Alla Shulimovna Kushnir ( he, אלה שולימובנה קושניר; russian: Алла Шулимовна Кушнир; 11 August 1941 – 2 August 2013) was a Soviet-born Israeli

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 dist ...

player. She was awarded the FIDE titles of

Woman International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating an ...

(WIM) in 1962 and

Woman Grandmaster FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

(WGM) in 1976. In 2017, she was inducted into the

World Chess Hall of Fame The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) is a nonprofit, collecting institution situated in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It features chess exhibits, engages in educational outreach, and maintains a list of ...

Biography

Alla Kushnir

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

to Israel in 1974.

Chess career

Kushnir was thrice

Women's World Chess Championship The Women's World Chess Championship (WWCC) is played to determine the world champion in women's chess. Like the World Chess Championship, it is administered by FIDE. Unlike with most sports recognized by the International Olympic Committee, wh ...

Challenger consecutively. She lost matches for the title to

Nona Gaprindashvili Nona Gaprindashvili ( ka, ნონა გაფრინდაშვილი; born 3 May 1941) is a former Soviet and Georgian chess player, and the first woman ever to be awarded the FIDE title Grandmaster in 1978. She was the fifth women's ...

: * +3 –7 =3 at Riga 1965; * +2 –6 =5 at Tbilisi–Moscow 1969; * +4 –5 =7 at Riga 1972. In tournaments, she took 1st-3rd at

Sukhumi Sukhumi (russian: Суху́м(и), ) or Sokhumi ( ka, სოხუმი, ), also known by its Abkhaz name Aqwa ( ab, Аҟәа, ''Aqwa''), is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of ...

Candidates Tournament (joint Milunka Lazarević and

Tatiana Zatulovskaya Tatiana Zatulovskaya ( he, טטיאנה זטולובסקיה; russian: Татьяна Яковлевна Затуловская, ; 8 December 1935 – 2 July 2017) was an Israeli (formerly Soviet and Russian) chess player. She was three-time Sov ...

) 1964, won at Beberjik 1967, won at Subotica (Candidates Tournament) 1967, 2nd at Belgrad 1968, tied for 1st-2nd (with Nikolau) at Sinaia 1969, tied for 2nd-3rd (with Vobralova, won by Ivánka) at

Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee ( literally ''Neighborhood at Sea'') is a village on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk, the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Corus ...

1971, won at Belgrad 1971 (ahead Gaprindashvili), won at Moscow 1971, won at Vrnjačka Banja 1973, 3rd at

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...

1973 (behind Zatulovskaya and Saunina), won at

Roosendaal Roosendaal () is both a city and a municipality in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. Towns/villages of the municipality * Roosendaal (population: 66,760) * Wouw (4,920) * Heerle (1,900) * Nispen (1,440) * Wouwse P ...

Interzonal 1976 (joint Akhmilovskaya). Kushnir was a three-time winner of the

Women's Chess Olympiad The Women's Chess Olympiad is an event held by FIDE (the International Chess Federation) since 1957 (every two years since 1972), where national women's teams compete at chess for gold, silver and bronze medals. Since 1976 the Women's Chess Olympia ...

: in 1969 and 1972 she won the tournament as a player in the Soviet team, both times showing the best result at the 2nd board, and in 1976 she won it as a player in the Israeli team, showing the best result at the 1st board. She ended 5th USSR Women's Champion in

Lipetsk Lipetsk ( rus, links=no, Липецк, p=ˈlʲipʲɪtsk), also romanized as Lipeck, is a city and the administrative center of Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, located on the banks of the Voronezh River in the Don basin, southeast of Moscow. Populat ...

(1959), 3rd-4th with Volpert USSR Women's Champion in Baku (1961), 2nd-3rd with Volpert USSR Women's Champion in Riga (1962), 3rd-4th with Koslovskaya USSR Women's Champion in Baku (1963) (then in the match playoff Kushnir beat Koslovskaya: 4–2), tied 1st place with Ranniku USSR Women's Champion in Beltsy (1970). Kushnir in the match playoff to beat 4-3 Ranniku at Moscow (February 1971).

Death

She died in 2013 in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

, nine days before her 72nd birthday, from undisclosed causes.Alla Kushnir has passed away in Tel Aviv
chess-news.ru, 11 August 2013.

References

External links

*
Jews in Sports bio

Obituary (WhyChess.com), with special photograph
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kushnir, Alla 1941 births 2013 deaths Chess woman grandmasters Israeli female chess players Soviet female chess players Jewish chess players Chess Olympiad competitors Israeli Jews Russian Jews Soviet emigrants to Israel Sportspeople from Moscow

Biography

Chess career

Death

See also

References

External links