Person of day   -  7 JUNE 2023

LIUDMILA BELAVENETS

LIUDMILA BELAVENETS

The daughter of master Sergey Belavenets, who was one of the most talented chess players of his generation, was born a year before the War. Liudmila’s father died at the front in 1942. Of course, she cannot remember her father, but she has carried his memory for her whole life. Under the influence of that memory, Liudmila Belavenets chose her profession. 

At the age of 15, she became a regional champion and qualified for the women’s Moscow championship. Only four years later, she made her debut in the USSR women’s championship. Her debut was fairly successful, but her greatest achievement in these competitions came in 1975, when she became the Soviet champion in Frunze.  

Liudmila Belavenets won the Moscow championship and participated in an inter-zonal tournament, but her greatest sporting successes came in correspondence chess- she played in the first individual world championship in 1965 and won the competition in 1990. Belavenets also won three world championships for correspondence chess with the Soviet team. But it wasn’t just sporting successes that brought Liudmila fame across the Soviet Union.

About 40 years ago, in 1973, she began to work with young chess players at the Stadium of Young Pioneers. She was invited to work there by Vladimir Yurkov, a renowned trainer. Very soon, Liudmila Belavenets became one of the best trainers for juniors in our country. She also became one of the most famous after she began to present the Chess School TV-program in 1974. Hundreds of thousands chess fans are among her distant students. Some of the most famous players who were trained by her directly are Alexey Vyzhmanavin, Andrei Sokolov, and Alexander Morozevich. 

Liudmila Belavenets was famous for her ability to connect with any student. A teacher by nature, she was a talented and wise mentor who trained many generations of young chess players, including several world champions, champions of Russia and Europe, masters and grandmasters, professionals, trainers, and journalists. She taught even more chess fans, who have remembered her lessons for the rest of their lives. 

Until last, Liudmila Belavenets trained at a juniors’ school called Moscow Youth, at the Petrosian Chess Club, and took part in the work of the CFR Grandmaster centre. 

Liudmila Belavenets died on 7 November, 2021, due to a severe illness.