
Frédéric Lazard (20 February 1883, in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...
– 18 November 1948, in
Le Vésinet
Le Vésinet () is a suburban commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is a part of the affluent outer suburbs of western Paris, from the centre of Paris. In 2019, it had a population of 15,943 ...
) was a 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 dist ...
master, problemist and journalist.
He lived in Paris, where he played in many local tournaments. He took twice 4th place in 1905, shared 3rd in 1908, took 3rd (
Arnold Aurbach won) in 1909, shared 2nd behind H. Weinstein in 1909, won ahead of
Amédée Gibaud in 1910, tied for 1st with
Aristide Gromer
Aristide Gromer (Dunkirk, 11 April 1908 – ?) was a French chess master.
Gromer was thrice French Champion (1933, 1937, and 1938).
He tied for 5-6th at Paris 1923 ( Victor Kahn won), took 3rd at Biarritz 1926 (André Chéron and Frederic Lazard ...
in 1912, took 4th in 1914, and shared 2nd, behind
Alphonse Goetz
Alphonse Goetz (aka A. Geoffroy-Dausay; 15 March 1865, in Strasbourg – 12 July 1934, in Chaumont-en-Vexin) was a French chess master.
Born in Strasbourg, France, he was a refugee after the Franco-Prussian War and the annexation of Alsace–Lor ...
, at Lyon 1914.
In 1912, he drew a match with Gibaud (3–3), and lost to
Edward Lasker
Edward Lasker (born Eduard Lasker) (December 3, 1885 – March 25, 1981) was a German-American chess and Go player. He was awarded the title of International Master of chess by FIDE. Lasker was an engineer by profession, and an author of ...
(0.5–2.5). In 1913, he drew with Smirnov (1.5–1.5).
After
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, he won at Paris 1920, took 2nd at Paris 1922 (''Triangular'',
André Muffang
André Muffang (25 July 1897, St. Brieuc – March 1, 1989, Paris) was a French chess master.
Before World War I, he took 3rd, behind Alexander Alekhine and Frank Marshall, at Paris 1914 (''Quadrangular''); took 5th at Lyon 1914 (2nd French Amate ...
won), represented France in
1st unofficial Chess Olympiad
The 1st Team Chess Tournament was held together with the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, 12–20 July 1924, at the Hotel Majestic. Fifty-four players representing 18 countries were split into nine preliminary groups of six. The winner of each round ...
at Paris 1924, took 9th at Strasbourg 1924 (
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 ...
,
Robert Crépeaux
Robert Crépeaux (24 October 1900, Grasse, Alpes-Maritimes - 10 February 1994, Paris) was a French chess master.
He won three French Chess Championship at Strasbourg 1924, Nice 1925, and Paris 1941. He also won Paris City Chess Championship in 19 ...
won), tied for 2nd-3rd at Nice 1925 (FRA-ch, Crépeaux won), shared 1st with
André Chéron
André Chéron (September 25, 1895 – September 12, 1980) was a French chess player, endgame theorist, and a composer of endgame studies. He was named a FIDE International Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing b ...
at Biarritz 1926 (FRA-ch), took 13th in the 1927
Paris City Chess Championship (
Abraham Baratz won), tied for 10-11th in the 1928 Paris-ch (Baratz won), took 7th at Paris 1929 (
Savielly Tartakower
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 player. He was awarded the title of International Grand ...
won), tied for 3rd-5th in the 1930 Paris-ch (
Josef Cukierman won), and took 10th at Paris 1933 (
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns.
By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...
won).
He published a chess book entitled ''Mes problèmes et études d'échecs'' (1928).
[Litmanowicz, Władysław & Giżycki, Jerzy (1986, 1987). Szachy od A do Z. Wydawnictwo Sport i Turystyka Warszawa. (1. A-M), (2. N-Z)]
He was a younger brother of
Gustave Lazard.
Apocryphal game
A very short attributed to
Amédée Gibaud and Lazard is frequently reproduced in chess literature,
sometimes with the claim that it was the shortest game ever played between masters in a formal setting.
In its shortest and most commonly reproduced version, the game consists of four moves by each player. Black (Lazard) rapidly develops his king's knight to e3 after White (Gibaud) weakens the defense of the square.
In the final position White is unable to prevent the capture of his queen, because doing so would allow Black to force checkmate: 5. fxe3 Qh4+ 6. g3 Qxg3#.
The four-move, "formal" version of the game is not accepted as a real historical event.
Gibaud denied having ever lost a serious game in four moves, instead suggesting that he may have lost a casual game against Lazard involving similar positional themes, albeit with more than four moves played. Gibaud also suggested that his game with Lazard might have been confused with a previously published "theoretical" miniature. Although the four-move version of the game is not accepted as historically accurate, it illustrates several principles of gameplay: the possibility for rapid development to cause serious problems for an opponent, the importance of not weakening the defense of critical squares, and the importance of defending a structural weakness on the kingside in the initial phase of the game (especially involving the f- and g- pawns), which if left unguarded may lead to a quick checkmate, akin to
Fool's mate
In chess, the fool's mate is the checkmate delivered after the fewest possible moves from the game's starting position. It arises from the following moves, or similar:
:1. f3 e6
:2. g4 Qh4#
The fool's mate can be achieved only by Black, givi ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazard, Frederic
1883 births
1948 deaths
French chess players
Chess composers
Sportspeople from Marseille