Chess, SMERSH and Petra Leeverik, who waited
On October 18, 1978, in Baguio (Philippines), the match for the world chess championship title between world champion 27-year-old Anatoly Karpov and challenger 47-year-old Viktor Korchnoi ended. Books have been written and films made about this match. I will not describe all the vicissitudes of this confrontation; I want to write about people whose contribution to the confrontation is also very high and whose activities can be set as an example for modern Russian sports bureaucrats.
Viktor Davydovich Baturinsky (1914–2002)
Deputy Chairman of the USSR Chess Federation - for many years he was the director of the Central Chess Club of the USSR, took part in the work of a number of congresses and special committees of FIDE, and headed sports delegations at the world championship matches in Baguio (1978) and Merano (1981).
Born in Odessa, Viktor Davydovich’s father was the famous Doctor of Economic Sciences David Abramovich Galperin, a figure of the left wing of the Bund (he took the pseudonym “Baturinsky”). After moving to Moscow, he taught at the Institute of the Red Professorship, was vice-rector of the Moscow Financial Institute, and a member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. Author of many books on agriculture.
Viktor Baturinsky graduated from the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University, after which in 1939 he was drafted as a private into the active army. Served in the Trans-Baikal Military District. On Online “Front-line chess players” describes the combat path of Viktor Baturinsky.
“In 1940, he was already an assistant platoon commander. At the beginning of 1941, the 46th Rifle Division redeployed to camps near Tambov, and on July 12 it already entered into battle with the Germans in the Roslavl area. The remnants of the division retreated to Moscow.
In September 1941, Baturinsky was appointed military investigator of the 9th Kirov Division of the Moscow People's Militia. It was located southwest of Yelnya and on September 30, during the German offensive on Moscow (Operation Typhoon), it came under tank hit. The entire 24th Army, which included the Kirov Division, was surrounded and suffered heavy losses.
For almost two weeks, Baturinsky and a group of servicemen fought their way to their own. The place of reunification was the Borodino field.
At the end of November, Baturinsky was recalled to Moscow at the disposal of the Main Military Prosecutor’s Office, where he served until the end of the war, from time to time traveling to different sectors of the front, working as an investigator in SMERSH.”
In September 1941, Baturinsky was appointed military investigator of the 9th Kirov Division of the Moscow People's Militia. It was located southwest of Yelnya and on September 30, during the German offensive on Moscow (Operation Typhoon), it came under tank hit. The entire 24th Army, which included the Kirov Division, was surrounded and suffered heavy losses.
For almost two weeks, Baturinsky and a group of servicemen fought their way to their own. The place of reunification was the Borodino field.
At the end of November, Baturinsky was recalled to Moscow at the disposal of the Main Military Prosecutor’s Office, where he served until the end of the war, from time to time traveling to different sectors of the front, working as an investigator in SMERSH.”
Viktor Davydovich did not like to remember the war and did not leave that period of his life in his memories, and I will not quote what his outspoken enemies wrote about him. I don’t believe that such a person was so frank in conversations with them and raised such an important topic, but let’s continue.
In 1962–1963, he was a participant in the investigation, trial and execution of the sentence of the spy Oleg Penkovsky.
Participation in such a complex matter says a lot about the professional qualities of Viktor Davydovich and the trust in him from management. Baturinsky resigned from the Main Military Prosecutor's Office in 1970, after which he concentrated on his activities in the USSR Chess Federation and became director of the USSR Central Chess Club in Moscow. And it was the right choice: he had been familiar with chess for a long time.
At the age of 20, Viktor Baturinsky was the chairman of the chess section of the Moscow City Council of Trade Unions (he held this position for three years). Played in the championships of the Western Military District, the championship of the Moscow garrison, Moscow (1938, 1946), the semi-finals of the USSR championship (1945); 4th and 9th USSR Championships, European Team Championships (1973–1977) and international correspondence competitions. Even grandmaster G. B. Sosonky, who has a negative attitude towards him, in his book “My Testimonies” characterizes Viktor Baturinsky as a strong chess player who understands the game of chess at least at the level of a master.
Victor Baturinsky was the author of a large number of books dedicated to chess. His books - “The Chess Work of Botvinnik”, “Pages of Chess Life”, “Kings and Queens of Chess”, “On the Chess Olympus”, “Grandmaster Floor” - were and are popular among chess fans. He preserved and expanded the unique chess library - over 7 thousand volumes; this library contains several neatly bound volumes - all games played by Anatoly Karpov and written down by hand.
Lev Alburt, Boris Spassky, Viktor Korchnoi and other chess players living abroad speak negatively about Viktor Baturinsky, and they place special emphasis on his service in SMERSH. Viktor Korchnoi:
“A conversation about Baturinsky is a conversation about the historical past, far beyond the scope of chess; This story fascism and communism, and we should start here with the difference between these two formations.
Fascism was destroyed during the last war, but communism survived and was defeated only a few decades later. And Baturinsky belongs to the fragments of this broken past.
Although he was only a colonel, the rank may not be so high, but at one time he served as deputy chief prosecutor of the army. There is no need to explain what this means: he has thousands of lives to his name, of course. Although he personally did not kill anyone with his own hands, of course.”
Fascism was destroyed during the last war, but communism survived and was defeated only a few decades later. And Baturinsky belongs to the fragments of this broken past.
Although he was only a colonel, the rank may not be so high, but at one time he served as deputy chief prosecutor of the army. There is no need to explain what this means: he has thousands of lives to his name, of course. Although he personally did not kill anyone with his own hands, of course.”
They say about Korchnoi that he was distinguished by directness of judgment, a heightened sense of justice, perhaps, personally, I don’t understand how a person whose father died in the war, and he himself played his first tournament in a bomb shelter in besieged Leningrad, can compare fascism and communism.
It so happened that I will mention Viktor Korchnoi more than once.
Viktor Baturinsky was a tough leader, one might even say rude, and could calmly say “In 41 they were shot for this.” In my opinion, why he did this was answered by another of his ill-wisher.
A word from Iser Kuperman, world champion in hundred-square checkers, who met Baturinsky many times before his emigration from the USSR:
“A lot depended on him: privileges, scholarships, distinctions, but most importantly, foreign trips. These trips were powerful weapons in the hands of Baturinsky.
With a list of invitations sent to the federation, he went around, starting with the world champion, to all the leading grandmasters, taking into account not only the strength of their play, but also their influence at the top. Personal, personalized invitations did not play any role here; often the invitee did not even find out about it or found out by chance years later. The list of remaining tournaments was sent to the federation, which was already distributing the rest.
He was a determined, cunning and ruthless man, but he had an amazing vision of people and sensed their intentions very well.
Long before Karpov’s star officially rose, Baturinsky understood with his remarkable instinct who he should bet on, and helped him unconditionally and under any circumstances.”
With a list of invitations sent to the federation, he went around, starting with the world champion, to all the leading grandmasters, taking into account not only the strength of their play, but also their influence at the top. Personal, personalized invitations did not play any role here; often the invitee did not even find out about it or found out by chance years later. The list of remaining tournaments was sent to the federation, which was already distributing the rest.
He was a determined, cunning and ruthless man, but he had an amazing vision of people and sensed their intentions very well.
Long before Karpov’s star officially rose, Baturinsky understood with his remarkable instinct who he should bet on, and helped him unconditionally and under any circumstances.”
Yes, Viktor Davydovich Baturinsky understood what kind of person was in front of him, a front-line soldier who had worked as a prosecutor for many years, he realized a lot, he saw how personal and material things took precedence over the common cause and interests of the country, conflicts with the new generation were inevitable.
This was especially evident during the preparation for the match for the world chess champion title in 1972 between Boris Spassky and Robert Fischer in Reykjavik.
Viktor Baturinsky was one of the first to submit a report on Spassky’s preparation to the Sports Committee, expressing concern about the champion’s attitude towards defending his title. He spoke of Spassky's unpreparedness to compete under the Soviet flag and gave a merciless overview of the world champion's general preparation for the upcoming mission.
Viktor Baturinsky included the following statement in his report:
“Due to a difficult childhood and gaps in his upbringing, he allows himself immature remarks, violates his sports regime and does not show the necessary level of hard work. Some people in our country and abroad are trying to play on these weaknesses, feeding his false ideas about his own greatness, emphasizing in every possible way the “special role” of the world champion and stimulating the spirit of self-interest that lives in him.”
Chess players who knew Spassky said that they knew two different Spasskys, a contender for the title of world champion - hardworking, persistent, sportingly angry, listening to other people's opinions, and a world champion who did not accept any criticism, relaxed and complacent. In his memoirs, Spassky often said that he was not allowed to adequately prepare for the tournament.
However, according to numerous recollections, Spassky turned out to be an experienced intriguer and directly over the heads of his leadership addressed the Central Committee of the party with a list of his demands for preparing for the match. Viktor Baturinsky refused to go to Reykjavik. 40 years later, in an interview with Sport Express, Boris Spassky lamented:
“It was in vain that I didn’t leave, although I was ordered to! The Chairman of the Sports Committee, Sergei Pavlov, talked to me on the phone for half an hour. I outlined what to do: “You write a protest about this, about that, you fly away...” But I persisted - I will play! Fool, of course. Still, the match went beyond individual interests.”
Spassky was disingenuous, did not want to take responsibility, another person was needed here who could stand up and slam the door.
Let's look at the book Bobby Fischer Goes to War by John Aidinaw and David Edmonds:
“Spassky informed the authorities of his unwillingness for Baturinsky to be his representative in FIDE in negotiations on the terms of the match. Ivonin tried to dissuade Spassky. Strictly speaking, he explained, Baturinsky was right in not signing the power of attorney (Viktor Baturinsky refused to approve the power of attorney to sell the car to Spassky). But Spassky stood his ground.
Baturinsky himself put an end to it: “I told Ivonin that I refuse to go. He replied: the passport and all documents are already ready. I repeated that it doesn’t matter: if the person who should trust me refuses to trust me, I won’t go.”
The quarrel no doubt upset Spassky, sapping his strength. Negotiations began to be handled by Geller, who understood chess, and the deputy head of the international department of the Sports Committee, Alexandra Ivushkina, whose work included establishing relations with international sports federations. She spoke excellent English, had extensive experience working with other federations and knew the position of the Sports Committee.
However, from a legal point of view, the team was not savvy enough.”
Baturinsky himself put an end to it: “I told Ivonin that I refuse to go. He replied: the passport and all documents are already ready. I repeated that it doesn’t matter: if the person who should trust me refuses to trust me, I won’t go.”
The quarrel no doubt upset Spassky, sapping his strength. Negotiations began to be handled by Geller, who understood chess, and the deputy head of the international department of the Sports Committee, Alexandra Ivushkina, whose work included establishing relations with international sports federations. She spoke excellent English, had extensive experience working with other federations and knew the position of the Sports Committee.
However, from a legal point of view, the team was not savvy enough.”
The management realized this; Viktor Davydovich Baturinsky was appointed head of the Soviet delegation for the tournament in Baguio, and he coped with his role brilliantly.
Viktor Davydovich insisted that the matches would begin in the evening at 17:00, which was as convenient as possible for Karpov, since he is a “night owl”, he resolved a lot of other related issues, agreed on the non-use of elevators when Karpov was sleeping, on the time of mowing the lawns on the fields for golf and much more, which had a positive impact on the level of play of the Soviet champion.
Viktor Davydovich had to defend the honor of the country at numerous press conferences. About 400 journalists from many countries came to Baguio, most of them did not understand anything about chess, but they were happy to publish on the pages of newspapers all the attacks of Korchnoi and his representative, Petra Leeverik.
Viktor Davydovich showed himself here too; he also knew how to work with the press and was able to make FIDE representatives gradually begin to “get tired” of the attacks of Korchnoi’s team directed at them.
Unfortunately, it was his enemies who wrote most about Viktor Davydovich. G. B. Sosonko “My testimony”:
“At all meetings of the match jury of appeal, in memoranda, notes and statements, Baturinsky brilliantly defended the position of the Soviet side, proved that he was right, time after time leaving the enemy camp in confusion, anger and powerlessness.
Ineke Bakker, the then secretary of FIDE, recalls that Baturinsky not only knew everything, but also remembered a lot by heart - rules, paragraphs, laws, articles - and was very good at interpreting them: “It’s written like this here, but you have to understand it this way, you don’t pay attention to the clause in this paragraph...” And so on.”
Ineke Bakker, the then secretary of FIDE, recalls that Baturinsky not only knew everything, but also remembered a lot by heart - rules, paragraphs, laws, articles - and was very good at interpreting them: “It’s written like this here, but you have to understand it this way, you don’t pay attention to the clause in this paragraph...” And so on.”
But Korchnoi, who then called Baturinsky “a master of affairs” and “a man, according to generally accepted morality, a criminal,” says today, a quarter of a century later:
“Although Baturinsky was an obedient soldier and carried out the orders of his superiors well, he was an excellent lawyer, and it is his merit that then in Baguio the Soviets held up so well in the negotiations and that Karpov owes him a lot, a lot. Baturinsky was a worthy defender of him, of the entire system, and fulfilled his role brilliantly.”
Here is another example of Viktor Davydovich’s legal literacy. I will give an excerpt from his correspondence with FIDE President Olafsson from the book “Pages of Chess Life” regarding the postponement of the start date of the match between Kasparov and Korchnoi in Merano by one month, which was not agreed with the USSR delegation.
“On this occasion, rather harsh telegrams were exchanged between us.
Olafsson wrote:
“As a lawyer, you need to know that two parties cannot agree on an agreement that involves a third party.”
Baturinsky replied:
“As a lawyer (Olafsson is a lawyer by profession), you must understand the textual meaning of the document. In addition, you are using a double approach: you postpone the match without asking the organizers’ opinion, but now you refer to them.”
Olafsson wrote:
“As a lawyer, you need to know that two parties cannot agree on an agreement that involves a third party.”
Baturinsky replied:
“As a lawyer (Olafsson is a lawyer by profession), you must understand the textual meaning of the document. In addition, you are using a double approach: you postpone the match without asking the organizers’ opinion, but now you refer to them.”
In the process of collecting material, I came across this recollection of a person far from chess problems:
“In our house, on the floor below, right below us lived Viktor Davydovich Baturinsky. All I knew about him was that he was friends with Anatoly Karpov and was a chess player. And also...
When guests gathered in our apartment (well, this rarely happened), Viktor Davydovich came up to us and, when my mother opened the door for him, very politely asked: “Tick mark. Please, can you be a little quieter? Otherwise the chandelier on my ceiling is swinging.” Mom invited him to visit and, if my memory serves me right, he and his wife even visited us.”
When guests gathered in our apartment (well, this rarely happened), Viktor Davydovich came up to us and, when my mother opened the door for him, very politely asked: “Tick mark. Please, can you be a little quieter? Otherwise the chandelier on my ceiling is swinging.” Mom invited him to visit and, if my memory serves me right, he and his wife even visited us.”
Petra Leeverik (Petronella Leeverik)
Having talked about the representatives of the USSR at the tournament in Baguio, I believe that it is necessary to present the other side, and it is personified, oddly enough, by a woman of a difficult and interesting fate.
This is how Viktor Baturinsky describes his first meeting with her:
“One middle-aged woman, who spoke a little Russian, hovered around the Soviet chess players and started talking to us. “Is she a chess player?” – I asked one of the Swiss. “No, don’t you know? This is Korchnoi’s girlfriend,” came the answer.
And indeed, as soon as Korchnoi lost the game to Petrosian in a match held in the Italian city of Ciocco, the interlocutor disappeared. This was Petronella Leeverik, whom I subsequently had the “pleasure” of seeing more than once.”
And indeed, as soon as Korchnoi lost the game to Petrosian in a match held in the Italian city of Ciocco, the interlocutor disappeared. This was Petronella Leeverik, whom I subsequently had the “pleasure” of seeing more than once.”
The year was 1945, the war ended, and immediately the confrontation between yesterday's allies of the USSR and the USA began, the hottest place of confrontation was Vienna, where intelligence agencies waged a tough fight. Soviet intelligence came to the attention of a young girl, Petra Leeverik, a former member of the Hitler Youth, and at the time of her arrest a student who was studying in Leipzig and was a member of a Catholic student organization. While returning to her parents for the holidays, she found herself in the Soviet zone of the capital of Austria.
Petra Leeverik was accused of spying for the United States. The only thing we could find from more or less modern sources was her interview given during the tournament in Lviv:
“After the war, I returned to Vienna to continue my studies because my grandmother lived here. Vienna, like Berlin, was divided into four occupation zones, which were led by the administrations of the victorious countries.
At the university, I belonged to the Catholic Youth Union, which, however, was not recognized by the Soviet authorities. We were forced to join the League of Free German Youth; it had communist positions. I was 19, we were meeting illegally with friends who shared my views.
Once, while crossing the border of the occupation zone, I was detained by a Russian guard, who said that my passport was missing some stamp. He suggested that I wait until they checked my passport. This wait turned out to be long - I returned home after ten years. I was thrown into a cell and interrogated every day.
I didn’t understand a single word of Russian, so I didn’t know what they were writing in the protocol. When they forced me to sign it, I refused. Then I was “settled” in a cell with an area of less than a square meter, where I could neither sit nor lie, but only stand in the water. I stood there for two nights, after which I signed the protocol. Then they said that I, as an agitator, terrorist and American spy, was sentenced to twenty years in prison.
This is how I ended up working hard in a system known as the Gulag Archipelago. There were many people like me from Austria and Germany. We were used as cheap labor, we were slaves. Men worked in the mines, and women worked on railways, highways, and quarried stone. As a souvenir from working with a jackhammer, I have arthrosis.”
At the university, I belonged to the Catholic Youth Union, which, however, was not recognized by the Soviet authorities. We were forced to join the League of Free German Youth; it had communist positions. I was 19, we were meeting illegally with friends who shared my views.
Once, while crossing the border of the occupation zone, I was detained by a Russian guard, who said that my passport was missing some stamp. He suggested that I wait until they checked my passport. This wait turned out to be long - I returned home after ten years. I was thrown into a cell and interrogated every day.
I didn’t understand a single word of Russian, so I didn’t know what they were writing in the protocol. When they forced me to sign it, I refused. Then I was “settled” in a cell with an area of less than a square meter, where I could neither sit nor lie, but only stand in the water. I stood there for two nights, after which I signed the protocol. Then they said that I, as an agitator, terrorist and American spy, was sentenced to twenty years in prison.
This is how I ended up working hard in a system known as the Gulag Archipelago. There were many people like me from Austria and Germany. We were used as cheap labor, we were slaves. Men worked in the mines, and women worked on railways, highways, and quarried stone. As a souvenir from working with a jackhammer, I have arthrosis.”
Yes, intelligence is a dirty business, but its goal is to obtain information. Petra Leeverik could not help but understand what she was accused of.
I would also like to remind you that in the USSR there were enough specialists who spoke German; life forced them to learn it between 1941 and 1945.
I would like to draw attention to one moment, before the collapse of the USSR, when Gorbachev offered to return Viktor Korchnov’s citizenship and courted him in every possible way, he could have demanded that the case of Petra Leeverik, his wife, be raised and insisted on at least an apology at the highest level.
Didn't insist? No, this is not the same person, in his books he poured out all his bile towards the USSR.
Afraid? Maybe archives are like that, you never know what secrets will become known. And they were already known, it’s just that many years later they were strangely forgotten; in “Week” No. 46 for 1978 there is a photographic document: the handwritten testimony of Petronella Haney - now Petra Leeverik, in which she talks about her intelligence connection with the American intelligence officer Sorrell.
An essay by Leonid Kolosov “Behind the Scenes of Baguio” was also published there, which says:
“In the Austrian city of Schärding, Heini came to the attention of CIC. American military intelligence officer Herbert Sorrell began “working” with the girl. At first he took her into custody, then offered her secret cooperation with the intelligence service.
Here are excerpts from the interrogation protocol thirty years ago:
– So you agreed to engage in espionage against the Soviet Union for the benefit of American intelligence?
- Yes it is. I agreed to cooperate. Mr. Sorrell suggested that I go to the city of Urfar and make acquaintances with Soviet officers there...
While Petronella was in touch with Mr. Sorrell, she managed to meet some of his colleagues from CIC, which she willingly told the Soviet officer about during interrogations.
– Name the CIC employees you know in the city of Schärding and their characteristics.
– I know: Colonel Raoul – chief of intelligence (about 45 years old, tall, plump, brown hair, small mustache); Maurice is a CIC employee (34 years old, blond, gray eyes, height about 175 cm); Steve, Hungarian by nationality (about 30 years old, tall, black hair, wears a mustache); Venzelovsky is a CIC translator, a Pole by nationality (about 40 years old, plump, dark-haired, wears glasses)..."
Here are excerpts from the interrogation protocol thirty years ago:
– So you agreed to engage in espionage against the Soviet Union for the benefit of American intelligence?
- Yes it is. I agreed to cooperate. Mr. Sorrell suggested that I go to the city of Urfar and make acquaintances with Soviet officers there...
While Petronella was in touch with Mr. Sorrell, she managed to meet some of his colleagues from CIC, which she willingly told the Soviet officer about during interrogations.
– Name the CIC employees you know in the city of Schärding and their characteristics.
– I know: Colonel Raoul – chief of intelligence (about 45 years old, tall, plump, brown hair, small mustache); Maurice is a CIC employee (34 years old, blond, gray eyes, height about 175 cm); Steve, Hungarian by nationality (about 30 years old, tall, black hair, wears a mustache); Venzelovsky is a CIC translator, a Pole by nationality (about 40 years old, plump, dark-haired, wears glasses)..."
“In 1946,” continues the author of the essay, “Petronella began working as an assistant at the Leipzig Institute of Archeology. And then an incident happened.
Haney herself spoke in written testimony about this “incident” as follows:
“The museum, run by the Institute of Archeology, had very valuable exhibits: Greek vases, busts and other antiquities... We sold them at very high prices to the Americans...
I personally handed over the exhibits to one guy (I don’t remember his name), and he transported them to Berlin. Then Professor Schweizer became aware of these operations. He called me to the Institute of Archeology...
I returned the remaining exhibits, but I had to leave Leipzig - too many people knew about the scandal.
In addition, some of the exhibits floated to America, and a lawsuit could arise. I decided to return to Austria..."
Haney herself spoke in written testimony about this “incident” as follows:
“The museum, run by the Institute of Archeology, had very valuable exhibits: Greek vases, busts and other antiquities... We sold them at very high prices to the Americans...
I personally handed over the exhibits to one guy (I don’t remember his name), and he transported them to Berlin. Then Professor Schweizer became aware of these operations. He called me to the Institute of Archeology...
I returned the remaining exhibits, but I had to leave Leipzig - too many people knew about the scandal.
In addition, some of the exhibits floated to America, and a lawsuit could arise. I decided to return to Austria..."
In the same interview, Petra Leeverik stated:
“Mikhail Tal told us later that if Korchnoi had become world champion, he would not have lived long. A dissident had no right to defeat a representative of the communist system. This was the reality then. Even FIDE President Campomanes was a KGB agent.
- Really?
“Yes, we have documentary evidence at home that we received from Russia.”
- Really?
“Yes, we have documentary evidence at home that we received from Russia.”
It’s strange, but in the book “The KGB Plays Chess,” authored by Korchnoi and Boris Gulko, historian Yuri Felshtinsky, as well as former KGB officer Vladimir Popov, there is also such information, but there is no photographic document.
Let's continue.
Petra Leeverik spent ten years in the camps and was released under the Adenauer amnesty of 1956. She got married, gave birth to two children, got divorced, worked for a large pharmaceutical company and, according to her memoirs, felt a fierce hatred for the USSR, which is understandable. I tried to make contact with Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who was exiled to the West, but it didn’t work.
The acquaintance of Petra and Korchnov happened just like in a female spy series.
“He gave a simultaneous show in Zurich, in which I took part. I took with me a book that I had once received as a prize for winning a chess competition in the camp. They played there with figures made of bread. The book had the title "Resurrection" by Tolstoy with an inscription in Russian from the head of the camp. The book lay next to me, and Korchnoi kept paying attention to it as he passed me.
After 27 moves, I gave up because I lost a piece, but after the session I asked the organizers to introduce me to the grandmaster. We met in a restaurant and talked a lot. After some time, I went to Holland on official business, and Victor was just in Amsterdam. I called him, we met, and we’ve been together ever since.”
After 27 moves, I gave up because I lost a piece, but after the session I asked the organizers to introduce me to the grandmaster. We met in a restaurant and talked a lot. After some time, I went to Holland on official business, and Victor was just in Amsterdam. I called him, we met, and we’ve been together ever since.”
I admit, I’m a bad person and I can’t help but be sarcastic: how sweet, Stirlitz’s meeting with his wife in a cafe pales before this chance meeting, the thought comes to mind, maybe Petra Leeverik is a converted KGB agent who received the task of getting Viktor Korchnoi in her hands? What if it was she who prevented Korchnoi from becoming world champion? But mind me.
Viktor Korchnoi, finding himself “free,” was absolutely not ready for it; of course, this is not the USSR.
Let's give the floor to John Aidinau and David Edmonds, "Bobby Fischer Goes to War":
“In no other country in the world has chess provided a child with the kind of financial assistance that Spassky received. And in no other country was chess considered part of the state system, and the success of the players was not seen as a symbol of its superiority.
In the Soviet Union, chess stars were praised to the skies and enjoyed various privileges; the names of the best players were widely known, the results of their performances were published in newspapers, and they themselves were recognized on the streets.”
In the Soviet Union, chess stars were praised to the skies and enjoyed various privileges; the names of the best players were widely known, the results of their performances were published in newspapers, and they themselves were recognized on the streets.”
In the Netherlands, Viktor Korchnoi became a hero for one day, then they forgot about him, they didn’t grant him citizenship, well, he’s a chess player, so what. Yes, they invited me to play simultaneous games, but it didn’t bring in a lot of money. The concept of team play, even among tournament assistants, was quite loose.
Korchnoi was later indignant at the betrayal of his assistant:
“But in the already assembled camp - Keane, Steen, Moray - not everything was in order.
Two months after the end of the match with Spassky, I learned that Keene had published a book about the ended match. He did not ask me for permission to do this, although he published our joint analyzes.
Even more offensive was the fact that he worked on the book together with D. Levy, the same Levy who at one time published a book of my selected games without my permission, the same Levy who, at the beginning of the Karpov-Korchnoi match, prepared Karpov’s book for publication with the scandalous title “My life is chess.”
Scandalous, as the reader has already guessed, because a book with an identical title was already published a year ago, but my book! The reason for Keane’s fatigue in the last weeks of the match with Spassky also became clear to me - he was working on a book!
Now, as I type these pages, I clearly realize my mistake: I should have cut off a piece of the body infected with the gangrene of profit!”
Two months after the end of the match with Spassky, I learned that Keene had published a book about the ended match. He did not ask me for permission to do this, although he published our joint analyzes.
Even more offensive was the fact that he worked on the book together with D. Levy, the same Levy who at one time published a book of my selected games without my permission, the same Levy who, at the beginning of the Karpov-Korchnoi match, prepared Karpov’s book for publication with the scandalous title “My life is chess.”
Scandalous, as the reader has already guessed, because a book with an identical title was already published a year ago, but my book! The reason for Keane’s fatigue in the last weeks of the match with Spassky also became clear to me - he was working on a book!
Now, as I type these pages, I clearly realize my mistake: I should have cut off a piece of the body infected with the gangrene of profit!”
Mr. Korchnoi, what a “gangrene of profit”, nothing personal – just business.
The prize money from tournaments is small, Bobby Fischer was even indignant about this, he needs his own manager, lawyer, accountant (taxes must be paid), doctor... And, undoubtedly, Korchnoi could disappear in this new world for him. And Petra Leeverik took on the task of solving these difficulties.
She was a security guard, a driver, a secretary, a lawyer, a manager, an official representative of Korchnov - and she did a good job at it.
One problem was her character - Petra Leeverik was quarrelsome. In Baguio, she defended Korchnov’s interests, harshly, even fanatically, but was more of a hindrance, making statements at press conferences like: “Korchnoi left the USSR in order to be free from the disgusting need to greet people like Karpov and his gang.” Или: “I hope I’m not performing ten years before the Soviet invasion of Switzerland.”
As a result, the contender’s seconds removed Leeverik from the post of head of the delegation. In personal communications with FIDE officials, she was very unrestrained.
Finale
Korchnoi and Petra Leeverik lived a long time, Petra even said the following phrase when Viktor Korchnoi died: “It’s so good that Viktor Lvovich died earlier. If it happened the other way around, it would be difficult for him without me.”
Korchnoi received Swiss citizenship in 1994. He was undoubtedly happy with his lot, for he often said that it was all about the money, and he got it.
With his second wife, he saw the collapse of the USSR, often came to Russia and communicated with Karpov, whom he so despised on the pages of his books, and even played for his team.
In all modern articles dedicated to Korchnoi and Petra Leeverik, only the basement with cold water and the inhuman cruelty of SMERSH are mentioned.
After Korchnoi lost to Karpov in Merano, his wife Bella and son Igor were allowed to leave the USSR. In Zurich, they were met at the airport by a lawyer who handed Bella a copy of the divorce petition. Bella's health continued to deteriorate. She passed away in 1995. Korchnoi did not consider it necessary to attend the farewell ceremony for the woman with whom he lived for almost twenty years; “he was distinguished by his straightforward judgment and keen sense of justice.”
Viktor Davydovich Baturinsky lived a long life, the last years of his life were very difficult: he became blind, had very poor hearing, did not leave his apartment, and sold (bequeathed) his collection of chess books. But when the conversation came up about chess, especially about the Spasky-Fischer match, he flared up; this wound of defeat did not heal until the end of his days.
One interesting point: the Internet is literally littered with memoirs of chess players who left the USSR, they are easily accessible, but I had to look for books by Viktor Davydovich.
However, when reading the memoirs of Lev Alburt, Viktor Korchnoi, Gennady Sosonko and others, I immediately remembered one famous story: “Churchill was once asked if he had read the memoirs of a German general, in which he spoke disapprovingly of him. Churchill winced and said: “The German generals lost the war, but they succeeded in writing their memoirs.”
Dear reader, I failed to be objective and unbiased...
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