"Ukraine was the most successful nation at this week's European team championships, winning gold in the open event and silver in the women's. It also sparked one of the most memorable results of recent years, as Igor Kovalenko, a serving army soldier who played no chess for three years, won the individual gold on fourth board with 6.5/8, the best percentage of the entire tournament."
"He is a radio operator, where the shift lasts 12 hours a day, with no holidays, weekends, or days of rest. You do everything in a trench with mice and constant dirt. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, awarded him a decoration for courage in 2023. Kovalenko is pessimistic about the future: I think the war, in its broader context, will never end."
"The only name that comes to mind is Alexander Tolush, who served as a Soviet tank officer in the second world war, played in the 1944 USSR championship in his army uniform, then returned to the front to join the final journey to Berlin. 3994: White mates in four moves (by Oswald von Krobshofer, 1904). Just a single line of play. During that 1944 championship in Moscow, Tolush became one of a handful of players who have checkmated a world No 1 in competitive play."
Ukraine was the most successful nation at the European team championships, winning gold in the open event and silver in the women's. Igor Kovalenko, a serving army soldier who had not played chess for three years, won individual gold on fourth board with 6.5/8, the best percentage of the tournament. He scored a key win against Aleksander Indjic and drew with Gawain Jones in the final round when Jones led for third board gold. Kovalenko serves as a radio operator with 12-hour shifts, trench conditions, and no days off and received a decoration for courage from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2023. A historical comparison is noted to Alexander Tolush, a Soviet tank officer who played and defeated top opposition during World War II.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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