2021 Christmas Quiz - the Answers!

Time to put you all out of your misery! Here are the answers to the latest KCC Quiz.

1	In which country did Bobby Fischer play his first competitive chess game outside the USA (in 1956)? (1 pt)	Cuba
2	Which American future GM won the 1957 World Junior Championship with a score of 11/11? (The only player ever to score 100% in this event.) (1 pt)	William Lombardy
3	What connection with the chess world do the following have:-   a) Stephen Dwyer and Victoria Sheppard     b) Petronella Hajny c) Ponchik d) Paul Nemenyi   e) Joan Targ f) Klara Shagenovna (6 pts total)	a) Ananda Marga supporters of Korchnoi at the 1978 WC match v Karpov in Baguio City b) Korchnoi’s second wife c) Levon Aronian’s dog d) Bobby Fischer’s biological father e) Bobby Fischer’s sister f) Garry Kasparov’s mother
4	Which nation won the men’s Olympiad title 4 times in the 1930s, but has only won it twice since? (1 pt)	USA
5	In the 1970 Match of the Century, who replaced Spassky in the USSR team on Board 1 for the final round? (1 pt)	Leonid Stein
6	Prior to 2021, who was the last person other than Jovanka Houska to be British Women’s Champion? (1 pt)	Akshaya Kalaiyalahan (2015)
7	Which super-GM got attacked by a horde of mosquitoes during an online tournament in 2021? (1 pt)	Ian Nepomniatchi
8	Only 2 women players born in Western Europe currently hold the full Grand Master title. Who are they?   And which two other female full GMs are currently registered with West European federations?   (4 pts total)	a) Pia Cramling (Sweden) b) Marie Sebag (France)   c) Ketevan Arakhamia Grant (Scotland ex Georgia) d) Peng Zhaoquin (Netherlands ex China)
9	How many women, both active and inactive, currently hold the full GM title? (2 pts for the right answer; 1 pt within 5 either way)	39
10	Which British GM undertook a 3 week search for the Giant Octopus off the coast of Bermuda in 1999? (1 pt)	Jim Plaskett
11	Which British Champions (all since 1970) have had the following middle names:-   a) Roland b) Ratcliffe c) Edwin d) Wei Liang (4 pts total)	a) Bill Hartston (1973/75) b) Brian Eley (1972) c) Paul Littlewood (1981) d) David Howell (2009/13/14)
12	Which Grand Master, a fellow participant in the tournament, hit Bobby Fischer during an argument at the 1962 Curacao Interzonal? ( 1 pt)	Pal Benko
13	Who was crowned British Champion on the 4 occasions that the event was held in Warwickshire/West Midlands?   a) Stratford 1925 b) Leamington 1958 c) Coventry 1970 d) Coventry 2015 (4 pts total)	a) HE Atkins b) Jonathan Penrose c) Bob Wade d) Jonathan Hawkins
14	In which countries were the following players born:-   a) Jim Plaskett b) Hikaru Nakamura c) Wesley So d) Vera Menchik e) Miguel Najdorf f) Yasser Seirawan g) Leinier Dominguez h) Irina Krush   i) And in which country was Bobby Fischer’s sister born? (9 pts total)	a) Cyprus b) Japan c) Philippines d) Russia e) Poland f) Syria g) Cuba h) USSR   i) USSR (yes, really!)
15	Where comes next in this sequence:-   London Khanty Mansiysk Moscow Berlin (1 pt)	Yekatarinburg   (Locations of last 5 Candidates Tournaments)
16	What was Bobby Fischer’s first ever published chess rating (USCF - 4 digits)? (2 points if within 20 of the correct answer. 1 point if within 100)	1726 (May 1956)
17	In which major sport was the splendidly named Belgian, Benoni Beheyt, the 1963 World Champion? (1 pt)	Cycling (Men’s professional road race champion)
18	a) In 2021, which Australian Grand Master introduced the Fighting Chess Index, to measure the combative spirit of the world’s top players? (1 pt) b) Amongst the World’s top 50 (average ELO 2015-2020), which two super-GMs were ranked first and last on the Index? (2 pts) c) And from the World’s top 100, which two English GMs were ranked in the top 6 for fighting spirit? (2 pts) d) And when the sample was widened to include everyone averaging over 2400, which England-based GM was one of only three for whom more than 50% of games ended in a short draw (under 30 moves)? And which former FIDE World Champion was also in this group? (2 pts) e) And who had the highest Fighting Chess Index figure amongst women? (Clue: in the 2021 Gibraltar Women’s GP she had ten successive decisive games before drawing in the last round after 135 moves!) (1 pt) (Total 8 pts)	David Smerdon     Vladimir Kramnik (80.1) Teimour Radjabov (51.2)   Gawain Jones (2nd – 83.1) Luke McShane (6th – 79.7) Bogdan Lalic (3.7) Alexander Khalifman (2.4)       Valentina Gunina (93.4)
19	Name the 8 players who appeared at least once when England came second at three consecutive men’s Olympiads in the 1980s (1984/86/88)   (8 pts total)	Miles Nunn Speelman Chandler Mestel Short Flear Watson (Short, Flear and Watson were IMs at the time of their first/only appearance)
20	To which Grand Masters are the following GMs/WGMs currently married?   a) Antoaneta Stefanova b) Victorija Cmiylte c) Alina Kashlinskaya d) Kateryna Lagno e) Anna Zatonski f) Alexandra Kosteniuk g) Jovana Vojinovic (6 pts total)   And name the GM first husbands of:- g) Victorija Cmiylte h) Kateryna Lagno (2 pts total)   i) Aside from chess, what do Stefanova and Cmiylte have in common, career-wise? (1 pt)	Ivan Cheparinov Peter Heine-Nielsen Radoslaw Wojtaszek Alexander Grischuk Daniel Fridman Pavel Tregubov Richard Rapport       Alexei Shirov Robert Fontaine     Politics - they are both elected members of their respective National Parliaments
21	A literary/cinematic interlude!   a) Who wrote the 1983 novel, “The Queen’s Gambit”, on which the recent Netflix series was based? b) What was the title of this author’s 1959 novel, later made into a classic Hollywood film starring Paul Newman? c) What was his 1963 novel, later made into a British film, starring David Bowie? d) And what was his 1984 novel, a sequel to (b), later made into a Hollywood film starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise? e) Which all-time great Hollywood actor drew a 1956 simultaneous game (with Black) against Samuel Reshevsky? Clue – in his most famous/iconic role, he is seen studying a chess position while dressed in a white dinner jacket. (5 pts total)	a) Walter Tevis   b) The Hustler   c) The Man Who Fell to Earth   d) The Colour of Money     e) Humphrey Bogart
22	When Bobby Fischer played his only ever competitive game in the UK in 1960 (a consultation game for a radio programme), what was his fee from the BBC? (Exact amount required for a point!)   And for another point, in which London street, synonymous with high quality in its specialist field, did he spend it? (2 pts total)	£50         Saville Row
23	Jovanka Houska has won 9 British Women’s Championships. But who holds the record with 11? (1 pt)	Rowena Bruce
24	And now one for all you artists out there.   a) Which world famous artist played in the 1930 Olympiad     b) Name the reigning World Champion who played in the same team. c) And what country were they both representing? (3 pts total)	a) Marcel Duchamp (who scored 4/15) (He also played in 1931 - 2.5/9; and 1933 – 2/12) b) Alexander Alekhine (who scored 9/9!) c) France
25	And let’s not forget the music fans:-   a) On what instrument was Mark Taimanov a virtuoso? b) Which future World Champion failed an opera singing audition at The Bolshoi Theatre in 1950? c) Which mega-famous singer-songwriter, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, played in the 1972 American Open in Santa Monica? Hope she looked at the possibilities from both sides before making a move! d) Which famous rockstar sang old pop, R&B and soul hits all night with Bobby Fischer at the Hotel Borg in Reykjavik in 2005? Clue - sometimes known as the grandmother of punk or the punk poet laureate, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Second clue – her most famous album is named after chess pieces. Well, sort of! (4 pts total)	a) Piano b) Vassily Smyslov   c) Joni Mitchell       d) Patti Smith (the album is called “Horses”)
26	Which super-GM, often called the nicest person in chess, shares his name with a model of Nissan pick-up truck? (1 pt)	David Navara
27	Who won the 1994 Lloyd’s Bank Open in London, with a score of 9.5/10, at the age of just 17? (1 pt)	Alexander Morozevich
28	Identify the following famous chess players:- a) Born The Hague 1927, Died Amsterdam 1988 b) Born Sydney 1949, Died Las Vegas 2015 c) Born Riga 1886, Died Copenhagen 1935 d) Born Prague 1836; Died New York 1900 e) Born Tbilisi 1929; Died Moscow 1984 f) Born Baku 1986; Died Heidelberg 2014 (6 pts total)	a) Jan Hein Donner b) Walter Browne c) Aron Nimzowitsch d) Wilhelm Steinitz e) Tigran Petrosian f) Vugar Gashimov
29	Which two players jointly hold the record for most appearances (23) in the Soviet Championships? (2 pts total)	Efim Geller & Mark Taimanov
30	What did the following have in common for most of 2021:- Ian Nepomniatchi Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid and France footballer) Orlando Bloom (Hollywood actor) Gareth Bale (Real Madrid and Wales footballer) (1 pt)	Manbuns!
31	Since 1950, eleven people have held the record as the youngest Grand Master ever.  Name them!   Clue: 3 x USSR 2 x Hungary 2 x Ukraine 2 x USA 1 x France 1 x China   (11 pts total)	1950 David Bronstein (26y) 1952 Tigran Petrosian (23y) 1955 Boris Spassky (18y) 1958 Bobby Fischer (15y6m1d) 1991 Judit Polgar (15y4m28d) 1994 Peter Leko (14y4m22d) 1997 Etienne Bacrot (14y2m0d) 1997 Ruslan Ponomariov (14y0m17d) 1999 Bu Xiangzhi (13y10m13d) 2002 Sergei Karjakin (12y7m0d) 2021 Abhimanyu Mishra (12y4m25d)
32	The son of which 2 time British Champion (himself more famous for his wartime non-chess achievements!) won a silver medal for fencing at the 1960 Olympics, and also became the UK ambassador to NATO? (1 pt)	Bletchley Park Code Breaker Hugh Alexander – British Champion in 1938 and 1956
33	a) Who beat Garry Kasparov in 7 moves in the Croatia Grand Chess Tour Blitz Tournament in 2021? b) Who beat Anatoly Karpov in 11 moves at the 1993 Wijk aan Zee tournament? c) And who beat Vishy Anand in 6 moves at Biel in 1988? (3 pts total)	Shakhriyar Mamedyarov   Larry Christiansen   Alonso Zapata
34	a) Which hobbling GM, now registered for Germany, almost had his plastered foot trodden on by the KCC Chairman at Radebeul in 2018? Clue: he played in the 1970 USSR v World Match of the Century. b) And, also at Radebeul in 2018, which 3 time Candidates Semi-Finalist, also now registered with Germany, did the KCC Chairman describe as – and he should know! – “a big unit”. (2 pts total)	Vlastimil Hort     Artur Yusupov
35	a) After which legendary GM is the annual FIDE Fairplay Award named? b) And who won it in 2021 for conceding an online tournament game against Ding Liren to offset an unfortunate disconnect by his opponent in the previous game? (2 pts total )	a) Svetozar Gligoric   b) Magnus Carlsen
36	a) Which of the following has never been World Blitz Champion:- Levon Aronian; Lenier Dominguez; Hikaru Nakamura; Vassily Ivanchuk? (1 pt)   b) And which of the following has never been World Rapid Champion:- Levon Aronian; Vishy Anand; Shakhriyar Mamedyarov;  Vassily Ivanchuk? (1 pt)	Hikaru Nakamura         Levon Aronian
37	Which famous annual tournament, sponsored by Luis Rentero, was held at the Hotel Anibal. And who won the 1994 edition with an undefeated 11/13, which was assessed at the time as the best tournament performance ever? (2 pts total)	Linares (Spain)   Anatoly Karpov
38	In which city would you find the John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection – described as “the largest chess library in the world”? (1 pt)	Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
39	Which GM, born 2004, shares a name with the nerve gas used in the Tokyo subway terrorist attack in 1995? (1 pt)	Nihal Sarin
40	Some very easy points on offer here. Name the 14 players who have ever had a published FIDE rating of 2800 or more.   Anyone scoring less than 6 as an absolute minimum should not be doing this quiz!   (14 pts)	Magnus Carlsen (2882) Garry Kasparov (2851) Fabiano Caruana (2844) Levon Aronian (2830) Wesley So (2822) Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2820) Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2819) Viswanathan Anand (2817) Vladimir Kramnik (2817) Veselin Topalov (2816) Ding Liren (2816) Hikaru Nakamura (2816) Alexander Grischuk (2810) Alireza Firouzja (2804)
41	Who is the oldest living Grand Master? Clue; He was a 1 time Champion of the USSR and his daughter married Mark Taimanov. (1 pt)	Yuri Averbakh – age 99 (Born 1922)
42	Which East European GM (1937-2000) lost against Korchnoi at the 1972 Moscow Olympiad after putting his score sheet, with his sealed move, into his pocket, rather than into the adjournment envelope! (1 pt)	Georgi Tringov (Bulgaria)
43	Which West European GM (1925-2006), a legal professional, was described by Anatoly Karpov as “the undisputed World Champion amongst amateurs”? Clue - he played 12 times in Olympiads for his country, 10 of them on top board. (1 pt)	Wolfgang Unzicker (W Germany)
44	Which Yugoslav GM (1944-2008) was the subject of the 2021 book, “Forgotten Genius”? (1 pt)	The brilliant, but tragic, Albin Planinc
45	As at December 9th, who was the only GM registered under the FIDE, as opposed to a national, flag. Clue – it wasn’t Alireza Firouzja! (1 pt)	Vladislav Kovalev (ex Belarus)
46	Prior to Ravi Haria, who were the last three English players to gain the GM title? (3 pts)	Daniel Fernandez (2017) Jonathan Hawkins (2014) Stephen Gordon (2009)
47	Four of these names from the December FIDE rating list  are Grand Masters, and four are rated  under 2000. Can you identify the 4 GMs?   Batbileg Ganbold Orest Gritsak Yue Hu Vasil Kochev Samput Mallick Zbigniew Pakleza Mishra Swayams Henry Urday   (4 pts)	Zbigniew Pakleza (Poland 2489) Orest Gritsak (Ukraine 2468) Mishra Swayams (India 2489) Henry Urday (Peru 2482)
48	Who has been a second for the winning player in no less than 8 world championships (7 matches and 1 tournament)? (1 pt)	GM Peter Heine Nielsen (4 with Anand and 4 with Carlsen)
49	Name the top 5 boards (correct order not required!) for the Rest of the World team in the second “Match of the Century” against the USSR (London, 1984) (5pts)	1 Ulf Andersson 2 Jan Timman 3 Viktor Korchnoi 4 Ljubomir Ljubojevic 5 Zoltan Ribli
50	Who won the 2021 European Blitz Championship, despite losing 28 rating points in the process? (1 pt)	Jan-Krzysztof Duda
	Total points available	150

I can report one very creditable effort - computer assisted, it goes without saying! - that scored 144/150. And if the solver had remembered the rather elementary fact that the USSR existed till 1991, he would have got 146! I was disappointed to discover that several questions I thought were Google-proof, turned out not to be, but at least the fact that there was no 100% score does at least mean that - unlike in chess itself - humans can still beat computers in quizzes.

You'll all doubtless be pleased to know that I'm already collecting potential questions for 2022's Christmas Quiz. But just remember, there will always be more questions than answers!