Esteban Canal (April 19, 1896 – February 14, 1981)
was a leading
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
vian
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 ...
player who had his best tournament results in the 1920s and 1930s. Born in
Chiclayo
Chiclayo (; qu, Chiklayu) is the principal city of the Lambayeque region in northern Peru. It is located inland from the Pacific coast and from the nation's capital, Lima.
Founded by Spanish explorers as "Santa María de los Valles de Chiclay ...
, Peru, he later lived in Italy, and died in
Varese
Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559.
It is the c ...
.
As a chess player
Canal was placed second at Trieste 1923, tied for second at Merano 1926, tenth at Budapest 1929, tied for tenth out of 22 at Carlsbad 1929, tied for seventh at Rohitsch-Sauerbrunn 1929, second at Budapest 1932, tied for fourth at Bad Sliac, first at Budapest 1933, fifth at Mährisch-Ostrau 1933, and tied for first at
Reus
Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague. Nowadays it is k ...
1936. After
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 was tied for second at Venice 1947, tied for sixth at Bad Gastein 1948, tied for second at Venice 1948, and finally won at Venice 1953.
Canal had an even record against
World Champion
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
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 ...
. He won in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
in 1948:
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Ne2 Bg4 8. c3 Bc5 9. Ng3 Nh5 10. Nf5 Bb6 11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4 d5 13. h3 Bxf5 14. exf5 Nf6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Be3 Ne4 17. Rc1 Re8 18. g4 Qf6 19. Qa4 Qe7 20. Rfe1 Rad8 21. Rxc6 Rd6 22. Rxd6 Nxd6 23. Qc6 Rb8 24. Qxd5 Qd7 25. Bf4 h6 26. Ne5 Qa4 27. Nc6 Rf8 28. f6 Re8 29. Re7 1-0.
Canal played his most famous game, sometimes called the "
Peruvian Immortal The Peruvian Immortal is the name given to a chess game played by the Peruvian Chess master, master (later International Grandmaster, grandmaster) Esteban Canal against an unknown amateur in a simultaneous exhibition he gave at Budapest in 1934. In ...
", at a
simultaneous exhibition
A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition (commonly chess or Go) in which one player (typically of high rank, such as a grandmaster or dan-level player) plays multiple games at a time with a number of other pl ...
in 1934. In just 14 moves he
sacrificed both his
rooks
Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to:
Games
*Rook (chess), a piece in chess
*Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game
Military
*Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft
* USS ...
and his
queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
to finish with
Boden's mate.
As a writer
Canal wrote "Strategia di avamposti". A book in Italian published in 1949 by "L'Italia Scacchistica", where he explains his personal theory of the game with 50 commented games along with colourful biographical notes.
National teams
Canal played in one
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...
, representing Peru on board 1 in 1950 at Dubrovnik.
Canal, Esteban
team chess record at olimpbase.org FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
made him an 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 and ...
in 1950 and an honorary Grandmaster in 1977.
Bibliography
*
References
External links
*
Video reenactment of Esteban Canal vs NN (Simul, Budapest, 1934) game by Serguei Vorojtsov
1896 births
1981 deaths
20th-century chess players
Chess grandmasters
Chess Olympiad competitors
Peruvian chess players
Italian chess players
{{Peru-chess-bio-stub