Savielly Tartakower
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Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish and French
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 ...
player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster in its inaugural year, 1950. Tartakower was also a leading chess journalist and author of the 1920s and 1930s.


Early career

Tartakower was born on 21 February 1887 in
Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...
, Russia, to Austrian citizens of Jewish origin. His father, a first-generation Christian, had him christened with the Latin form of his name, Sabelius.David Lovejoy (2008). ''Moral victories: the story of Savielly Tartakover'' (a historical novel), Echo Publications.
ASIN Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononymously as Asin, is a former Indian actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. She has received three Filmfare Awards. She ...
: B0027P89DG.
His parents were killed in a robbery in Rostov-on-Don in 1911. Tartakower stayed mainly in Austria. He graduated from the law faculties of universities in
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
and
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
. He spoke German and French. During his studies he became interested in chess and started attending chess meetings in various cafés for chess players in Vienna. He met many notable masters of the time, among them
Carl Schlechter Carl Schlechter (2 March 1874 – 27 December 1918) was a leading Austro-Hungarian chess master and theoretician at the turn of the 20th century. He is best known for drawing a World Chess Championship match with Emanuel Lasker. Early life Sch ...
,
Géza Maróczy Géza Maróczy (; 3 March 1870 – 29 May 1951) was a Hungarian chess player, one of the leading players in the world in his time. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Early career G ...
(against whom he played what was probably his most famous ),
Milan Vidmar Milan Vidmar (22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, Chess theory, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugu ...
, and
Richard Réti Richard Selig Réti (28 May 1889 – 6 June 1929) was an Austro-Hungarian, later Czechoslovakian, chess player, chess author, and composer of endgame studies. He was one of the principal proponents of hypermodernism in chess. With the exc ...
. His first achievement was first place in a tournament in
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
in 1906. Three years later he achieved second place in the tournament in Vienna, losing only to Réti. During World War I Tartakower was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army and served as a staff officer on various posts. He went to the Russian front with the Viennese infantry house-regiment. After the war he emigrated to France, and settled in Paris. Although Tartakower did not speak
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
, after Poland regained its independence in 1918 he accepted Polish citizenship and became one of the country's most prominent honorary ambassadors. He was the captain and trainer of the Polish chess team in six international tournaments, winning a gold medal for Poland at the Hamburg Olympiad in 1930.


Chess professional

In France, Tartakower decided to become a professional chess player. He also started cooperating with various chess magazines, and wrote several books and brochures on chess. The most famous of these, ''Die Hypermoderne Schachpartie'' (''The Hypermodern Chess Game'') was published in 1924 and has been issued in almost 100 editions since. Tartakower took part in many of the most important chess tournaments of his day. In 1927 and 1928 he won two tournaments in
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
and shared first place with
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 ...
in London. On the latter occasion, he defeated such notable players as Frank Marshall,
Milan Vidmar Milan Vidmar (22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, Chess theory, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugu ...
, and
Efim Bogoljubov 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) ...
. In 1930 he won the
Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
tournament, beating Mir Sultan Khan by two points. Further down the list were, among others,
Akiba Rubinstein Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1 December 1880 – 14 March 1961) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Rubinstein was granted the title Grandmaster (chess), ...
, Nimzowitsch, and Marshall. Tartakower won the
Polish Chess Championship Individual Polish Chess Championship is the most important Polish chess tournament, aiming at selecting the best chess players in Poland. Based on the results of the tournament (mainly), the Polish Chess Federation selects the national and subsequ ...
twice, at Warsaw 1935 and Jurata 1937. In the 1930s he represented Poland in six
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 ...
s, and France in 1950, winning three individual medals (gold in 1931 and bronze in 1933 and 1935), as well as five team medals (gold in 1930, two silver in 1931 and 1939, and two bronze in 1935 and 1937). * In 1930, at second board at the 3rd Chess Olympiad in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
(+9−1=6); * In 1931, at second board at the 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 ...
(+10−1=7); * In 1933, at first board at the 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 ...
(+6−2=6); * In 1935, at first board at the 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 ...
(+6−0=11); * In 1937, at first board at the
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, ...
in
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 ...
(+1−2=10); * In 1939, at first board at 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 ...
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 ...
(+7−3=7); * In 1950, at first board at the
9th Chess Olympiad The 9th Chess Olympiad ( hr, 9. Šahovska olimpijada), organized by the FIDE and comprising an open team tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between August 20 and September 11, 1950, in Dubrovnik ...
in
Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...
(+5−5=5). In 1935 he was one of the main organizers of the Chess Olympiad in Warsaw. In 1939, the outbreak of World War II found him in Buenos Aires, where he was playing the 8th Chess Olympiad, representing Poland on a team which included
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 ...
, who always called Tartakower "my teacher".


Final years

After a short stay in
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
Tartakower returned to Europe. He arrived in France shortly before its collapse in 1940. Under the
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
''Cartier'', he joined the forces of general
Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
. After World War II and the Soviet takeover of Poland, Tartakower became a French citizen. He played in the first
Interzonal Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the ...
tournament at
Saltsjöbaden Saltsjöbaden is a locality in Nacka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,491 inhabitants in 2010. It is on the Baltic Sea coast, deep in the Stockholm Archipelago. History Saltsjöbaden () was developed as a resort by Knut Agathon Wa ...
1948, but did not qualify for the
Candidate 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 elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * t ...
s tournament. He represented France at the 1950 Chess Olympiad.
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 ...
instituted the title of International Grandmaster in 1950; Tartakower was in the first group of players to receive it. In 1953, he won the
French Chess Championship The French Chess Championship is the annual, national chess tournament of France. It was officially first played in 1923 after the formation of the ''Fédération Française des Echecs'' in 1921. The first unofficial national tournament was played i ...
in Paris. He died on 4 February 1956 in Paris, 18 days before his 69th birthday.


Personality and chess contributions

Tartakower is regarded as one of the most notable chess personalities of his time.
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 ...
translated Tartakower's book of his best games, and in the foreword wrote:
Dr. Tartakower is far and away the most cultured and the wittiest of all the chess masters I have ever met. His extremely well stored mind and ever-flowing native wit make conversation with him a perpetual delight. So much so that I count it as one of the brightest attractions an international tournament can hold out for me that Dr. Tartakower should also be one of the participants. His talk and thought are rather like a modernized blend of
Baruch Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...
and
Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his ...
; and with it all a dash of paradoxical originality that is essential Tartakower.
A talented chess player, Tartakower is also known for his countless
aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...
s, sometimes called ''Tartakoverisms''. One variation of the
Dutch Defence The Dutch Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. d4 f5 Black's 1...f5 stakes a claim to the e4-square and envisions an attack in the middlegame on White's ; however, it also weakens Black's kingside to an extent (especia ...
is named after him. The Tartakower Defence in the
Queen's Gambit Declined The Queen's Gambit Declined (or QGD) is a chess opening in which Black declines a pawn offered by White in the Queen's Gambit: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 e6 This is known as the ''Orthodox Line'' of the Queen's Gambit Declined. When the "Queen's Gambi ...
(also known as the Tartakower– MakogonovBondarevsky System) also bears his name, as does the most common variation of the
Torre Attack The Torre Attack is a chess opening characterized by the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. Nf3 e6 :3. Bg5 ('' ECO'' code A46) or the Tartakower Variation in the Queen's Pawn Game (''ECO'' code D03): :2... d5 :3. Bg5 or the Torre Attack in the Eas ...
. He is alleged to be the inventor of the
Orangutan Opening The Sokolsky Opening (also known as the Orangutan or Polish Opening) is an uncommon chess opening that begins with the move: :1. b4 According to various databases, out of the twenty possible first moves from White, the move 1.b4 ranks ninth i ...
, 1.b4, so named after Tartakower had admired a great ape during his visit to the zoo whilst playing in the great 1924 tournament in New York. Tartakower originated the
Catalan Opening The Catalan Opening is a chess opening where White plays d4 and c4 and fianchettoes the white bishop on g2. A common opening sequence is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3, although various other openings can transpose into the Catalan. The ''Encyclopaedia of ...
at
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
1929. This system starts with 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3. It remains very popular today at all levels.
José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Capablanc ...
scored +5−0=7 against Tartakower, but they had many hard fights. After their fighting draw in London 1922 (where Tartakower played his new defense), Capablanca said, "You are lacking in solidity", and Tartakower replied in his usual banter, "That is my saving grace." But in Capablanca's reports of the 1939 Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires for the Argentine newspaper ''Crítica'', he wrote:
The Polish team … is captained and led by Dr S. Tartakower, a master with profound knowledge and great imagination, qualities which make him a formidable adversary.  … Luckily for the others, the Polish team has only one Tartakower.
Sugden and Damsky stated that like other chess players of all ages and ranks among whom there is generally no lack of idiosyncrasy or superstition, Tartakower, a trenchant wit, took a most unsightly old hat with him from tournament to tournament.
He would only wear it on the last round and he would win. Notably this hat did not guarantee him success in casinos, which he visited as though it were a job of work. The roulette table would regularly acquire both the Grandmaster's prizes and the numerous fees from his endless string of articles.


Quotations

Several chess witticisms are attributed to Tartakower: *"It's always better to sacrifice your opponent's men." * "An isolated pawn spreads gloom all over the chessboard." * "The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made." * "The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake." * "The move is there, but you must see it." * "No game was ever won by resigning." * "I never defeated a healthy opponent." (This refers to players who blame an illness, sometimes imaginary, for their loss.) * "Tactics is what you do when there is something to do; strategy is what you do when there is nothing to do." * "Moral victories do not count." * "Chess is a fairy tale of 1001 blunders." * "The great master places a knight on e5; checkmate follows by itself." * "A master can sometimes play badly, a fan never!" * "A match demonstrates less than a tournament. But a tournament demonstrates nothing at all." * "Chess is a struggle against one's own errors." * "Every chessplayer should have a hobby." * "A game of chess has three phases: the opening, where you hope you stand better; the middlegame, where you think you stand better; and the ending, where you know you stand to lose." * "As long as an opening is reputed to be weak it can be played." * "Stalemate is the tragicomedy of chess." * "''Erro, ergo sum.''" * Talking about 1.Nf3
Réti Opening The Réti Opening is a hypermodern chess opening whose "traditional" or "classic method" begins with the moves: :1. Nf3 d5 :2. c4 White attacks Black's pawn from the , which may occasion 2...dxc4. White may couple this plan with a kingside ...
: "An opening of the past, which became, towards 1923, the opening of the future." * "To avoid losing a piece, many a person has lost the game." * "A draw can be obtained normally by repeating three moves, but also by playing one bad move." * "Some part of a mistake is always correct." * "Whenever you have to make a rook move, and both rooks are available for said move, you should evaluate which rook to move and, once you have made up your mind, move the other one."


Writings

* ''500 Master Games of Chess'' by Savielly Tartakower and
Julius du Mont Julius du Mont (15 December 1881, in Paris – 7 April 1956, in Hastings, England) was a pianist, piano teacher, chess player, journalist, editor and writer. He studied music at the Frankfurt Conservatoire and at Heidelberg, and became a concert pi ...
, Dover Publications, June 1, 1975, . (Previously published in two volumes by G. Bell & Sons, 1952.) * ''100 Master Games of Modern Chess'' by Savielly Tartakower and
Julius du Mont Julius du Mont (15 December 1881, in Paris – 7 April 1956, in Hastings, England) was a pianist, piano teacher, chess player, journalist, editor and writer. He studied music at the Frankfurt Conservatoire and at Heidelberg, and became a concert pi ...
, Dover Publications, June 1, 1975, . (Previously published by G. Bell & Sons, 1955.) * ''Bréviaire des échecs'', one of the best known introductory texts for chess in the French language. (English edition: ''A Breviary of Chess'', translated by J. Du Mont, London: George Rutledge & Sones, Ltd.,1937) * ''Die hypermoderne Schachpartie'' by Savielly Tartakower, published in German by ''
Wiener Schachzeitung ''Wiener Schachzeitung'' (or ''Wiener Schach-Zeitung'', "''Viennese Chess Bulletin''") was the name of several Austrian chess periodicals published in Vienna between 1855 and 1949. Original publications (1855 and 1887-1888) The original publicat ...
'' in 1924 (English translation of the second edition: ''The Hypermodern Game of Chess'', translated by Jared Becker, Russell Enterprises, 2015) * ''My Best Games of Chess 1905–1954'' by S.G. Tartakower, Dover Publications, 1985, . The definitive recollection of Tartakower's career, written in his unique style; translated by
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 ...
.


Notable games


Rudolf Spielmann vs Savielly Tartakower, Copenhagen 1923, Caro–Kann Defense: Exchange Variation (B13), 0–1Savielly Tartakower vs Akiba Rubinstein, Moscow International Tournament 1925, Bishop's Opening: Vienna Hybrid (C28), 1–0Savielly Tartakower vs Jacques Mieses, Baden-Baden 1925, Dutch Defense: Staunton Gambit, Tartakower Variation (A82), 1–0Alexander Alekhine vs Savielly Tartakower, Folkestone ol 1933, Queen's Gambit Declined: Tartakower Defense, (D58), 0–1


See also

* Hypermodernism *
List of Jewish chess players Jews, Jewish players and Chess theory, theoreticians have long been involved in the game of chess and have significantly contributed to the development of chess, which has been described as the "Jewish National game". Chess gained po ...


References


Bibliography

* *


External links

* * * *   . * Ree, Hans (2006)
"Tartakower's Poetry"

Steve Goldberg review of ''Moral Victories: the Story of Savielly Tartakower'' by David Lovejoy


{{DEFAULTSORT:Tartakower, Savielly 1887 births 1956 deaths Chess grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Chess theoreticians Polish chess players French chess players Jewish chess players Jews from the Russian Empire Aphorists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Austria-Hungary Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Austrian emigrants to France Polish non-fiction writers French non-fiction writers French chess writers Sportspeople from Rostov-on-Don French male non-fiction writers Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France 20th-century French male writers