Volf Bergraser (4 January 1904 – 13 November 1986), was a French chess master, two times

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 ...

winner (1957, 1966),

International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster is a correspondence chess title created by FIDE in 1953, second only to that of world correspondence champion. Currently, this title is awarded by the International Correspondence Chess Federation (IC ...

(1981).

Biography

Bergraser was born in

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

(then

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, now the city in which he was born is on the territory of the Chernivtsi region of Ukraine). From the 1950s to the 1970s he was one of the leading French chess players. In

Volf Bergraser won three medals: 2 gold (1957, 1966), and bronze (1971). In 1967, he participated in a strong international chess tournament in Monte Carlo. He played for France in the

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: * In 1954, at fourth board in the

11th Chess Olympiad The 11th Chess Olympiad ( nl, De 11e Schaakolympiade), organized by the FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. team tournament, as well as several o ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

(+1, =6, -6), * In 1958, at third board in the

13th Chess Olympiad The 13th Chess Olympiad (german: Die 13. Schacholympiade), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. team tournament, as well as several o ...

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 ...

(+1, =5, -4), * In 1960, at third board in the

14th Chess Olympiad The 14th Chess Olympiad (german: Die 14. Schacholympiade), organized by Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female playe ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

(+8, =4, -3), * In 1962, at second board in the 15th Chess Olympiad in

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

(+6, =4, -4), * In 1964, at fourth board in the

16th Chess Olympiad The 16th Chess Olympiad ( he, אולימפיאדת השחמט ה-16, ''Olimpiada ha-shachmat ha-16''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female ...

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 ...

(+4, =3, -4). Bergraser played for France in the

European Team Chess Championship The European Team Championship (often abbreviated in texts and games databases as ''ETC'') is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9. This more ...

preliminaries: * In 1957, at fourth board in the 1st European Team Chess Championship preliminaries (+0, =2, -0). He has achieved great success in the

correspondence chess Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less common ...

. He three times won French Correspondence Chess Championship and twice participated in the

World Correspondence Chess Championship The World Correspondence Chess Championship determines the World Champion in correspondence chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest the title. The official World Correspondence Chess Championship is managed by the International Corre ...

s. In 1959, Volf Bergraser became an International Correspondence Chess Master. In 1981, he was awarded the title of

. Bergraser worked as a medical doctor.

References

External links

* * * 1904 births 1986 deaths People from Khotinsky Uyezd French chess players Chess Olympiad competitors Correspondence chess grandmasters {{France-chess-bio-stub