Gerald Abrahams (15 April 1907 – 15 March 1980) was an English

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, author, and

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

Chess career

He is best known for the Abrahams Defence of the

Semi-Slav The Semi-Slav Defense is a variation of the Queen's Gambit chess opening defined by the position reached after the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 c6 :3. Nf3 Nf6 :4. Nc3 e6 The position may readily be reached by a number of different . Black's s ...

, also known as the Abrahams– Noteboom Variation, or the Noteboom Variation:
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.e3 b5 6.a4 Bb4 7.Bd2 a5 8.axb5 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 cxb5 10.b3 Bb7 ( ECO D31). In 1933 he was third at

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

in the British Championship, after Mir Sultan Khan and

Theodore Tylor Sir Theodore Henry Tylor (13 May 1900 – 23 October 1968) was a lawyer and international level chess player, despite being nearly blind. In 1965, he was knighted for his service to organisations for the blind. He was Fellow and Tutor in Jurispr ...

. Abrahams was known as a strong

blindfold A blindfold (from Middle English ') is a garment, usually of cloth, tied to one's head to cover the human eye, eyes to disable the wearer's visual perception, sight. While a properly fitted blindfold prevents sight even if the eyes are open, a ...

player. In 1934 he took on four strong Irish players, playing blindfold, at the ''Belgravia Hotel'' in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, winning two games and

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

two. In th
Anglo-Soviet radio match
of 1946 he scored one win and one draw against

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 ...

on board 10.

Author

Abrahams was the author of several chess books, including ''Teach Yourself Chess'' (1948),''The Chess Mind'' (1951), ''Handbook of Chess'' (1960), ''Technique in Chess'' (1961), ''Test Your Chess'' (1963), ''The Pan Book of Chess'' (1966), ''Not Only Chess'' (1974), and ''Brilliancies in Chess'' (1977). ;Bridge *''Brains in Bridge'' (1962) ;Legal, Philosophical and Political *''Law Affecting Police and Public'' (1938) *''Law Relating to Hire Purchase'' (1939) *''Ugly Angel'' (1940) *''Retribution'' (1941) *''Day of Reckoning'' (1943) *''World Turns Left'' (1943) *''Conscience Makes Heroes'' (1945) *''Lunatics and Lawyers'' (1951) *''Law for Writers and Journalists'' (1958) *''According to the Evidence'' (1958) *''The Legal Mind'' (1954) *''Police Questioning: The Judges' Rules'' (1964) *''Trade Unions and the Law'' (1968) *''Morality and the Law'' (1971). ;Religion *''The Jewish Mind'' (1961) ;Geography/History *''Let's Look at Israel'' (1966)

Political views

Abrahams was a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

in a period of low success for that party in Britain, the period from 1920-1960, and stood in the Sheffield Hallam constituency garnering 7.7% of the vote in 1945, after four national elections in which no Liberal had stood for the seat.

External links

165 Games of Gerald Abrahams at ''ChessGames.com''Remembering Gerald Abrahams (15-iv-1907 15-iii-1980)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abrahams, Gerald 1907 births 1980 deaths English Jews English chess players Jewish chess players 20th-century English writers 20th-century English male writers British chess writers Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Contract bridge writers 20th-century chess players