Moshe Czerniak (born Moizes Czerniak, also knowns as Miguel Czerniak; he, משה צ'רניאק; 3 February 1910 – 31 August 1984) was a Polish-Israeli chess player. He was awarded the title of

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 ...

(IM) 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 ...

in 1952.

Biography

In 1930 Moshe Czerniak took ninth at Warsaw in an event won by

Paulino 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- ...

. In 1934 Czerniak

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

from Poland to

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 ...

(then the British Mandate). In April 1935, he tied for 7th–8th in Tel Aviv (the 2nd

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (a.k.a. the World Maccabiah Games; he, משחקי המכביה, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics"), first held in 1932, are an international Jewish and Israeli multi-sp ...

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 ...

won). He was

Israeli Chess Championship The Israeli Chess Championship is a chess event held every year in Israel. History From 1951 to 1971, the men's and women's championships were held every two years, eventually becoming an annual event. The 1998 Championship was held 8–24 Novemb ...

in 1936 and 1938. In April 1939, he played in the First Lasker Chess Club Championship in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

. In June 1939, he became the champion of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. Czerniak played for his adopted country at first reserve board in the 6th

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 ...

at Warsaw 1935 (+6 =2 −5), and at first board in the 8th Olympiad at

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 ...

1939 (+4 =2 −10).Moshe Czerniak
team chess record at OlimpBase In September 1939, when

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 ...

broke out, Czerniak, along with many other participants in the

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 ...

, decided to stay in Argentina. Immediately after the 8th Olympiad, in October 1939, he tied for 3rd–4th with

Gideon Ståhlberg Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg (26 January 1908 – 26 May 1967) was a Swedish chess player. He was among the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became N ...

, behind

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 the

Buenos Aires 1939 chess tournament The event was held in Buenos Aires, immediately after the 8th Chess Olympiad, from 2nd to 19 October 1939 at the ''Círculo de Ajedrez'', one of the two main chess clubs in the city. Play took place at the club's long-time premises at Bartolomé Mit ...

(''Circulo''). In 1940, he tied for 7–9th in Argentine championships (''Torneo Mayor''). In 1941, he won in Quilmes. In 1941, he took 2nd, behind

in Buenos Aires, and tied for 6th–8th in the

Mar del Plata 1941 chess tournament The fourth Mar del Plata chess tournament was held in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina, in March 1941. The first three Mar del Plata international tournaments (1928, 1934, 1936) were regarded as the third, fourth, and sixth South American Che ...

. In 1943, he took 2nd, behind Najdorf, in Rosario, and took 3rd in Buenos Aires. In 1944 and in 1948, he won in Buenos Aires. In 1949, he took 4th in Mar del Plata, and tied for 3rd–4th in Argentine championships (''Torneo Mayor''). In 1950, he tied for 9th–11th in Mar del Plata. In 1950 Czerniak settled in

. In 1951, he won at Vienna (the 4th

Schlechter Memorial Carl Schlechter Memorial Tournament (''Carl-Schlechter-Gedenkturnier'') is an irregularly scheduled chess competition initiated to honor the memory of leading Austrian chess master Carl Schlechter (1874–1918), who died as a result of privation ...

). In 1951, he won at

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

. In 1955, he won the Israeli Championship. In 1958, he took 2nd, behind

Jan Hein Donner Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner (July 6, 1927 – November 27, 1988) was a Dutch chess grandmaster (GM) and writer. Donner was born in The Hague and won the Dutch Championship in 1954, 1957, and 1958. He took part in the Internacional Chess Tou ...

, at Beverwijk. In 1961, he tied for 1st–3rd with

Milan Matulović Milan Matulović (10 June 1935 – 9 October 2013) was a chess grandmaster who was the second or third strongest Yugoslav player for much of the 1960s and 1970s behind Svetozar Gligorić and possibly Borislav Ivkov. He was primarily active befor ...

and

Petar Trifunović Petar Trifunović (31 August 1910 – 8 December 1980) was a Yugoslav chess player, who has been awarded the international grandmaster title, and five times Yugoslav champion. Chess career Yugoslavia was for many years the world's second stron ...

at Netanya. In 1962, he tied for 1st–2nd with Hiong Liong Tan at Amsterdam (2nd IBM Tournament). In 1963, he tied for 2nd–3rd with Donner, behind

Lajos Portisch Lajos Portisch (born 4 April 1937) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated ...

, at Amsterdam (3rd IBM). In 1963, he took 2nd, behind

Nikola Padevsky Nikola Bochev Padevsky ( bg, Никола Пъдевски; born May 29, 1933) is a Bulgarian chess Grandmaster. Padevsky was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second largest city. He became Bulgarian National Champion in 1954, going on to win it in ...

, at Polanica Zdrój ( Rubinstein Memorial). In 1964, he tied for 4th–9th at Polanica Zdrój. In 1965, he won at Netanya. In 1966, he tied for 7th–8th at Tel Aviv. In 1968, he tied for 2nd–3rd with

Daniel Yanofsky Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, (March 25, 1925 – March 5, 2000), commonly known as Daniel Yanofsky or Abe Yanofsky, was a Canadian chess player, chess writer, chess arbiter, and lawyer. He was Canada's first Grandmaster and an eight-time Canadian ...

, behind Robert Fischer, at Netanya. Czerniak played for Israel in nine

s: 1952, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1968, and 1974. He won the team championship of Israel in 1974 at the age of 64. Czerniak was awarded the

title in 1952. He wrote many chess books in three languages. In 1956 he founded the first Israeli chess magazine, ''64 Squares''. For more than thirty years he was the chess editor of the Israeli daily ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

''. He was also the chess teacher of IM and Grandmaster of chess composition, Yochanan Afek. In 1976 he got a special award from the Israeli education ministry for his lifelong contribution to the education of chess. The yearly chess festival in Tel Aviv is named after him. Furthermore, a variation in the

Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation In 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 ...

is named after him.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Czerniak, Moshe 1910 births 1984 deaths Chess International Masters Chess Olympiad competitors Israeli chess players 20th-century Israeli Jews Jewish chess players Polish chess players Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Polish expatriates in Argentina Sportspeople from Tel Aviv Sportspeople from Warsaw 20th-century chess players

Biography

See also

References

External links