Markas (Marcos) Luckis (17 January 1905, in Pskov – 9 February 1973, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

) was a Lithuanian–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 to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

master.

Biography

Luckis twice won the Kaunas City Chess Championship in 1927 and 1928. Markas Luckis played for

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

in five official and one unofficial

Chess Olympiads 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 ...

. * In July 1931, on reserve board at 4th Chess Olympiad in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

(+5 –4 =6); * In July 1933, on fourth board at 5th Chess Olympiad in

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

(+3 –4 =1); * In August 1935, on reserve board at 6th Chess Olympiad 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 ...

(+8 –2 =6); * In August/September 1936, on fourth board at 3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

(+9 –2 =9); * In July/August 1937, on fourth board at

7th Chess Olympiad The 7th Chess Olympiad ( sv, Den 7:e Schackolympiad), organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and (unofficial) women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between July 31 and August 14, 1937, ...

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 ...

(+7 –1 =9); * In August/September 1939, on third board at

8th Chess Olympiad The 8th Chess Olympiad ( es, La 8a Olimpíada de ajedrez, link=no), organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), comprised an open tournament, as well as a Women's World Championship contest. The main team event took place betwe ...

(+7 –8 =5). Luckis won three individual medals: one silver in 1936, and two bronze in 1935 and 1937. In September 1939, when World War II broke out, Luckis, along with many other participants of the 8th Chess Olympiad, decided to stay permanently in Argentina. In October 1939, he took 8th at Buenos Aires (Círculo de Ajedrez). The event was won by

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 ...

and

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 ...

. In 1941, he took 5th at Sao Pedro de Piracicaba. The event was won by

Erich Eliskases Erich Gottlieb Eliskases (15 February 1913 – 2 February 1997) was a chess player who represented Austria, Germany and Argentina in international competition. In the late 1930s he was considered a potential contender for the World Championship. ...

and

Carlos Guimard Carlos Enrique Guimard (6 April 1913 – 11 September 1998) was an Argentine chess Grandmaster. He was born in Santiago del Estero. His granddaughter Isabel Leonard is a celebrated mezzo-soprano. Biography Guimard was thrice Argentine Cha ...

. In 1941, he took 2nd, behind Eliskases, at Montevideo. Marcos Luckis played several times in international tournaments at Mar del Plata. In 1942, he tied for 6-7th. In 1946, he tied for 5-8th. In 1947, he took 16th. In 1948, he tied for 10-12th. In 1949, he took 5th. In 1950, he took 17th. In 1952, he tied for 11-13 th. In 1962, he tied for 7-8th. He also played in Argentine championships at Buenos Aires. In 1941, he finished 1st, but he could not win the title as a then-foreign player (Lithuanian citizen). In 1947, he took 2nd, behind

Héctor Rossetto Héctor Decio Rossetto (8 September 1922 in Bahía Blanca, Argentina – 23 January 2009 in Buenos Aires) was an Argentinian chess player. He earned the title of International Master in 1950 and the Grandmaster title in 1960. He was a five-ti ...

. In 1961, he took 2nd, again behind Rossetto. In 1963, he tied for 8-9th (

Raimundo García Raimundo García (27 May 1936 – 13 October 2020) was an Argentine chess master. Career At the beginning of his career, he took 7th at Santa Fe 1956 (Miguel Najdorf won). Then he tied for 10-11th in Argentine Chess Championship ( Hermann Pilnik ...

won). In 1965, he tied for 10-11th (

Raúl Sanguineti Raúl Carlos SanguinetiSometimes spelled ''Sanguinetti''. The Italian surname ''Sanguinetti'' is spelled with a double ''t''. This case makes an exception, probably due to an error in Sanguineti's ancestors immigration papers. Correct spell can be ...

won). In 1951, Luckis tied for 14-16th at Mar del Plata/Buenos Aires (1st zonal tournament for South America). In 1966, he tied for 11-13th at Buenos Aires/Río Hondo (zt).BrasilBase
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Notable chess games

Markas Luckis vs Karel Skalička (CSR), Prague 1931, 4th Olympiad, Queen’s Gambit Declined, Classical, D61, 1-0Markas Luckis vs Arthur MacKenzie (SCO), Folkestone 1933, 5th Olympiad, King's Indian, Fianchetto, E67, 1-0Markas Luckis vs Moshe Czerniak (Palestine), Warsaw 1935, 6th Olympiad, Slav Defence, D11, 1-0Markas Luckis vs Victor Kahn (FRA), Buenos Aires 1939, 8th Olympiad, Queen’s Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch, D41, 1-0Mieczysław (Miguel) Najdorf vs Markas (Marcos) Luckis, Buenos Aires(Círculo de Ajedrez) 1939, Sicilian, Dragon, B72, 0-1Marcos Luckis vs Hector Rossetto, Montevideo 1941, Grünfeld, Russian Variation, D96, 1-0Marcos Luckis vs Gideon Stahlberg, Mar del Plata 1944, Sicilian, Scheveningen, B84, 1-0

Marcos Luckis vs Donald Byrne, La Plata–New York radio match 1947, King’s Indian, Classical, E94, 1-0Francisco Benko vs Marcos Luckis, Buenos Aires 1961, ARG-ch, Caro-Kann, Panov Attack, B14, 0-1Alberto Foguelman vs Marcos Luckis, Buenos Aires 1965, ARG-ch, Catalan, Closed, E09, 0-1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luckis, Markas 1905 births 1973 deaths Lithuanian chess players Argentine chess players Lithuanian emigrants to Argentina Chess Olympiad competitors 20th-century chess players