Leonid Aleksandrovich Shamkovich (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Леони́д Алекса́ндрович Шамко́вич; June 1, 1923 – April 22, 2005) was a

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 ...

Grandmaster and chess writer. He was born in a Jewish family in Rostov-on-Don in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Chess career

Shamkovich became a Grandmaster in 1965 and won several tournaments, with his best victory coming at Sochi in 1967, where he tied for first place with

Nikolai Krogius Nikolai Vladimirovich Krogius (; 22 July 1930 – 14 July 2022) was a Russian chess Grandmaster, International Arbiter (1985), psychologist, chess coach, chess administrator, and author. He won several tournament titles at Sochi and in Easte ...

, Vladimir Simagin, Boris Spassky and

Alexander Zaitsev Alexander Zaytsev may refer to: *Alexander Zaytsev (artist), Alexander Dmitryevich Zaytsev (1903–1982), Russian painter and art educator *Alexander Zaytsev (pilot), Alexander Andreyevich Zaytsev (1911–1965), Soviet aircraft pilot and Hero of the ...

. Other notable results included a tie for 3rd at the 1962

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 millio ...

Championship (behind

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 ...

and Evgeny Vasiukov) and finishing third at

Mariánské Lázně Mariánské Lázně (; german: Marienbad) is a spa town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Most of the town's buildings come from its Golden Era in the second half of the 19th centu ...

1965 (behind

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 ...

and

Vlastimil Hort Vlastimil Hort (born 12 January 1944) is a German chess Grandmaster. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the 1977–78 Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship, but never qualified ...

). Shamkovich left the Soviet Union in 1975, moving first to Israel, then Canada, and finally the United States, where he lived the remainder of his life. He won the 1975 Canadian Open Chess Championship. He continued to play through the 1990s, and wrote several chess books. His ''Sacrifice in Chess'' begins: "A real sacrifice involves a radical change in the character of a game which cannot be effected without foresight, fantasy, and the willingness to risk."

Personal life

His aristocratic bearing and manner of speech earned him the nickname "Prince". Shamkovich died of complications from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

and

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in his

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

home on April 22, 2005.

Books

* ''Caro–Kann 4 ...Nd7'', Leonid Shamkovich &

Eric Schiller Eric Schiller (March 20, 1955 – November 3, 2018) was an American chess player, trainer, arbiter and one of the most prolific authors of books on chess in the 20th century. Early life and education Schiller was born in New York City. He atten ...

, Chess Enterprises, 1987. . * ''Chess Sacrifices'', Leonid Shamkovich & A. Kalajs (Translator), Chess Player, 1976. . * ''The Chess Terrorist's Handbook'', Leonid Shamkovich & Paul Hodges (Editor), American Chess Promotions, 1995. . * ''Fischer–Spassky 1992: World Chess Championship Rematch'', Leonid Shamkovich, Jan R. Cartier & Lou Hays (Editor), Hays Publishing, 1993. . * ''The Gruenfeld Defense'', Leonid Shamkovich & Jan R. Cartier, Hays Publishing, 1997. . * ''Karpov–Kasparov 1990: An Expert Analysis'', Don Maddox, Ron Henley & Leonid Shamkovich (Contributor),

Three Rivers Press Three Rivers Press is the trade paperback imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House. It publishes original paperback titles as well as paperback reprints of books issued initially in hardcover by the other Crown imprint ...

, 1991. . * ''Kasparov's Opening Repertoire'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, B.T. Batsford, 1995. . * ''Killer Chess Tactics: World Champion Tactics and Combinations'', Raymond Keene, Eric Schiller & Leonid Shamkovich,

Cardoza Publishing Avery Cardoza is an American author, professional gambler, and publisher. Cardoza is the owner of the Las Vegas-based Gambler's Book Shop / GBC Press Gambler's Book Club / GBC Press is a bookstore & small press dedicated to gambling. Now lo ...

, 2003 (2nd Edition). . * ''The Modern Chess Sacrifice'', Leonid Shamkovich,

David McKay Company David McKay Publications (also known as David McKay Company) was an American book publisher which also published some of the first comic books, including the long-running titles ''Ace Comics'', ''King Comics (David McKay), King Comics'', and ''M ...

, 1978 (2nd Edition). . * ''A New Era'', Michael Khodarkovsky, Leonid Shamkovich &

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born 13 April 1963) is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist and commentator. His peak rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by ...

(Foreword by), Ballantine Books, 1997. . * ''Play The Tarrasch'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller,

Pergamon Press Pergamon Press was an Oxford-based publishing house, founded by Paul Rosbaud and Robert Maxwell, that published scientific and medical books and journals. Originally called Butterworth-Springer, it is now an imprint of Elsevier. History The ...

, 1984. . * ''Sacrifice in Chess'', Leonid Shamkovich, Alfred Kalnajs & Son, 1972. . * ''Saving Lost Positions'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, B.T. Batsford, 1987. . * ''Saving Lost Positions'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller,

Ishi Press Samuel Howard Sloan (born September 7, 1944) is an American perennial candidate and former broker-dealer. In 1978, he won a case ''pro se'' before the United States Supreme Court, becoming the last non-lawyer to argue a case in front of the cour ...

, revised in 2011. . * ''Schliemann Defense'', Eric Schiller & Leonid Shamkovich,‎

, 2012. . * ''The Schliemann Defense • Volume 1 Tartakower Variation: 5...Nf6'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, Chess Enterprises, 1993. . * ''The Schliemann Defense • Volume 2 Classical Variation'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, Chess Enterprises, 1996. . * ''Spanish Gambits'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, B.T. B.T. Batsford, 1986. . * ''Spanish Gambits'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller,

, updated in 2011. . * ''Spanish: Schliemann (Jaenisch)'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, B.T. Batsford, 1983. . * ''Tactical Chess Training'', Leonid Shamkovich & Jan R. Cartier, Hays Publishing, 1996. . * ''The Tactical World Of Chess'', Leonid Shamkovich,

, 1981. . * ''World Champion Tactics'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller,

, 1999. .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shamkovich, Leonid 1923 births 2005 deaths Chess grandmasters Chess theoreticians Soviet chess players Jewish chess players Soviet Jews Deaths from Parkinson's disease Soviet chess writers Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Neurological disease deaths in New York (state) Sportspeople from Rostov-on-Don Soviet expatriate sportspeople in Israel Soviet expatriate sportspeople in the United States Soviet expatriate sportspeople in Canada Soviet emigrants to the United States

Chess career

Personal life

Books

See also

References

External links