Kuzmin Gennadi P (19.01.1946)
Ukrainian Grandmaster (1973). Vice Champion of Ukraine in 2003.
He started playing chess when he was six years old but didn’t achieve major success until he became a professional in 1966. His best year was 1973 when he finished 2nd-6th at the USSR Championship behind Boris Spassky and was equal first in Hastings with Mikhail Tal, Laszlo Szabo, and Jan Timman. His next major successes were in Reggio Emilia 1977, Dortmund 1981, Biel Open 1988, Kherson 1989 in the semi-final of the national championship, Alhusta 1989, Capelle la Grande 1994 and Alushta 2003.
He has also been a successful coach; first in the 1980’s with Maia Chiburdanidze, who won three world titles, and then in 2002 he had another major success with Ruslan Ponomariov, who became the 16thWorld Champion.
Kuzmin was a member of the Soviet team which won the gold in the 1974 Olympiad. At the same competition, he won a bronze medal for the third best individual score at board six.
Peak rating: 2580 in 1998.
