Defection To Canada
In 1980, he became even more famous for defecting in a dramatic way. He was sent as a member of a Soviet delegation to play chess at the Capablanca Memorial tournament in Havana, Cuba. On what was supposed to have been a direct flight home to Moscow, the airplane, a Czechoslovak airliner, had to make an emergency refueling stop in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. Ivanov, seizing his chance, ran from the plane with only what he was wearing and his pocket chess set, while chased by KGB agents. Ivanov was granted political asylum in Canada. At this stage, he was untitled and rated 2430, but soon proved he was much stronger.
Read more about this topic: Igor Vasilyevich Ivanov
Famous quotes containing the words defection and/or canada:
“The most dangerous follower is the one whose defection would destroy the whole party: hence, the best follower.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Canadians look down on the United States and consider it Hell. They are right to do so. Canada is to the United States what, in Dante’s scheme, Limbo is to Hell.”
—Irving Layton (b. 1912)