Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00457, Emanuel Lasker

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

players and theoreticians have long been involved in the game of

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 ...

and have significantly contributed to the development of chess, which has been described as the "Jewish National game". Chess gained popularity amongst Jews in the twelfth century. The game was privileged by distinguished rabbis, as well as by women. Of the first 13 undisputed

world champions 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, ...

, over half were Jewish, including the first two. The

Modern School of Chess Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

espoused by

Wilhelm Steinitz William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and, later, American chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first official World Chess Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and che ...

and Siegbert Tarrasch; the

Hypermodernism Hypermodernism may refer to: *Hypermodernism (chess), a chess strategy which advocates controlling the center of the board with distant pieces rather than pawns *Hypermodernism (art), a cultural, artistic, literary and architectural movement *Hyper ...

influenced by

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 ...

and Richard Réti; and the Soviet Chess School promoted by

Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. Botvinn ...

were all strongly influenced by Jewish players. Other influential Jewish chess theoreticians, writers and players include

Johannes Zukertort Johannes Hermann Zukertort (Polish: ''Jan Hermann Cukiertort''; 7 September 1842 – 20 June 1888) was a Polish chess master. He was one of the leading world players for most of the 1870s and 1880s, but lost to Wilhelm Steinitz in the World C ...

, Savielly Tartakower, Emanuel Lasker, Akiba Rubinstein,

Gyula Breyer Gyula "Julius" Breyer (30 April 1893 Budapest – 9 November 1921) was a Hungarian chess player and 1912 Hungarian national champion. Chess career In 1912 Breyer won the Hungarian championship in Temesvar. In a 1920 tournament in Berlin he fi ...

, Rudolf Spielmann,

Samuel Reshevsky Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-196 ...

, Reuben Fine,

David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein (russian: Дави́д Ио́нович Бронште́йн; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet and Ukrainian chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narr ...

Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf (born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf) (15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was a ...

Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...

and

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an ...

. Professor Arpad Elo, the inventor of the scientific rating system employed by

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 ...

, analysed some 476 major tournament players from the nineteenth century onward, and of the fifty-one highest ranked players, approximately one-half were Jewish. One of the strongest ever players is

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak Elo rating system, rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the hi ...

, who was world No. 1 from 1985 until his retirement in 2005; or the considered strongest female chess player in history Judit Polgár.

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

in Israel is the city with the most chess grandmasters per capita in the world.

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

has also won one silver and one bronze medal at

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 ...

List

The list refers to chess players who are Jewish and have attained outstanding achievements in chess. * Aaron (Albert) Alexandre (c. 1765–1850), German-born French-English * Simon Alapin (1856–1923),

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

* Lev Alburt (born 1945), Russian/American *

Izaak Appel Izaak (Isaak) Appel (1905–1941) was a Polish chess master. Biography In 1926, he took 12th place in the Warsaw (1st POL-ch) competition, which was won by Dawid Przepiórka. In 1929, he took 2nd place, behind Teodor Regedziński, in the C ...

(1905–1941), Polish, killed by the Nazis *

Lev Aronin Lev Solomonovich Aronin (russian: Лев Соломонович Аронин; 20 July 1920, Kuibyshev – 4 October 1982, Moscow) was a Soviet International Master of chess. He was a meteorologist by profession. Early years Lev Solomonovich ...

(1920–1982), Russian/Soviet * Levon Aronian (born 1982), Armenian grandmaster,

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

champion twice * Arnold Aurbach (c. 1888–1952), Polish-born French *

Yuri Averbakh Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. He was the first centenari ...

(1922–2022), Russian, 2445 * Mary Weiser Bain (1904–1972), born in Hungary (now sub-Carpathian Ukraine), immigrated to the United States as a teenager, first American woman to represent the U.S. in an organized chess competition, won the U.S. Women's Chess Championship in 1951, awarded the Woman International Master title in 1952 * Anjelina Belakovskaia (born 1969), Ukrainian-born US woman grandmaster * Alexander Beliavsky (born 1953), Ukrainian-born Soviet/Slovenian grandmaster * Joel Benjamin (born 1964), American grandmaster * Ossip Bernstein (1882–1962), Ukrainian-born French grandmaster *

Arthur Bisguier Arthur Bernard Bisguier (October 8, 1929April 5, 2017), paternal surname Bisgeier, was an American chess player, chess promoter, and writer who held the FIDE title of Grandmaster (GM). Bisguier won two U.S. Junior Championships (1948, 1949) ...

(1929–2017), US grandmaster, 2455 *

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 19 ...

(1896–1971), Polish * Isaac Boleslavsky (1919–1977), Ukrainian-born Soviet grandmaster *

(1911–1995), Russian/

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

grandmaster and World champion *

(1893–1921), Hungarian, pioneer of the hypermodern school, important chess theorist, blindfold simultan record holder *

(1924–2006), Ukrainian-born Soviet grandmaster, 2590 * Oscar Chajes (1873–1928), Ukrainian/Polish/Austrian-born US * Vitaly Chekhover (1908–1965), Russian * Erich Cohn (1884–1918), German * Wilhelm Cohn (1859–1913), GermanChess
JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved on 2010-06-21. * Moshe Czerniak (1910–1984), Polish-born Israeli * Arnold Denker (1914–2005), US grandmaster, 2293 * Arthur Dunkelblum (1906–1979), Polish-born Belgian * Mark Dvoretsky (1947–2016), noted Russian trainer and international master * Roman Dzindzichashvili (born 1944), Georgian-born Israeli American grandmaster, 2550 * Vereslav Eingorn (born 1956), Ukrainian grandmaster * Berthold Englisch (1851–1897), Austrian * Larry Evans (1932–2010), US grandmaster, 2530 * Rafał Feinmesser (1895–?), Polish, killed in Warsaw during Holocaust * Reuben Fine (1914–1993), US grandmaster *

(1943–2008), US grandmaster and World champion * Alexander Flamberg (1880–1926), Polish * Salo Flohr (1908–1983), Ukrainian-born Czech and Soviet grandmaster *

Henryk Friedman Henryk Friedman (Friedmann) (1903–1942) was a Polish chess master. He lived in Lviv (Lwów, Lemberg). In 1926–1934, Friedman won seven times in succession the Championship of Lviv but 1930, when he took 2nd place behind Stepan Popel. Friedman ...

(1903–1942), Polish, killed by the Nazis * Paulino Frydman (1905–1982), Polish-born Argentine * Boris Gelfand (born 1968), Belarusian-born Israeli grandmaster,

champion * Efim Geller (1925–1998), Ukrainian-born Soviet grandmaster *

Harry Golombek Harry Golombek OBE (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995) was a British chess player, chess author, and wartime codebreaker. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948. He was born in Lambeth to ...

(1911–1995), English * Eduard Gufeld (1936–2002), Ukrainian grandmaster, 2565 * Boris Gulko (born 1947), German-born Russian US grandmaster, 2644 *

Isidor Gunsberg Isidore ( ; also spelled Isador, Isadore and Isidor) is an English and French masculine given name. The name is derived from the Greek name ''Isídōros'' (Ἰσίδωρος) and can literally be translated to "gift of Isis." The name has survived ...

(1854–1930), Hungarian-born English * Ilya Gurevich (born 1972), Russian-born US grandmaster and junior World champion, 2575 * Mikhail Gurevich (born 1959), Ukrainian-born Russian

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

grandmaster, 2694 * Dmitry Gurevich Born in 1956, Russian/American grandmaster * Lev Gutman (born 1945), Latvian-born Israeli German grandmaster, 2547 * Daniel Harrwitz (1821–1884),

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n/Polish/German-born English French * Israel Horowitz (1907–1973), US * Bernhard Horwitz (1807–1885), German-born English * Dawid Janowski (1868–1927), Belarusian/Polish-born French grandmaster * Max Judd (1851–1906), US * Gregory Kaidanov (born 1959), Ukrainian-born Russian US grandmaster, 2695 * Julio Kaplan (born 1950), Argentine-born Puerto Rican US grandmaster and World junior champion * Mona May Karff (1908–1998),

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnist ...

n-born US woman master * Isaac Kashdan (1905–1985), US grandmaster *

(born 1963), Russian grandmaster, former World Chess Champion

* Alexander Khalifman (born 1966), Russian grandmaster and World champion, 2702 * Stanisław Kohn (1895–1940), Polish, killed by the Nazis * Ignatz von Kolisch (1837–1889), Hungarian/

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

n-born Austrian grandmaster * George Koltanowski (1903–2000), Belgian-born US grandmaster *

Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. H ...

(1931–2016), Russian-born grandmaster * Yair Kraidman (born 1932), Israeli grandmaster, 2455 * Leon Kremer (1901–1941), Polish * Abraham Kupchik (1892–1970), Belarusian/Polish-born US * Alla Kushnir (1941–2013), Russian Israeli woman grandmaster, 2430 *

Salo Landau Salo (Salomon) Landau (1 April 1903, Bochnia, Galicia, Austria-Hungary – March 1944,Westerbork Cartotheek NIOD Amsterdam Grodziszcze, Świdnica County, Poland) was a Dutch chess player, who died in a Nazi concentration camp. Biography Early ...

(1903–1944), Polish-born Dutch, killed by the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

s * Berthold Lasker (1860–1928), Prussian/German/Polish-born master, elder brother of Emanuel Lasker * Edward Lasker (1885–1981), Polish/German-born US * Emanuel Lasker (1868–1941), Prussian/German/Polish-born US grandmaster and World champion * Anatoly Lein (1931–2018), Russian/Soviet/American grandmaster * Konstantin Lerner (1950–2011), Ukrainian/Israeli grandmaster *

Grigory Levenfish Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish (russian: Григо́рий Я́ковлевич Левенфи́ш; – 9 February 1961) was a Soviet chess player who scored his peak competitive results in the 1920s and 1930s. He was twice Soviet champion ...

(1889–1961), Polish/Russian-born grandmaster * Irina Levitina (born 1954), Russian-born US woman grandmaster *

Vladimir Liberzon Vladimir Mikhailovich Liberzon ( he, ולדימיר מיכאילוביץ' ליברזון; russian: Влади́мир Миха́йлович Либерзо́н; 23 March 1937, in Moscow – 4 August 1996) was a Russian-born Israeli chess grandma ...

(1937–1996), Russian-born Israeli grandmaster * Andor Lilienthal (1911–2010), Russian-born Hungarian/Soviet grandmaster * Samuel Lipschütz (1863–1905), Austria-Hungary/American *

Johann Löwenthal Johann Jacob Löwenthal ( hu, Löwenthal János Jakab; 15 July 1810 – 24 July 1876) was a professional chess master. He was among the top six players of the 1850s. Biography Löwenthal was born in Budapest, the son of a Jewish merchant. He ...

(1810–1876), Hungarian-born US English * Moishe Lowtzky (1881–1940), Ukrainian-born Polish, killed by Nazis *

Gyula Makovetz Gyula Makovetz (Makowetz, Makovets) (29 December 1860, Arad – 8 August 1903, Budapest) was a Hungarian journalist and chess player. He edited the chess magazine ''Budapesti Sakkszemle'' from 1889 to 1894. Makovetz was 1st, ahead of Johann Herma ...

(1860–1903), Hungarian * Jonathan Mestel (born 1957), English grandmaster and World U-16 champion, 2540 * Houshang Mashian (born 1938), Iranian-Israeli chess master * Jacques Mieses (1865–1954), German-born English grandmaster *

(1910–1997), Polish-born Polish/Argentine grandmaster * Daniel Naroditsky (born 1995), American grandmaster and chess streamer *

Ian Nepomniachtchi Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi ( rus, Ян Алекса́ндрович Непо́мнящий, r=Yan Aleksandrovich Nepomnyashchiy, p=ˈjan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈpomnʲɪɕːɪj, a=Ru-Ian Alexandrovich Nepomnyashchij.ogg; born 14 J ...

(born 1990), Russian grandmaster *

(1886–1935), Latvian-born Danish *

Isaías Pleci Isaías Pleci (also Isaías Pléci) (27 October 1907 – 27 December 1979) was an Argentine 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 ...

(1907–1979), Argentine * Judit Polgár (born 1976), Hungarian grandmaster, 2735 * Susan Polgár (born 1969), Hungarian-born US grandmaster and World champion, 2577 * Zsófia Polgár (born 1974), Hungarian-born Israeli international master, 2500 * Lev Polugaevsky (1934–1995), Belarusian/Soviet grandmaster, 2640 * Dawid Przepiórka (1880–1940), Polish, killed by Nazis * Lev Psakhis (born 1958), Russian/Soviet/Israeli grandmaster * Abram Rabinovich (1878–1943), Lithuanian/Russian * Ilya Rabinovich (1891–1942), Russian *

Teimour Radjabov Teimour Boris oghlu Radjabov (also spelled Teymur Rajabov; az, Teymur Boris oğlu Rəcəbov, ; born 12 March 1987) is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster, ranked number 18 in the world A former child prodigy, he earned the title of Grandmaster ...

(born 1987),

Azerbaijani Azerbaijani may refer to: * Something of, or related to Azerbaijan * Azerbaijanis * Azerbaijani language See also * Azerbaijan (disambiguation) * Azeri (disambiguation) * Azerbaijani cuisine * Culture of Azerbaijan The culture of Azerbaijan ...

grandmaster * Nukhim Rashkovsky (born 1946), Russian grandmaster * Éloi Relange (born 1976), French grandmaster *

(1911–1992), Polish-born US grandmaster * Richard Réti (1889–1929), Slovakian/Hungarian-born Czech * Maxim Rodshtein (born 1989), Israeli U-16 World champion *

Kenneth Rogoff Kenneth Saul Rogoff (born March 22, 1953) is an American economist and chess Grandmaster. He is the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and professor of economics at Harvard University. Early life Rogoff grew up in Rochester, New Yo ...

(born 1953), US grandmaster * Samuel Rosenthal (1837–1902), Polish-born French *

Eduardas Rozentalis Eduardas Rozentalis (born 27 May 1963 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian chess grandmaster. He played for the Lithuanian team in every Chess Olympiad since 1992, except in 2000 and 2012. Rozentalis won the Lithuanian Chess Championship in 1981, 19 ...

(born 1963), Lithuanian grandmaster *

Levy Rozman Levy Rozman (born December 5, 1995), known online as GothamChess, is an American chess International Master and commentator. He produces content on the online platforms Twitch and YouTube. Early life Rozman was born in Brooklyn, New York, o ...

(born 1995), American chess master * Akiba Rubinstein (1880–1961), Polish grandmaster * Gersz Salwe (1862–1920), Polish grandmaster * Leonid Shamkovich (1923–2005), Soviet/Israeli/Canadian/American grandmaster * Yury Shulman (born 1975), Belarusian/Soviet/American grandmaster *

Gennady Sosonko Gennadi "Genna" Sosonko (russian: Геннадий Борисович Сосонко, ''Gennady Borisovich Sosonk''o; born 18 May 1943) is a Soviet-born Netherlands, Dutch chess player and writer. He has been awarded the title Grandmaster (chess), ...

(born 1943), Russian-born Dutch grandmaster * Jon Speelman (born 1956), English grandmaster * Rudolf Spielmann (1883–1942), Austrian-born Swedish * Leonid Stein (1934–1973), Ukrainian-born Russian grandmaster * Endre Steiner (1901–1944), Hungarian, killed by the Nazis * Herman Steiner (1905–1955), Slovakian/Hungarian-born US *

Lajos Steiner Lajos Steiner (14 June 1903, in Nagyvárad (Oradea) – 22 April 1975, in Sydney) was a Hungarian–born Australian chess master. Steiner was one of four children of Bernat Steiner, a mathematics teacher, and his wife Cecilia,(née Schwarz) ...

(1903–1975), Romanian/Hungarian-born Australian *

(1836–1900), Czech-born Austrian and US grandmaster and World champion * Emil Sutovsky (born 1977), Israeli grandmaster, 2697 * Peter Svidler (born 1976), Russian grandmaster,

champion * László Szabó (1917–1998), Hungarian grandmaster * Mark Taimanov (1926–2016), Soviet/Russian grandmaster *

(1936–1992), Soviet/Latvian grandmaster and World champion, 2645 * Siegbert Tarrasch (1862–1934), Polish/German grandmaster and Senior World champion * Savielly Tartakower (1887–1956), Russian-born Austrian/Polish/French grandmaster * Anna Ushenina (born 1985), Ukraine-born Women's World Champion * Anatoly Vaisser (born 1949), Kazakh-born Soviet/French grandmaster *

Joshua Waitzkin Joshua Waitzkin (born December 4, 1976) is an American former chess player, martial arts competitor, and author. As a child, he was recognized as a prodigy, and won the U.S. Junior Chess championship in 1993 and 1994. The film ''Searching for B ...

(born 1976), American Junior Champion and martial arts champion * Max Weiss (1857–1927), Slovakian/Hungarian-born Austrian * Simon Winawer (1838–1919), Polish * Leonid Yudasin (born 1959), Russian-born Israeli grandmaster, 2692 * Tatiana Zatulovskaya (1935–2017), Azerbaijani-born Russian Israeli woman grandmaster * Mark Stolberg (1922–1942) Russian *

(1842–1888), Polish-born German English

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jewish Chess Players, List Of

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

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 ...

Lists of sportspeople

List

See also

References

Further reading

External links