Yakov Borisovich Estrin (Russian: Я́ков Бори́сович Эстрин, April 21, 1923 – February 2, 1987) was a Russian

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, chess theoretician, writer, and

World Correspondence Chess Champion 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 ...

who held the

chess titles A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pres ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

Chess biography

After a brief foray into play, he turned to

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 ...

in the early 1960s with immediate success (joint first place in the USSR Correspondence Championship in 1962). He became an

in 1966, and would go on to compete in the final of the World Correspondence Championship five times. He is best known for being the seventh

ICCF ICCF may stand for: * International Conference on Cold Fusion, also known as "International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Science" * International Conservation Caucus Foundation * International Correspondence Chess Federation * Internati ...

World Champion, 1972–1976. For over-the-board play, he was awarded the

title in 1975.A few chess authors indicate the Estrin was awarded the Grandmaster title in 1984 (; ). However, the 1988 book co-authored by Estrin reports only that he was an IM and ICGM (''The King's Gambit'', Igor Glazkov and Jakov Ėstrin, Korolevskij gambit, Moskva, Fizkultura i Sport, 1988, p. 4). Other sources including ''Chess: an encyclopedic dictionary'', Sovyetskaya encyclopediya, Anatoly Karpov, Moscow 1990, page 511, (in Russian) and ''FIDE Golden book 1924–2002'', Willy Iclicki, Euroadria, Slovenia, 2002, S. 92, also say Estrin was an IM and ICGM. All GM title awards in 1984 took place at the 55th FIDE Congress in Thessaloniki. The 1985 article by

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 ...

, "At the FIDE Congress", '' 64 – Chess Review'', , 2/85, pp. 2–3, lists all Soviet players awarded titles at that event and Estrin is not mentioned. Another report of the Congress mentions honorary GM awards only for

Stojan Puc Stojan Puc (9 April 1921 – 29 January 2004) was a Slovenian-Yugoslavian chess master. He won the Slovenian Chess Championship on four occasions: (1954 (joint), 1958, 1965 (joint), and 1967). He tied for 5-6th at Ljubljana (''Liberation'') 1945 ...

and

Eero Böök Eero Einar Böök (9 February 1910 – 7 January 1990) was a Finnish chess player and engineer. Chess career A five-time Finnish champion who represented his country six times in the Chess Olympiad, Böök was awarded the International Master ti ...

(

BCM BCM may refer to: Automotive *Body Control Module, in automotive electronics Business * Boots Contract Manufacturing, part of Alliance Boots * Bravo Company Manufacturing, an American firearms manufacturing company * Bus contracting model of Sing ...

, April 1985, p. 159). Additionally, FIDE rating lists reproduced in Chess Informant during the 1984–1988 period all indicate that Estrin's title for over-the-board play was IM. Estrin wrote several chess books and was an authority on the

Two Knights Defense The Two Knights Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bc4 Nf6 First recorded by Giulio Cesare Polerio (c. 1550 – c. 1610) in the late 16th century, this line of the Italian Game was extensiv ...

. His game with

Hans Berliner Hans Jack Berliner (January 27, 1929 – January 13, 2017) was a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, and was the World Correspondence Chess Champion, from 1965–1968. He was a Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess. H ...

in which Berliner played the Two Knights Defense and defeated Estrin is one of the most famous and important games in correspondence chess.

Books

* ''The Two Knights' Defence'' by Yakov Estrin, Chess Ltd.; English edition (1971). (no ISBN or LOC number) * ''The Two Knights' Defence'' by Yakov Estrin, B.T.Batsford Ltd. (1983). . * ''Three Double King Pawn Openings'' by Yakov Estrin, Chess Enterprises; first edition (June 1982). * ''Gambits'' by Yakov B. Estrin, Chess Enterprises (June 1983). * ''The United States Correspondence Chess Championship'' by Yakov Estrin, Correspondence Chess League of America (1978) * ''Wilkes-Barre Variation, Two Knights Defense'' by Yakov Estrin, Chess Enterprises (June 1978). * ''Comprehensive Chess Openings'', by Yakov Estrin and

Vasily Panov Vasili, Vasily, Vasilii or Vasiliy (Russian: Василий) is a Russian masculine given name of Greek origin and corresponds to ''Basil''. It may refer to: *Vasili I of Moscow Grand Prince from 1389–1425 * Vasili II of Moscow Grand Prince fr ...

, in three volumes, Pergamon, 1980. (for set of three volumes in flexicover) * ''малая дебютная знциклопедия'' (Translation = ''Concise Opening Encyclopedia''), by Yakov Estrin, иэдательство физкультура и спорт (Translation = Physical Culture and Sports), 1985. (no ISBN or LOC number)

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Estrin, Yakov Borisovich 1923 births 1987 deaths Correspondence chess grandmasters World Correspondence Chess Champions Chess theoreticians Soviet chess players Russian chess players Jewish chess players Russian chess writers Russian Jews Sportspeople from Moscow 20th-century chess players