer, and chess author. He held the title of Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess. Bondarevsky shared the 1940 Soviet t ...

prepared the USSR student team for the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. From 1973 to 1976, he worked for the USSR Sports Committee as the national team coach and was a member of

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, ⁣and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 ...

's team, which helped him prepare for his lost World Championship match. There was a conflict between Nikitin and Karpov in 1976 and, as a result, Nikitin was fired from the Sports Committee. In 1973, Nikitin got acquainted with

at the junior tournament. Within the next three years, he consulted Kasparov periodically and from 1976 he was his permanent coach. Ten years later, Kasparov won his fifth and final world championship match against his great rival Anatoly Karpov, but in 1990 Nikitin and Kasparov parted ways. In 1992, Nikitin helped

Boris Spassky Boris Vasilyevich Spassky (; January 30, 1937 – February 27, 2025) was a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. Spassky played three world championship matches: he lost to Tigra ...

during his exhibition match with

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Chess Champi ...

. In the late 1990s, he served as the permanent coach of

Étienne Bacrot Étienne Bacrot (; born 22 January 1983) is a French chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, and as a child, a chess prodigy. He competed at the World Chess Championship 2007, Candidates Matches in 2007 and won the Aeroflot Open in 2009. He pas ...

, who became the youngest grandmaster in the world and the multiple champion of France. Niktin also coached Russian grandmaster Dmitry Yakovenko, the individual European champion in 2012, who was fifth in the FIDE world ranking. In 1993, Nikitin was honored with the

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

title of

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

. He also was given the title of "Honored Coach of the USSR." In 2019, Nikitin began to work on a book about Grandmaster

Evgeni Vasiukov Evgeni Andreyevich Vasiukov (, March 5, 1933 – May 10, 2018) was a Russian chess player, one of the strongest in the world during his peak. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1961. During his career, he won the Moscow Champio ...

and his life. Nikitin died in Moscow on 5 June 2022, at the age of 87.

Writings

* Nikitin, Aleksandr (1972). ''Mikhail Chigorin'' (with Evgeni Vasiukov and Alexander Narkevich) * Nikitin, Aleksandr (1994). ''Sicilian Defense''. Scheveningen (with Garry Kasparov) * Nikitin, Aleksandr (1998). ''With Kasparov: Move by Move, Year by Year''. * Nikitin, Aleksandr (2020). ''My Friend Evgeny Vasyukov''

References

Notes Further reading * Linder, Isaac Maxovich, Linder, Vladimir Isaakovich (2009). Garry Kasparov. Life and the Game. * Abramov, Lev Joachimovich and Geiler, Grigory Moiseevich (1964). Chess Dictionary. * Karpov, Garry and Anatoly Evgenyevich. Chess: Encyclopedic Dictionary. *

External links

Personal card of Aleksandr Nikitin
at

Biography of Aleksandr Nikitin
at

Chess Federation of Russia The Chess Federation of Russia (), known until 2018 as the Russian Chess Federation, () is the governing body for chess in Russia, and the officially recognized arm of the FIDE in Russia. It was founded on 15 February 1992, following the dissoluti ...

Chess games of Aleksandr Nikitin
at Chessgames.com
Personal card of Aleksandr Nikitin
at 365chess.com

at OlimpBase.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Nikitin, Aleksandr 1935 births 2022 deaths Soviet chess players 20th-century Russian chess players Chess International Masters Chess theoreticians Moscow Power Engineering Institute alumni Chess players from Moscow Chess coaches