Izaak Towbin (1899,

Korets Korets (, russian: link=no, Корец, , yi, קאריץ ''Koritz'') is a city in Rivne Oblast in Ukraine. The city is located on the Korchyk river, 66 kilometers to the east of Rivne. It is administrative center of Korets Raion. Population: ...

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. Th ...

– 1941,

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 ...

) 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 and organizer. Born in Korets, Ukraine (then Russian Empire) into a Jewish family, he entered a gymnasium in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

(1910–1918) and then Kiev University. In the early 1920s, he moved to Warsaw where graduated in law from the university, and started his chess career. Towbin was one of fifteen delegates from throughout the world who signed the proclamation act of the International Chess Federation (originally known as Fédération Internationale des Échecs in French) during

1st unofficial Chess Olympiad The 1st Team Chess Tournament was held together with the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, 12–20 July 1924, at the Hotel Majestic. Fifty-four players representing 18 countries were split into nine preliminary groups of six. The winner of each round ...

at Paris 1924. He played in several tournaments in Warsaw, and tied for 5–7th in 1922 (the 1st Academic Chess Championship), shared 3rd in 1925 (

Stanisław Kohn Stanisław Kohn (1895–1940) was a Polish chess master. Kohn played for Poland in 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad at Paris 1924. In 1925, he won the Warsaw Championship. In 1926, he tied for 3rd-7th, behind Dawid Przepiórka and Paulin Frydman i ...

won), took 9th in 1926 (

Abram Blass Moshe Aba Blass (born 1896, Łomża, Poland - 1971, Tel-Aviv, Israel) was a Polish-Israeli chess master. Born in Łomża (then Russian Empire), he moved to the US, staying from 1911 to 1924. After returning to Poland, he lived in Warsaw. In 1924/2 ...

and

Paulin Frydman Paulino (Paulin) Frydman (26 May 1905 in Warsaw, Poland – 2 February 1982 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) was a Polish chess master. Career In 1922, Paulin Frydman took 2nd place, behind Kazimierz Makarczyk in Warsaw. In 1923, he tied for 2nd-4 ...

won), tied for 8–9th in 1926/27 (

Leon Kremer Leon Kremer (1901–1941) was a Polish chess master. He played several times in the Warsaw championships, and won in 1929. He also took 6th in 1925 (Stanisław Kohn won), took 4th in 1926 (Abram Blass and Paulin Frydman won), shared 1st with Kohn ...

and Kohn won), Name Index to Jeremy Gaige's ''Chess Tournament Crosstables'', An Electronic Edition, Anders Thulin, Malmö, 2004-09-01 and took 4th in 1929. He also tied for 3rd–4th at

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 ...

1927. 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 and died in Warsaw, a victim of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

References

1899 births 1941 deaths Ukrainian Jews Ukrainian chess players Polish chess players Jewish chess players People who died in the Warsaw Ghetto Polish civilians killed in World War II People from Rivne Oblast 20th-century chess players {{Ukraine-chess-bio-stub