Zara Nakhimovskaya (Kavnatsky) ( or ''Zāra Kavnacka''; born June 6, 1934,

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

) is a

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 who won the

Latvian Chess Championship The Latvian Chess Champsionship () 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 (). History ...

for women in 1958, 1959, 1961, and 1962.

Chess career

Zara Nakhimovskaya achieved excellent results during 1950 - 1960 period when she lived in Soviet-occupied Latvia. Zara Nakhimovskaya played for the Latvian SSR in Soviet Team juniors chess championships in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in 1951 at second girls board and won first place (6½ out of 9). She played in

for women finals in: * 1954 (2nd place, lost additional match to

Milda Lauberte Milda Lauberte (7 October 1918 in Vildoga – October 19, 2009 in Riga) was a Latvian chess master. She played in two Women's World Championship tournaments, sharing third place with Sonja Graf, behind Vera Menchik and Clarice Benini at Stockh ...

), * 1955 (8th place), * 1956 (2nd place), * 1958 (1st place), * 1959 (1st place), * 1960 (3rd place), * 1961 (1st place), * 1962 (1st place), * 1964 (2nd place), * 1966 (3rd place), * 1967 (5th place), * 1968 (5th place), * 1969 (2nd place). She has also played successfully in the

Women's Soviet Chess Championship The Women's Soviet Chess Championship was played in the Soviet Union from 1927 through 1991 to determine the women's chess national champion. The championship was not played on a regular basis in the years 1927–1937 and there was a break during ...

s and won the Half-Final in

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...

in 1961. She reached

finals in 1959, 1962, 1963. Zara Nakhimovskaya played for the Latvian SSR in Soviet Team chess championships in 1955 (at second women board), 1958 (at first women board), 1959 (at first women board), 1960 (at second women board), 1962 (at first women board). She also played in the Soviet Team chess cup for team "Daugava" in 1954 (at second women board), 1961 (at first women board), 1964 (at first women board), 1968 (at first women board).

Personal life

She is of Latvian Jewish descent. In January 1978 Zara Nakhimovskaya

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with her husband Valentīns Kavnackis (Valentin Kavnatsky) who is also a Master-level chess player and son Jevgēņijs (Yevgeny) and retired from an active chess life. Zara Nakhimovskaya is graduate the Riga Medical Institute and worked as pharmacist. Currently she lives in

West Bloomfield Township, Michigan West Bloomfield Township, officially the Charter Township of West Bloomfield, is a charter township in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan, within the Detroit metropolitan area. It is one of the most expensive places to live in Oakland ...

. Nakhimovskaya has filed two patents for lubricants in 1991-1992 using her married name.

References

External links

* player profile at chessgames.com * player profile at 365chess.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Nakhimovskaya, Zara 1934 births Latvian female chess players Latvian chess players Soviet female chess players Soviet chess players Chess players from Riga Living people Riga Stradiņš University alumni Soviet pharmacists 20th-century Latvian Jews 20th-century Latvian women 20th-century Latvian people