Aleksander Wojtkiewicz (; January 15, 1963 – July 14, 2006) was a Polish chess grandmaster.

Life

Wojtkiewicz was born in the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990. The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...

. By his early teens, he was already a strong player, and was a student of the former world champion

Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet and Latvian chess player and the eighth World Chess Champion. He is considered a creative genius and is widely regarded as Comparison of top chess players throughout history, one ...

, whom he assisted in the 1979

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 Ca ...

tournament in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. He won the

Latvian Chess Championship The Latvian Chess Championship () is the annual national chess tournament of Latvia among men and women players, which was established in 1924. It is organized by the Latvian Chess Federation (), previously - Latvian Chess Union (). Histor ...

in 1981. His promising chess career was interrupted when he refused to join the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

. For several years, he went undercover, but in 1986 he was sentenced to two years in prison. After one year, he received an amnesty after the meeting of Presidents

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

and

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

. Following his release he moved from Riga to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, where he won two Polish Chess Championships. He played for Poland 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 FIDE Onli ...

s of 1990 and 1992. He later resided in the United States, where he became one of the most active players on the tournament circuit, constantly flying around the world. Several times he won the annual $10,000 first prize for Grand Prix chess tournaments in the United States. In 2000 and 2002, he tied for first place at the U.S. Masters Chess Championship, and in 2004 he played in the FIDE World Chess Championship. In his final months, he tied for first at the 2006 World Open in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and won the 2006 National Open in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. He died on the evening of 14 July 2006 from a perforated intestine and massive bleeding.

Playing style

Wojtkiewicz's strategies have been investigated in the online series "How Wojo Won" by chess master Jonathan Hilton. The six-part series began in December 2006 and continued until April 2008. Hilton has also co-authored a book, ''Wojo's Weapons: Winning with White, Volume I'', focusing on Wojtkiewicz's opening play.

Notable games

Aleksander Wojtkiewicz vs Robert Kuczynski, Biel 1990, Slav Defense: Modern Line (D11), 1-0Aleksander Wojtkiewicz vs Spyridon Skembris, Novi Sad 50/521 1990, English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Catalan Defense (A13), 1-0Aleksander Wojtkiewicz vs David Filipovich, 29th World Open 2001, Queen Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation (D02), 1-0Jennifer Shahade vs Aleksander Wojtkiewicz, 114th New York Masters 2004, Sicilian Defense: Hyperaccelerated Dragon (B35), 0-1

References

External links

US Tournament Record for Aleksander Wojtkiewicz
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Obituary by GM Alexander Shabalov

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wojtkiewicz, Aleksander 1963 births 2006 deaths Latvian chess players American chess players Chess Grandmasters Chess players from Riga 20th-century Polish chess players 20th-century Polish sportsmen