Boris Gulko - Life and Career

Life and Career

His father was a soldier of the Red Army and was stationed in East Germany when Boris was born. His family returned in the Soviet Union after a few years. Gulko became an International Master in 1975, and a Grandmaster in 1976. He won the USSR Chess Championship at Leningrad in 1977 along with Iosif Dorfman. The Soviets usually would break ties for the title of Soviet Champion with a multi-game match and 1977 was no exception. However, Gulko and Dorfman were even after the six game playoff, so they shared the title and prestige of Soviet Champion. They finished half a point ahead of a field that included three former World Champions. Shortly after, Gulko applied to leave the country, but permission was refused. He and his wife, Anna Akhsharumova, who is a Woman Grandmaster of chess, became prominent Soviet Refuseniks. As a vehement anti-Communist, he was once arrested and beaten by KGB agents.

They weren't allowed in top-level chess competition until the period of glasnost arrived, and Gulko was finally allowed to immigrate to the United States in 1986. "Thirty-nine is too old to start playing and training to reach the highest achievement in chess," said Boris, "those seven years were a serious blow for my chess career, but I don’t regret them."

After moving to the U.S. he won the U.S. Chess Championship in 1994 and 1999. He is the only chess player ever to have held both the American and Soviet championship titles. Gulko also holds an amazing positive score against Garry Kasparov, with three victories, four draws, and only one defeat, in games played from 1978 to 2001 (according to ChessGames.com).

Gulko was again subject to anti-semitic discrimination against his Jewish faith 20 years later. The 2004 World Chess Championship was held in Libya, and he qualified to play. The president of the Libyan Organizing Committee, dictator Gaddafi’s son, announced: “We did not and will not invite the Zionist enemies to this championship.” Gulko and other Jewish players from Israel and the United States withdrew from the tournament, and Gulko sent a scathing letter to the president of FIDE, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, “I implore you not to be the first president of FIDE to preside over the first world chess championship from which Jews are excluded. Our magnificent and noble game does not deserve such a disgrace.”

Gulko played for Soviet Union in the Chess Olympiad of 1978 and for the United States in the Chess Olympiads of 1988–2004. He is still playing chess, although he does not participate in a large number of tournaments. Today the Gulkos live in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.