The Final Hurdle To History!

The final hurdle to making history!

We ended the year (1990) back in Spain, for a tournament in Pamplona, the city best known for its famous “running of the bulls.” Locally, it’s just as famous for its New Year’s Eve carnival, which just happened to be in full swing when my mother and I arrived. Every year, people flood the city dressed in all kinds of crazy costumes, moving between bars and dancing in the streets. You wouldn’t expect a citywide street party would be a good backdrop for a chess tournament. In my case, the setting couldn’t have been more perfect. I had come to see Spain as a lucky place for me after I secured my second GM norm in Leon earlier in the year. And there was something about the energy from the festival that seemed to propel me in Pamplona.

I went undefeated in that event, playing seven games to a draw — including against Korchnoi. What put me over the top for the final norm was a win against Leonid Yudasin (former top 10 player in the world) with the black pieces, an unlikely victory given how much higher rated he was.

It’s difficult to describe the torrent of emotions that came pouring out of me the moment I became a Grandmaster. This was something I had wanted more than anything, it’s what got me up in the morning and kept me at the chess board for hours a day. I had built my entire life around this goal for years and now I had it. My immediate response was more physical than emotional. My legs went numb and I felt a buzzing in my ears, as if my entire body recalibrating itself to this new reality. Once that subsided, I was left with this warm glow of contentment that seemed to emanate from every part of me. A need that had become a deep part of my psyche was now, at long last, fulfilled.

It just happened to be the Feast of the Three Kings, and the city was once again in a state of celebration. I made my way around the streets of Pamplona with my mother, eating and laughing and running around. It was as if the entire city was acting out what I was feeling inside. The chess gods had smiled on me, delivering me my three norms — and on the very same day that the three wise men delivered their gifts. What could be more perfect than this?

(This was the game against GM Yudasin which helped me earn my final GM norm and title. He tied for 1st at the Soviet Championship in 1990, won team Gold and individual Bronze at the 1990 Olympiad in Novi Sad, World Championship Candidate, and was ranked #8 in the world in 1991!)