GM Zenon Franco, 1956-2024

GM Zenon Franco Ocampos, the first Paraguayan grandmaster and a legendary author and chess coach, has passed away at the age of 68. He died in a hospital in Vigo, Spain on Tuesday, October 1 after suffering a heart attack.

Franco was born in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion on May 12, 1956, but his family was forced to move to Buenos Aires, Argentina due to political repression. That's where Franco's chess career began, though he was able to return to Paraguay to win the national championship in 1976. That same year, he played his first of 11 Olympiads (10 for Paraguay and one for Spain in 1998), in Haifa, Israel.

Franco won the Pan-American Championship in 1981, and on the January 1982 FIDE rating list he ranked a career-best 67th. That same year, still an international master, he played the Olympiad in Lucerne, Switzerland and won the individual gold medal on board one with a score of 11/13. He would repeat that feat and take individual gold in the 1990 Olympiad in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, this time with 9/12.

One of his students, current Spanish Team Captain IM David Martinez, recounts in the Spanish tribute video above how 13th World Chess Champion GM Garry Kasparov, who took individual bronze on board two in 1982, complained about the system that rewarded medals based on percentage score (and not, for example, performance rating). Kasparov wrote that any member of the Soviet team could have beaten Franco and other gold medalists in a simultaneous display—to which Martinez says the Paraguayan star laughingly agreed. Martinez notes he had "a great sense of humor and an extraordinary love of chess."

Franco was no slouch at the board, however. His first game in that 1982 Olympiad was against world number-three GM Viktor Korchnoi, by then representing the host country, Switzerland. Franco made a draw with the black pieces, and it was Korchnoi who was objectively in trouble at points during the game.

In 1990, Franco became Paraguay's first grandmaster, with four players since following in his footsteps.

In the early 90s, Franco also moved to Spain, where he lived with his wife, Cuban-Spanish WIM Yudania Hernandez in Ponteareas, Galicia. He never quit playing chess—his last rated game was in April of this year—but he switched to other aspects of the game, including coaching some of the top Spanish players. His star pupil was GM Francisco "Paco" Vallejo, whom he helped climb from international master into the world's top-40.

Franco also became a prolific author, publishing 38 books in seven languages. Those included a "Move by Move" series, featuring great games by some of the world's best known chess players: Paul Morphy, Emanuel Lasker, GM Akiba Rubinstein, GM Paul Keres, GM Boris Spassky, and GM Viswanathan Anand. Martinez notes that Franco adopted the same approach in his books as in his coaching, constantly asking the reader/student, "What would you play now?"

As well as writing books, Franco worked as a commentator, for instance at the Leon Masters, and was a prolific columnist. Paraguayan newspaper ABC Color was planning to publish Franco's 725th column on Wednesday, but instead looked back on his life and career.

We extend our deepest sympathies to Franco's wife, family, and friends. May he rest in peace.