Person in history

Viktor Korchnoi

Viktor Korchnoi, Russian chess grandmaster; arguably the best player never to become World Chess Champion (born 1931)

Life at a glance

Died: 2016 · June 6

Their story

Who they were

Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi was a Soviet and later Swiss chess grandmaster and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion.

Why this date

Viktor Korchnoi appears on our June 6 calendar for 2016 as a death entry.

Sources

Cite this page

“Viktor Korchnoi”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/people/viktor-korchnoi, accessed October 27, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about Viktor Korchnoi

When did Viktor Korchnoi die?

June 6 2016.

Who else was born on this day?

The date page lists everyone we hold for that calendar day.

Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.