Letter from Victor Korchoi

by Bill Wall

In March 1982, I received a

handwritten letter (written in
February 1982) by Viktor
Korchnoi via Natasha
Peysikova of Brooklyn, who,
at the time, was the fiancée of
Korchnoi's son, Igor. At the
time, I was editor of the
Dayton Chess Club Review,
and co-editor of the Ohio
Chess Bulletin. The letter was
intended to be published in the Bill Wall
United States on behalf of his
family. Other journalists
Victor Korchoi, in his probably got the same letter.
80s
Here is that letter:
Dear chess friends! Excellence at chess
is one mark of a
Since 5 and a half years ago I scheming mind. —
have left the USSR, I am Sir Arthur Conan
fighting for a reunion with my Doyle (1859-1930)
family, for liberation of my
wife and my son from the
Soviet country. I have applied
to various political figures of
the world, to a number of
organizers — "Amnesty
International" and others,
several times. I have tried to
draw an attention of FIDE to
my family's case. When
before the match in Merano,
1981, with Karpov, Mr. F.
Olafsson officially applied to
Soviet authorities with a
request to release my family,
it seemed — Soviets faltered.
Their officials assured Mr.
Olafsson, that the family soon
would be freed. First reports
on my family situation
appeared in the Soviet media.
But the match has been over
already, whereas my family is
still in the USSR. Soviets now
promise to let my family go,
as soon as my son finishes to
serve his residence in a
Siberian camp, accused for
allegedly an evasion of a draft
into the Soviet army. His term
— 2 ½ years — will come to
an end on the 13th of May
[1982]. The only possibility to
compel Soviets to keep their
promise — is to remind them
by the thousands, dozens
thousands letters!

I appeal to U.S. chessplayers

with a request to help me —
for sake of humanity and
justice, for sake of
maintenance of human rights
in the world — to unite at last
with my family. Your letters
to senators. To F. Olaffson, or,
directly, Moscow, Kremlin —
to Breshnev or Andropov, will
be a considerable suppprt to
me in my struggle for life and
liberty of my wife and son!

(signed) V. Korchnoi 2.4.82."

Some background:

Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi was

born in Leningrad on March
23, 1931.

In January 1976, while taking

part in the Hastings annual
Christmas chess tournament,
Korchnoi was making plans
for a flight to the West.

In July 1976, Korchnoi

(ranked No. 2 in the world),
age 45, tied for 1st place at the
IBM International in
Amsterdam, along with Tony
Miles (1955-2001). At the end
of the tournament on July 27,
Korchnoi defected and asked
for Dutch political asylum (he
had to ask Tony Miles how to
say and spell "political
asylum"). Instead of flying to
Frankfurt en route to the
USSR after the tournament, he
went to the Amsterdam police
headquarters and asked for
asylum. All he had with his
was his chess library. As a
result, Korchnoi became the
first strong Soviet GM to
defect from the Soviet Union.
Korchnoi feared he would not
be allowed out of the USSR
again because of his criticisms
of world champion Anatoly
Karpov. He left his wife,
Isabella (Bella or Bela)
Markarayan Korchnoi
(married in March 1958), and
17-year-old son, Igor, behind.
Korchnoi was declared
'persona non grata' by the
Communist regime.

The first person to

congratulate Korchnoi on his
defection was Bobby Fischer,
who had sent him a telegram
that read, "Congratulations on
this good move!" Later,
Fischer accused him of being
a Soviet agent.

In the Netherlands, Korchnoi

was refused asylum on
political grounds, but he was
granted the right of domicile
on humanitarian grounds.

In 1977, Korchnoi was

formally declared Enemy of
the State in the USSR.

In 1977, Korchnoi won the

National Chess Championship
of the Netherlands.

In 1978, he settled in
Switzerland (after some time
in the Netherlands and West
Germany) and became a
Swiss citizen.

In 1978, Igor Korchnoi was

compelled to leave college on
filing a petition to leave the
USSR to join his father.
Having left the institution of
learning, Igor lost the right to
draft deferment.

In January 1979, Korchnoi

was stripped of his Soviet
citizenship along with his title
and decorations, and efforts
were made to blacklist him
internationally.

In March 1979, I met and

interviewed Viktor Korchnoi
in Charlotte, NC when I was
president of the North
Carolina Chess Association
and contribute to the state
chess magazine. He put on a
50-board simultaneous
exhibition while in Charlotte.
At the time, he told me he was
thinking of settling in the
United States but wanted to
get his family out of the
Soviet Union first.

On December 19, 1979, the

trial of Igor Korchnoi, charged
with evading the draft, took
place at the Vasileostrovsky
Raion Court in Leningrad.
The court charged Igor with
draft dodging and sentenced
him to 2 and ½ years in a
labor camp.

On March 3, 1980, five days

before the start of the
Korchnoi-Petrosian
quarterfinal world
championship match in
Velden, Austria, Viktor's son,
Igor was sent to a Siberian
gulag in Kurgan (1,000 miles
east of Moscow) as a
"particularly dangerous
criminal," according to a court
decision. The Soviets were
applying personal pressure on
Korchnoi to lose the match
with Petrosian. Nevertheless,
Korchnoi beat Petrosian,
scoring 5.5 to 3.5. Korchnoi
later said, "While I was
winning in Velden, the KGB
won its match against my
family."

In 1981, Korchnoi met

Anatoly Karpov (1951- ) in
Merano (Meran), Italy for the
world chess championship
match. Korchnoi's wife and
son were still in the Soviet
Union. Natasha Peysikova, the
fiancée of Viktor's son, Igor,
was in the audience. She and
her mother successfully
emigrated from the Soviet
Union in August 1980, and
moved to Brooklyn. She was
in Merano, telling reporters, "I
thought it would be an
inspiration to Viktor to have
somebody close to Igor
remind him that this son is
still in prison."

Viktor's son had been

promised release to join his
father in exile if he gave up
his passport. When he did, he
was promptly drafted in the
Soviet army, which he refused
to serve. Accepting the draft
would have complicated his
leaving the Soviet Union. Igor
feared that the he would come
in contact with military
secrets, which meant an
automatic denial of
permission to emigrate for at
least 10 years. He was then
arrested for evading army
service, sentenced to two and
a half years in a labor camp in
Siberia, and served his full
sentence.

Korchnoi wrote letters to

President Leonid Brezhnev,
former President Carter, Pope
John Paul II, Jean-Paul Sartre,
and Senator Edward Kennedy
asking for help in getting them
free.

In May 1982, Igor Korchnoi,

age 23, was released from a
Siberian prison camp in the
Kurgan area and returned to
Leningrad. His mother, Bella,
met him at the camp and they
both returned to Leningrad
where they applied to
emigrate. Viktor called his
wife from Switzerland and
hoped that his family would
be able to leave the Soviet
Union shortly.

Several times the Swiss

government asked the Soviets
to allow the Korchnoi family
to emigrate. The family was
turned down for repeated
requests for exit visas.

In June 1982, Bella and Igor

were granted visas to leave the
Soviet Union.

On July 3, 1982, Bella and

Igor, along with Korchnoi's
stepmother, Rosa Friedman,
finally left the Soviet Union,
when they arrived in Vienna.
They arrived at 10:20 am in
Vienna aboard an Aeroflot
flight from Leningrad. They
then took a Swissair flight to
Zurich, Switzerland.

Mikhail Tal stated that when

Korchnoi's wife and son were
allowed to leave the Soviet
Union, Korchnoi didn't even
meet them. Instead, they were
met by his manager and
lawyer, Alban Brodbeck, who
supposedly had a divorce
letter for Bella. Tal once
asked Korchnoi's son, "Igor,
what's your relationship with
your father like?" His son
replied, "I don't want to hear
or speak about Mr. Korchnoi."
(source: interview with
Evgeny Vasiukov, Chess in
Translation -
http://www.chessintranslation.
com/2011/03/anti-hero-
evgeny-vasiukov-on-viktor-
korchnoi/)

According to newspaper
reports, Viktor was unable to
greet his wife, son, and
stepmother at the Zurich
airport because of a contract
to play in a chess tournament
in Colmar, France, about 90
miles away from Zurich. He
met them later in the day.
Korchnoi said he had
originally been told that his
family would leave Leningrad
on June 27, 1982, and
therefore he signed a contract
to play on Sunday, July 4, the
same time that his family
arrived in Zurich. Igor was
wearing a 'Divided Families
of the World' button, and said
he hoped to study engineering
or mechanics in the United
States.

Korchnoi returned from

France for a quiet family
reunion at his lawyer's home
in the town of Glarius, near
Zurich.

On November 10, 1982,

Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982)
died.

Viktor divorced Bella in

1983.

Igor later moved to

Switzerland, where he became
a software designer. He had
been an electronics student
earlier.

In August 1990, Soviet leader

Mikhail Gorbachev (1931- )
restored the citizenship of
Korchnoi. Korchnoi said it
wasn't enough to make him
return to the Soviet Union.

In the 1990s, Bella Korchnoi

died.

In 1991, Korchnoi married

Petra (Hajny) Leeuwerik.
They had first met in October
1977. She had spent 10 years
in the Russian Gulags, from
1945 to 1955, after being
arrested in Leipzig on
suspicion of being a spy. She
was released only after
Stalin's death.

On August 26, 1991,

Korchnoi was finally given
Swiss citizenship.

On December 26, 1991, the

Soviet Union's parliament
formally voted the country out
of existence.
Korchnoi died at the age of 85
on June 6, 2016, in the Swiss
city of Wohlen.

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