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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Igor Ivanov, a Russian defector who became Utah's greatest chess player, has died in St. George of cancer. He was 58.
Despite his illness, Ivanov tied for first place in the Utah Open tournament just three weeks ago. He was Utah's only grandmaster, the highest rank in chess. In 1979, he defeated then-reigning world champion Anatoly Karpov.
First place outright was denied him at the Utah Open in Salt Lake City on October 29 when he became too ill to play one of his games. He was diagnosed with cancer in March.
At the time of his death, the U-S Chess Federation ranked Ivanov 50th in the country.
In addition to beating Karpov, Ivanov earned draws against former world champion Boris Spassky and later world champion Garry Kasparov.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
