Joaquim is one of the most remarkable people that I have ever met. He speaks about a dozen languages and is highly cultured, capable of conversing knowledgeably on virtually any topic. He is married and the father of 3 chess playing children and 7 grandchildren!

Joaquim still plays a mean game of chess, as my hard fought draws with him in recent years  at several international opens attest…

Joaquim was born in Lisbon on October 25, 1930 and learned to play chess at the age of 11 while on vacation in Tuy, Spain. By 1952 Joaquim was already a national master and the best player in the country. He would stay ranked number one for the following 19 years consecutively, and was awarded the IM title in the mid 1970′s.

 

Durao’s style of chess can be described as classical, with a preferance for dynamic and sharp positions. He is very resourceful and has excellent combinative vision. Durao has played many brilliant games, the following being one of his favourite efforts:

Beverwijk 1961.

An extraordinarily chaotic position! Both sides have been playing very sharply up to this point and after White’s last move it seems that Durao is finished: his Queen has just been trapped! Will Durao resign?

29… h4!! A truly brilliant move!
 

 

Durao ignores his Queen and bets everything on his counter-attack against the White King.

30.Rxa5  White does not have better than to take the Queen
 

 

Had White tried 30. gxh4?? then 30… Rxh4 brings the rook immediately into play with decisive effect ; And if White tries to play for a perpetual with 30. d6 (threatening Qe7 ch) then simply 30… Rd7 keeps Black’s advantage: 31. Qxd7 Nxd7 32. Rxa5 hxg3 33. Ke1 Rh1 34. Bf1 f3, with an attack similar to the game

30… hxg3 Now the h-file is open and Black threatens mate in 1 move.
 

31. Ke1 The only move! White is trying to escape over to the Queen side…
 

31… Be3! A very fine move! Black is down an entire Queen but has a winning attack!

32. Bf1 Rh1! Threatening mate with …Nd3.

33. Qb5 defending against the threat and seemingly taking the sting out of Black’s attack

33… f3! Another brilliant resource!

34. gxf3 There is nothing better. But now the g-pawn can advance!

34… g2! This pawn is going to score a touchdown!

This is the key move that Durao had envisioned much earlier when he sacrificed his Queen. Black has succeeded in turning the tables completely…

35. fxg4 (there is nothing better!) 35…g1=Q

36. Ra2 ! Defending against the check on f2
 

36… Qg3 Probably running short of time, Durao misses 36… Nf3! 37. Kd1 Nd4 and mate in 6 . Fortunately, the text move is good enough to win and brings Durao a well deserved victory.

38. Kc2 Rxf1 Now the material balance has been restored, but Black’s attack rages on
 

39. d6 There is no adequate defence. White tries to keep the d-file closed

39… Nc6! Now this Knight re-cycles itself into play

41. Ka1 The White King has gone as far as it could go, but to no avail.

No better was 42. Qb1 Rxa2 43. Kxa2 Qxb1 44. Kxb1 Nxa5 with a large material plus

42… Bd4 Ouch!

43. Nb2 Rf1 A comical position! The White King is about to be hung, drawn and quartered…

White resigns. A brilliant attack by Joaquim Durao!

Above  is a 1952 photo taken of Durao (left), Silverio Pereira (right) and Francisco Lupi (center) the strongest Portugese player before the arrival of Durao. Lupi had twice defeated Alexander Alekhine in official play and was highly thought of by the World Champion, enough so that he helped prepare Alekhine for his ill-fated match with Botvinnik. Lupi died a year and a half after this photo was taken in Madrid.

Arturo Pomar Salamanca (born September 1, 1931) and Joaquim Durao have been life-long rivals, and both dominated chess on the Iberian peninsula for decades.  A child prodigy who drew a tournament game with world champion Alexander Alekhine when he was just 13 years old, Pomar went on to win the Spanish championship 7 times and represented Spain at the Olympiad 13 times (!)

Joaquim and Pomar met many times over the board, and very rarely drew!  Below is one of 4 games that Joaquim won against the Spanish genius.

Malaga 1970.

Durao has the attacking position that he wants

Now Durao finds some very precise moves to execute the attack

19. Qd4! a6 20. Bxd7 Qxd7 21. Rxf6 Bd8 22. Rxd6! [1:0]
 

Durao (right) playing Jose Sanz Aguado (1907-1969).  Sanz was champion of Spain in 1943, but is better known for one of the most famous and beautiful combinations to have ever occurred over the board: 
  

Durao with Antonio Medina (1919-2003), Photo was taken in 1951, at the international tournament in Lisbon.  Medina was champion of Spain 7 times.  Medina won the Lisbon tournament.

Joaquim Durao and Bobby Fischer first met each other in the early ’60s at an Olympiad and maintained a cordial relationship throughout the years. They were paired against each other at the Havana Olympiad in 1966. Fischer was crushing everyone at that Olympiad, and he also won one of his best games against Joaquim.

An anecdote that Joaquim told me about this game is that right before the game Fischer asked if it would be alright if he could eat during the game: Fischer had just observed a religious holiday and was now famished! Joaquim agreed, and so a small dinner table was set up beside the chessboard, and Fischer ate while he played!

From left: the ambassador Gonzaga Ferreira, William Addison, Francisco Rego, the yougoslav chess journalist Dmitrje Bjelica, the common friend who introduced Durao to Fischer during the Leipzig Olympiad 6 years earlier,Robert Byrne, Maria de Lourdes – the ambassador’s wife-, Bobby, Joaquim Durao and Antonio Rocha.

The Havana Olympiad was the first mediatic opportunity for the Castro regime to show the rest of the world how much Cuba had progressed since taking power in 1959. No expenses were spared in making sure that this would be the best Olympiad ever!

As an example, each team was given a very expensive gift, shipped to any country of destination: a copy of the official chess set used as well as the table and inlaid board! Joaquim still has his at his home in Lisbon!

Havana Olympiad, 1966.

Joaquim with Kasparov and Smyslov during the Moscow Olympiad in 1994, where Joaquim was elected Vice President of FIDE
 

Boris Spassky, Lothar Schmidt and Joaquim at Dresden 2008

Joaquim prefers to attack, regardless of whether he is Black or White ; whether he is playing Tal or a duffer. To him the initiative is a dangerous weapon , as many a strong player found. The following game is one of Durao’s best efforts in beating a world class grandmaster.

Czech born Jan Smejkal (b.1946) was one of the strongest grandmasters in the world in the 70′s, and had a reputation of being a hard man to beat. In the following game Joaquim completely outplays the young Czech grandmaster, builds up threats on the King side, and in the latter’s time trouble succeeds in crashing through.

Joaquim is also very dangerous with speculative attacks. Witness the following game where Durao blitzes his experienced opponent off the board:

Feller J. – Durao J.

One of my fondest memories is driving back to Portugal with Joaquim Durao after the annual international tournament in Seville in 1993. He suggested that we stop briefly in a small city called Zafra, because he wanted to show me something interesting….