Creative, hard-working
Jacob Murey, born on 2 August 1941 in Moscow, became known above all for his original opening ideas and for working as Viktor Korchnoi’s second during his 1978 World Championship match against Anatoly Karpov.
In the early 1960s, Murey achieved his first noteworthy successes in tournaments in the Soviet Union. He also played correspondence chess and was awarded the title of International Correspondence Master in 1970.
Murey left the Soviet Union as early as 1976 and immigrated to Israel. In 1979, he won the masters’ tournament in Ramat HaSharon together with Maikan Balashan. The following year he finished second there, as well as at the tournament in Beersheba.
Jacob Murey, c. 1978
He represented Israel at the Chess Olympiads of 1980, 1982 and 1984, playing on the top board in 1984. In 1987, Murey switched to the French Chess Federation after settling in France. In 1994, he returned to the Israeli Chess Federation.
Murey’s greatest success was his victory at the 1982 Zonal Tournament in Randers, which qualified him for the Interzonal Tournament later that year in Moscow, where he achieved an excellent 7th place. The tournament was won by Garry Kasparov.
During the event, Murey scored a notable win against Alexander Beliavsky.
In 1982/83, Murey took shared 3rd-4th place at the Christmas tournament in Hastings. During the 1980s he played in a number of strong open tournaments, including the Lloyds Bank Open in London 1983 and Berliner Sommer 1984, consistently achieving good results.
In 1987, Murey won the Open in Seville. That same year, he took shared 2nd place behind Rafael Vaganian at an invitational event in Marseille. In 1988, he shared 2nd place with Zsuzsa Polgar in Royan, finishing behind Viktor Korchnoi.
In 2000, Murey won an invitational tournament in Montauban, and in 2002 he triumphed in a similar event in Evry.
At the first European Senior Championship in 2001 in Saint-Vincent, Murey became the inaugural European Senior Champion. He participated several more times in the following years, sharing second place twice, and finished third in Hockenheim in 2007.
At the 1st World Senior Team Championship on the Isle of Man in 2004, Murey won gold with the Israeli team, tying on points with Germany. Together with Wolfgang Uhlmann, he was the best performer on board one.
The title of Grandmaster was awarded to Jacob Murey by FIDE in 1987. He had been an International Master since 1980. In 1989, he reached his peak Elo rating of 2560. At his best, Murey was among the world’s top 50 players.
Even at an advanced age, Jacob Murey continued to participate in open tournaments despite health problems, or attended events as a spectator to analyse games with players.
Jacob Murey passed away on 9 September in a care home in Israel. He was 84 years old.
