Abram (Abraham) Szpiro (1912 in Stringenau,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

– 16 February 1943, in

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

) was a Polish

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

master. Born in Russian Empire (now Poland), he moved with his family to

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

. He tied for 7-8th (1930), shared 4th (1931), and twice took 6th (1933 and 1934) in Łódź City championships. He represented Łódź in the 2nd Polish Team Chess Championship at Katowice 1934. Szpiro won individual gold medal on fourth board, defeating Izak Schächter,

Leon Tuhan-Baranowski Leon Tuhan-Baranowski (22 June 1907, St Petersburg – 27 April 1954, Frankfurt) was a Polish-Belarusian chess player and composer. Born in Saint Petersburg into a Roman Catholic family with noble roots ( Tartar and Belarusian descent). After ...

Henryk Friedman Henryk Friedman (Friedmann) (1903–1942) was a Polish chess master. He lived in Lviv (Lwów, Lemberg). In 1926–1934, Friedman won seven times in succession the Championship of Lviv but 1930, when he took 2nd place behind Stepan Popel. Friedman ...

, etc., and team silver medal. In 1934/35, he took 2nd in Poznań, and won at Poznań 1935. He tied for 2nd-5th at Łódź 1935, tied for 6-7th at Warsaw 1935 (the 3rd

Polish Chess Championship Individual Polish Chess Championship is the most important Polish chess tournament, aiming at selecting the best chess players in Poland. Based on the results of the tournament (mainly), the Polish Chess Federation selects the national and subseque ...

won by

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 Grand ...

), won at Częstochowa 1936, tied for 7-8th at Jurata 1937 (international, the 4th POL-ch, Tartakower won), took 2nd (1937) and shared 4th (1939) in Łódź City championships. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he lived in Łódź and Warsaw. He took 2nd, behind

Henryk Pogorieły Henryk Pogorieły (1908 in Warsaw – 1943 in Warsaw) was a Polish chess master. He took 4th in the Warsaw Championship in 1928. Pogorieły, along with other members of the Warsaw team (Abram Blass, Rafał Feinmesser, Paulin Frydman, Stanisław K ...

, at the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...

tournament in February—April 1942. At the beginning of 1943, he was arrested in the Ghetto, transported to Nazi concentration camp and killed in

.Tadeusz Wolsza, ''Arcymistrzowie, mistrzowie, amatorzy... Słownik biograficzny szachistów polskich'', tom 3, Wydawnictwo DiG, Warszawa 1999

References

1912 births 1943 deaths People from Mława County People from Płock Governorate Polish Jews who died in the Holocaust Polish chess players Jewish chess players Warsaw Ghetto inmates Polish people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp Polish civilians killed in World War II Place of birth missing 20th-century chess players {{Poland-chess-bio-stub