Gersz (Georg, George, Gersh) Rotlewi (Rotlevi, Rotlevy) (1889 – 1920) 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.

Biography

In 1906, Rotlewi tied for 5-6th in

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 ...

(

Akiba Rubinstein Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1 December 1880 – 14 March 1961) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Rubinstein was granted the title Grandmaster (chess), ...

won). In 1907, he took 3rd, behind Rubinstein and

Dawid Daniuszewski Dawid Daniuszewski (1885–1944) was a Polish chess master. Biography In 1906, he finished 2nd, behind Akiba Rubinstein, in Łódź. In 1907, he again finished 2nd, behind Rubinstein, and ahead of Gersz Rotlewi and Gersz Salwe in Łódź (''Quad ...

, in Lodz (''Quadrangular''), took 2nd, behind Heilmann, in

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

(main class I section), and took 6th in Lodz (the 5th

Russian Chess Championship The Russian Chess Championship has taken various forms. Winners by year (men) Imperial Russia In 1874, Emanuel Schiffers defeated Andrey Chardin in a match held in St. Petersburg with five wins and four losses. Schiffers was considered the first ...

; the event was won by Rubinstein). He took 4th in the

Prague 1908 chess tournament The first International Prague Chess Tournament was held in honour of the sixtieth anniversary of Franz Joseph I of Austria's elevation as monarch to the Austria-Hungary Empire. Twenty great masters played in the pavilion of the Chamber of Commerce ...

(''Hauptturnier'', preliminary), tied for 1st with Daniuszewski at Lodz 1909, and took 2nd, behind

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns. By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...

, at

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

1909 (the All-Russian Amateur tournament). Rotlewi played two matches against

Gersz Salwe Gersz Salwe (12 December 1862, Warsaw – 15 December 1920, Łódź), also written Salve, pl, Henryk Jerzy Salwe, italic=no, was a Polish chess master. Biography Salwe was born into a Jewish family in Warsaw (then Russian Empire). He was Szlama ...

, losing in 1909 (+5 –8 =5) and winning in 1910 (+3 –1 =6). In 1910, he tied for 1st with Rubinstein in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

and won in the Hamburg 1910 chess tournament (the 17th

DSB Congress The ''Deutscher Schachbund'' (DSB) was founded in Leipzig on 18 July, 1877. When the next meeting took place in the Schützenhaus on 15 July 1879, sixty-two clubs had become member of the chess federation. Hofrat Rudolf von Gottschall became Chair ...

, ''Hauptturnier A''), which earned him the Master Title and the right to compete at the Carlsbad 1911 chess tournament.Best All-Time Games
at webcache.googleusercontent.com In 1911, he took 4th in Carlsbad (

Richard Teichmann Richard Teichmann (24 December 1868 – 15 June 1925) was a German chess master. He was known as "Richard the Fifth" because he often finished in fifth place in tournaments. But in Karlsbad 1911, he scored a convincing win, crushing Akiba Rub ...

won). This was the greatest result of Rotlewi's short career. He finished ahead of such prominent players as Frank Marshall,

Aron Nimzowitsch Aron Nimzowitsch ( lv, Ārons Nimcovičs, russian: Аро́н Иса́евич Нимцо́вич, ''Aron Isayevich Nimtsovich''; 7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935) was a Latvian-born Danish chess player and writer. In the late 1920s, Nimz ...

Milan Vidmar Milan Vidmar (22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugural recipien ...

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 ...

, and

Rudolf Spielmann Rudolf Spielmann (5 May 1883 – 20 August 1942) was a Jewish-Austrian chess player of the romantic school, and chess writer. Career Spielmann was born in 1883, third child of Moritz and Cecilia Spielmann, and had a younger brother Edgar, an o ...

. In the same year, he tied for 2nd-4th in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

(

Moishe Lowtzky Moishe (Mojżesz) Lowtzky (Łowcki) (1881–1940) was a Ukrainian–Polish chess master. Biography He was born into a Jewish family in Ukraine. In 1903, Lowtzky tied for 6-7th with Eugene Znosko-Borovsky in Kiev (3rd RUS-ch). The event was won b ...

won) and took 2nd in Munich (

Simon Alapin Semyon Zinovyevich Alapin (russian: Семён Зиновьевич Алапин; – 15 July 1923) was a Russian chess player, openings analyst, and puzzle composer. He was also a linguist, railway engineer and a grain commodities merchant. B ...

won). After this, a

nervous disorder Anxiety disorders are a cluster of mental disorders characterized by significant and uncontrollable feelings of anxiety and fear such that a person's social, occupational, and personal function are significantly impaired. Anxiety may cause physi ...

forced him to give up serious chess. He died in 1920 at the age of 31.

Notable chess games

Grigory Helbach vs Gersz Rotlewi, Sankt Petersburg 1909, All Russian Amateur, Scandinavian Defense, Mieses Variation, B01, 0-1Gersz Salwe vs Gersz Rotlewi, Carlsbad 1911, French Defense, Rubinstein Variation, Blackburne Defense, C10, 0-1Gersz Rotlewi vs Frank James Marshall, Carlsbad 1911, Queen's Gambit Declined, Cambridge Springs Variation, D52, 1-0

Notes

External links

Chessgames
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotlewi, Gersz 1889 births 1920 deaths 19th-century Polish Jews Polish chess players Jewish chess players Place of birth missing

Biography

Notable chess games

See also

Notes

External links