Petko Petkov

Petko Andonov Petkov (Bulgaria, Dobrich  * 27.02.1942 - † 11.08.2024)

Chess composer of chess problems and endgame studies. 

GRANDMASTER of the FIDE in chess composition - Title awarded in 1984.

One of all -time greatest chess composers with an output of more than 6000 chess problems in all genres,5 time world champion with record entries in Fide albums.

"We can quote KoBulChess.com: Petko Petkov was the best Bulgarian chess composer.
Since he was the leader in the world rank list with  524,75 points in the FIDE Albums 
it might be said that as far as FIDE Albums are concerned, he was the best chess composer in the world.
Not only is his output overwhelming (the number of his published problems is about 6000 chess problems),
but his problems are rich in themes and technically impeccable (and gained him more than 2400 distinctions!!!).
He had been twice World Champion in selfmates and fairy problems.
After 1989, he started publishing theoretical articles in Western chess problem magazines.
The number of these articles is also flabbergasting: more than 100.

In fact, Petko Petkov was a whole team of composers, theoreticians and writers by himself.
In his spare time, Petko Petkov also invented fairy conditions and pieces (AntiAndernach, Eiffel, half-neutral pieces).
He actively supported Bulgarian composers and founded the Bulgarian chess composition school,
but he also generously supported other composers and magazines, such as the Romanian fairy composing school and the Romanian magazine Quartz.
In 1996, French magazine Diagrammes issued two booklets with Petkov’s selected prize problems.
In 2000, U.S. author Mike Prcic published "Petkov - Selected Compositions".
His latest book was "The Art of Composing Selfmates" published in the USA in 2007.
He was also selfmate and fairy editor for StrateGems and Shahmatna Misal and fairy editor for Uralski Problemist."

Source: arves.org

Chess journalist
After graduating from college in 1959, Petkov began studying law in Sofia. He then worked as a journalist, first in the newspaper Naroden Sport, then as editor-in-chief of the magazine Schachmatna Misl. Since 1962 he has published more than a hundred articles on chess composition, including theoretical contributions on the topics of battery play and transformation, phasing, active white king, Grimshaw and Novotny, and transformation.

From 1963 onwards he organized competitions in solving chess compositions in many Bulgarian newspapers and magazines, such as Pogled, Naroden Sport, Studentska Tribuna, Narodna Armia, Narodna Mladej, Sptemwritsche, Stroitel, Nascha Rodina. Five smaller books by Petkov were published in Bulgaria, the last in 1980 with the title Chess Composition - Selected Tasks. Mike Prcic published the monograph Petkov - Selected Compositions in 2000.

Chess composition
In 1956, Petkov began to take an interest in chess composition. From 1958 onwards, he published chess problems, which he sent mainly abroad, and by the beginning of 1960 he had already created 600 problems.In total, he has composed more than 6100 problems and won about 2400 awards, including 415 first prizes. In 1984 he was awarded the title of Grandmaster for chess composition. His successes include the world championship titles in self-mates (1992–1994 and 1998–2000) and in fairy chess (1998–2000), and gold medalist in the Olympic tournament (Selfmates) in 1990 in Novi Sad. In 1989, Petkov was appointed International Arbiter for Chess Composition.

"THE UNUSUAL LIFE OF A GREAT MASTER

Petko Petkov studied in Dobrich at the then prestigious Second Gymnasium and then completed his regular military service in his hometown. After the murder of his father in 1944, his family experienced a great tragedy and his mother Yordanovka Petkova was unable to find work for many years for political reasons. With the help of relatives and friends, the two survived until 1949, when his mother entered into a second marriage with Stoyan Varbev - an intellectual and financial expert well-known not only in the city. He was first the director of the city bank and then the director of the insurance institute. Petkov refused to be adopted and the relationship with his "second father" proved to be too complicated, but still bearable until Varbev took a break in 1964.

Petkov never had a chess coach. He learned the game from the age of five from his grandfather Mikhail, his mother's father. His first rivals are his friends, with whom he plays crazy every day in the large courtyard of the then beautiful family house, which, although in an appearance unfortunately very battered by the weight of years, still exists, on today's "Exarch Yosif" street. At the age of 7, Petko was taken by his grandfather to the Dobrich Chess Club, which was then headed by the famous and very colorful personality Hristo Pavlov (Taketo). He helped Petkov to get many books and magazines for chess training, mainly in Russian and Romanian. At that time there was only a modest Bulgarian guide by Bai Misho Kantarjiev, and the publication of the domestic magazine "Chess Thought" had just begun.
In that distant time of the past, there was no full-time chess coach in Dobrich. The game exists on an amateur basis. The most authoritative visitors to the club are not only top players, but also lecturers, demonstrators of parties and tasks - Dobrudsians Bozhidar Peev, Andrey Shterev, Sasho Kovchev, Valko Kalchev. These fellow citizens, completely forgotten today, are in fact the founders of chess in the city of Dobrich, which achieved remarkable success in the decades to come. From them the student Petkov receives invaluable help and information and the most active creative support.
The famous elementary school of another outstanding Dobrudja maestro - Zhivko Kaikamdzozov - appeared later, but quickly demonstrated a master class and brought up dozens of outstanding talents in the field of practical standard chess (classical) and the coaching profession.

Petkov published his first chess problems already in 1957 in Bulgaria, the USSR and Romania, and in 1958 - at the age of 16 (!) the young man from Dobrudja was already sensationally among the winners of high sports awards in numerous the most prestigious composition tournaments in the world: in the FRG, France, England, USA. The peak of his achievements was his spectacular first place in the Spanish super tournament "La Voch da Badalona", where he defeated all the world greats of the time, including his competitors from the USSR! In the same memorable year of 1958, the then most famous chess magazine in the world - "Chess Echo" /GFR/ published a biography and a photo of the prodigy with the most flattering reviews of his enormous talent. However, this extraordinary event, unknown in form and content in any other sport in Bulgaria during those totalitarian years, was met with indignation rather than applause from the relevant "authorities" - the boasting about the "enemy West Germany" frightened and embittered them. ..
Inevitable interrogations, checks, searches and confiscation of letters, books and other materials by the "authorities" followed - an activity that was to accompany Petkov in various forms until 1989. Fortunately, he managed to withstand the enormous psychological and even physical pressure. The reason lies not only in his firm and determined character, but also in the fact that he never published a single bad word against his country and his native Dobrich. He did exactly the opposite - he worked tirelessly to turn Bulgaria from a backward country in chess composition into a world factor in this sport. And "Dear Dobrich" is already the name of an interesting modernist theme!

In the decades to come, Petkov's performances on the international stage marked an incredible rise. It is impossible to enumerate his hundreds of victories around the world, so we will mention only the highest peaks.
In 1972, in Skopje, Dobrudzhan became Olympic champions in blitz, rapid and composition chess. The tournament there was held simultaneously with the matches of the 20th Chess Olympiad and was personally honored by the former president of the then Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito, who welcomed the champions to his private home. In 1990, in Niš (Yugoslavia), Petkov again won an Olympic gold medal - this time in a classical tournament - and was subsequently personally awarded by FIDE President Florencio Campomanes (Philippines).
The World Championships in Chess Composition began in the period 1989-1991 on the basis of the so-called "FIDE Album", with Petkov being the winner in the very first competition. Since 1998, the system has been partially modified, but the three-year periods /cycles/ remain. Petko won five more world championship titles for the periods 1998–2000 (two gold medals) and one gold medal each for the periods 2007–2009, 2010–2012 and 2019–2021 (the last championship).

During his 65-year sports career, Petkov published a total of over 6,600 of his assignments around the world, won 721 awards, including 462 first places. Published theoretical articles of an educational and research nature: 130 in Bulgaria and 105 in other countries. Published books: 4 in Bulgaria, 2 in the USA, 3 in France, 1 in Spain. New /discoveries of the author/ in chess composition - 49, including the new enchanting state “Dobrich chess”, which became famous in the world of composition in 2021.
Petko Petkov is the holder of all possible titles and awards in his sport: international grandmaster and judge, honorary member of the International Federation of Composition.
In 2002, Petkov was awarded the title of “Honorary Citizen of Dobrich”.
The professional activity of Petko Petkov is far from cloudless. After his very successful graduation from the Faculty of Law of the SU "Kliment Ohridski" at the end of the seventies, the native of Dobrudja was allowed, according to the then principle of "distribution", to work not only in Sofia, but also in his hometown of Dobrich for political reasons. However, there is even a right to vote after academic success. However, the distribution committee of the ministry "sends" him to remote rural towns for a period of three years as a lawyer-consultant. Petkov refused and remained unemployed and without the right of residence in Sofia. Difficult years begin in which the grandmaster "goes into hiding". He lives in basements and attics to hide from the militia, which persecutes and severely punishes those who have lost the right to "temporary residence" in the capital... Petkov works in the old pre-war "Georgi Dimitrov" printing house on "Georgi Benkovski" Street, as a typewriter, proofreader and even an assistant mechanic of printing machines installed in premises with a very dangerous concentration of lead...

In 1975, he entered into a civil marriage, received a residence permit in Sofia and began working as a reporter for the newspaper “Naroden Sport”, where he had been an unfortunate “fee regulator” more than once before. His chess merits were partially recognized only in 1982, when he was appointed editor-in-chief of the magazine “Chess Thought”. The reason is that there is simply no other candidate with such a complex specialized training.
In early 1990, he left the magazine and immediately returned to his native Dobrich, where he was finally able to work in accordance with his education - he became a lawyer, however, the entire family of the grandmaster was not haunted for long. He himself suffered an extremely dangerous joint fracture with concomitant adenoma of another organ. The return of the whole family to Sofia is urgently necessary, since there is a lack of modern laser equipment for treatment in Dobrich.
Petkov retired with a meager pension. In 2008, his wife died of cancer and the maestro, without treatment, lived with his unmarried son, who also had health problems, in a small and uncomfortable apartment, albeit in the center of Sofia. The family's modest apartment in Dobrich was sold long ago due to the huge medical costs. Despite the hope that the grandmaster would return to his hometown, if he did, he would simply be homeless in Dobrich...
So far, there is no sign of help - for 65 years, Petkov financed his sports activities himself, forgotten and neglected by the Bulgarian Chess Federation. The grandmaster sadly shared: “For the 2019-2021 championship, I spent almost all of my modest financial reserves.

Even if I now want to take part in the 2022–2024 championship again, there is no longer any possibility. Firstly, I must be sure that I will live until 2025, when it is the final. And secondly, for the sake of sport I do not need to sacrifice anything, and I need a lot of money for new computer equipment, programs, literature. I am not talking about other needs - for half a century I have become accustomed to the reality that there is no one in this country to publish a collection of my selected tasks and international victories..."
As far as I know, there are only two cases when an American published a book about Bulgarian athletes in the USA. The first book is about the famous Dan Kolov, who lived outside Bulgaria for many years, unlike the elusive Petko Petkov, an honorary citizen of Dobrich."

"GM Petko Petkov was born on 27th February 1942 in the town of Dobrich. He is the best Bulgarian chess composer. He is the leader in the world rank list with 477.75 points in the FIDE Albums (with huge distance ahead of the second).     He began composing chess problems at the age of 14 learning the rules and principles from the magazines “Shahmatna misal” and “ Shahmaty v SSSR” which were delivered to the chess club in his native town. His first problem composed is a twomover and it was published in the Russian newspaper “Pionerska Pravda” in 1956.      In 1957 Petkov began publishing problems in “Shahmatna Misal” and the editor of the magazine gave him the address of Nikolay Dimitrov from Varna who later gave him the coordinates of editors of chess magazines in Germany, France, Spain, England, Holland and Yugoslavia where he sent some of his problems which, to his surprise, were accepted very well. Soon the activity of the Bulgarian composer was enhanced and the result came quickly. In 1958 Petkov won his first victory in the chess competition of La voc da Badallona newspaper, organized by the Spanish magazine Problemas, and during the same year the prestigious chess magazine "Schach-Echo" published his short biography and his photo.      During his military service (1959-1962) Petkov continued composing and publishing problems in Western newspapers and magazines but it was very risky because the ruling party had banned the correspondence with western countries and watched it closely which caused many problems to the Bulgarian composer. In 1962 Petkov came to Sofia to be a student and there he met other Bulgarian composers - М. Popov, V. Alaikov, Kr. Gandev and d-r Iv. Ignatiev. In 1975 he married Miloslava and this gave him the legal right to live in Sofia and his son Denislav was born in the same year. He worked as a reporter for the newspaper “Naroden sport” and also for “Shahmatna misal” magazine of which he became the editor in chief in 1979. In 1991 he returned with his family to Dobrich where he worked as a lawyer. Presently Petko Petkov is an editor of many columns of Bulgarian and foreign newspapers and magazines (including "Strate Gems" USA and "The Ural Problemist" Russia) during the last years he lives in Sofia again.       The problems of Petko Petkov are exceptionally rich in themes and impeccable technically composed. He composes in all genres (with the exception of retro problems) and he has composed more than 6.000 (!) chess compositions. He has won many prestigious awards including Golden Olympic medal in the Olympics in Novi Sad 1990 (for Selfmates), Olympic victory in the blitz-competition in Skopje 1972 (part helpmates), as well as 5 (!) World champion titles (two for the Selfmates and three for Fairy problems). He is an author of more than 100 theoretical articles published in Western magazines after 1989 (since up to that moment the ruling authorities in Bulgaria did not allow publications in the Western countries). A number of conditions and pieces as AntiAndernah, Eiffel, Chameleon chess, BGL chess, half-neutral pieces and etc. are his inventions in the field of Fairy chess. There is also an orthodox theme bearing his name – theme Petkov. Practically he is one of the founders of Bulgarian chess school in the chess composition which has exceptional success worldwide especially in the field of selfmates, helpmates and fairy chess. He thought and supported the development of a number of Bulgarian authors such as Michail Popov, Venelin Alaikov, Vladimir Zabunov, Krassimir Gandev, Ivan Ignatiev, Diyan Kostadinov and others. Practically Petkov is the creator of Bulgarian Fairy composition publishing the first Bulgarian problems in this field in 1957 and later he actively supported the other our composers. Petkov also built up the Bulgarian school of selfmates publishing a number of articles even before 1980 and practically he introduced worldwide the multiple move selfmate with at least two variants and theme threat. The principles of the modern composition in this genre are exposed in two of his books – Bulgarian in 1980 and the one published in USA "The art of composing SELFMATES" in 2007."

Source: kobulchess.com