World Chess Championship 1951
The 1951 World Chess Championship was played between Mikhail Botvinnik and David Bronstein in Moscow from March 15 to May 11, 1951. It was the first match played under the supervision of FIDE; and the first to use a qualifying system of an Interzonal and Candidates Tournament to choose a challenger - a system which stayed in place until 1993. Botvinnik was the defending champion: he was 39 years old, had been a world leading player in the 1930s and World Champion since 1948. The challenger, David Bronstein, was 27 years old and relatively new to top level competition. The match ended in a 12-12 tie (5 wins each, and 14 draws), meaning Botvinnik retained the title of World Champion. Writing in 1973, Israel Horowitz described the match as "''perhaps the most interesting match ever played for the world championship''". 1948 Interzonal tournament An interzonal tournament was held at Saltsjöbaden in Stockholm, Sweden, in July and August 1948. The top eight finishers qualified f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, Finland to the east, and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridgetunnel across the Öresund. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic country, the third-largest country in the European Union, and the fifth-largest country in Europe. The capital and largest city is Stockholm. Sweden has a total population of 10.5 million, and a low population density of , with around 87% of Swedes residing in urban areas in the central and southern half of the country. Sweden has a nature dominated by forests and a large amount of lakes, including some of the largest in Europe. Many long rivers run from the Scandes range through the landscape, primarily ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Viacheslav Ragozin
Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin (russian: Вячесла́в Васи́льевич Раго́зин; 8 October 1908 – 11 March 1962) was a Soviet chess player, writer and editor. He was world champion in correspondence chess and held the title of International Grandmaster, Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess. Chess career Born in St. Petersburg, Ragozin's chess career first came to the fore with a series of excellent results in the 1930s. In the earliest of these, he defeated the respected master Alexander Ilyin-Zhenevsky in a 1930 match and was himself awarded the title of Soviet master. At Moscow 1935 chess tournament, Moscow 1935, he won the best game prize for his victory against Andor Lilienthal. At the very strong Moscow tournament of 1936, he beat Salo Flohr and Emanuel Lasker and came very close to defeating José Raúl Capablanca, the ever-resourceful ex-world champion scrambling to find a draw (chess), draw by perpetual check at the game's fr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Eero Böök
Eero Einar Böök (9 February 1910 – 7 January 1990) was a Finnish chess player and engineer. Chess career A five-time Finnish champion who represented his country six times in the Chess Olympiad, Böök was awarded the International Master title in 1950 and became an honorary Grandmaster in 1984. His only significant international tournament victory was a tie for first place with Gösta Stoltz in the 1947 Nordic Championship in Helsinki. Perhaps his best tournament finish was sharing eleventh place in the category 14 interzonal, Saltsjöbaden 1948. Böök played many of the world's top players, and had a plus record against Miguel Najdorf (+1 −0 =2). He beat Max Euwe with the black pieces in Dubrovnik in 1950, as well as the Estonian chess player Paul Keres in the 1952 Helsinki Olympiad. Böök also wrote several chess books. Sample game Euwe–Böök, Dubrovnik 1950: 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.c4 0-0 5.0-0 d5 6.d4 e6 7.b3 b6 8.Ba3 Re8 9.Nbd2 Bb7 10.Rc1 Nbd7 11.R ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Svetozar Gligorić
Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић, 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is considered the best player ever from Serbia. In 1958, he was declared the best athlete of Yugoslavia. In the 1950s and 1960s, Gligorić was one of the top players in the world. He was also among the world's most popular players, owing to his globe-trotting tournament schedule and a particularly engaging personality, reflected in the title of his autobiography, ''I Play Against Pieces'' (i.e., without hostility toward the opponent, and not differently against different players for "psychological" reasons; playing "the board and not the man"). Life Gligorić was born in Belgrade to a poor family. According to his recollections, his first exposure to chess was as a small child watching patrons play in a neighborhood bar. He began to play at the a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vasja Pirc
Vasja Pirc () (December 19, 1907 – June 2, 1980) was a Slovenian chess player. He is best known in competitive chess circles as a strong exponent of the hypermodern defense now generally known as the Pirc Defense. Pirc was champion of Yugoslavia five times: 1935, 1936, 1937, 1951, and 1953.''Chess Informant'', volume 30, tribute by Aleksandar Matanovic, Chess Informant publishers, Belgrade 1981. He was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1950, and the Grandmaster (GM) title in 1953. He was made an International Arbiter in 1973. Pirc was born in Idrija, then a part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, and died in Ljubljana. Sample game Although Pirc had a minus record against Alexander Alekhine, he beat Alekhine with the black pieces in a blitz game in Ljubljana in 1930: *1.d4 e6, Queen's Pawn Game, Horwitz Defense *2.c4 Nf6, 2.c4 usually transposes to openings such as Queen's Gambit Declined, Nimzo-Indian or Queen's Indian The Queen's Indian Defens ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Petar Trifunović
Petar Trifunović (31 August 1910 – 8 December 1980) was a Yugoslav chess player, who has been awarded the international grandmaster title, and five times Yugoslav champion. Chess career Yugoslavia was for many years the world's second strongest chess nation. Trifunovic came third in the first Yugoslav championship (1935), second in the next championship, and won in 1945, 1946, 1947 (shared with Svetozar Gligorić), 1952, and 1961. The young Trifunovic was also an excellent scholar, obtaining a law degree in 1933, followed by a doctorate. He had a reputation as an attacking player in the 1930s, when he was known as 'Typhoonovic'. Later, he concentrated more on positional play and defensive technique, his style becoming less adventurous but difficult to refute. As a result, he drew many games. For example, his drawn match with Miguel Najdorf at Opatija 1949 included ten drawn games (+1 −1 =10), and at Leipzig in 1965 he drew all 15 of his games. His international tourn ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Salo Flohr
Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournaments of the pre-World War II years, and by the late 1930s was considered a contender for the World Championship. However, his patient, positional style was overtaken by the sharper, more tactical methods of the younger Soviet echelon after World War II. Early life Flohr had a troubled childhood beset by personal crises. He was born in a Jewish family in Horodenka in what was then Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now in Ukraine). He and his brother were orphaned during World War I when their parents were killed in a massacre, and they fled to the newly formed nation of Czechoslovakia. Flohr settled in Prague, gradually acquiring a reputation as a skilled chess player by playing for stakes in the city's many cafés. During 1924, he participated ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gideon Ståhlberg
Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg (26 January 1908 – 26 May 1967) was a Swedish chess player. He was among the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became Nordic champion in 1929, and held it until 1939. Ståhlberg came to fame when he won matches against star players Rudolf Spielmann and Aron Nimzowitsch in 1933 and 1934 respectively, and came third (after Alexander Alekhine) in Dresden 1936, and second (after Reuben Fine) in Stockholm 1937. In 1938 he drew a match against Paul Keres. Following the Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires 1939, he stayed in Argentina until 1948, where he won many tournaments, some of them in competition with Miguel Najdorf: Mar del Plata 1941 (ahead of Najdorf and Erich Eliskases), Buenos Aires 1941 (tied with Najdorf), Buenos Aires 1947 (ahead of Najdorf, Eliskases and Max Euwe). His best results after returning to Europe were: the Interzonal of Saltsjöbaden 1948 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf (born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf) (15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was a leading world player in the 1940s and 1950s, and is also known for the Najdorf Variation, one of the most popular chess openings. Early life in Poland Najdorf was tutored first by Dawid Przepiórka, then by Savielly Tartakower, the latter of whom he always referred to as "my teacher". At the beginning of his chess career, around 1930, Najdorf defeated a player believed to be named "Glücksberg" in a famous game often referred to as "The Polish Immortal". In 1930, he tied for 6th–7th at the Warsaw Championship, an event won by Paulino Frydman. In 1931, he took second in Warsaw, behind Frydman. In 1932, he tied for 9th–10th in Warsaw. In 1933, he won in Warsaw (''Quadrangular''). In January 1934, he finished second to Rudolf Spielmann, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Igor Bondarevsky
Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky (russian: Игорь Захарович Бондаревский; May 12, 1913 – June 14, 1979) was a Soviet Russian chess player, trainer, and chess author. He held the title of Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess. Bondarevsky shared the 1940 Soviet title, and later coached World Champion Boris Spassky. Early years Igor Bondarevsky played in the 5th Russian Championship, Gorky 1935, scoring 4/9 points for a tied 6-7th place; the winner was Alexander Tolush. The next year, he won an All-Union first category tournament in Leningrad, with 11½/14, unbeaten, by two points. This result earned him an invitation to the Soviet championship to be played the next year. At Moscow 1937, his first international event, Bondarevsky struggled with a score of 2½/7, for a tied 7-8th place; the winner was Reuben Fine; however, he recovered with a solid performance in his first Soviet Chess Championship (at its tenth edition, Tbilisi 1937 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andor Lilienthal
Andor (André, Andre, Andrei) Arnoldovich LilienthalReuben Fine, ''The World's Great Chess Games'', Dover Publications, 1983, p. 216. . (5 May 1911 – 8 May 2010) was a Hungarian and Soviet chess player. In his long career, he played against ten male and female world champions, beating Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, and Vera Menchik.Slobodan AdzicHe Has Beaten Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine as well as Old Age! ChessBase News, May 30, 2005. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living grandmaster (since surpassed by Yuri Averbakh), and the last surviving person from the original group of grandmasters awarded the title by FIDE in 1950. Biography Lilienthal, of Jewish origin, was born in Moscow, Russian Empire, and moved to Hungary at the age of two. David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld, ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' (2nd ed. 1992), Oxford University Press, p. 226. . He played for Hungary in three Chess O ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |