Nick de Firmian
| Nick de Firmian | |
|---|---|
 De Firmian at the27th Chess Olympiad,1986 | |
| Full name | Nicholas Ernest de Firmian |
| Country | United States |
| Born | July 26, 1957 Fresno,California,U.S. |
| Title | Grandmaster(1985) |
| FIDErating | 2445(August 2024) |
| Peak rating | 2610 (January 1999) |
Nicholas Ernest de Firmian(born July 26, 1957) is an Americanchessplayer who received theFIDE titleofGrandmaster(GM) in 1985. He is a three-timeU.S. chess champion,winning in 1987 (withJoel Benjamin), 1995, and 1998. He also tied for first in 2002, butLarry Christiansenwon the playoff. He is also a chess writer, most famous for his work in writing the 13th, 14th, and 15th editions of the importantchess openingtreatiseModern Chess Openings.[1]He was born inFresno, California.
He has represented the United States at severalInterzonalsand played on the United StatesOlympiadteams of 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1996, 1998, and 2000.[2]De Firmian earned theInternational Mastertitle in 1979 and the GM title in 1985. Beginning in the 1990s, he lived for many years in Denmark. He currently resides in California.
He won the 1983Canadian Open Chess Championship.In 1986, he won theWorld Openand the first prize of $21,000, at that time a record for aSwiss system tournament.De Firmian was a founding member of Prochess, a grandmaster advocacy group dedicated to promoting chess in the United States. He has a degree inphysicsfrom theUniversity of California, Berkeley.[3]
De Firmian is a noted expert onchess openingsand in 1990 he revisedModern Chess Openings,13th edition (MCO-13). In 1999 he wrote the 14th edition ofModern Chess Openings(MCO-14), which, along withNunn's Chess Openings(NCO), is considered an outstanding single volume opening reference inEnglish.He also helped prepare the chess opening book for theIBMDeep Blueteam for its successful 1997 match withGarry Kasparov.[3]
In 2006 he revised and expanded the classic 1921 bookChess Fundamentals,byJosé Capablanca.The edition was harshly criticized by chess historianEdward Winter,who claimed that de Firmian "destroyed" the book by changing Capablanca's writing and removing games from previous editions to include new games not played by Capablanca.[4]De Firmian also wrote the 15th edition ofMCO,published in April 2008.
Ca. 2012, de Firmian began a scholastic chess program with the Mechanics Institute inSan Francisco.[5]
Notable Game
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Nick de Firmian vs Predrag Nikolic, Tunis Interzonal (1985).de Firmian conducts an attack which ends with a complex mating combination.
Publications
[edit]- Nick de Firmian;Korn, Walter(1990).Modern Chess Openings(13 ed.). A. & C. Black.
- Nick de Firmian (1999).Modern Chess Openings(14 ed.). Random House.ISBN0-8129-3084-3.
- Nick de Firmian;Fedorowicz, John(2004).The English Attack.Sterling.ISBN978-0-945806-14-1.
- José Capablancaand Nick de Firmian (2006) [1921].Chess Fundamentals (Completely Revised and Updated for the 21st Century).Random House.ISBN0-8129-3681-7.
- Nick de Firmian (2008).Modern Chess Openings(15 ed.). Random House.
References
[edit]- ^"Nick E. de Firmian".World Chess Hall of Fame.March 23, 2017.RetrievedAugust 9,2021.
- ^Wojciech Bartelski."OlimpBase Men's Chess Olympiads Nick De Firmian".Olimpbase.org.RetrievedMarch 12,2012.
- ^abPenguin Random House,Nick De Firmian ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- ^Winter, Edward"Capablanca Goes Algebraic"Chess Notes
- ^Adisa Banjoko,US Chess Rising: Adisa Banjoko with de Firmian & Donaldson,May 19, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
External links
[edit]- Nick De Firmianrating card atFIDE
- Nick E. De Firmianrating and tournament record atUS Chess Federation
- Nick E. De FirmianFIDE rating history at OlimpBase.org
- Nick de Firmianplayer profile and games atChessgames
