Nikolay Minev played high level international chess for 30 years. He began his chess career relatively late, learning to play at the age of 8 but not really paying much attention to the game until he was 15. He played for in a regional qualifier for the Bulgarian national championship in 1947. His score of 10/12 was good enough to qualify for the 1948 Bulgaria Championship (in his second tournament ever!)
During the 50's and 60's, Minev was one of the strongest players in Bulgaria, playing in the National Championship 22 times and finishing first 4 times. He played many times as part of the Bulgarian National team (at Student Olympiads, Men's Olympiads, and in team matchs). He was awarded the International Master title by FIDE in 1960, and competed in FIDE Zonal tournaments (qualifiers for the World Championship cycle) three times. According to the calculations of the web site Chessmetrics, he achieved a career high rating of 2576 in 1966 (with a personal best performance rating of 2608 in Varna 1960). This was sufficient to rank him as 83rd strongest in the world at the time.
During the course of his international career, he played most of world's leading players, including every recent world champion through Bobby Fischer. He beat Korchnoi, drew Spassky, Petrosian, and Bronstein (twice).
While many of the other strong Bulgarian players were chess professionals, sponsored by the government, Minev was a true amateur for most of his peak chess years. He was offered a position as a chess professional, but instead chose to pursue a medical career. He founded the Bulgarian national toxicology lab in Sofia.
In 1972, he ended his medical career and accepted a position as editor of the Bulgarian monthly chess magazine, Shakmatna Misl. This began his years as a coach and chess educator. He continued as editor through 1978 and was the trainer and friend of Radulov, who credited Minev with his early success, and went on to become a GM.
In 1979, Minev accepted a position as trainer for the Greek national team (on loan from the Bulgarian federation) where he had a big effect on the development of high level chess in Greece and produced two Greek IMs.
After many years under communist rule, Nikolay and his wife Elena left Greece in 1983 for Vienna and later the USA (Seattle, Washington).
Once settled in the USA, Minev edited a local chess publication (Northwest Chess) and began a long association with GM Yasser Seirawan. He was a long time contributor to Inside Chess, writing a very popular tactics column.
Minev was a highly respected author of many chess books and publications. He was a contributor to the early editions of the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings and the Encyclopedia of Chess Endings.
He continued to live in retirement with his wife in Seattle, Washington. Minev passed away on the evening of March 10, 2017. See John Donaldson's article in the May 2017 edition of Northwest Chess.
Major Personal Milestones
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November 8, 1931 - birthday (Russe, Bulgaria). (Note that this date conflicts with most other sources, including Gaige, and even FIDE records. However this date is correct ) |
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1937 - father dies of TB |
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1939 - learned the basics of chess |
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1945 - began to be interested in chess during a long illness |
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1947 - qualified for Bulgaria National Championship |
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1948 - played in first Bulgaria National Championship |
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1949 - began medical studies |
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1951 - awarded Bulgaria National Master title. Tied for 1st in National Championship |
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1956 - completed medical school |
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1957 - coached Bulgarian women's team at the Emmen Olympiad |
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1958 - received invitation to play in Hastings tournament, but was not allowed an exit visa by the Bulgarian government |
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1960 - awarded the FIDE IM title |
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1961 - declined offer to become one of eight Bulgarian chess professionals |
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1962 - provided commentary for the 1st ever televised chess event (a Botvinnik simul in Bulgaria) |
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1965 - created the Bulgarian national toxicology lab in Sofia |
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1966 - Bulgarian Federation refused to allow Minev to participate in the Havana International (with GM norm opportunities) |
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1971 - began training Radulov (who later achieved the GM title) for the Helsinki Zonal |
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1972 - head of Bulgarian trainers commission |
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1972 - quit medicine and became editor of Shakmatna Misl (better salary with no "political" danger) |
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1973 - began contributions to Chess Informant |
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1979 - went to Greece (on loan from the Bulgarian Federation) to train the Greek national team |
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1983 - left Greece and Bulgaria for the west. Moved first to Vienna, then USA (Seattle, Washington) |
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