Bye Viktar

This is a game I played against the late Viktar Chuprys who recently passed away on October 17th 2007. Although we were only acquainted from the chess board I was shocked to hear about his passing because he looked fairly young and seemed in good health when I played him at the 06 Canadian Open. I still remember him carrying some plastic bags with fruit inside. Usually I find myself the one who is late at the start of a game but this was one of the rare occasions I got there on time! His friend told me he would be late just after the TD had announced the start of the round. I assumed this meant "please don't start"so out of etiquette I didn't press the clock. However when a TD gives you that funny look that math profs do when you don't follow their instructions, I gently pushed the button; then when Viktar finally arrived I remember seeing a determined chess player with a bag of fruit and now while writing I realize subconsciously that neither the TD or the players are at fault but only time itself is the culprit.

Sometimes in Chess it isn't about winning or losing; but what's more important is appreciating the moment while we are playing. Obviously it's a great feeling to win but we can also admire how a person takes his losses, it can be a pride swallowing siege for the loser to openly admit ones mistakes and sometimes our stubbornness blinds us from the truth myself included. I remember in our post mortem Viktar Chuprys was energetically searching for defensive resources even after he had made an unfortunate positional blunder from a more or less equal yet dynamic position. It was his candidness in the analysis, a firm handshake and a genuine "good luck" that stuck out to me even if it was just one game.
There is no loss greater in chess than the loss of a chess player who loved the game.


Chuprys,Viktar - Chan,James [A85]
Canadian Open 06
1.Nf3 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 Bg7 5.e3 d6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.d5 Ne5 8.Nxe5 dxe5 9.e4 f4 10.b4 0–0 11.Bb2 a5 12.a3 Nh5 13.f3 Bf6 14.Ne2 e6 15.Qc2 Bh4+ 16.Kd2 Qg5 17.Qc3 Qxg2 18.dxe6? Qxf3 19.Kc2 Bf6 20.Qd2 Bxe6 21.Raf1 Qh3 22.Nc3 axb4 23.axb4 c6 24.Rhg1 Rfd8 25.Qe2 Rd7 26.Nd1 Rad8 27.Rf3 Qh4 28.Bc3 Bg4 29.Be1 Bxf3 30.Qxf3 Rxd3 31.Qxd3 Qxh2+ 0–1