Lev Solomonovich Aronin (russian: Лев Соломонович Аронин; 20 July 1920, Kuibyshev – 4 October 1982,

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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 ...

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 ...

. He was a

meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...

by profession.

Early years

Lev Solomonovich Aronin played in eight

USSR Chess Championships The USSR Chess Championship was played from 1921 to 1991. Organized by the USSR Chess Federation, it was the strongest national chess championship ever held, with eight world chess champions and four world championship finalists among its winners ...

, which were the strongest tournaments in the world during his era, and placed as high as a tie for 2nd–4th places in 1950 at Moscow. He was the youngest of three brothers, with Gregory (1913–2007) being the eldest, and Efim (1915–1989) being the second. Gregory taught him chess at the age of 8, and he could recall that at the age of 14, Lev beat him and Efim simultaneously without looking at the boards while they were making the moves over the chessboards for Lev and themselves. Gregory later told:

He was lying on the couch at another room and shouted the moves to us, for each board, and we were making them over the boards and shouting back our respective moves. It was amazing. Both games lasted for no longer than around 30 moves each, which is not trivial given both me and Efim were quite strong chess players.

Early competitive results

Aronin lost a match quite badly in 1944, to the strong, experienced Master

Alexander Konstantinopolsky Alexander Markovich Konstantinopolsky (russian: Александр Маркович Константинопольский; 19 February 1910 – 21 September 1990) was a Soviet chess player, trainer and writer. He was a five-time champion of Ki ...

, by +1−6=5. In an All-USSR First Category tournament at Gorky, 1945, Aronin scored 5/15, for 14th place out of 16 players. However, he then achieved a very fine win in a tournament (likely a USSR Championship quarter-final) at

Erevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

1945, scoring an unbeaten 12/15. He then scored 7½/15 in the Soviet Championship semifinal,

1945, tying for 8th–9th places. In a Candidate Masters' tournament at

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, 1946, Aronin won clear first place with 11/14, losing only one game. This earned him the Soviet Master title, and marked a big improvement in his play in just two years.

Soviet Master

In 1946 at

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

, in the USSR Championship semifinal, Aronin made an excellent tie for second place, with 11/17. This earned him a place in his first Soviet final, held in

Leningrad 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 ...

1947 (15th URS-ch), and he performed creditably in super-strong company with 7/19, in a tie for 17th–18th places. Aronin won the 1947 Championship of

Region (Oblast) with an unbeaten score of 8½/10. He then tied for sixth place in the Moscow championship of 1947 with a score of 7½/14. He placed second in the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n Championship at Kuibyshev with 7½/13, behind only

Nikolay Novotelnov Nikolay Novotelnov (russian: Николай Новотельнов; 9 December 1911, Saint Petersburg – 30 December 2006, Saint Petersburg) was Russian chess International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body ...

. Then, at

1947, the Soviet qualifying semifinal for the next final, he tied for first place with

Mark Taimanov Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (russian: Марк Евгеньевич Тайманов; 7 February 1926 – 28 November 2016) was one of the leading Soviet and Russian chess players, among the world's top 20 players from 1946 to 1971. A prolific ch ...

, scoring 10½/15, and qualified for his second Soviet final. The next year saw the Soviet Championship (16th URS-ch) held in

, and Aronin scored 6/18, for 18th position. Aronin again won the Championship of

Region (Oblast) in 1948 with an unbeaten score of 11½/13. He played in the Russian Championship at

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

1948, tying for 5th–6th places, with a score of 8½/15. He had to return to qualifying for the next national championship, but came through the gauntlet of the semifinal, with a fine 11/16 in

1949, tying for 2nd–3rd places, to advance. The final (17th URS-ch) was also held in

, and this marked Aronin's arrival at the elite level, as he posted a strong 10/19, good for a tie for 9th–10th places, and a 2636 performance rating, according to

chessmetrics Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system. Implementation Chessmetrics is a weighted average of past performance. The score considers a player's win percen ...

.com. This was his first Grandmaster-level result (assuming a GM result as 2600+).

Reaches the Soviet elite

Despite his solid finish in 1949, Aronin was not exempt into the next Soviet final. To qualify, he played the semifinal at Gorky 1950, which worked out much better than his 1945 visit there. He scored 10½/15, for clear first place. Aronin also played the Russian Championship at Gorky that same year; he tied for 2nd–4th places, with 7½/12, behind only

Rashid Nezhmetdinov Rashid Gibiatovich Nezhmetdinov (Tatar language, Tatar: , ; russian: Раши́д Гибя́тович Нежметди́нов; December 15, 1912 – June 3, 1974) was a Soviet Union, Soviet chess player, chess writer, and checkers player. Thou ...

. Moving on to Moscow 1950 (18th URS-ch), this tournament marked the high point of his career, as he scored 11/17 for a tie of 2nd–4th places, behind only

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

. He was exempt from qualifying the next year. Although not quite as strong the next year, Aronin scored 9/17 at Moscow 1951 (19th URS-ch) and a tie for 9th–10th places. Aronin had to go back to the semifinal stage to qualify for the next final, however, and he qualified successfully at

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

1951. The 20th URS-ch was held at

1952, and Aronin dropped a bit from previous championships, managing only 9/19, for 12th place. Aronin was awarded the

title in 1950 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 ...

, the World Chess Federation.

International chance denied

Very little about Aronin's chess can be found in English-language sources. However, GM

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 ...

, in his acclaimed 1995 book ''The Sorcerer's Apprentice'' (coauthored with Tom Furstenberg) is one writer who has something to say. Bronstein wrote that he had played several games with Aronin, and knew him quite well. Bronstein's first encounter with Aronin, In fact, Aronin did not play in the 1955 Soviet Championship final, referred to by Bronstein, with the game against Smyslov. Likely Bronstein means the 1951 Championship, in which Smyslov and Aronin both played. And for the 1952 qualification situation with Kotov, referred to by Bronstein, Aronin had finished with 9/17 in the 1951 Championship, the Soviet qualifying event for the 1952 Interzonal, while Kotov had 8/17 in that event. Several players who had finished ahead of Aronin in that 1951 event were otherwise exempt past the 1952 Interzonal stage: Botvinnik as World Champion, and

, Smyslov, and Bronstein, based on their earlier strong performances from previous World Championship cycles. Taimanov,

Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller (russian: Ефим Петрович Геллер, uk, Юхим Петрович Геллер; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Champi ...

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 centenaria ...

, and

Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (, ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style, ...

all finished ahead of Aronin in the 1951 Soviet final, and those four played in the 1952 Interzonal, along with Kotov; all five Soviets also played well enough to move on from

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

to the 1953

Candidates A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be election, elected to an official, office — in this case a Preselection, candida ...

' Tournament at Zurich.

Later tournament results

Aronin's next strong performance took place in the Soviet Team Championship,

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

1954. There, he scored 6½/10. Then, at Leningrad 1956, he was again in form, with 11½/19, tying for first with

Abraham Khasin Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the Covenant (biblical), special ...

Alexander Tolush Alexander Kazimirovich Tolush (1 May 1910 – 3 March 1969) was a Soviet chess grandmaster. He was one of Boris Spassky's mentors. Tolush was born and died in Saint Petersburg (in 1969 called Leningrad). He earned the title of International Mast ...

, Konstantin Klaman, and

Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky ( rus, Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский, Borís Vasíl'yevich Spásskiy; born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 ...

. He went back to the semifinal stage for the 1957 Soviet final, and he qualified through with a fine 14/19 at the semifinal in

1957, second place behind Taimanov, and advanced to the final. Then, at the 1957 Soviet Championship in Moscow (24th URS-ch), Aronin scored 11/21 to tie for 10th–11th places. In an International tournament in Leningrad later in 1957, Aronin scored 12/19, good for a tie for third–fourth places, behind Spassky and

, and tied with Taimanov. Aronin was selected for the Soviet team for the first European Team Championship,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

1957, and scored 1½/3 on the second reserve board. The Soviets won team gold, and in an utterly dominant performance, captured individual gold medals on each of the top nine boards. In the Alekhine Memorial, Moscow 1959, Aronin had a minus score of 5/11, and tied for 7th–9th places. In the Moscow Championship of 1961, he tied for 3rd–5th places with 11/17. He played in an International tournament at

1961, and finished fourth, with 6½/11. He trailed only winners

Evgeni Vasiukov Evgeni Andreyevich Vasiukov (russian: Евгений Андреевич Васюко́в, March 5, 1933 – May 10, 2018) was a Russian chess player, one of the strongest in the world during his peak. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by ...

and

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov ( rus, Васи́лий Васи́льевич Смысло́в, Vasíliy Vasíl'yevich Smyslóv; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, who was World Chess Champion from 1957 to ...

, and third-placed

Friðrik Ólafsson Friðrik Ólafsson (born 26 January 1935) is an Icelandic chess grandmaster. He was president of FIDE from 1978 to 1982. He is a six-time Icelandic Chess Champion and a two-time Nordic Chess Champion. Chess career Friðrik was born in Reykja ...

, while finishing ahead of several Grandmasters. For the next Soviet final, he had to qualify, and did so at

1962. Then, in the 1962 Soviet Championship at

(30th URS-ch), Aronin scored 10½/19. He had a poor tournament at the

1962 International, scoring just 5/15. He won the

Championship in 1965. Unfortunately, his chess playing career was eventually cut short due to ongoing health problems.

Legacy and style

Aronin never got the chance to compete internationally, outside the Soviet Union, in an individual tournament. It is entirely possible that his career as a meteorologist worked against him in this respect;

defection In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

s of several very strong Soviet players, including as

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 ...

Efim Bogolyubov Efim Bogoljubow ( or ), also known as Ewfim Dimitrijewitsch Bogoljubow, ( (); also Romanized ''Bogoljubov'', ''Bogolyubov''; uk, Юхим Дмитрович Боголюбов, Yukhym Dmytrovych Boholiubov; April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952) ...

, and Fedor Bohatirchuk to the West following the Soviet takeover in 1917 may have made the Soviet chess organization wary of allowing Aronin to travel outside the USSR with his important (and possibly secret) scientific knowledge. His only international chances came in a team event in 1957, and in a team match against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

that same year, where he played two games. In every Soviet tournament he played, he had to face a number of very strong compatriots. Stuck behind the incredibly deep Soviet vanguard, which in 1957 had 15 of the world's top 20 players, Aronin's chances to go abroad never came, since he was 37 by this time, and international opportunities were reserved for proven winners and younger players. Aronin's style tended to be positional in nature, with the tactics arising naturally out of the position rather than being forced, and he was one of the leading lights with the King's Indian Defence from the mid-1940s, as this defence became very popular. He was a fine theoretician who was dangerous for virtually everyone he met; during his career he scored wins over almost all the top Soviet players, excepting

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. Botvinnik ...

and

. One of the mainline variations in the Orthodox

King's Indian Defence The King's Indian Defence is a common chess opening. It is defined by the following moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 g6 Black intends to follow up with 3...Bg7 and 4...d6 (the Grünfeld Defence arises when Black plays 3...d5 instead, and is cons ...

is named the Aronin–Taimanov Variation, in honour of him and of GM

. The variation runs 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1. Aronin died at the age of 62 in Moscow on October 4, 1982.

Notable chess games

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aronin, Lev Solomonovich 1920 births 1983 deaths Russian Jews Russian chess players Jewish chess players Soviet chess players Chess International Masters Chess theoreticians Sportspeople from Moscow 20th-century chess players