Andras Adorjan

Andras Adorjan was born on March 31, 1950 in Budapest, Hungary. In 1969, he won the European Junior Championship title at Stockholm. Later that year, he finished runner-up in the World Junior Chess Championship to Anatoly Karpov. He earned an International Master title in 1970. In 1973 he earned a Grandmaster title and also won his first Hungarian Championship. He won the championship again in 1984.

Adorjan has finished first or joint first in many tournaments, including Varna 1972, Osijek 1978, Budapest 1982, Gjovik 1983, Esbjerg 1985 and New York Open 1987. In 1979, he finished tied for 3rd at the Riga Interzonal. This qualified him as a World Championship Candidate where he lost to Robert Hubner in the quarter-finals. He also worked as a second to Peter Leko and Garry Kasparov over the years helping them to prepare for important World Championship matches.

Adorjan has an excellent record in team chess. In the Chess Olympiad of 1978, he helped Hungary win the gold medal from the Soviet team who had won the event since 1952. He participated in 1984, 1986, and 1988 and the team finished in the top five each time. Fellow Hungarians Lajos Portisch, Zoltan Ribli and Gyula Sax were also at the peak of their playing strength during this time.

During recent years, Adorjan has played less and concentrated more on writing. He became renowned for his series of book championing the cause of the player of the black pieces - Black is OK, Black is Still OK and Black is OK Forever. The books challenge the popular perceptions of black's chances and diagrammed positions are even presented with the black pieces playing up the board. For their creativity with the black pieces, he cites the games of Tony Miles and Alexander Morozevich as a source of inspiration.

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