Groningen 1946 Chess Tournament
Groningen 1946 was the first major international chess tournament to be held after World War II.The USA–USSR 1945 Radio Match preceded it, although only two nations participated and the players did not meet in one location. Held at Groningen (city), Groningen in August and September 1946, it was considered a miracle that the Netherlands could stage such an event just fifteen months after the end of the war. Summary Mikhail Botvinnik won the tournament a half point ahead of former World Chess Championship, World Champion Max Euwe. It was Botvinnik's first outright victory outside of the Soviet Union and Euwe's last major success. Groningen was the first tournament outside the Soviet Union to which the Soviets sent a team of masters to compete. The Soviet players were very successful, Botvinnik taking first, Vasily Smyslov third, and Isaac Boleslavsky and Salo Flohr tied for sixth and seventh, beginning an era of Soviet Union, Soviet domination of international chess. The tourn ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s: he tied for third place in the 1948 World Chess Championship tournament, and tied for second in the 1953 Candidates tournament. He was an eight-time winner of the US Chess Championship, tying him with Bobby Fischer for the all-time record. He was an accountant by profession and also a chess writer. Early life, early chess exhibition and competition Reshevsky was born at Ozorków near Łódź, Congress Poland, to a Jewish family. He learned to play chess at age four and was soon acclaimed as a child prodigy. At age eight, he was beating many accomplished players with ease and giving simultaneous exhibitions. In November 1920, his parents moved to the United States to make a living by publicly exhibiting their child's talent. Resh ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Carlos Guimard
Carlos Enrique Guimard (6 April 1913 – 11 September 1998) was an Argentine chess Grandmaster. He was born in Santiago del Estero. His granddaughter Isabel Leonard is a celebrated mezzo-soprano. Biography Guimard was thrice Argentine Champion. In 1936, he won the Mayor tournament, and in 1937 a match for the title against the champion, Roberto Grau (+4 –0 =4). In 1937, he won a match against his challenger, Luis Piazzini (+7 –2 =1). In 1940, he won the Mayor tournament, and in 1941 a match against the champion, Carlos Maderna (+7 –0 =2). In tournaments, he tied for 3rd–5th at Mar del Plata 1934 (2nd it; Aaron Schwartzman won), took 5th at Mar del Plata 1936 (3rd it; Isaías Pleci won), tied for 1st with Ludwig Rellstab at Berlin 1937, took 2nd, behind Grau, at Buenos Aires 1938 (ARG-ch), took 2nd, behind Alexander Alekhine, in the Montevideo 1938 chess tournament, tied for 1st–3rd with Virgilio Fenoglio and Julio Bolbochán at Rio de Janeiro 1938, and tied for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Martin Christoffel
Dr. Martin Christoffel (21 September 1922 – 3 April 2001) was a Swiss chess champion born in Basel. In 1944 he won the Coupe Suisse knockout tournament. Christoffel won the Swiss Chess Championship in 1943, 1945, 1948, and 1952, and was joint champion with Jules Ehrat in 1942. In 1946, he represented Switzerland at the Groningen International Tournament - the first major Post WWII chess event but finished last. The 1952 Swiss Championship was an international tournament with eight Swiss players and six international players organized by Schachgesellschaft Zürich. Christoffel tied for second with Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served as ... (Netherlands), behind Erik Lundin (Sweden). FIDE subsequently awarded Christoffel the International Master title in 1952 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Čeněk Kottnauer
Čeněk Kottnauer (24 February 1910, Prague – 14 February 1996, London) was a Czech British chess master, earning the title of International Master. At the beginning of his career, he tied for 11-12th at Prague 1933 (''Kautsky Memorial'', Karel Opočenský won), and took 7th at Prague 1939 (pre-Olympic qual, Jiří Pelikán won). During World War II, he took 6th at Prague 1942 ( Alexander Alekhine and Klaus Junge won), tied for 7-8th at Choceň 1942 (Miroslav Katětov won), and won at Zlin 1943 (ahead of Jan Foltys). In May 1944, he along with other Czech players (Luděk Pachman, Podgorny, Prucha, etc.) lost an 8-game training match against Fedor Bogatyrchuk (+0 –7 =1) in Prague. After the war, he took 13th at Groningen 1946 (Mikhail Botvinnik won), took 13th at Moscow 1947 (''Chigorin Memorial'', Botvinnik won), shared 2nd at Vienna 1947 (Schlechter Memorial, László Szabó won), took 3rd at Beverwijk 1947 (Theo van Scheltinga won), took 4th at Bad Gastein 1948 (Erik ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Savielly Tartakower
Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish and French chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster in its inaugural year, 1950. Tartakower was also a leading chess journalist and author of the 1920s and 1930s. Early career Tartakower was born on 21 February 1887 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, to Austrian citizens of Jewish origin. His father, a first-generation Christian, had him christened with the Latin form of his name, Sabelius.David Lovejoy (2008). ''Moral victories: the story of Savielly Tartakover'' (a historical novel), Echo Publications. ASIN: B0027P89DG. His parents were killed in a robbery in Rostov-on-Don in 1911. Tartakower stayed mainly in Austria. He graduated from the law faculties of universities in Geneva and Vienna. He spoke German and French. During his studies he became interested in chess and started attending ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gösta Stoltz
Gösta Stoltz (May 9, 1904 – July 25, 1963) was a Swedish chess grandmaster. Biography Stoltz played a few matches with strong chess masters. In 1926, he lost to Mikhail Botvinnik (+0 –1 =1) at a team match Stockholm – Leningrad in Stockholm. In 1927, he drew with Allan Nilsson (+2 –2 =1) in Göteborg (Swedish Chess Championship). In 1930, he won against Isaac Kashdan (+3 –2 =1) in Stockholm. In 1930, he lost to Rudolf Spielmann (+2–3=1) in Stockholm. In 1931, he won against Salo Flohr (+4 –3 =1) in Göteborg. In 1931, he lost to Flohr (+1 –4 =3) in Prague. In 1931, he drew with Gideon Ståhlberg (+2 –2 =2) in Göteborg. In 1934, he lost to Aron Nimzowitsch (+1 –2 =3) in Stockholm. In September 1935, he played at a match Sweden vs Germany (Scheveningen system), and took 2nd individual result, behind Ståhlberg, in Zoppot (Sopot). Stoltz played for Sweden in nine Chess Olympiads (1927–1937, 1952,1954) and in 3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad at Munich 1936 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Daniel Yanofsky
Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, (March 25, 1925 – March 5, 2000), commonly known as Daniel Yanofsky or Abe Yanofsky, was a Canadian chess player, chess writer, chess arbiter, and lawyer. He was Canada's first Grandmaster and an eight-time Canadian Chess Champion. Early life Yanofsky was born to a Jewish family in Brody, Poland (now western Ukraine), and moved to Canada when he was eight months old, settling with his family in Winnipeg. Life in chess Early successes He learned to play chess at the age of eight. Yanofsky won his first Manitoba provincial championship at age 12 in 1937, also making his debut in the Closed Canadian Chess Championship that same year in Toronto. In 1939, just 14 years old, he played for Canada at the Buenos Aires Olympiad. Yanofsky was the sensation of the tournament, making the highest score on second board. He won his first Canadian Chess Championship in 1941 at age 16, at home in Winnipeg. He won at Ventnor City 1942 with 6.5/9, and tied 1st-2nd wit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Milan Vidmar
Milan Vidmar (22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE. Vidmar was a specialist in power transformers and transmission of electric current. Early life, family, and education He was born in a middle-class family in Ljubljana, Austria-Hungary (now in Slovenia). He began to study mechanical engineering in 1902, and he graduated in 1907 at the University of Vienna. He got his doctor's degree in 1911 from the Technical faculty in Vienna. The study of electrical engineering at the Technical faculty did not begin until 1904, so Vidmar had to take special examinations in the field basics. Between 1912-13 he worked at the famous Ganz Works in Budapest as the assistant of Ottó Titusz Bláthy, one of the inventors and foremost experts on transfo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov (Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Ко́тов; – 8 January 1981) was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet chess champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific writer on the subject of chess. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation, and wrote most of his books during the Cold War. The importance and breadth of Kotov's work rank him among the all-time greats in this field. Early life Kotov was born in Tula, which was part of the Russian Empire, to a large working class family. He moved to Moscow in 1939 to study engineering, and during this time studied chess a great deal. Chess career While best remembered today as an author, Kotov also had a number of good results as a player. One of his best early results was his second-place finish in the 1939 USSR Championship, in which he just missed out to Mikhail Botvinnik in the final round. This result won him the Soviet Grandmaster tit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ossip Bernstein
Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein (20 September 1882 – 30 November 1962) was a Russian-French chess player and businessman. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title Grandmaster (chess), International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Biography Born in Zhytomyr, Russian Empire, to a wealthy Jewish family. Bernstein grew up in the Russian Empire. He earned a doctorate in law at Heidelberg University in 1906, and became a Financial law, financial lawyer. Bernstein was a successful businessman who earned considerable wealth before losing it in the October Revolution, Bolshevik Revolution. He earned a second fortune that was lost in the Great Depression, and a third that was lost when France was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1940. His Jewish origins meant that he could not remain in Nazi-occupied France, and he was forced to flee to Spain and settled in Barcelona. According to Arnold Denker, who was told by Edward Lasker, a 36-year-old Bernstein in 1918 was arrested in Odessa by th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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László Szabó (chess Player)
László Szabó ( March 19, 1917 – August 8, 1998) was a Hungarian chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster in 1950, when it was instituted by FIDE. Born in Budapest, Szabó burst onto the international chess scene in 1935, at the age of 18, winning the first of Hungarian Championships, an international tournament in Tatatóváros, and was selected to represent his country at the Warsaw Chess Olympiad. It is thought that the young Szabó studied under Géza Maróczy, then a patriarchal figure in Hungarian chess who had previously trained future world champions, Max Euwe and Vera Menchik. Prior to World War II, there were other successes, including outright victory at Hastings 1938/39 (a tournament he was to hold a long association with). He began a career as a banker, dealing in foreign exchange. At the outbreak of war, Szabó was attached to a Forced Labour Unit and was later captured by Russian troops who held him as a prisoner of war. Aft ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |