July 15, 2008

OFF THE WALL CHESS TRIVIA

by Bill Wall

2001: A Space Odyssey

Movie made in 1968 by Stanley Kubrick. It features an astronaut, Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood), playing a chess game with the HAL-9000 computer. The game in the movie is from an actual game, Roesch vs. Schlage, Hamburg 1910. The initial position in the movie is after Black’s 13^th move. The astronaut says, “Umm…anyway, Queen takes pawn. OK?” HAL responds, “Bishop takes Knight’s pawn.” The astronaut says “Hmm, that’s a good move. Er…Rook to King One.” HAL responds, “I’m sorry Frank. I think you missed it. Queen to Bishop Three (this should have been Queen to Bishop Six). Bishop takes Queen (not forced). Knight takes Bishop. Mate.” It is not a mate in two, but a mate in three. The astronaut responds, “Ah…Yeah, looks like you’re right. I resign.”

Roesch – Willi Schlage, Hamburg 1910

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb4 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Qe2 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.c3 O-O 8.O-O d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nf4 11.Qe4 Nxe5 12.Qxa8 Qd3 13.Bd1 Bh3 14.Qxa6 Bxg2 15.Re1 Qf3 and White resigns since 16.Qc8 (if 16.Bxf3 Nxf3 mate; if 16.Re2 Nh3 mate) Rxc8 17.h3 Nxh3+ 18.Kh2 Ng4 mate 0-1

A Chess Dispute

This may have been the first movie with a chess scene. The movie was made in 1903 by R. W. Paul (Paul’s Animatograph Works of England). Two men are playing chess in a restaurant. One man makes a move while the other man is distracted. When he looks back at the board he disputes the move. They get in a fight, in which both fall to the ground below the camera’s view. Only their hats, boots, and some clothing being tossed in the air can be seen. Finally, the manager of the restaurant enters and lifts the two disheveled chess players into view.

Aagaard, Jacob (1973- )

Jacob Aagaard was born on July 31, 1973. He is grandmaster (2007) from Denmark, but now lives in Glasgow, Scotland. He took 2^nd place in the 111^th Scottish Championship in 2004. He took 1^st place in the 112^th Scottish Championship in 2005, but is not a Scottish citizen yet. He has written at least 12 chess books, including Excelling at Chess and Inside the Chess Mind. In 2007, he won the 94^th annual British championship, held in Great Yarmouth.

Schmied – Aagaard, Copenhagen 1985

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Bg5 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.Qxc4 c5 7.Nc3 a6 8.a4 cxd4 9.Nxd4? (9.Qxd4) Ne5 0-1

Aaron, Manuel (1935- )

India’s first International Master (IM). He was born in Toungoo, Myanmar (formerly Burma) on December 30, 1935 and grew up in Tamil Nadu, India. In 1960 he had a 2509 performance rating at the Leipzig Chess Olympiad (he defeated Max Euwe). He became an International Master in 1961 after winning the Asian-Austrian Zonal. In 1962 he took last place out of 23 players in the Stockholm Interzonal (but he did defeat Portisch and Uhlmann). He became an International Arbiter in 1986. His highest FIDE rating was 2420. He has won the state of Tamil Nadu (Madras) 11 times and the India National Championship 9 times. These records still stand. He is the director of the Aaron Chess Academy, India’s first chess academy and the founder (1982) and editor of Chess Mate magazine.

Aaron - Suer, Varna Chess Olympiad 1962

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 O-O 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 c5 7.d5 Na6 8.O-O Nc7 9.h3 a6 10.a4 Rb8 11.Bf4 Nd7 12.Re1 Ne5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5 14.Bxe5 dxe5 15.Bg4 f5 16.exf5 gxf5 17.Bh5 Qd6 18.Qe2 e4 19.f3 b5 20.axb5 axb5 21.fxe4 fxe4 22.Qxe4 b4 23.Nd1 e6 24.dxe6 Bxe6 25.Ra7 Bf5 26.Qe7 Qd4+? (26...Qxe7) 27.Kh1 Ne8?? (27...Rbc8) 28.Bf7+ (28...Kh8 29.Qxf8 mate; 28...Kg7 29.Bxe8+ Kg8 30.Re5 wins) 1-0

Aarseth, Sverre (1934- )

Chess master from Norway. He participated in the 6th World Correspondence Chess Championship in 1971 and finished 14th out of 15 players. He lost one game in 14 moves.

Aarseth - Rittner, 6th World Correspondence Championship 1971

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.Qg4 Ne7 6.dxc5 Nbc6 7.Nf3 d4 8.Bb5 Qa5 9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.Qxg7 (10.Qxd4) 10...Rg8 11.Qxh7 Ba6 12.Ng5 Bxc3+ 13.Kd1 O-O-O 14.Nxf7 d3! (15.Nxd8 Qa4 16.b3 Qg4+ 17.f3 Qxg2 18.cxd3 Qxh1+ 19.Kc2 Rg2+ 20.Kxc3 Nd5+ 21.Kd4 Qg1+ 22.Ke4 Re2+ 23.Be3 Qxe3 mate) 0-1

Abdelnabbi, Imed (1963- )

International Master (1985) and Egypt’s top rated player, rated 2456.

Domingos – Abdelnabbi, Abuja 2003

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.e3 Nc6 6.a3 a6 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 b5 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.O-O Rc8 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Qe2 Qc7 13.Ne4 Ne5 14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.Nxe5 Qxe5 16.f3 Rg8 17.Kh1 Bd6 18.f4? (18.g3) Rxg2! 0-1

Abdulaziz, Al Mahmoud (1972- )

Champion of Lebanon in 2000. He is the president of the Lebanese Chess Federation.

Abdulaziz – Talal Abas, Beruit 2001

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O O-O 5.d3 d5 6.Nbd2 c5 7.c4 Nc6 8.a3 b6 9.Rb1 Bb7 10.b4 cxb4 11.axb4 dxc4 12.Nxc4 Nd4 13.Nxd4 Bxg2 14.Ne6 Qd5? (14…exf6) 15.Nf4 1-0

Abolianin, Arthur (1966- )

International Master from Belgium. He played on Board 2 for Belgium in the 2004 Chess Olympiad. His highest rating was 2473.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Ng8 9.Bd4 f6 10.f4 Nh6 11.exf6 exf6 12.Bc4 d5 13.Qe2+ Kf7 14.O-O-O Bg4 0-1

Abonyi, Istvan (1886-1942)

Hungarian master from Budapest. In 1922 he published analysis on the Abonyi Gambit of the Budapest Defense (1,d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.e4 Nxd5 5.f4 Nec6) in Deutsches Wochenschach. He was one of the 15 founders of FIDE in 1924.

Abonyi – Hromadka, Prague 1908

1,e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Nd4 5.Ba4 c6 6.O-O Bc5 7.Nxe5 d6 8.Nd3 Bg4 9.Qe1 Nf3+ 10.gxf3 Bxf3 11.e5 O-O 12.exd6 Ng4 13.Qe7 Bxd6 0-1

Abrahams, Gerald (1907-1980)

British lawyer (barrister), chess master and chess author. His eight chess books include Teach Yourself Chess (1948), The Chess Mind (1952), Handbook of Chess (1960), Technique in Chess (1961), Test Your Chess (1963), Pan Book of Chess (1966), Not Only Chess (1974), and Brilliancies in Chess (1977). He introduced the Abrahams variation (also called the Noteboom variation) of the Queen’s Gambit Declined (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bb4 6.e3 b5 7.Bd2 a5) in 1925 (Allcock-Abrahams, England 1925). In 1933 he finished in 3^rd place in the British Championship. In 1946, he defeated Viaschelav Ragozin (who later became the second World Correspondence Champion) in the Anglo-Soviet radio match, winning one game and drawing one game.

Unknown - Abrahams, England 1929

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 Bb4 5.Bd3 e5 6.dxe5 dxe4 7.Bxe4 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Qxd1+ 9.Kxd1 Be6 10.Rb1 Na6 11.Rxb7? (11.Be3) 11...O-O-O+! (12.Kc2 Kxb7 wins) 0-1.

Abramovic, Bosko (1951- )

Serbia/Montenegro Grandmaster (1984). He won at Belgrade in 1984 and was second at Montpellier in 1986. He took 16^th-20^th in the 1993 Biel FIDE Interzonal. His highest FIDE rating has been 2633 and currently, it is 2489.

Abramovic – Chiburdanidze, Montpelier 1986

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.c3 g6 8.d4 exd4 9.e5 Ne4 10.Re1 Nc5 11.cxd4 Nxb3 12.Qxb3 Nb4 13.Nc3 Nd3 14.Ne4 Bxe4 15.Bg5 Be7 16.Bxe7 Qxe7 17.Rxe4 1-0

Abreu, Aryam (1978- )

International Master from Cuba. His highest rating has been 2510.

Abreu – Van Riemsdijk, Columbia 2001

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 b5 7.e5 b4 8.Qf3 Ra7 9.exf6 bxc3 10.Qxc3 gxf6 11.Be3 Rc7 12.Qd2 Nd7 13.Be2 Bb7 14.Ne6 Qc8 15.Nxc7+ Qxc7 16.O-O Rg8 17.Bf3 f5 18.Bd4 d5 19.Rae1 e6 20.Bh5 Qc6 21.Rxe6+ Qxe6 22.Re1 Kd8 23.Rxe6 fxe6 24.Bf7 1-0

Acers, Jude (1944- )

Jude Acers was born in Long Beach on April 6, 1944. He is a U.S. senior chess master now living in New Orleans who has set several world record simultaneous exhibition records. He learned to play chess at age 7 and was a master at age 17. In 1966 at the Louisiana State Fair, he played 114 opponents simultaneously and won all 114 games. In 1976 he played 179 opponents simultaneously in Long Island. He has toured 48 states and 5 countries to give over a thousand chess exhibitions. When not touring and playing in other chess tournaments, Jude can be found at his World Chess table on the Gazebo sidewalk terracem 1018 Decatur Street (the French Quarter), New Orleans, Louisiana. He is known as the man with the red beret. In 2005, he survived hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and was evacuated to Tennessee. In 2007, he was the topped rank American player at the 17^th Senior World Open Championship, held in Gmunden, Austria, but finishe 39th. The event was won by IM Butnorius Algimantas of Lithuania.

Steers - Acers, Santa Monica 1968

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Nxd5 4.c4 Nb4 5.Qa4+ N8c6 6.a3 Na6! 7.d5 Nc5 8.Qb5 b6 9.dxc6 a5 10.b4 Ba6 11.bxc5 Bxb5 12.cxb5 Qd4 (13.Ra2 Qe4+ 14.Ne2 Qxb1) 0-1

Acevedo-Millan, Armando (1937- )

FIDE master and former champion of Mexico. In 2001, when Nigel Short thought he was playing Bobby Fischer on the Internet, he asked his opponent when he played Acevedo. The response was immediate. “Siegen 1970.” Fischer had played Acevedo in the Siegen Chess Olympiad in 1970. Acevedo played in the 1966 and 1970 chess Olympiads for Mexico. He was the first Mexican FIDE master.

Acevedo – Fischer, Siegen 1970

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. c3 g6 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Bg7 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. Re1 d5 9. Ne5 Nc6 10. Ndf3 Rc8 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. Bh3 Bd7 13. Bf1 Bc6 14. Ne5 Bb7 15. a4 Ne4 16. f3 Nd6 17. e3 Qc7 18. a5 f6 19. axb6 axb6 20. Nd3 e5 21. Nf2 e4 22. f4 Ra8 23. Bd2 Rxa1 24. Qxa1 Ra8 25. Qb1 Qc6 26. b3 Ba6 27. Qb2 Bxf1 28. Rxf1 c4 29. b4 Qa4 30. Rb1 Bf8 31. Kf1 Nb5 32. Ke2 f5 33. Nd1 Kf7 34. Nf2 Qa2 35. Nd1 Ke6 36. Qxa2 Rxa2 37. Rb2 Ra1 38. Be1 Kd7 39. Bd2 Kc6 40. Be1 Na3 41. Kd2 Kb5 42. Bf2 Ka4 43. Be1 Be7 44. Bf2 Nb5 45. Kc2 Ka3 46. Rb1 Ra2+ 47. Rb2 Nxc3 48. Kxc3 Ra1 0-1

Acs, Peter (1981- )

Peter Acs was born May 10, 1981 in Eger, Hungary. He is a Hungarian Grandmaster (1998) and the 2001 World Junior Chess Champion, held in Athens. His highest rating has been 2603. He has represented Hungary in three Olympiads (2000, 2002, and 2004).

Van Wely – Acs, Netherlands 2002

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Ne2 Re8 8.O-O Bd6 9.a3 Ng4 10.h3 Nh2 11.Re1 Nf3+ 12.gxf3 Qg5+ 13.Kh1 Qh4 14.Nf4 Bxh3 15.Ncxd5 Re6 16.Nxe6 Bf5+ 17.Kg1 Qh2+ 18.Kf1 Bg3 0-1

Acs – Donchenko, Tel Aviv 2001

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7 10.Be2 h5 11.Nf5 Bxf5 12.exf5 Qa5 13.O-O Bxc3 14.bxc3 f6 15.Rb1 Nc6 16.Rxb7 Rd8 17.Qd3 h4 18.Qc4 Nge5 19.Bxe5 Nxe5 20.Qe6 Nd7 21.Bc4 1-0

Active Chess

Active chess (30 minutes per game) was introduced in 1987 by FIDE and was mostly used for demonstrations and other unofficial events. The first official Active Chess (30 minutes per game) tournament was held in Gijon, Spain in 1988 and won by Karpov. Karpov, in December of 1988, won the World Active Championship (a FIDE event with 61 players) in Mazatlan, Mexico and received $50,000. The organizers of the event donated $100,000 for AIDS research. Initial attempts to organize a world championship for active chess was opposed by world champion Gary Kasparov. He was quoted as saying, “Active Chess? What does that make me, the Passive World Champion?” Later, Kasparov organized his own brand of fast chess, called “Rapid Chess” with a time control of 25 minutes a game. This name and event was adopted by FIDE in 1989 so as not to imply an inactive chess title if FIDE awarded an Active Chess title.

Active Chess Player

In 1995, Robert Smeltzer of Dallas, Texas, played 2,266 USCF rated games in one year, the most ever. Smeltzer has played on over 2,700 chess events since 1991.

Adams, Michael (1971- )

Michael Adams was born on November 17, 1971. He was the highest rated 13 year old ever, rated 2405 in 1986. In 1988 he was the only winner in a 10-board satellite simultaneous exhibition with Kasparov. He won the 76th British Championship in 1989 at age 17, the youngest ever. In 1989, he became at Grandmaster at 17. In 1997, he tied for first with Matthew Sadler in the British Championship. In 1997 he lost to Anand in the semi-finals of the FIDE World Chess Championship. In 1998 he had an Elo rating of 2715 and was the 5th strongest player in the world. In 2002 he was rated 2757 and was the 4^th strongest player in the world (behind Kasparov, Kramnik, and Anand). Three times he has reached the semi-finals of the FIDE World Chess Championship. In 2004, he reahed the final in the World Championship, losing out to Rustam Kasimdzhanov in the tie-break games. In 2005, while ranked 7 in the world, he lost a chess match with the Hydra chess program, losing 5 games and drawing one game. In 2008, he is number 13 in the world and the number one British chess player with a 2735 Elo rating.

Wickert - M. Adams, Islington 1992

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bf4 c5 4.d5 Qb6 5.Nd2 Qxb2 6.Ngf3? (6.Nxe4 Qxb4+ 7.c3) 6...Nc3 7.Nc4? (7.Qc1 Qxc1+ 8.Rxc1 Bxa2) 7... Nxd1 (8.Nxb2 Nxb2) 0-1

Ziemann – M. Adams, Germany 1992

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.Re1 Ng5 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Rxe5+ Ne6 8.Ng5 Bd6 9.Qh5 g6 10.Nxf7 Kxf7 11.Qf3+ Qf6 12.Re3 Qf6 13.Qe4 Bf5 0-1

Adams, Weaver Warren (1901-1963)

Weaver Warren Adams was born on April 28, 1901 in Dedham Massachusetts. He was an American chess master. He participated in the U.S. Championship in 1936, 1940, 1944, 1946 and 1948. He won the Massachusetts State Championship in 1937, 1938, 1941 and 1945. In 1939, he wrote a book entitled White to Play and Win. After publication he played in the U.S. Open at Dallas. He did not win a single game as White (3 losses and 1 draw) and won all his games (4 games) as Black! Weaver Adams won the 49^th U.S. Open, held in Baltimore, in 1948. He also wrote Simple Chess, How to Play Chess, and Absolute Chess. He died on January 6, 1963.

Weinstock - W. Adams, New York 1944

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 d6 8.e3 Qe7 9.Be2 g5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bg3 Ne4 12.Qd4 O-O 13.O-O Nxc3 14.bxc3 Bc5 15.Qd3 f5 16.Rae1 Kh8 17.Bd1 Ba6 18.Bb3 Rae8 19.Kh1? (19.Qxf5) 19...f4 (20.exf4 Qxe1) 0-1

W. Adams – Santasiere, Baltimore (49^th US Open) 1948

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 c6 4.d4 Bb4 5.dxe5 Nxe4 6.Qd4 d5 7.exd6 O-O 8.Bf4 Re8 9.Ne2 Bc5 10.Bxf7+ Kf8 11.Qc4 b5 12.Qb3 Bxf2+ 13.Kf1 Nc5 14.Qa3 Nba6 15.b4 Kxf7 16.Kxf2 Ne4+ 17.Nxe4 Rxe4 18.Qf3 Qe8 19.Be5 1-0

Adamski, Andrzej (1939- )

Polish International Master (1980).

Adamski, Jan (1943- )

Polish International Master (1976). Polish Champion in 1982. He represented Poland in the 1968, 1970, 1974, and 1978 chess Olympiads. His FIDE rating is 2345.

Adamski – J. Christiansen, Copenhagen 2000

1. Nf3 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. c4 O-O 6. Nc3 d6 7. d4 Qe8 8.b3 Nc6 9. d5 exd5 10. cxd5 Ne5 11. Nd4 Qh5 12. f4 Neg4 13. h3 Nh6 14. Qd3 Ne4 15. g4 fxg4 16. Bxe4 gxh3 17. Bxh7+ Kh8 18. Kh1 Bh4 19. Qg6 1-0

Adamson, Robby

FIDE master from Tucson, Arizona. He is an attorney. In 1984, he won the National Junior High K-8 championship. He is the chess coach at the Catalina Foothills High School in Tucson. His ELO rating is 2344.

Addison, William Grady (1933- )

Considered the best Go player among chess masters. He was born in Baton Rouge, came to San Francisco in the 1950s, and was the area’s strongest player for 20 years. He became an International Master in 1967. In 1969, he took 2nd place in the 20th US Chess Championship (1/2 point behind Reshevsky and ahead of Benko, Lombardy, etc.) and qualified to play in the Interzonal. He competed in the 1970 Interzonal in Palma de Mallorca, taking 18th place, and then gave up chess to work for the Bank of America in San Francisco. He played in five U.S. championships. His highest rating was 2595.

Addison - Kostro, Havana 1966

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Ne2 d5 6.a3 Be7 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.e4 Nxc3 9.Nxc3 c5 10.d5 exd5 11.Nxd5 Nc6 12.Bc4 Bd6 13.O-O Qh4 14.f4 Bg4 15.Qd3 Nd4 16.Rf2 Rae8 17.Be3 Rxe4? (17...b5) 18.Qxe4 Bf5 19.g3 (19...Bxe4 20.gxh4) 1-0

Adianto, Utut (1965- )

First Indonesian Grandmaster (1986) and best chess player in Indonesia. He was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. He learned the game of chess at the age of six. He won the Jakarta Junior Championship at age 12. He won the Indonesian national championship in 1982. He tied for 1^st place at San Francisco in 1987. His highest rating has been 2663. Between 1990 and 1995, he was the second strongest Asian chess player, after Anand. He is the Chairman of the Indonesian Chess Association (Percasi).

Adianto - Neamtu, Biel 1994

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bxc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 Bf5 7.Nc3 e6 8.Nge2 Nc6 9.a3 Be7 10.O-O O-O 11.h3 h6 12.Ba2 Qd7 13.Be3 Rad8 14.Qc1 Na5 15.Bxh6 gxh6 16.Qxh6 Rfe8 (16...Nac4) 17.Ng3 Bf8 18.Qg5+ Bg6 19.Nce4 Bg7 20.Nf6+ Bxf6 21.exf6 Qxd4?? (21...Qd6) 22.Rad1 (22...Qa4 or 22...Qxd1, 23.Qh6 and 24.Qg7 mate) 1-0

Adjournment

First introduced at Paris in 1878. Adjournment is a time out between playing sessions, generally overnight. The side that is on the move seals a legal move, sight unseen by his opponent. When play resumes, the sealed move is played on the board, and the game continues. Players were forbidden to analyze their games during adjournments, but this became difficult to enforce. In the 1930s analytical assistance by seconds became acceptable.

Adla, Diego Gustavo (1968- )

International Master from Argentina.

Adly, Ahmed (1987- )

Egyptian Grandmaster (2005). In 2003,he contracted malaria while playing in a chess tournament in Nigeria. He then went straight from Nigeria to Greece to participate in the World Youth Championship. Doctors discovered he had malaria and saved him. Two of his chess-playing friends returned to Egypt and died.

Adorjan, Andras (1950- )

Hungarian chess grandmaster who took 2nd place, behind Anatoly Karpov, at the 1969 World Junior Championship in Stockholm. At the time, he played under the last name Jocha. He later adopted his mother’s surname, Adorjan. He became an International Master in 1970 and a Grandmaster in 1973. He is the author of Black is OK! In 1977, during a game with Pachman in Munich, he had a heart attack and fell from his chair. He was rushed to the hospital and survived. In 1979 he tied (with Ribli) for 3^rd-4^th in the Riga Interzonal (behind Tal and Polugaevsky). In 1980, he lost his Candidates match to Robert Huebner with 1 won, 2 losses, and 7 draws. He won the New York Open in 1987. His highest rating has been 2675. As a junior, he played under the name Andras Jocha.

Spassov – Adorjan, Sochi 1977

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.Nf3 g6 5.g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 b5 7.cxb5 a6 8.bxa6 Qa5+ 9.Nc3 Ne4 10.Qc2? Nxc3 11.Bd2 Qa4! (12.Qxa4 Nxa4) 0-1

Adorjan - Zsinka, Budapest 1982

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 b6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5 Be7? (8...Bb7) 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Qd5 Nc6 11.Qxc6+ Bd7 12.Nc7+ (12...Kf8 13.Qxa8 Qxa8 14.Nxa8) 1-0

AF4C

America’s Foundation for Chess, which sponsored the US chess championship since 2000. It was founded in June 2000 to promote chess in the schools. Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan was instrumental in the founding of the AF4C in Seattle, Washington. The AF4C sponsored the US chess championship when the US Chess Federation was unable to sponsor it.

Afghanistan

Chess was forbidden by the Taliban in Afghanistan for 15 years, possibly to prevent intellectuals from getting together. The Taliban believed chess as a form of gambling and it distracted people from saying their prayers. For five years, Afghanistan was the only place in the world where chess was illegal. There is only one master in Afghanistan, Ismail Ibrahim. There are only 7 players from Afghanistan that have a FIDE rating. Afghanistan first became affiliated with FIDE in 1984. In 1989, Afghanistan issued stamps with a chess motif (chess in Alfonso paintings). Afghanistan was temporally excluded from FIDE for non-payment of debt.

Afifi, Assem (1947- )

Egyptian International Master. He played in the 1985 Tunis International and took 16^th place. He played in the 1990 Manila Interzonal and tied for 60^th-63^rd place.

Agababean, Naira (1951- )

Woman Grandmaster from Moldava. She is a former Armenian woman chess champion. Her daughter is Woman Grandmaster Almira Skripchenko, who married Grandmaster Joel Lautier of France.

Agdestein, Simen (1967- )

Norway’s first Grandmaster (1985) who shared first place (with Walter Arencibea) in the World Junior Champion in 1986. He became an International Master in 1983 at the age of 16. He became the youngest grandmaster in the world at age 18 when he won the title. He has won the Norwegian championship four times, the first time as a 15-year-old in 1982. He has also represented Norway on their professional soccer (football) team, but had to give it up due to injuries (torn ligament in his knee). He is currently a teacher at the Norwegian Sports Gymnasium, teaching soccer and chess. He is also a chess columnist for a Norwegian newspaper. His highest rating has been 2716, ranked #12 in the world. Currently, he is a trainer to Magnus Carlsen, one of the youngest grandmasters in the world.

Agdestein - Quinteros, Tessaloniki Olympiad 1984

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O Nc6 7.Nc3 Bg4 8.d5 Na5 9.Nd2 c5 10.h3 Bd7 11.Rb1 e5 12.a3 b6 13.e4 Ne8 14.b4 Nb7 15.Nb3 f5 16.exf5 gxf5 17.bxc5 Nxc5 18.Nxc5 dxc5 19.d6 e4 20.Nd5 Be6 21Bf4 Nxd6? (21...Kh8) 22.Bxd6 (22...Qxd6 23.Nf6+ and 24.Qxd6) 1-0

Age of Chess players

Capablanca learned the game of chess at age 4 by watching his father play. Karpov was taught the moves at age 4. Spassky learned the game at age 5 and later joined the Pioneer Palace in Leningrad where he spent 5 hours every day on chess. Former world woman champion Nona Gaprindashvili learned at age 5 by watching her brothers play. Fischer learned at age 6, taught by his older sister after reading the rules that came with a box of chessmen. Smyslov learned at age 6 by reading a chess book found in his father’s library. Larsen learned at age 6 and later gave up his civil engineering studies to become a full-time chess professional. Alekhine learned at age 7 from his heiress mother. Petrosian learned at age 8. When his parents died when he was 16, he took up chess full time. Tal learned at age 8 by watching patients play chess at his father’s hospital. He joined the Riga Palace of Young Pioneers and was given a chess coach when he was 10. Euwe learned at age 9 and was taught by his parents. Emanual Lasker learned at age 11, taught by his older brother. Botvinnik learned the game at age 12. Steinitz learned at age 12 from his school friends. Browne learned at age 13 after joining the Manhattan chess club. Blackburne did not learn chess until he was 19 after reading a chess book. Two years later he was giving blindfold simultaneous exhibitions. Staunton did not learn until age 19 and did not become a serious player until age 26. Mir Sultan Khan learned the game at age 21. Two years later he was All India chess champion. A year later he won the British Championship. He was illiterate his entire life, unable to read or write.

Ager Chessmen

Chessmen made of rock crystal that used to be preserved in a church in Ager, Spain. 96 pieces were made around 1071. Only a few pieces survive today. There is a myth that this chess set belonged to Charlemagne. It is also known as the Urgel or Urgell chess chessmen, a nearby village. Parts of these pieces are preserved in Lerida. 15 pieces reappeared in a public auction and purchased by the Emir of Kuwait. The collection was plundered by Iraqi soldiers during the Gulf War, but has since returned.

Agnel, Hyacinth R. (1799-1871)

He was a professor (taught French) and Colonel at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and a chess problemist. In 1845, he formed the first chess club at West Point. Author of a chess book with perhaps the longest title. The Book of Chess containing the Rudiments of the Game, and Elementary Analysis of the Most Popular Openings, Exemplified in Games Actually Played by the Greatest Masters; Including Staunton’s Analysis of the King’s and Queen’s Gambits, Numerous Positions and Problems on Diagrams, Both Original and Selected; Also a Series of Chess Tales, With Illustrations Engraved From Original Designs, The Whole Extracted and Translated From the Best Sources. The book was written in 1847 by Agnel and published in 1859 by D. Appleton and Company of New York. The book is 509 pages long. In 1848, he wrote Chess for Winter Evenings. It was later called Agnel’s Book of Chess. Agnel was on the Committee on the Chess Code during the First American Chess Congress. He was a frequent chess opponent of General Winfield Scott. He died in 1871 and is buried at West Point.

Agrest, Evgenij (1966- )

Grandmaster now living in Sweden (since 1994). He was born in Belarus. His FIDE rating is 2592. In 2003, he won a game from former world champion Ponomariov when Ponomariov’s cell phone rang during their match. A cell phone ringing during a match is an automatic disqualification. Ironically, Agrest lost a game in 2004 when his cell phone rang. Was it Ponomariov calling? He was Nordic Chess Champion in 2001 and 2003. He was Swedish Champion in 1998, 2001, 2002, and 2004.

Aguado, Jose Sanz (1907-1969)

Spanish chess champion in 1943.

Agzamov, Georgy Tadzhiyevich (1954-1986)

Uzbekistan Grandmaster (1984) who was killed when he tried to take a shortcut to go swimming in Sevastopol. He fell off a cliff and got stuck between two rocks. Some people heard him yell for help, but he was too deep down in the rocks. He died before a rescue team could get to him. His highest rating was 2728, ranked #8 in the world. He won Belgrade 1982, Sochi 1984, Tashkent 1984, and Calcutta 1986.

Agzamov - Gulko, Sochi 1985

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Rc1 Ne4 8.cxd5 Nxc3 9.Qd2 Qxa2 10.bxc3 Qa5 11.Bc4 Nd7 12.Nf3 Nxc5 13.Be5 O-O 14.O-O f6 15.Ra1 Qd8 16.Bc7 Qd7 17.d6+ e6 18.Nd4 Qf7 19.Ra5 b6 20.Rxc5 bxc5 21.Nb3 Qd7 22.Qd3 Rd8? (22...Qc6) 23.Qe4 (23...Bb7 24.Qxb7 Rab8 25.Bxe6+ Qxe6 26.Bxb8) 1-0

Ahlhausen, Carl (1835-1892)

Librarian of the Berlin Chess Association. His historical chess rating is 2471, ranked #44 in the world in 1889. He was an early player of 1.g4, sometimes known as the Ahlhausen Opening (better known as Grob’s Attack).

Ahues, Carl Oscar (1883-1968)

German International Master (1950). German champion in 1929. He was winning blitz chess tournaments in Germany in his 80s. His Elo rating was around 2490. His highest historical rating was 2651, ranked #11 in the world in 1931. Father of Herbert Ahues.

Ahues – Gregory, Hamburg 1921

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3 d6 5.d4 Bd7 6.O-O exd4 7.Nxd4 Be7 8.Nde2 O-O 9.Ng3 Kh8 10.b3 Qe8 11.Bb2 Bd8 12.f4 Ne7 13.e5 Ng4 14.Bxd7 Qxd7 15.Nce4 Ne3 16.Qh5 Qg4 17.Rf3 N7f5 18.Qxg4 1-0

Ahues, Herbert (1922- )

Son of Carl Ahues. In 1989 he became a Grandmaster for Chess Compositions.

C. Ahues – Gregory, Hamburg 1921

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3 d6 5.d4 Bd7 6.O-O exd4 7.Nxd4 Be7 8.Nde2 O-O 9.Ng3 Kh8 10.b3 Qe8 11.Bb2 Bd8 12.f4 Ne7 13.e5 Ng4 14.Bxd7 Qxd7 15.Nce4 Ne3 16.Qh5 Qg4 17.Rf3 N7f5 18.Qxg4 1-0

AIPE

The Association Internationale de la Presse Echiqueene (AIPE) was the International Association of Chess Press. It was an organization of chess journalists founded in 1967 by Jordi Puig of Barcelona, Spain. AIPE awarded the Chess Oscars from 1967 (first won by Bent Larsen) to 1988 (won by Kasparov for the 7th time in a row) to the outstanding male and female players of the year. AIPE dissolved in 1989. The Chess Oscar was revived in 1995 (won by Kasparov).

Aitken, James Macrae (1908-1983)

Scottish player who won the Scottish chess championship 10 times (1935, 1952, 1953, 1955-1958, 1960, 1961, and 1965). He was also London champion in 1950. His highest rating was 2525. His PhD dissertation was on the Lisbon Inquisition.

Aitken - Hunter, Scotland 1949

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Bb4 5.O-O Nge7 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4 d5? (7...O-O) 8.exd5 Qxd5 9.Nxc6 Qxd1 10.Nxb4+ Bd7 11.Rxd1 (11...Bxa4 12.Nc3) 1-0

Ajeeb

The name of the chess automaton built by Charles Alfred Hopper, a Bristol cabinet-maker, in 1865. Several chess and checker masters (such as Albert Hodges, Ferdinand Burille, and Harry Pillsbury) operated the life-size Indian figure. One opponent shot at Ajeeb after losing a game, wounding the operator. One of the operators of Ajeeb was chess and checker master Constant Ferdinand Burille. During his years as operator, he played over 900 games of chess and only lost 3 games. He never lost a single checker game. Pillsbury was its hidden operator from 1898 to 1904. When Ajeeb was on display in New York at the Eden Musee, it played checkers for a dime and chess for a quarter. Opponents included Theodore Roosevelt, Houdini, Admiral Dewey, O. Henry and Sarah Bernhardt. Ajeeb was 10 feet high. Ajeeb was first exhibited at the Royal Polytechnical Institute in London in 1868. It was lodged at the Crystal Palace between 1868 and 1876 and then went to the Royal Aquarium at Westminster until 1877. It was then taken to Berlin where over 100,000 saw it in three months. It came to New York in 1885. It was destroyed by fire at Coney Island in 1929. Charles Barker, US checkers champion, also worked Ajeeb, never losing a single game.

Akesson, Ralf (1961- )

Swedish Grandmaster. He was European Junior Champion in 1980-81. He was Swedish Champion in 1985. His has been rated as high as 2535.

Akhmilovskaya, Elena Bronisklavovna (1957- )

Woman Grandmaster (1977) from Tbilisi, Georgia who was the 1986 World Women's Championship challenger (losing to Maya Chiburdanidze with 1 win, 4 losses, and 9 draws). She was equal first in the 1988 challengers, but lost the playoff to Ioseliani. In 1988 she eloped with American International Master John Donaldson, captain of the US team, while playing in the chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki, Greece. At the time, she was the number two Soviet woman player. The two were married at the U.S. Consulate in Greece. She returned to the Soviet Union almost a year later to get her 7 year-old daughter. It took three weeks to secure their exit visas. Her mother, Lydia Akhmilovskaya, qualified several times for the USSR Women's Championship and was a top-ranked correspondence player. She later divorced John Donaldson and married IM Georgi Orlov.

Akhmilovskaya - Dahl, Thessaloniki Olympiad 1988

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 f5 5.g4 fxg4 6.Ne5 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.Nxg4 Nxg4 9.Qxg4 Nf6 10.Qg5 Bd7 11.Bd2 Qe7 12.O-O-O O-O-O 13.f3 c5 14.Be1 cxd4 15.exd4 h6 (15...Bc6) 16.Qe5 Qd6 17.Bg3 Bc6 18.Bh3 dxc4? (18...Kd7) 19.Qa5 (19...Qd7 20.Bxe6 Qxe6 21.Qc7 mate) 1-0

Akhsharumova, Anna Markovna (1957- )

Woman Grandmaster who finished first in the 1976 Soviet Women's Championship. Her husband, Boris Gulko, tied for first in the 1977 Soviet Men's Championship. By all rights, she should have won the 1983 Soviet Women's title played in Tallinn when she defeated her main competitor, Nana Ioseliani after she won by time forfeit. It would have given her 12 points to Nana's 11 points. The next day, Ioseliani filed a protest alleging a malfunction in the clock. Anna refused to play. The result of her game was arbitrarily reversed by the All-Union Board of Referees in Moscow, thereby forfeiting her title and ending up in 3rd place. She was the USSR Women’s Champion in 1976 and 1984. She and her husband immigrated to the United States in 1986. She won the U.S. Women's championship in 1987 with a perfect 9-0 score. In 1990, she tied for 5^th-6^th place in the Genting Women’s Interzonal.

Rudolph - Akhsharumova, Malaysia, 1990

1.e4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.d3 d6 6.Nge2 e6 7.O-O Nge7 8.Be3 Nd4 9.Nf4 O-O 10.Qd2 Rb8 11.Nd1 b6 12.c3 Ba6 13.Nh5 gxh5 14.cxd4 cxd4 15.Bg5 f6 16.Bh4 Ng6 17.Qe2 Kh8 18.Qxh5 Bxd3 19.Re1 Nxh4 20.Qxh4 f5 21.Qh3 e5 22.f3 (22.exf5) 22...fxe4 23.fxe4 Qf6 24.Rc1 Rb7 25.Bf1 Bh6 (26.Rc6 Be3+ 27.Nxe3 Qf2+; 26.Bxd3 Bxc1 27.Rf1 Qg7; 26.Rc8 Bd2) 0-1

Akins, Claude (1926-1993)

Movie and television actor (Sheriff Lobo) and chess enthusiast. He taught Dean Martin how to play chess. He played chess and won several games against John Wayne.

Akobian, Varuzhan (1983- )

International Grandmaster (2004), born in Armenia. In 2002, he tied for 1^st place in the World Open. In 2002, he won the Samford Fellowship. In 2003, he won the U.S. Junior Championship and the American Open. In 2004, he won the World Open, National Open, and North American Open. He lives in Glendale, California.

Akopian, Vladimir (1971- )

Armenian grandmaster (1991) who won the World Under-16 Championship in 1986 at the age of 14 won the World Under-18 Championship at 16 and was World Junior Champion in 1991. He tied for 1^st at the U.S. Open in 1991. In 1999 he played without a single loss in the FIDE knockout world championship at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas until Alexander Khalifman defeated him in the final match. He was given the title of Vice Champion of the World. His highest rating has been 2714, ranked #12 in the world.

Steinbacher - Akopian, Groningen 1990

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 Bg7 6.Bc4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Qf3 O-O 9.Ne2 Qc7 10.Bd5 Nd7 11.Bb3 Nf6 12.e4 cxd4 13.cxd4 Bg4 14.Qg3 Qa5+ 15.Bd2? (15.Qc3) 15...Qxd2+ (16.Kxd2 Nxe4+ and 17...Nxg3) 0-1

Al-Adli (800-870)

The first great Arabic chess champion and author. He lived during the reign (847-861) of Caliph Mutawakkil. Al-adli’s chess book (now lost) contained chess problems, endgames and openings.

Al-Modiahki, Mohamad (1974- )

First Grandmaster from Qatar. He is the highest rated Arab, with a FIDE rating of 2570. He is married to former world women’s champion Zhu Chen.

Al-Mutamid

Moorish poet-king who reigned over Seville in the late 11th century. He was regarded as a chess patron and kept several chess masters in his kingdom. In 1078 Alfonso VI and Ibn-Ammar, chess master in al_Mutamid's court, played a game of chess for the stake of Seville. Ibn-Ammar won and the city was spared from siege. Alfonso kept the chess set and board.

Al-Rashid (?-809)

Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad (786-809) who favored chess and granted liberal pensions to chess masters in his court around 800 A.D.

Aladdin (Ala’Addin, As Tabrizi)

The strongest chess player at the end of the 14th century. He was also known as Ali Shatrangi (Ali the Chess player). He could successfully give odds to all other leading players. He was Chinese and a lawyer from Samarkand (now in modern day Uzbekistan). He was at the court of Timur (Tamerlane), who made Samarkand his capital.

Alapin, Semyon Zinovievich (1856-1923)

Russian chess master and openings analyst. He was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. He later settled in St. Petersburg, then Heidelberg, Germany. While studying at St. Petersburg Engineering Institute, he became one of the strongest players in the city. In 1879, he tied for first in the Best Russian Players tournament in St. Petersburg, but lost the play-off to Chigorin. In 1880 and 1881, he lost a match against Chigorin. In 1893, he tied for 1^st place in the championship of Berlin. In 1899, he drew a match with Schlechter in Vienna (+1-1=4). In 1902 he was ranked #8 in the world. In 1911, he won the championship of Munich. Alapin’s Opening is 1.e4 e5 2.Ne2. The Sicilian, Alapin variation is 1.e4 c5 2.c3. Alapin’s Gambit is 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Be3. He was a linguist and involved in grain commodities. He spent his later years in Heidelberg, Germany and died there in 1923.

Alapin - Marshall, Ostende 1905

1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4 4.d3 Nf6 5.dxe4 Nxe4 6.Nf3 Bc5 7.Qe2 f5 8.Nc3 Bf2+ 9.Kd1 O-O 10.Bd2 Nxc3+ 11.Bxc3 Qxd5+ 12.Kc1 Rd8? (12...Bc5) 13.b4 Bb6 14.Qe7 (threatening 15.Qxg7 mate) 14...Qd7 15.Bc4+ Kh8 16.Bxg7 mate 1-0

Alatortsev, Vladimir (1909-1987)

Russian International Master (1950) and honorary Grandmaster (1983). He had been the city champion of Leningrad (1933 and Moscow (1936, 1937). He took 2nd place in the USSR championship in 1933, behind Botvinnik. In 1935, he drew a match with Lilienthal. From 1931 to 1950, he played in 9 USSR championships. He won the Latvian championship in 1945. From 1954 to 1961, he was head of the Soviet Chess Federation. His highest rating was 2626.

Alatortsev - Mazel, Moscow 1931

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Bd6 5.O-O O-O 6.c4 c6 7.Nbd2 Nbd7 8.Qc2 Re8 9.Rd1 e5 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Rxe5 13.Nf3 Bf5 14.Qb3 Re7 15.Bg5 Be4 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Nd4 Bc5 18.e3 Rc8 (18...Qb6) 19.Bxe4 dxe4 20.Nc6 bxc6 21.Rxd8+ Rxd8 22.Rc1 (22...Rd5 23.Qa4) 1-0

Albero, Roman Toran (1931- )

Spanish International Master (1954). Spanish Champion in 1951 and 1953.

Albin, Adolf (1848-1920)

Romanian chess master (born in Bucharest) who learned the game at age 23. In 1872 he authored the first chess book written in Romanian, Amiculu Jocului de Schach. He played in his first international tournament at 43 (Vienna 1891). In 1894 he took 2^nd at New York, behind Steinitz, but ahead of Showalter and Pillsbury. By 1895, his rating was 2643, ranked #15 in the world. The Albin Counter-Gambit is 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5. Albin played this gambit against Emanuel Lasker in New York in 1893, but lost in 31 moves. Lasker won the tournament (13 wins in a row) and Albin took 2nd place.

Albin - Shipley, New York 1894

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.c3 O-O 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Bb6 8.d5 Ne7 (8...Na5) 9.e5 Ne8 10.d6 cxd6 11.exd6 Ng6 12.Bg5 Nf6 13.Nc3 h6 14.Qd3 hxg5? (14...Kh8) 15.Qxg6! Nh7 16.Nd5 fxg6?? 17.Ne7+ Kh8 18.Nxg6 mate 1-0

Alburt, Lev Osipovich (1945- )

Russian Grandmaster (1977) from Odessa who defected from the USSR to the United States in 1979. He was three-time Ukrainian champion, first winning in 1974. He has won the U.S. Championship 3 times (1984, 1985, 1990) and the U.S. Open twice. He led the U.S. team at the 1980 Malta Olympiad. He has a doctorate in physics and natural philosophy. He was the first grandmaster ever elected to the governing body of the United States Chess Federation (USCF). His highest rating was 2667, ranked #28 in the world.

Norquist - Alburt, Chicago 1989

1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e5 Nfd7 4.Nxd5 Nxe5 5.Ne3 Nbc6 6.c3 Nd3+ 7.Bxd3 Qxd3 8.Qe2 Qxe2+ 9.Nxe2 e5 10.f4 Bc5 11.Nd5 Bd6 12.fxe5 Nxe5 13.d4 Nd3+ 14.Kf1 O-O 15.Nef4? (15.Bf4) 15...Nxc1 (16.Rxc1 c6, winning one of the knights) 0-1

Albert – Hebden, New York 1983

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.e3 g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.a4 O-O 8.Nf3 Bb7 9.Be2 b6 10.dxe6 fxe6 11.Qd6 axb5 12.Bxb5 Ne4 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.O-O Rf5 15.Rd1 Qf6 16.Nd2 Rd5? 17.Nxe4 1-0

Alekhine, Alexander (1892-1946)

Winner of the first Soviet Chess Championship (1920) and the only man to die while holding the world chess championship. He learned chess from his older brother Alexei (1888-1939). He studied law at the Sorbonne but failed to get his doctorate as he claimed. He married four times to women 20 to 30 years older than he. He was a prisoner of war like all the other chess contestants at an international tournament in Mannheim in 1914. In 1915 and 1916 he served in the Russian Red Cross. In 1918 he was a criminal investigator in Moscow. In 1919 he was imprisoned in the death cell at Odessa as a spy. In 1920 he was back in Moscow intending to be a movie actor. He also served as interpreter to the Communist party and was appointed secretary to the Education Department. In 1921 he married a foreign Communist delegate and left Russia for good. At the Sorbonne his thesis dealt with the Chinese prison system. In 1930 he scored the first 100% score in the Chess Olympiad, winning 9 games on board 1 for France. During World War II, he became a Nazi collaborator and declared he was ready to sacrifice his life for a Nazi Russia. He competed in seven tournaments in Germany during the war and wrote several pro-Nazi articles. During that time, Soviet players changed the name of Alekhine’s Defense to the Moscow Defense. He died in Portugal after choking on an unchewed piece of meat. He was 53. Alekhine was not buried for three weeks because no one would claim the body. The Portuguese Chess Federation took charge of the funeral. Only 10 people showed up for his funeral. The funeral was delayed for five days until the Portuguese Chess Federation raised enough money to pay for his burial. In 1956 his remains were transferred to a cemetery in Paris. FIDE provided the tombstone in the shape of a chessboard. His birth and death date on the tombstone is wrong. The tombstone reads “ALEXANDER ALEKHINE 1ST NOVEMBER 1892 25TH MARCH, 1946 CHESS WORLD CHAMPION 1927-35-37 TO THE END”. He was born on October 31, 1892 and died either on the evening of March 23rd or the morning of March 24th, 1946. He was ranked #1 in the world from 1924 to 1946.

Alekhine - De Cassio, Blindfold Simultaneous Exhibition, Portugal 1944

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5 3.Bc4 Ne7 4.d3 Nbc6 5.Qh5 O-O 6.Bg5 Qe8 7.Nf3 Ng6 8.Nd5 Bb6 9.Nf6+! (9...gxf6 10.Bxf6, threatening 11.Qh6 and 12.Qg7 mate) 1-0

Alekhine - Vasic, Banja Lika 1931

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bd3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 h6 6.Ba3 Nd7 7.Qe2 dxe4 8.Bxe4 Ngf6 9.Bd3 b6?? (9...c5) 10.Qxe6+! fxe6 11.Bg6 mate 1-0

Alekhine, Grace (1876-1956)

Alexander Alekhine’s fourth wife. She was born Grace Wishard on October 26, 1876 in New Jersey. Her parents were Emile Bernard Wishard (Jewish) and Marie Ida Smith. She later married Archibald Freeman, a British tea-planter in Ceylon. He died in the early 1930s. She took up chess and played Alexander Alekhine in a simultaneous exhibition in Tokyo in 1933. The two started a relationship shortly thereafter. They were married in March 1934 at Villefranche-sur-Mer, near Nice, France. The marriage certificate says her maiden name was Wishaar. She was 16 years older than Alekhine. It was his 4^th marriage and may have been her 4^th marriage as well. She owned a chateau in Saint Aubin-le-Cauf, a few miles southwest of Dieppe in Normandy, France. In 1936/37, she participated in a minor tournament at Hastings. Alexander Alekhine won the premier section and she took 3^rd place in her section. He won 15 pounds for 1^st place and she won 1 pound for 3^rd place. During World War II, the Nazis took over their chateau and looted it. She moved to Paris. Alekhine was free to travel, but no exit visa was given to Grace. After World War II, she sold her chateau under American Embassy protection. She was in failing health and in her 70s. She spent her final years in her studio in Paris, but visited St. Ives, Cornwall, where she was a member of the local chess club. She later led the effort to get Alekhine’s body transferred to the Cimetiere de Montparnasse in Paris. The USSR and French Chess Federation paid to transfer the remains from Portugal to Paris. She died in March 1956. Her grave spells her maiden name as Wishar. After she died, the notes in Alekhine’s handwriting were allegedly found in her effects to prove he wrote the Nazi articles.

Alekhine’s Defense

The moves 1.e4 Nf6 were played before Alekhine (analyzed by Allgaier in 1819), but Alekhine popularized it. Alexander Alekhine first played this defense at Budapest in September 1921 against Saemisch and E. Steiner. By May 1922 it was being called the Alekhine’s Defense by Sir George Thomas in the British Chess Magazine. Also in May 1922, Hans Fahrni wrote the first monograph on the opening, calling it Die Aljechin-Verteidigung.

Alekseev, Evgeny (1985- )

Russian Grandmaster (2002). He won the Russian Junior Championship twice.

Alexander, Conel Hugh O'Donel (1909-1974)

Irish-born (Cork, Ireland) mathematician and chess International Master (1950) who won the British Championship in 1938 and 1956. During World War II he was promoted to colonel in British Intelligence and was part of the British Government Code and Cipher Code at Bletchley Park, England, along with other English chess masters who helped break the German Enigma Code. He was prohibited from traveling to any country under Soviet control or influence during his lifetime because of his association with cryptography. He was given the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his wartime services. In 1946, he won one game and lost one game against Botvinnik in the Anglo-Soviet radio match. In 1953/54, he tied for first (with Bronstein) at Hastings. He played on 6 English Olympiad teams between 1933 and 1958. In the early 1960s he gave up over-the-board chess to concentrate on correspondence chess. He was ranked #24 in the world in 1932.

Alexander - E. Brown, Cambridge 1929

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.O-O d6 8.cxd4 Bb6 9.Nc3 Na5 10.Bg5 Ne7 11.Nd5 f6 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Nxf6+ Kf8 14.Ng5 Nxc4 15.Qh5 Ng6?? (15...Kg7) 16.Qh6+ (16...Ke7 17.Qg7 mate) 1-0

Alexandre, Aaron (1766-1850)

Author of Encyclopedie des Echecs, the first book containing the collection of all opening variations then known. Published in 1837, he introduced the algebraic notation and the castling symbols O-O and O-O-O. The rules of the game were published in four languages in this book. He also wrote Collection des Plus Beux Problems d’Echecs (The Beauties of Chess) in 1846, the first large compilation of chess problems and endgames, containing over 2,000 chess problems and solutions. He was a Jewish rabbi from Bavaria who moved to Paris in 1793. He was one of the operators of the automaton, the Turk.

Alexandria, Nana Georgievna (1949- )

Woman Grandmaster (1976) from Soviet Georgia. She was the USSR Women’s Champion in 1966 (the youngest ever), 1968, and 1969. She was Women’s World Championship Challenger in 1975 (against Gaprindashvili) and 1981 (against Chiburdanidze). She is now an administrator to the World Chess Federation (FIDE). She became the chairperson of the FIDE Women’s Committee in 1986.

Alfonsi, Petrus (1062-1120)

Physician of Alfonso VI (1030-1109) and author of the Disciplina Clericalis (Clerks Instruction). He included chess as one of the seven knightly accomplishments to be mastered. The other tasks included riding, swimming, archery, boxing, hawking, and verse writing. Alfonsi was born Moses Sephardi in Spain, but was baptized as Petrus Alfonsi at the age of 44.

Alfonso Manuscript

A 98-page manuscript ordered by Alfonso the Wise (1221-1284), King of Castile. It included chess, backgammon, and games of chance with dice. Compiled in 1283, it is entitled Juegos Diuersos de Axedrez, Dados, y Tablas con sus Explications, Ordenudos por man Dado Del Rey don Alonso el Sabio. It is the first source mentioning the pawn's double move on the first move. It also includes 103 chess problems. The manuscript was written by the monks of the monastery of St. Lorenzo del Escorial, near Madrid.

Alfonso XIII (1886-1941)

King of Spain from 1886 to 1931. He played in Spanish national chess tournaments in the 1920s. Alfosno suspended the exercise of royal power and went into exile in Rome in 1931. The Second Spanish Republic deposed him. His grandson, Juan Carlos, is now king.

Algebraic notation

Algebraic notation is a form of chess notation by using a combination of letters and numbers (a to h horizontally and 1 to 8 vertically from the White point of view). The first use of algebraic notation is from a French manuscript written in 1173. The first use of the figurine algebraic notation occurred in Belgium in 1927. Algebraic notation was introduced in Chess Life in 1969. It wasn't until 1974 that the first book employing the algebraic notation was published by a major American publisher.

Ali, Essam Ahmed (1964-2003)

Essam Ahmed Ali was born on March 31, 1964 in Egypt. He won the Arab Championships in 1996. In 2003, he won the Egyptian championship. He was an Egyptian International Master and Egypt’s top player, who died on October 27, 2003, of cerebral malaria after returning from the All Africa Games tournament in Abuja, Nigeria. The 60-year-old head of the Egyptian chess delegation, Mohammed Labib, died of the same disease the next day. Both were incorrectly diagnosed in Egypt after becoming ill. Both were bitten by an infected mosquito.

aliyat

Title given by caliph al-Ma'mun to the top four chess players in the early ninth century. The top four players were Jabir al-Kufi, Rabrab, al-Ansari, and abu'n-Na'am. These are the first unofficial grandmasters of chess. Their endgames survive today.

All-Russian Chess Federation

First Russian chess federation, formed in 1914. It had 865 members.

al-Lajlaj (the Stammerer)

First person to analyze and publish works on the openings in 910. He was a pupil of as-Suli, the strongest player of the 10th century. His analysis was carried down from Arabic to Persian to Sanskrit to Turkish to 16th century Italian.

Allen, George (1808-1876)

The grandnephew of Ethan Allen, who wrote The Life of Philidor, Musician and Chess-Player, in 1858 and had it published in Philadelphia in 1863. He was the first to reveal how The Turk operated, in a book on the first American Chess Congress. He was a lawyer, rector of an Episcopal Church, and professor of ancient languages at Delaware College and the University of Pennsylvania. In 1832, he was married by Reverend Ralph Waldo Emerson to Mary Hancock, niece of the famous John Hancock.

Allgaier, Johann (1763-1823)

Author of the first chess book published in German, Neue theoretisch-praktische Anweisung zum Schachspiel. It was published in Vienna in 1795. He was the first operator of the Turk automaton. He operated the chess automation The Turk, when it beat Napoleon Bonaparte in 1805 in Wagrum, Austria. He served as quartermaster accountant in the Austrian Imperial army. He acted as chess tutor to the Emperor’s sons. He was considered the best chess player in Vienna. He died of dropsy, the accumulation of excessive watery fluid outside the cells of the body. The Allgaier Gambit is 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Ng5. Allgaier published analysis on it in 1819.

Almasi, Zoltan (1976- )

Hungarian Grandmaster (1993) at the age of 17. He has won the Hungarian championship five times. In 2000 he was ranked #23 in the world. In 1993, he won the World Junior Championship. In 2005, he became the first grandmaster to lose to a computer program in Chess960 (random chess), when he lost an exhibition match to Shredder in Germany. In 2005, he challenged Peter Svidler for the Chess 960 (Fischerandom) World Championship, but lost the match. His FIDE rating is 2619.

Aloni, Izak (1905-1985)

Izak Aloni (born Itzchak Schaechter) was Israeli champion in 1945, 1961, and 1965.

Alonso, Francisco Javier Sanz (1952- )

Spanish International Master (1977). Spanish Champion in 1973.

Alster, Ladislav (1927- )

Czech champion in 1956.

Alter

Pseudonym of Reverend John Owen (1827-1901). He wrote his chess columns under the pseudonym “Alter.”

Alterman, Boris (1970- )

Israeli Grandmaster (1992). His FIDE rating is 2562. He is an advisor to the Deep Junior chess program.

Amar, Charles

Parisian amateur who frequently played 1.Nh3 in the 1930s. 1.Nh3 is sometimes called the Amar or Paris Opening.

Ambrose, Jan (1954- )

Czech International Master (1980). Czech Champion in 1980.

America

The first mention of chess in America occurred in 1641 in Esther Singleton's history of Dutch settlers. Lewis Rau, a Huguenot minister, produced the first unpublished chess manuscript in 1733. In 1786 Benjamin Franklin issued the first published chess writing, The Morals of Chess. The first chess book by an American author appeared in Boston in 1805. The earliest surviving correspondence game in America is a game from the Washington Chess Club vs. the New York Chess Club in 1839. The first American chess tournament was held in New York in 1843. The first US championship was held in New Orleans in 1845, won by Charles Stanley.

American Chess Association (ACA)

The American Chess Association was the first national sports organization formed in the United States. It was formed at the first American Chess Congress in New York on October 6, 1857. Judge Meek was its first President. In 1874 the American Chess Association transformed into the National Chess Association.

American Chess Bulletin

Leading American chess magazine from 1904 to 1963. It was edited by Hermann Helms until 1956 and then by Edgar Holladay.

American Chess Congress

The first American Chess Congress, organized by Daniel Fiske and held in New York, was won by Paul Morphy in 1857. The top 16 American players were invited (Allison, Calthrop, Fiske, Fuller, Kennicott, Knott, Lichtenhein, Marache, Mead, Meek, Morphy, Paulsen, Perrin, Raphael, Stanley, and Thompson). First prize was $300. Morphy refused any money, but accepted a silver service consisting of a pitcher, four goblets, and a tray. Morphy’s prize was given to him by Oliver Wendell Holmes. The second American Chess Congress was held in Cleveland in 1871 and won by George Mackenzie (1^st place was $100 – or $1,500 in today’s currency). There were nine players (Mackenzie, Hosmer, Elder, Judd, Ware, Smith, Harding, Johnston, and Houghton). The entry fee was $10 ($150 today). The third American Chess Congress was held in Chicago in 1874 and won by Mackenzie. There were eight players (Mackenzie, Hosmer, Judd, Bock, Elder, Perrin, Congdon, and Kennicott) and they had to pay a $20 entry fee. 1st place prize was $225. The fourth American Chess Congress (called the American Centennial Championship) was held in 1876 in Philadelphia and won by James Mason. There were 9 players (Mason, Judd, Davidson, Bird, Elson, Roberts, Ware, Barbour, and Martinez). The entry fee was $20. 1^st place was $300. The fifth American Chess Congress was held in 1880 in New York and won by Mackenzie (on tiebreak over Grundy). There were 10 players. The sixth American Chess Congress was held in 1889 in New York, and won by Chigorin and Weiss. The seventh American Chess Congress was held in 1904 in St, Louis, and won by Frank Marshall.

American Chess Federation

Forerunner of the US Chess Federation (USCF). In 1935, the Western Chess Association, founded in 1900, became known as the American Chess Federation (ACF). Arpad Elo was its first President and Kirk Holland was its Vice President. In 1938, George Sturges was elected president of the ACF. The Western Open, under the Western Chess Association, became known as the American Open. Chess Review magazine became the official magazine of the ACF. In 1939 it merged with the National Chess Federation to form the USCF. The American Open became known as the U.S. Open.

American Chess Foundation (ACF)

Formed in 1955, and leading philanthropic organization in U.S. chess. Its original members were Alexander Bisno, Jacques Coe, Walter Fried, Morris Kasper, Rosser Reeves, Lessing Rosenwald, and Cecile Wertheim. It changed its named to Chess-in-the-Schools in 1986.

American Chess Magazine (ACM)

Name of a chess magazine in 1846-1847 (edited by Charles Stanley), 1872-1874, 1875, and 1897-1899. The June 1897 edition was published by William Borsodi and edited by Charles Devide. Contributors included Pillsbury, Albert Hodgesm Shipley, and Showalter. It lasted for 30 issues.

Amherst College

College located in Amherst, Massachusetts. The college chess team was the winner of the first intercollegiate chess match, in 1859. They defeated Williams College (Williamstown, Massachusetts). The event was actually an intercollegiate baseball and intercollegiate chess match simultaneously as part of a single event. The two teams met on a neutral site in Pittsfield, Massachusetts to engage in a “trial of the mind as well as the muscle.” Amherst won at both sports, and their teams were heralded as “Athletic and Academic Champions.”

Amsterdam 1964

In May-June 1964, the Interzonal tournament was held in Amsterdam with 24 players. It was a four-way tie for first place between Smyslov, Larsen, Spassky, and Tal. First place was $250. A 1959 rule was in effect, prohibiting more than three players from the same country from qualifying. Only three of the five Soviet players were allowed to be seeded into the 1975 Candidates matches. That prevented 5^th place finisher Leonid Stein and 6^th place finisher David Bronstein from qualifying for the Candidates tournament. This was the 2^nd time Stein failed to qualify for the same reason. The 8^th place finishers, Reshevsky and Portisch, played a play-off match. This was won by Portisch. Paul Keres was the runner-up in the previous Candidates, and was seeded into the 1965 Candidates matches. Mikhail Botvinnik, the loser of the last world chess championship to Petrosian, was seeded in the Candidates matches but declined to participate. His place was taken by Geller, who had finished 3^rd in the previous Candidates tournament. Bobby Fischer, after winning the US Championship with a perfect score, and qualifying to play in the Interzonal, refused to play in the Interzonal. He was boycotting FIDE tournaments because he claimed the Soviets were cheating by drawing with each other. Fischer was undefeated in the last Interzonal at Stockholm. The US representatives were Reshevsky, Evans (14^th place) and Benko (16^th place). Each received $500 for playing in the event.

Amura, Claudia (1970- )

Woman Grandmaster from Argentina. She is the first Latin American woman to earn the male International Master title. Her FIDE rating is 2372. She is married to GM Gilberto Hernandez of Mexico.

Anand, Viswanathan (1969- )

Indian Grandmaster (1988) who won the World Junior Championship in 1987. In 1995 he played Kasparov for the world PCA championship in New York and lost after 1 win, 13 draws and 4 losses. In 1998 he lost to Karpov for the FIDE World Chess Championship. In 2000 he won the FIDE World Chess Championship held in Teheran and became the 15th official world chess champion and the first Asian to win the title. He defeated Shirov in the final match with 3 wins and 1 draw. He held the title for two years. In 2002, Ponomariov won the world FIDE championship in Moscow. He was ranked #1 in the world in November 2004. His highest rating has been 2833.

Micalizzi - Anand, Rome 1990

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 Bd7 7.Qd2 a6 8.f4 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.f5 (10.Be2) 10...h5 11.Be2 h4 12.O-O Bh6 13.Qd3 Qb6 14.Rad1 Qxd4+ (15.Qxd4 Nxd4 16.Rxd4 Be3+ 17.Kh1 Bxd4) 0-1

Ivanchuk – Anand, Reggio Emilia 1988

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Be7 7.O-O Nc6 8.Re1 Bg4 9.c3 f5 10.Qb3 Qd6 11.Nfd2 O-O-O 12.f3 Bh4 13.Rd1 Bh3 14.Qc2 Qg6 15.Nb3 Rhf8 16.Na3 Rde8 17.Kh1 Nf2+ 18.Rxf2 Bxg2+! 0-1

Anastasian, Ashot (1964- )

Grandmaster from Armenia. In 2005, he won the Championship of Armenia. His FIDE rating is 2595.

Andersen, Borge (1934- )

Danish International Master (1964). Danish Champion in 1958, 1967, 1968, and 1973.

Andersen, Erik (1904-1938)

Won the Danish Championship 12 times, including 8 times in a row. He was Nordic Champion in 1930.

Andersen – Censer, London 1927

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Qb6 5.Qc1 Nc6 6.c3 Be7 7.Nbd2 d5 8.Bd3 O-O 9.h3 Bd7 10.O-O Rac8 11.Re1 cxd4 12.exd4 a6 13.Re3 Rfd8 14.Bc2 Qa7 15.Qd1 b5 16.Ne5 Be8 17.Rg3 Bf8 18.Bg5 Qe7 19.Ng4 Kh8 20.Nxf6 gxf6 21.Qh5 1-0

Anderson, Frank Ross (1928-1980)

Three-time Canadian Champion (1953, 1955, 1958) from Toronto and International Master (1954). In 1948 he won the U.S. Junior Championship. In 1954 and I 1958 he won the gold medal on 2^nd board in the Chess Olympiad. He came closer to the Grandmaster title than any other player. In 1958 he scores 84% in the Munich Olympiad. He became ill (reaction to an incorrect prescription) and was unable to play his final round. He missed the Grandmaster title because of this. Even if he had played and lost, he would have made the final norm necessary for the Grandmaster title. He had polio and was disabled his whole life. He was a computer expert.

Anderson - Weaver Adams, St. Louis 1941

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 b6 4.c3 Bb7 5.Bd3 e6 6.Bf4 Ne7 7.Nbd2 d5 8.Qe2 a6 9.h4 h5 10.Ne5 Nd7 11.O-O-O c5 12.exd5 exd5 13.Rde1 cxd4? (13...Nxe5) 14.Nxf7! Kxf7 15.Qe6+ Kf8 16.Bd6 (or 16.Bxg6 Nxg6 17.Bd6+ Be7 18.Bxe7+ wins) 16...Ne5 17.Rxe5! (17...Bxe5 18.Bxg6 threatening 19.Qf7 mate) 1-0

Anderson, Gerald Frank (1893-1983)

British chess problemist, International Judge of Composition (1960), and International Master of Composition (1975). He was the last person to play Alexander Alekhine. He worked in the British Foreign Office.

Anderson, Terry

Former Associated Press correspondent that was held hostage for six years by Lebanese extremists. He credits chess with helping him survive the ordeal. He was held hostage from March 16, 1985 to December 4, 1991. He built chess sets out of aluminum foil before they allowed him to have a regular chess set.

Anderssen, Adolf (1818-1879)

Winner of the first international chess tournament (London 1851). Between 1851 and 1878 he took part in 12 chess tournaments. He was on the prize list in every one of them. He took 1^st prize at London 1851, London 1862, Hanburg 1869, Barmen 1869, Baden 1870, Crefeld 1871, and Leipzig 1876. Strongest player in the world between 1859 (when Morphy retired) and 1866 (when Steinitz defeated him). In 1851 A. Anderssen was recognized as the strongest chess player in the world. That same year A. Anderson (Andrew Anderson) was recognized as the strongest checker player in the world (first world checker champion). In 1877 a group of German chess fans organized a tournament to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of Anderssen's learning the chess moves. This is the only tournament in chess history organized to commemorate a competitor. He tied for second, behind Paulsen. He was a professor of mathematics when not playing chess. When he died, his obituary was 19 pages long.

Mayet - Anderssen, Berlin 1851

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.O-O Bg4 7.h3 h5 8.hxg4 hxg4 9.Nxe5 g3 10.d4 Nxe4 11.Qg4? (11.fxg3) 11...Bxd4 12.Qxe4?? (12.Nd3) 12...Bxf2+ (13.Rxf2 Qd1+ 14.Rf1 Rh1+ 15.Kxh1 Qxf1 mate) 0-1

Anderssen – Schallopp, Berlin 1864

1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.Nf3 dxe4 4.Nxe5 Bd6 5.Bc4 Bxe5 6.fxe5 Qd4 7.Qe2 Qxe5 8.d4 Qxd4 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.Be3 Qd8 11.O-O h6 12.Bc5 Nbd7 13.Qxe4+! 1-0

Andersson, Ulf (1951- )

Swedish Grandmaster (1972) who is the all-time drawing master. Against top-level opposition, he has drawn 74% of his games, winning 10%, and losing 16%. In 1984 he was the 5th highest rated player in the world. In 1996 he set a world record of playing 310 chessboards simultaneously, winning 268, drawing 40, and losing 2 games in 15 hours and 23 minutes. It is estimated he walked over 7 miles during this exhibition. In 1996 he became a Grandmaster is correspondence chess and is currently the highest rated correspondence player in the world. He was the first person to beat Karpov after Karpov became world champion in 1975.

Anderssen - Portisch, Skopje 1972

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nc6 4.O-O Bd7 5.Re1 Nf6 6.c3 a6 7.Bf1 e5 8.h3 h6 9.d4 Qc7 10.a4 g6 11.Na3 Bg7 12.dxc5 dxc5 13.Nc4 Rb8 14.b4 cxb4 15.cxb4 Be6 16.Nd6+ Ke7 17.Ba3 Ne8 18.Nxb7 Qxb7 (18...Rxb7) 19.b5+ Kf6 20.bxc6 Qc7 21.Nxe5 (21...Qxe5 22.Qf3+ Bf5 23.exf5 and if 23...Qxf5 24.Be7 mate) 1-0

Angantysson, Haukur (1948- )

Icelandic International Master (1981). He was Icelandic Champion in 1976.

Antarctica

In the 1950s, a scientist at a Soviet research station (Vostok) in Antarctica who lost a chess game, killed his opponent with an axe. Chess was later banned there by the Soviets.

Anthony, Edwyn (1843-1932)

Founder (along with Lord Randolph Churchill) and President of the Oxford University Chess Club. He helped establish the annual Oxford-Cambridge chess match. In 1890, he wrote a book called Chess Telegraphic Codes. He reported on chess activities for his father’s newspaper, The Hereford Times.

Antoshin, Vladimir Sergeyevich (1929- )

Russian Grandmaster (1964) and technical designer. He has played in 5 USSR chess championships, taking 6th place in 1967. In 1960, he was USSR Correspondence Champion. In 1966, he took 1^st place at the international tournament in Zinnowitz.

Hamann – Antoshin, Venice 1966

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb5 d6 6.Bf4 e5 7.Be3 a6 8.N5c3 Nf6 9.Be2 Be7 10.O-O O-O 11.Nd2 b5 12.a4 b4 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.exd5 Na5 15.f4 exf4 16.Bxf4 Bf5 17.Kh1 Bg6 18.Nf3 Bf6 19.Ra2 Bxc2 20.Qxc2 b3 0-1

Seleznev – Antoshin, USSR 1960

1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d6 4.g3 c6 5.Bg2 Qc7 6.Nf3 e5 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.O-O Bb4 9.Qb3 Na6 10.e4 fxe4 11.Ng5 Bxc3 12.Qxc3 Bf5 13.Re1 Nc5 14.b4 Nd3 15.Re2 O-O 16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 Bxe4 (17...Qxd3) 18.Rxe4 Nxf2 19.Rxe5 Rad8 20.c5 (20.Bb2) 20...Qf7 21.Bg5 Rd3 (22.Qc2 Qf3, threatening 23...Qh1 mate) 0-1

Antunes, Antonio (1962- )

Grandmaster from Portugal. His FIDE rating is 2496.

Apicella, Manuel (1970- )

Grandmaster from France. His FIDE rating is 2553.

Appel, Izaak (1905-1941)

Polish master. He won the Lodz City Chess Championship in 1934. He participated in several Polish championships.

Apscheneek, Fritzis (Franz Apsenieks) (1894-1941)

Latvian master. In 1924, he took 2^nd place in the World Amateur Championship in Paris, behind Hermannis Mattsion of Latvia. He was the Latvian Champion in 1926-27, and in 1934. He died of pulmonary phthisis, at the age of 47.

Arabic

The first references of chess in Arabic occur in 720 in romantic poems by Kutaiyira Azzata and al-Farazdaq. The Arabicized name of the Persian Chatrang became shatranj. The pieces were called Shah (king), Firz (minister or queen), Fil (elephant or bishop), Faras (horse), Rukh (chariot or boat), and Baidaq (foot-soldier).

Araiza Munoz , Jose Joaquin (1900-1971)

Won the Mexican Chess Championship 15 times in a row, from 1924 to 1949. He was a Lt. Colonel in the Mexican Army.

Soto Larrea - Araiza, Mexico 1932

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.e3 e6 4.b3 Bd6 5.Bb2 Nf6 6.d3 Nbd7 7.Nbd2 e5 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.g3 O-O 10.Bg2 Nc5 11.Bf1 Bf5 12.e4 dxe4 13.dxe4 Nxe4 14.Nxe4 Bxe4 15.Be2 Qa5+ 16.Kf1 Rad8 17.Kg2? (17.Qe1) 17...Bc7 18.Qc1 Nd3 19.Qc3 Nxb2 20.Qxb2 Rd2 21.b4 Rxb2 22.bxa5 Rxe2 0-1

Arakhamia-Grant, Ketevan (1968- )

Georgian Woman Grandmaster. In 1986, she was the World Women’s Under 16 Champion. She won the 1995 Women’s Interzonal at Kishinev. Her FIDE rating is 2423.

Arbakov, Valentin (1952- )

Russian Grandmaster. He was joint Moscow Champion in 1981. He is one of the strongest blitz players in the world.

Psakhis – Arbakov, Irkutsk 1983

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.Nf3 g6 5.cxb5 a6 6.Qc2 Bg7 7.e4 O-O 8.Nc3 Bb7 9.Bf4 d6 10.Bc4 axb5 11.Nxb5 Nbd7 12.O-O Nb6 13.Be2 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Ra4 15.Nfd4 Bxd4 16.Nxd4 Rxd4 17.Qf3 Nxd5 18.Bh6 Qa8 19.Qg3 Re8 20.b3 Ba6 21.Rfe1 Bxe2 22.Rxe2 Qa6 23.Rae1 Qxe2 0-1

Arbiter

The director of a tournament or match who sees that the laws of chess are strictly observed. The youngest arbiter of a major tournament was Sophia Gorman, who, at age 19, was an arbiter at the World Candidates tournament. FIDE created the International Arbiter (Judge) title in 1951. An arbiter must have a working knowledge of two official FIDE languages (English, French, German, Russian, and Spanish).

Arbues, Pedro de (1441-1484)

An Dominican member of the Spanish Inquisition, living in Aragon, who ordered victims of persecutions to stand in as figures in a game of living chess played by two blind monks. Each time they captured a piece, they condemned someone to death, usually by burning them alive. Arbues was assassinated in the Saragossa Cathedral in 1484. He was made a saint in 1867.

Ardiansyah, Herman (Haji) (1951- )

Indonesian Grandmaster (1986). He tied for 1^st place at Jakarta 1986. His FIDE rating is 2409.

Arencibia Rodriguez, Walter (1967- )

Cuban Grandmaster who won the 1986 World Junior Chess Championship. He became the 2^nd Cuban, after Capablanca, to hold a world chess crown.

Argentina

In 1860, the first chess club in Argentina was formed. In 1921, the first Argentine Championship was held, won by Damian Reca (1894-1937). In 1927, Buenos Aires was the site of the world championship match between Capablanca and Alekhine. In 1939, Argentina staged the Chess Olympiad.

Arkell, Keith (1961- )

English Grandmaster. His FIDE rating is 2521. He was once married to WIM Susan Walker, who latter married GM Bogdan Lalic.

Arkhipov, Sergey (1954- )

Russian Grandmaster (1992). His FIDE rating is 2505.

Westerinen – Arkhipov, Budapest 1983

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nc3 Qh4+ 4.Ke2 Ne7 5.Nf3 Qh5 6.d4 g5 7.Kf2 d6 8.Be2 Bg7 9.Nb5 Na6 10.c3 g4 11.Ne1 Bh6 12.Kg1 Rg8 13.h3 f3 14.hxg4 f2+ 0-1

Arlauskas, Romanas (1917- )

Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess (1965). He finished 3^rd in the 4^th World Correspondence Championship (1962-1965). He tied for first place in the 1943 Lithuanian chess championship. He migrated from Lithuania to Australia in the late 1940s. He won the Australian championship in 1949.

Tautvaisas – Arlauskas, Augsburg 1946

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 g6 4.Qb3 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bg7 6.e4 O-O 7.Nf3 b6 8.Bf4 c5 9.dxc5 Ba6 10.Nb5 bxc5 11.Rd1 Qa5+ 12.b4 Qxb5 13.Qxb5 Bxb5 14.Bxb5 Nxe4 15.Rd3 cxb4 16.O-O Nc3 17.Bc4 Ne2+ 0-1

Armed Forces Chess

The first Armed Forces Championship in the United States took place during Armed Forces Week in May 1960, at the Lafayette Square USO in Washington DC. Tied for first place were Captain John Hudson of the U.S. Air Force and SP4 Arthur Feuerstein of the U.S. Army.

Arnason, Jon (1960- )

Icelandic grandmaster (1986). He was winner of the first World Championship for juniors under 17, in 1977 (ahead of Jay Whitehead and Kasparov). He won the championship of Iceland in 1977, at the age of 16, the youngest champion of Iceland.

Aronian, Levon (1982- )

Grandmaster from Armenia. He won the 2002 World Junior Chess Championship, held in Goa, India. He won the 2005 FIDE World Knockout Chess Championship (FIDE World Cup), held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. He defeated Ruslan Ponomariov in the final knockout round.

Aronin, Lev (1920-1982)

Soviet International Master (1950). He played in eight Soviet championships, taking 2^nd in the 18^th USSR Championship in 1950. He won the Moscow Championship in 1965. His occupation was a meteorologist.

Aronin – Kantorovich, Moscow 1960

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 b6 4.d4 Bb7 5.Bc4 d5 6.exd5 Bxd5 7.Qa4+ Bc6 8.Ne5 1-0

Art

There are at least 20 paintings called "Checkmate." The first known painting depicting a chess game is kept at the Cappella Palatina in Palermo, Sicily. It is dated before 1200. It shows two Arabs seated on the ground with a chessboard between them. The Chess Players, painted in 1490, was the first known painting with a chess theme. The painting resides in the Metropolitan Museum of New York. Until 1948, the painting was attributed to Francesco di Giorgio (1439-1501). Since that time the painter is thought to have been Girolamo da Cremona or Liberale da Verona.

Arteaga, Eldis Cobo (1929- )

Cuban International Master (1967). Cuban Champion in 1950.

Arulaid, Alexander (1924- )

Estonian Champion in 1948, 1955, and 1964.

Asanov, Bolat (1961- )

Grandmaster from Kazakhstan. His FIDE rating is 2449.

Ascher, Jacob (1841-1912)

Canadian Chess Champion in 1878 and 1883. He was a chess columnist for the New Dominion Monthly.

Aseev, Konstantin (1960-2004)

Russian Grandmaster. He was Leningrad Champion in 1985. His peak FIDE rating was 2591. He was the chess trainer for Maya Chiburdanidze, Nana Aleksandria, Andrei Kharlov, and Evgeny Alekseev. He played in four USSR Championships.

Asgeirsson, Asmundur

Icelandic Champion in 1931, 1933, 1934, 1944, 1945, and 1946.

Ashley, Maurice (1966- )

In 1993, he became the first African-American International Master in US history. First African-American Grandmaster (1999). He won the Marshall Chess Club Championship in 1993. In 1997, he tied for 1^st in the Bermuda Open. He was born in Jamaica and coached the Harlem Raging Rooks, which won the National youth title in 1991.

Berkovich - Ashley, New York 1994

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 O-O 5.Nf3 c5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.Qxc3 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qh4 d5 10.b4 dxc4 11.Qxc4 e5 12.Bb2 Be6 13.Qh4 Qd5 14.Qg5 Qb3 15.Rb1 Rfd8 16.g3 (16.Qe3) 16...Nxb4 17.axb4 Ne4 18.Nd2 (18.Qxe5 Qxb4+) 18...Nxd2 19.Qxe5 f6 (20.Qc3 Nxb1) 0-1

Asmundsson, Ingvar (1934- )

Icelandic Champion in 1979.

as-Razi

Champion of Persia in 847 after defeating al-Aldi in the presence of the caliph Matawakkil. He wrote a book of chess problems of which two survive today.

Assiac

Pseudonym of Heinrich Fraenkel (1897-1986), chess author. He wrote a weekly chess column for the New Statesman.

Association

The Canadian Chess Association is the oldest (first) national chess association in the world, founded in 1872. The Scottish Chess Association is the second oldest in the world, founded in 1884.

as-Suli (880-946)

Turkish player who defeated al-Mawardi, the resident master of the caliph al_Muktafi, to become the champion of the known world in the 10th century. His superiority was recognized up to Renaissance times.

Asztalos, Lajos (1889-1956)

Hungarian player and International Master (1950). He won the Hungarian championship in 1913. He was a professor of philosophy (PhD) and a journalist. From 1951 to 1956 he served as President of the Hungarian Chess Federation.

Atahualpa (1500-1533)

12th and last Inca emperor of Peru who was imprisoned by Francisco Pizarro and the Spanish conquistadors in 1533. He was imprisoned in Cajamarca, Peru and learned chess by watching his guards play, and before long was beating them all. It is said that a certain Spanish captain hated him for this and had him murdered. This information is preserved in a letter from Don Gaspar de Espinosa (1533) and the autobiography of Don Alonso Enriquez de Guzman (1518-1543).

Atalik, Suat (1964- )

First and only Turkish Grandmaster (1994). His FIDE rating is 2561.

Atkins, Henry (1872-1955)

British schoolmaster who won the British Championship 9 times out of 11 appearances, 7 times in a row (1905-1911, 1924, and 1925). Only Penrose has won it more often (10 times). In 1950 he was awarded the International Master title at the age of 78.

Atkins - Gunsberg, Hanover 1902

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 c5 4.e3 Bg4 5.Bxc4 e6 6.Qa4+ Nd7 7.Ne5 Bf5?? (7...Nf6) 8.Nxd7 (8...Qxd7 9.Bb5) 1-0

Atwood, George (1746-1807)

George Atwood was born in 1746. He was an English mathematician and lecturer at Cambridge. In 1776, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London. William Pitt, British Prime Minister, was one of Atwood’s former students. He gave Atwood a position as a personal secretary and an office in the Treasury. In the 1784, he created the Atwood machine for verifying experimentally the laws of acceleration of motion. In 1787, he joined the London Chess Club. From 1787 to 1800, he recorded his own games and the games of others, including Philidor, played at the London Chess Club. On June 20, 1795, he took part in Philidor’s last blindfold performance. Philidor played his last game of chess, against Atwood, on June 29, 1795 at the Parsloe’s Club. In 1798, he defeated Joseph Wilson in a match (3-0). In 1799, he, again, defeated Wilson in a match (3-0). When George Atwood died on July 11, 1807, he left his chess notebook to Joseph Wilson. When Wilson died in 1833, George Walker bought Atwood’s notebook. In 1835, Walker, based on Atwood’s chess notebook, wrote Selection of Games at Chess, actually played by Philidor and his Contemporaries, published in London. The book contained 47 of Philidor’s games.

Augustin, Josef (1942- )

Czech International Master (1976). Czech Champion in 1965.

Ault, Leslie (1940- )

Chess author who helped write Bobby Fischer Teaches Cbess. He also wrote The Genesis of Power Chess.

Ault, Robin (1941-1994)

The first person to win the U.S. Junior Championship three times (1959-1961). The 1961 US Junior Championship was held in Dayton, Ohio. Robin Ault won on tiebreak over Bernard Zuckerman. He was invited to the 1959-60 U.S. Championship, then lost all 11 games.

Australia

The first Australian chess championship was held in Melbourne, Australia in 1885 and won by Frederick K. Esling (1860-1955).

Auto da Fe

Novel written by Nobel Prize winner for Literature (1981), Elias Canetti (1905-1994). It was his only work of fiction. The main character is a man named Fischer, a mad visionary, who dreams of becoming world chess champion and buying clothes from the best tailors in the world. The book was written in 1935. The book was translated into English, entitled Tower of Babel.

Automatons

Machines that give the illusion of playing chess. The first automaton was Wolfgang von Kempelen's The Turk (1769), followed by Hooper's Ajeeb (1868), then Gumpel's Mephisto (1878).

Averbakh, Yuri (1922- )

Endgame expert and grandmaster (1952). He was the Soviet Chess Federation president from 1972 to 1977. His daughter married Grandmaster Mark Taimanov. He was the editor of the principal Soviet chess magazine, Schachmatny v SSSR. He played in the USSR Championship 15 times between 1949 and 1969. In 1954 he won the USSR championship and in 1956 tied for first place with Spassky and Taimanov. He has been chief arbiter at many chess Olympiads.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.Bg5 Bb4 6.e4 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qc7 9.Qb3 Bxc3+ 10.Qxc3 Nxe4 11.Nb5 Qc5 12.Qxg7 Rf8 13.Bh6 Qxf2+? (13...Nd7) 14.Kd1 Nd7 15.Re1 Nef6 16.Bxe6 Qxb2 17.Rc1 (17...Qxb5 18.Bc4+) 1-0

AVRO

Algemeene Veerenigde Radio Oemrop (AVRO), a Dutch broadcasting company, which sponsored the world's strongest tournament held up to that time from November 5^th to the 27^th of November, 1938. The top eight players in the world participated (Keres, Fine, Botvinnik, Alekhine, Reshevsky, Euwe, Capablanca, and Flohr). First place was equivalent to $550 (shared by Fine and Keres). Alekhine, for the first time in his life, came ahead of Capablanca. Capablanca, for the first time in his life, fell below 50%. He lost four games in this event. Flohr, the official challenger who was expected to play a world championship match with Alekhine, came last without a single victory in 14 rounds. Each round was played in a different Dutch city that rotated between Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Groningen, Zwolle, Haarlem, Utrecht, Arnhem, Breda, and Leiden.

Avrukh, Boris (1978- )

Grandmaster from Israel. His FIDE rating is 2652.

Axedrez

The Spanish word for chess. The Portuguese player Damiano wrote a Spanish book suggesting chess was invented by Xerxes and should be named after Xerxes, hence, the word Axedrez.

Azmaiparashvili, Zurab (1960- )

Grandmaster (1988) from Soviet Georgia. In 1978 he became junior champion of the USSR. He was Garry Kasparov’s trainer from 1987 to 1993. In 1990 he was elected president of the Georgian chess federation. He is the highest rated player from Georgia.

Stangl - Azmaiparashvili, Tilburg 1994

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.c3 c5 5.dxc5 Ne4 6.Be3 O-O 7.Bd4 d5 8.cxd6 Qxd6 9.Nbd2 Nf6 10.e4 Qc7 11.Be2 Nc6 12.O-O Rd8 13.Qb1 Bh6 14.Nc4 Nh5 15.Be3 Nf4 16.Bxf4 Bxf4 17.Ne3 Be6 18.Bc4 Bxc4 19.Nxc4 b5 20.Na3 Ne5 21.Nxb5? (21.Nxe5) 21...Nxf3+ 22.gxf3 Qd7 (23.Nd4 Qh3 24.Rd1 Bxh2+ 25.Kh1 Bg3+ 26.Kg1 Qh2+ 27.Kf1 Qxf2 mate) 1-0

Babula, Vlastimil (1973- )

Grandmaster from the Czech Republic. His FIDE rating is 2604.

Baburin, Alexander (1967 - )

Russian player who moved to Ireland in 1993 and became a Grandmaster in 1996. He won the 1999 Mind Sports Olympiad in London and the 2000 National Open in Las Vegas. He edits the electronic newsletter, Coffer Break Chess.

Stefansson - Baburin, Budapest 1991

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 a6 4.a4 Nf6 5.e3 Bg4 6.Bxc4 e6 7.h3 Bh5 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.O-O Bb4 10.g4 Bg6 11.Nh4 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Ne4 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.Kg2 Qh4 15.Qf3 O-O-O 16.Rh1 f5 17.Bxe6+ Kb8 18.gxf5 Rh5 19.Qf4 Rg5+ 20.Kf3?? (20.Kf1) 20...Qxf2+ 21.Kxe4 Qc2+ (22.Kf3 Qg2 mate) 0-1

Bachmann, Ludwig (1856-1937)

German author and chronicler of chess. He worked for the Bavarian railway. In his spare time, he collected information on chess events and put them in yearbooks (Schach-Juhrbuch), from 1891 to 1930. His nickname was the ‘Chess Herodotus’. He was the first person to issue a yearbook on chess.

Bacrot, Etienne (1983- )

Youngest FIDE master at age 10. He won the World under 12 championship in Brazil in 1995. In March 1997, Bacrot become the youngest Grandmaster in history at the age of 14 years and 2 months. The record was previously held by Peter Leko (14 years, 4 months). Bacrot’s record was then beaten in December 1997 by Ruslan Ponomariov (14 years, 17 days).

Bacrot - Alexandria, Biel 1995

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O O-O 7.d5 b5 8.Qb3 Qc8 9.Qxb5 c6 10.dxc6 Bxc6 11.Qa5 Qb7 12.Nc3 Na6 13.Rd1 Rfc8 14.Rb1 Nc5? (14...d6) 15.Qxc5 Ne4 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17.Qxe7 Re8 18.Qd6 Bxb1 19.Nd2 Qb8 20.Nxb1 Rxe2 21.Qd5 (21...Re8 22.Qxa8 Qxa8 23.Rxa8 Rxd7) 1-0

Baden-Baden 1870

First international tournament in Germany and the first to be interrupted by war (Franco-Prussian war). First place was 3,000 francs. This tournament was the first to introduce chess clocks (20 moves per hour), but the players had the option of using hourglasses. Adolf Anderssen won the event with 11 points, followed by Steinitz with 10 ½ points.

Baden-Baden 1925

First international tournament in Germany after World War I. Alekhine was the winner, with 16 points, followed by Rubinstein with 14 ½ points.

Bagirov, Vladimir (1936-2000)

Russian Grandmaster (1978) who competed in nine Soviet championships between 1960 and 1978. His best result was 4th place in 1960. He became a Grandmaster in 1978 at the age of 42. In 1998 he won the 8th World Senior Chess Championship, held in Austria. He helped train Tal and Kasparov. He died of a heart attack while playing in a chess tournament in Finland. He had just finished a move while in time pressure and his flag fell. As both players moved to a separate board to reconstruct the game, he collapsed and died.

Buhman - Bagirov, USSR 1970

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 e5 4.Nf3 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bc5 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Qa4+ Nbd7 8.Nc3 O-O 9.Qxc4 Ng4 10.Qe2 Nxe3 11.Qxe3 Nf6 12.Rd1 Ng4 13.Qd2 Qf6 14.f3 (14.Na4) 14...Rd8 15.Nd5 Rxd5! 16.exd5 Qe5+ 17.Be2 Ne3 18.Kf2 Nf5 (19.f4 Qxd5 and 20...Bxd4) 0-1

Bagley, Clarence (1843-1932)

First chess champion of Washington State (Washington territory). He was chess champion of Washington territory from 1862 to 1875. He lived in Seattle. He was a printer, newspaper and magazine publisher, writer, historian, and founder of the Washington State Historical Society.

Baguio

Philippine city that hosted the 1978 World Championship match between Karpov and Korchnoi. No flags were present because Korchnoi had defected from the Soviet Union and was “stateless” and had no flag to represent. The national anthem for both players was supposed to be played. The orchestra did not know the Soviet national anthem and played something else. Since Korchnoi did not represent any country, the orchestra played Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. On the morning of the match, it was discovered there was not a single “Staunton” design chess set in the city. Someone drove 150 miles to Manila to buy a Staunton chess set for the world chess championship. It arrived 15 minutes before the scheduled first game.

Bain, Mary Weiser (1904-1972)

1937 challenger to the World’s Women Championship (she was born in Hungary). She won titles in Cuba, Sweden, Finland, and the United States. U.S. women’s champion from 1951 to 1953. She was a pupil of Frank Marshall and Geza Maroczy. She was a Bridge expert and operated a duplicate-bridge club in New York.

Baird, David Graham (1854- )

Charter member of the chess club that eventually evolved in the Manhattan Chess Club. In 1880, he tied for 2^nd place in the minor section of the 5^th American Chess Congress in New York. In 1883, he took 2^nd place in the 5^th Manhattan Chess Club championship, behind Gustave Simonson. In 1889, he was a participant in the 6^th American Chess Congress in New York and took 11^th place. In 1890, he won the Manhattan Chess Club championship. In 1895, he won the New York state championship. He was the younger brother of John Washington Baird.

Baird, Edith Helen (1859-1924)

She was born Winter Wood. She was the most famous female chess composer. She published her problems using the name “Mrs. W.J. Baird. She composed over 2,000 problems. In 1902, she wrote 700 Chess Problems.

Baird, John Washington (1852- )

Charter member of the chess club that eventually evolved in the Manhattan Chess Club. In 1889, he participated in the 6^th American Congress in New York and took 19^th place out of 20. He was an umpire for Steinitz and signed the contract for the Steinitz-Lasker world championship match. He was the older brother of David Graham Baird.

Bakker, Ineke ( -2003)

Former FIDE General Secretary from 1972 to 1982. When Florencio Campomanes was elected FIDE President, she resigned. She was appointed Honorary Member of FIDE by its general assembly.

Bakulin, Nikolac (1926- )

Moscow champion in 1961, 1964 and 1966. He took last place in the 32^nd USSR Championship in 1964-65.

Balanel, Ion (1926- )

Romanian International Master (1954). Romanian Champion in 1950, 1953, 1955, and 1958.

Balashov, Yuri (1949- )

Russian Grandmaster (1973) from Moscow. He won the Moscow championship in 1970. He played in 15 Russian championships, taking 2nd place in 1976 (behind Karpov). In 1978, he served as second for Karpov at the world championship match with Korchnoi in Baguio, Philippines. In 1985 he withdrew from the Taxco Interzonal Tournament after 11 rounds. He had won one game, drew 7 games, and lost 3 games at the time. He ended up in last place. In 1992, he served as second for Boris Spassky during his match with Bobby Fischer.

Balashov - Beszterczey, Poland 1992

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 Nc6 6.Be3 e5 7.d5 Nce7 8.Ng5 Bd7 9.f4 exf4 10.Bxf4 h6 11.Nf3 g5 12.Be3 Ng6 13.Bd4 Nf6 14.e5 dxe5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.Bxe5 O-O 17.O-O Ne4?? (17...Ne8) 18.Bxg7 (18...Kxg7 19.Nxe4; 18...Nxc3 19.Bxc3) 1-0

Balcarek, Wiktor (1915- )

Polish Champion in 1950.

Balcerowski, Witold (1935- )

Polish Champion in 1962 and 1965.

Balinas, Rosendo (1941-1998)

Philippine lawyer and Grandmaster (1976) who was Asia’s best player in the 1960s. He won the Philippine chess championship 6 times. In 1976 he won an international tournament in the USSR (Odessa). It was only the second time in 35 years that a foreigner won an international event in the USSR. The only other foreigner who won in Russia was world champion Capablanca. He died of liver cancer.

Krause - Balinas, Dortmund 1976

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d4 e4 5.Ng5 Bb4 6.d5 Na5 7.Qa4 Qe7 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 b6 10.Nh3 Qc5 11.Qb4 Nxc4 12.e3 Ba6 13.a4 (13.Qxc5) 13...Nxd5 14.Qxc5 bxc5 15.Bd2 Rb8 16.Ng5 f5 17.f3 h6 18.fxe3 Ndxe3 (19.Bxe3 Nxe3 20.Bxa6 Nc2+) 0-1

Balla, Zoltan von (1883-1945)

First official Hungarian chess champion (Budapest, 1913). He was Hungarian champion in 1906 and 1911. He died in Budapest at the end of World War II.

Von Balla – Ritzen, 1914

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 4.O-O Nge7 5.c3 f5 6.d4 Bb6 7.d5 fxe4 8.Ng5 Nb8 9.Ne6 1-0

Ballet

The first ballet with a chess theme was Ballet des Echecs, performed for Louis XIV (1638-1715) of France. A ballet called Checkmate, composed by Sir Arthur Bliss and choreographed by Ninette de Valois in 1937, was performed at the Paris World Exhibition. The first ballet on ice was included in the pantomime, Sinbad the Sailer (1953), where skaters played out the Morphy - Duke of Brunswick game. In 1986 the musical Chess, by Tim Rice, was produced. In 2002, a chess ballet opened the Chess Olympiad in Bled, Slovenia.

Balogh, Csaba (1987- )

Grandmaster from Hungary. His FIDE rating is 2537.

Balogh, Janos (1892-1980)

Romanian Champion in 1930. Correspondence International Master (1953).

Bana Bhatta (595-655)

One of the foremost poets of India. His two most important works are Harsacarita (Deeds of Harsa) and Kadambari, which is a romantic love story. Both were written in Sanskrit. Both works mentioned Chaturanga, an early form of chess.

Banikas, Hristos (1978- )

Grandmaster from Greece. His FIDE rating is 2548.

Banks, Newell (1887-1977)

U.S. checker champion who was also a chess master. He defeated the U.S. chess champion, Frank Marshall, and he leading challenger, Isaac Kashdan, at the Chicago Tournament in 1926. In his lifetime he traveled over a million miles playing chess and checkers and played over 600,000 games of chess and checkers. He was considered the world’s best checker player from 1917 to 1922 and 1933-1934.

Jordan – Banks, USA 1917

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4 4.Nxe5 Qg5 5.Nxf7?? Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4 7.Be2 Nf3 mate 0-1

Baragar, Fletcher (1955- )

Canadian FIDE Master from Manitoba. In 1987, he took last place at the Zagreb Interzonal. He won 1 game, drew 1 game, and lost 14 games.

Barasz, Zsigmond (1877-1935)

Hungarian Champion (with Zoltan Von Balla) in 1911.

Barbero, Gerardo (1961-2001)

Argentine Grandmaster (1988) who died of eye cancer. He was Argentine champion in 1984. He won at Montpellier 1986 and at Prokupje in 1987. He also won the Kecskemet Open in 1987.

Barbero - Aalto, Argentina 1993

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 g5 5.d4 g4 6.Bc4 gxf3 7.O-O d5 8.exd5 Bg4 9.Qd2 Na5 10.Bb5+ c6 11.Qxf4 Qd7 (11...Nf6) 12.Qe5+ Ne7 13.Ne4 O-O-O?? (13...fxg2) 14.Bf4 (threatening 15.Qb8 mate) 1-0

Barcza, Gideon (1911-1986)

Hungarian professor of mathematics and Grandmaster (1954). He won the Hungarian championship eight times. He was editor of the chess magazine Magyar Sakkelet. He played on seven Hungarian Olympiad teams. The opening 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 is called the Barcza System.

Kiss - Barcza, Debrecen 1930

1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Nc3 Bxf3 6.Nxd5 Bxd1 7.Nxc7+ Kd7 8.Nxa8 Bxc2 9.Bf4 e5 10.dxe5 Bb4+ 11.Ke2 Nge7 12.e6+ fxe6 13.Nc7?? (13.Nb6+) 13...Nd4+ 14.Ke3 Nef5 mate 0-1

Barczay, Laszlo (1936- )

Hungarian Grandmaster (1967) and Correspondence Grandmaster (1979). He took 17^th place in the 1967 Sousse Interzonal. He took 1^st place at the 1967 Asztalos Memorial, 1^st at Polanica Zdroj 1969, and 1^st at Astor 1982.

Barda, Olaf (1909-1971)

Norwegian International Master (1952) and Correspondence Grandmaster (1953). He won the Norwegian championship six times (1930, 1947, 1948, 1952, 1953, 1957). He took 4^th in the first World Correspondence chess championship (1950-1953).

Bardeleben, Curt von (1861-1924)

Strongest German player of the late 19th century, openings expert, and player of Grandmaster strength. Against Steinitz, he had a losing position, so he just got up and left the playing hall without resigning and did not return. Steinitz had to sit and watch the clock to end the game. Bardeleben did leave a note on the table that said, “Saw it, went home,” referring to Steinitz’s combination. Bardeleben was in the habit of leaving the tournament room, allowing his clock to run out of time, rather than resign. He committed suicide at the age of 62 by jumping out of an upper window of his boarding house in Berlin where he lived in poverty. He was a lawyer.

Barden, Leonard (1929- )

British Champion (with Alan Phillips) in 1954. He played on four English Olympiad teams. He has written a chess column for the Guardian since 1956. He has written several chess books.

Bareev, Evgeny (1966- )

Russian Grandmaster (1989) who was World Under 16 Champion in 1982. In 1999 he was ranked 3rd in the world, behind Kasparov and Karpov.

Bareev - Yakovich, Tallinn 1986

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.e4 b5 6.e5 Nd5 7.a4 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Qd5 9.g3 Be6 10.Bg2 Qb7 11.O-O Bd5 12.e6 Bxe6 13.Ng5 Bd5 14.Bxd5 Qxd5 15.axb5 e6 16.Re1 Nd7 (16...axb5) 17.Qh5 g6?? (17...e5) 18.Nxe6! (18...gxh5 19.Ng7+ Kd8 20.Re8 mate; 18...c6 19.Nc7+ Kd8 20.b6! Nxb6 21.Nxd5 gxh5 22.Bg5+ Kc8 23.Nxb6+) 1-0

Barendregt, Johan (1924- )

Dutch International Master (1962). He was a medical doctor and lectured in clinical psychology at the University of Amsterdam. He died of lung cancer.

Barker, Malcolm N.

Malcolm Barker was British Under-18 chess champion in 1949, 1950, and 1951. In the first World Junior Chess Championship, he took 2^nd place, behind Boris Ivkov, and ahead of Bent Larsen and Friderick Olafsson. After the tournament, he gave up chess and took up bridge.

Barlov, Dragan (1957- )

Yugoslav Grandmaster (1986). He won the Yugoslav championship in 1986. He took 15^th place at the 1987 Zagreb Interzonal.

Benjamin – Barlov, Hallsberg 1975

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 exd6 6.h3 Be7 7.Nf3 O-O 8.Be3 Bf5 9.Nc3 Nc6 10.Be2 d5 11.b3 Bb4 12.Qc1 dxc4 13.Bxc4 Nxc4 14.bxc4 Bd3 15.a3 Ba5 16.c5 Re8 17.Kd1 b6 18.cxb6 cxb6 19.Ra2 Bc4 20.Rd2 Bb3+ 21.Ke2 Qc8 22.Kf1 Ne7 23.Rb2 Bxc3 24.Rxb3 Qc4+ 0-1

Barnes, Thomas Wilson (1825-1874)

One of the strongest English players in the 1850s. He scored more wins than anyone else against Paul Morphy, defeating him 8 times. He went on a diet and lost 130 pounds in 10 months, causing his death.

Barnes - Owen, London 1857

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.Qb3 Qf6 8.O-O Nh6 9.e5 Qg6 10.Ba3 dxc3 11.Nxc3 Bxc3 12.Qxc3 b6? (12...Nf5) 13.e6 fxe6 14.Bxe6 Bb7 15.Nh4 Qf6 16.Bxd7+ Kxd7 17.Qh3+ Kd8 18.Rfe1 Re8 19.Rad1+ Nd4 20.Rxd4+ Qxd4 21.Rxe8+ Kxe8 22.Qe6+ (22...Kd8 23.Ba7+ Ke8 24.Bd6+ Kd8 25.Qe7 mate) 1-0.

Barry, Denis (1929-2003)

Former President of the U.S. Chess Federation (1993-1996). He organized the U.S. Open in Atlantic City in 1972 and in Somerset, New Jersey in 1986. He established the US Amateur Team East Chess Championship, which is held annually in Parsippany, New Jersey. He was the captain and guide for the US Blind Team in three Blind Chess Olympiads. He organized the third USCF Blind Championship in 1977, and was the first to use Braille wallcharts at that tournament.

Barry, John (1873-1940)

Boston lawyer and strong amateur.

Barua, Dibyendu (1966- )

Grandmaster from India. He was India’s first chess prodigy. He became India’s 2^nd grandmaster, after Anand.

Basman, Michael (1946- )

International Master (1980) from England who specializes in irregular openings. He tied for 1^st place in the 1973 British Championship, but lost the playoff to Bill Hartston. He organizes the British Chess Challenge, which is probably the largest chess tournament in the world, with 71,000 school children participating.

Basman – NN, Paris 1982

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Qe2 Nc6 4.c3 d6 5.d4 Qh4+ 6.Kd1 g5 7.Nf3 Qh5 8.Qb5 g4 9.Qxh5 1-0

Battell, Jack Straley (1909-1985)

Former USCF correspondence chess director (1969-1978). In the 1937-38 Marshall Chess Club Championship, he scored no wins and 11 straight losses, for the worse score in Marshall Chess Club history. In 1946 he was the highest rated postal player in the United States and won the 1946 Correspondence Chess League of America (CCLA) championship. He was a photographer, English teacher, riding master, and restaurant manager. He died of complications of Alzheimer’s disease.

Bauer, Christian (1977- )

French Grandmaster (1997). His FIDE rating is 2641. In 1977, he won the French championship.

Bauer, Johann (1861-1891)

Czech master. In 1887, he won a tournament in Frankfurt to earn the master tile played in the German Hauptturnier. He died of tuberculosis.

Baumbach, Friedrich (Fritz) (1935- )

German correspondence player who won the 11^th World Correspondence Championship, which ended in 1989. In 1970 he won the East German championship. He was awarded the Correspondence Grandmaster title in 1973. He is a chemist and a Ph.D.

Baumstark, Gertrude (1941- )

International Women’s Master (1970). Romanian Women’s Champion in 1967 and 1981.

BCF

British Chess Federation, founded on May 7, 1904. It was the governing body of chess in England from 1904 until 2005. In 2006, it was renamed the English Chess Federation. The first BCF champion was William Ewart Napier.

Beatles

In 1966 the U.S. Open was held at the Seattle World's Fair Grounds. The Beatles were on hand to give a concert. At the Open the tournament director drew the curtains over the playing hall. The hundreds of Beatle fans, seeing the hall shrouded by the drapes, assumed the Beatles were inside. They began pounding on the windows until someone opened the drapes to reveal a chess tournament was taking place. Ringo Starr and John Lennon played chess. Yoko Ono also plays chess.

Becker, Georg Albert (1896-1984)

International Master (1953). He played for Austria (1931), then Germany (1939), on their chess Olympiad team. He was editor of Wiener Schachzeitung from 1926 to 1935. He settled in Argentina after the outbreak of World War II. In 1929 at Carlsbad , Becker said “I propose to open the Vera Menchik Club, whose members will be solely masters defeated by the lady world champion.” Before the tournament at Carlsbad in which Menchik was playing, he said that he would go onstage as a ballerina if Menchik scored more than 3 points. At Carlsbad (won by Nimzovich), she finished last with 2 wins, 2 draws (3 points) and 17 losses. She beat Becker (the first member of the Vera Menchik Club) and Saemisch. He was Austrian champion in 1925.

Becker – Norman-Hansen, Munich 1936

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bd3 Nxe4 7.Bxe4 Nf6 8.Bd3 Be7 9.Qe2 O-O 10.Bg5 g6 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Qe4 1-0

Beauharnois, Eugene (1781-1824)

Stepson of Napoleon and Prince and Viceroy of Italy. He purchased the Turk from Maelzel for 30,000 francs (equivalent to $60,000) in 1811. The Prince stored it at his residence in Milan. He sold the Turk back to Maelzel in 1817 for the same price.

Bednarski, Jacek (1939- )

Polish International Master (1964). Polish Champion in 1963.

Beechey-Rowland, Frideswide (1843-1919)

First woman to write a chess column and the first woman to win a prize as a composer of chess problems (1882). She authored a book called Chess Blossoms in 1883 and Chess Fruits in 1884.

Begin, Menachem (1913-1992)

Former Prime Minister of Israel (1977-1983) and Nobel Peace Prize recipient who played chess every day when he was imprisoned by the British and the Russians. He said chess helped him keep his mental powers in shape. In 1940, he was playing chess at home with his wife when Russian troops (NKVD) burst in to arrest him. As he was being dragged away, he called out to his wife that he was resigning his game to her. While at Camp David in 1978, he played chess regularly with National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzesinski.

Beim, Valery (1950- )

Grandmaster originally from Russian and now living in Austria. His FIDE rating is 2534. He is the author of Chess Recipies from the Grandmaster’s Kitchen.

Beim – Wagman, Aosta 1990

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 c5 4.d5 e6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Bxc4 exd5 7.Nxd5 Nxd5 8.Bxd5 Be7 9.Nf3 O-O 10.O-O Nd7 11.Qe2 Qc7 12.e5 Nb6 13.Be4 Be6 14.Re1 Rae8 15.Ng5 Bxg5 16.Bxg5 Bd5 17.Bxh7+ Kxh7 18.Qh5+ Kg8 19.Bf6 1-0

Belakovskaia, Anjelina (1969- )

Woman Grandmaster (1993). U.S. Women’s Chess Champion in 1995 (with Sharon Burtman), 1996, and 1999. She was born in the Ukraine and won the Women’s Championship of the Soviet Union and the Ukraine. She has a Master’s Degree in Mathematics.. She came to the USA in 1991. She had a bit role in the movie “Searching for Bobby Fischer.” She won the New York Women’s Chess Championship three times. She played on the US women’s team in the Chess Olympiads in 1994, 1996, and 1998. She is now a real estate agent in Arizona.

Heaton - Belakovskaia, Las Vegas 1995

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 c5 6.O-O cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nc6 8.Nc2 d6 9.Nc3 Be6 10.b3 Qd7 11.Re1 Bh3 12.Bh1 Ng4 13.Bb2 Qf5 14.f3 Qxc2 15.Qxc2 Bd4+ 16.e3 Nxe3 17.Qf2 (17.Qe4) 17...Nc2 18.Qxd4 N6xd4 19.Rxe7 Nxa1 20.Nd5? (20.Bxa1) 20...Nac2 21.g4 Rfe8 (22.Nf6+ Kf8 23.Rxe8+ Rxe8 24.Nxe8 Kxe8) 0-1

Belavenets, Sergey (1910-1942)

Chess champion of Moscow in 1932, 1937, and 1938. He won the Russian championship in 1934 and took 3^rd in the USSR Championship in 1939. He died in the siege of Leningrad. His daughter, Ludmilla (born in 1940), won the 4^th Women’s World Correspondence Chess Championship in 1992.

Freymann – Belavenets, Kiev 1938

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c4 e5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.h3 g6 6.d3 Bg7 7.Nd5 f6 8.Be3 Nh6 9.Qd2 Nf7 10.Be2 Be6 11.h4 h5 12.Bd1 a6 13.Ba4 Rb8 14.b4 b5 15.Bb3 Bxd5 16.exd5 Nd4 17.Bxd4 cxd4 18.a4 Bh6 19.Qe2 O-O 20.O-O f5 21.axb5 axb5 22.c5 Re8 23.g3 Qf6 24.Rfd1 e4 25.dxe4 d3 26.Qa2 fxe4 0-1

Belgrade GMA 1989

The Belgrade Grandmaster's Association 1989 tournament had 98 grandmasters participating, a world record for number of GMs in one tournament. This was the strongest Swiss of all time. The tournament was funded by Yugoslav Airlines with $100,000 prize fund. The winner was Yugoslav

Grandmaster Krunoslav Hulak.

Beliavsky, Alexander (1953- )

Grandmaster (1975) from Slovenia who won the World Junior Championship in 1973, held in Teesside, England. In 1973 he took last place in the USSR championship. The next year, he won it. He tied for first place (with Tal) at the USSR Championship in 1974, and won the USSR Championship in 1990. In 1983, he lost against Kasparov in the quarterfinals for the World Championship. In 1997 he lost to Nigel Short in the FIDE world championship knockout matches.

Beliavsky - Stean, Lucerne 1982

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Nb3 Nbd7 10.Bd3 b5 11.O-O Nc5? (11...b4) 12.Nxc5 dxc5 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Rab1 Qa3 15.Nxb5! (15...axb5 16.Bxb5+ Ke7 17.Rfd1, threatening 18.Qd6 mate; 15...Qxa2 16.Nc7+ Ke7 17.Nxa8) 1-0

Belkhodja, Slim

Grandmaster from Tunisia. He is Tunisia’s 2^nd grandmaster, after Bouaziz.

BELLE

In 1980, BELLE won the World Computer Chess Championship in Linz, running on a PDP 11/23. In 1981, BELLE won the 12^th annual North American Computer Championship. Ken Thompson and Joe Condon, both of Bell Labs, created BELLE. In 1982 Ken Thompson traveled to Moscow and thought BELLE was traveling with him in a crate to compete in a tournament. However, the U.S. Customs Service confiscated the chess computer at Kennedy Airport as part of Operation Exodus, a program to prevent illegal export of high technology items to the Soviets. It took over a month and a $600 fine to retrieve BELLE from customs. In 1983 BELLE became the first computer to gain an established master’s rating.

Bellin, Jana Malypetrova Hartston Miles (1947- )

Top British woman player. She is also an anesthesiologist who she says is an appropriate specialization for a chess player - "it's like time trouble, you only have four minutes." Formerly married to Bill Hartston and Tony Miles, top British chess players.

Bellin, Robert (1952- )

British International Master (1977) and British Champion in 1979. He is married to Dr. Jana Malypetrova (Hartston Miles Bellin).

Bellon Lopez, Juan Manuel (1950- )

Spanish Grandmaster (1978). He was Spanish Champion in 1969, 1971, 1974, 1977, and 1984. He is married to Grandmaster Pia Cramling from Sweden.

Bellon – Ljubojevic, Palma de Mallorca 1972

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 g6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Nxd4 Nf6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Be2 O-O 9.Nd2 a5 10.a4 Re8 11.O-O Nd5 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.Bd3 Nc3 14.Qf3 Ba6 15.Bxa6 Rxa6 16.e4 Qf6 17.Qd3 Raa8 18.f4 1-0

Benedict, Clare (1871-1961)

Granddaughter of James Fenimore Cooper who moved to Switzerland and became a chess patroness of a team tournament of European countries. The first Clare Benedict International Team Tournament was held in 1953 and won by the Dutch.

Beni, Alfred (1923-1995)

Austrian International Master (1950). Austrian Champion in 1947.

Benini, Clarice (1905-1976)

International Women’s Master (1950). She was a Women’s World Championship Challenger in 1937 and 1949-50.

Benjamin, Joel (1964- )

Winner of the National Elementary (1976), Junior High School (1978), and High School Championships (1980-81), U.S. Junior Championship (1980, 1982), U.S. Open Championship (1985), and U.S. Championship (1987, 1997). He was the editor of CHESS CHOW, a monthly chess magazine. He defeated his first master at age 11 and was the first 11-year old U.S. Expert. At 13 years and 3 months, he broke Bobby Fischer’s record (13 years, 5 months) for becoming the youngest U.S. master up to that time. He was the youngest Manhattan Chess Club champion at 14, and became a Grandmaster in 1986. He assisted the IBM DEEP BLUE team that helped defeat Garry Kasparov in the DEEP BLUE computer vs. Kasparov chess match in April, 1997.

Benjamin - Gamboa, Philadelphia 1995

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 d4 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 Qxf6 7.Nf3 c5 8.Bd3 Bd7 9.Be4 Bc6 10.Qe2 Bxe4 11.Qxe4 Nc6 12.Rb1 O-O-O 13.d4 Rd7 14.Bf4 Qg6?? (14.Bd6) 15.Qxc6+! (15...bxc6 16.Rb8 mate) 1-0

Benko, Pal (1928- )

French-born Hungarian player who won the Hungarian national championship in 1948 at the age of 20. He was secretly involved in the 1956 Hungarian revolt. He spent a year and a half in a Hungarian political prison. The Hungarian Secret Police once suspected he was a spy because of his coded letters. The coded letters were correspondence chess games and the code was chess notation. He was permitted to play first board on Hungary's team in the 1957 Student Olympiad in Iceland where he defected to the U.S. He became a Grandmaster in 1958. In 1965 he was the first American Open Champion. In 1970 he yielded his interzonal place at Palma de Mallorca to Bobby Fischer, who went on to become World Champion. He has won or tied for first place in eight US Open tournaments. His book, Pal Benko My Life, Games and Compositions won the 2004 British Chess Federation Book of the Year.

Benko - Sawyer, New York 1964

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 4.c3 a6 5.Bc4 h6 6.d4 d6 (6...b5) 7.Qb3 Na5?? (7...d5) 8.Bxf7+ Kd7 9.Nxe5+! (9...dxe5 10.Qe6 mate) 1-0

Benoni Defense

The opening name after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5. It was first analyzed by Aaron Reinganum in 1825, who called ii Ben-Oni (child of my tears, in Hebrew). His book was Ben-Oni oder die Vertheidigungen die Gambitzüge im Schach.

Berdichevski, Igor (1964- )

Grandmaster from Russia. His FIDE rating in 2546.

Berend, Elvira (1965- )

Woman Grandmaster from Luxembourg. Her FIDE rating is 2350.

Berg, Emanuel (1981- )

Grandmaster from Sweden. His FIDE rating is 2539.

Berger, Johann (1845-1933)

Chess master, author, and educator from Graz. In 1870 he won the first major tournament in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1873 he helped create the Sonnenborn-Berger tie-breaking system (first used in 1882). In 1886 he won the world championship chess problem-solving contest. He played in a correspondence chess tournament sponsored by Monde Illustre from 1889 to 1992 and won it with 45 wins, 3 losses and no draws. From 1898 to 1911 he was editor of Deutsche Schachzeitlung. In 1890 he wrote Theorie und Praxis der Endspiele and revised it in 1922. He also wrote Probleme, Studien und Partien 1862-1912. He was an Austrian high school administrator.

J. Berger – Froelich, Graz 1922

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bb5 Bg4 5.Nd5 Nge7 6.c3 a6 7.Ba4 b5 8.Bb3 Na5 9.Nxe5 Bxd1?? 10.Nf6+ gxf6 11.Bxf7 mate 1-0

Bergkvist, Nils Valentin (1900-1993)

Former Stockholm City Chess Champion. He played on the Swedish Chess Olympiad team in 1936, 1939, and 1950.

Bergraser, Volf (1904-1986)

Won the French chess championship in 1957 and 1966. He became a Correspondence Grandmaster at the age of 77.

Handel - Bergraser, Correspondence 1985

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Nxd5 4.c4 Nb6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Nge2 Bg4 7.Be3 N8d7 8.b3 Ba3 9.Qd2 Qe7 10.h3 Bh5 11.Ng3 exd4 12.Qxd4 O-O-O 13.Nxh5 Nf6 14.Qf4 Bb2 15.Rd1? (15.Nb5) 15...Bxc3+ 16.Ke2 Nxh5 17.Qf5+ Kb8 18.Qxh5 Qe4 (19.Qxf7 Qc2+ 20.Kf3 Rxd1) 0-1

Bergs, Teodors (1902-1962)

In 1926, he took 2^nd in the Latvian Chess Championship. In 1934, he won the Riga, Latvia City Chess Championship.

Berkes, Ferenc (1985- )

Grandmaster from Hungary. In 2002, he won the World Under-18 championship. His FIDE rating is 2619.

Berliner, Hans (1929- )

Computer scientist specializing in Artificial Intelligence and winner of the 5th world correspondence championship (1965-68). His 3-point margin of victory (14-2) was the greatest margin of victory ever achieved in a World Championship final round, and his winning percentage was also the greatest of any World Champion. His game with Yakov Estrin was voted the best game in the history of correspondence chess. In 1979 he developed a backgammon-playing program that defeated the reigning World Backgammon Champion. This was the first time that a World Champion had ever been beaten by a computer. He was the first U.S. correspondence Grandmaster. He helped develop the chess machine/program called Hitech, one of the strongest chess machines in the world. It was the first computer program to become a US Chess Federation Senior Master. Berliner wrote a chess program as part of his Ph.D. dissertation at Carnegie-Mellon University. He won the Golden Knights Postal Chess Championship three times (1955, 1956, 1959).

Berliner - Rott, Montreal 1956

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4 Nb6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.d5 Ne5? (7...Bxf3) 8.Nxe5! Bxd1 9.Bb5+ c6 10.dxc6 Qb8 11.c7+ Nd7 12.Bxd7 mate 1-0

Bernstein, Ossip (1882-1962)

Russian Grandmaster (1950). In 1903, he took 2^nd (behind Chigorin) in the third Russian Championship. In 1906, he earned a Doctorate in law at Heidelberg and became a successful financial lawyer. In 1918 Ossip Bernstein was arrested in Odessa by the Cheka and ordered shot by a firing squad just because he was a legal advisor to bankers. As the firing squad lined up, a superior officer asked to see the list of prisoners' names. Discovering the name of Ossip Bernstein, he asked whether he was the famous chess master. Not satisfied with Bernstein's affirmative reply, he made him play a game with him. If Bernstein lost or drew, he would be shot. Bernstein won in short order and was released. He escaped on a British ship and settled in Paris. Bernstein's son was President Eisenhower's official interpreter because he spoke almost every European language. At age 74, he was still playing in international tournaments.

O, Bernstein - Unknown, Berlin 1903

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.c4 e6 4.Ne5 Bf5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Qb3 b6? (6...Nc6) 7.e4 Bxe4 8.Bb5+ Ke7 9.Bc6 (and 10.Bxa8) 1-0

Bernstein, Sidney Norman (1911-2004)

He took 1^st place in the Marshall Club Championship in 1930, 1939, 1957, and 1958. In 1942, he tied with Fred Reinfeld in the Manhattan Chess Club Championship. He played in the U.S. Championship nine times, from 1936 to 1962. In 1951, his USCF rating was 2358.

Berry, Jonathan (1953- )

Canadian chess player, organizer, and author. International FIDE Aribiter (1975 – at age 21), FIDE Master (1984), and ICCF Grandmaster (1985). He was Canadian Correspondence Champion in 1978 and 1980. He was North American Correspondence Champion in 1982. He represented Canada in the 1982 Chess Olympiad. For many years, he was the technical editor for Inside Chess magazine.

Bertin, Joseph (1695-1736)

Chess author. In 1735 he published The Noble Game of Chess, Containing Rules and Instructions for the Use of those who have already a little Knowledge of this Game. It was the first worthwhile chess book in English and, at the time, only available at Slaughter’s Coffee House (founded by John Slaughter in 1692). Bertin had 19 rules to follow during play. One of them was: to free your game, take off some of your adversary’s men, if possible for nothing.

Bertok, Mario (1929- )

Yugoslav International Master (1957).

Beshukov, Sergei (1971- )

Russian Grandmaster. His FIDE rating is 2470.

Best Game

The 16th game of the second Karpov-Kasparov World Championship Match in Moscow 1985 was chosen by an international jury of Grandmasters as the best game ever played in the past 30 years.

Karpov-Kasparov, Moscow (16) 1985

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Nf6 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 d5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.exd5 Nb4 11.Be2 Bc5 12.O-O O-O 13.Bf3 Bf5 14.Bg5 Re8 15.Qd2 b5 16.Rad1 Nd3 17.Nab1 h6 18.Bh4 b4 19.Na4 Bd6 20.Bg3 Rc8 21.b3 g5 22.Bxd6 Qxd6 23.g3 Nd7 24.Bg2 Qf6 25.a3 a5 26.axb4 axb4 27.Qa2 Bg6 28.d6 g4 29.Qd2 Kg7 30.f3 Qxd6 31.fxg4 Qd4+ 32.Kh1 Nf6 33.Rf4 Ne4 34.Qxd3 Nf2+ 35.Rxf2 Bxd3 36.Rfd2 Qe3 37.Rxd3 Rc1! 38.Nb2 Qf2 39.Nd2 Rxd1+ 40.Nxd1 Re1+ and White resigned 0-1

Best Game Prize

A prize for the best game of a tournament or match. The first best game prize was awarded to Gunsburg for his game against Mason, New York 1889.

Bhat, Vinay (1985- )

In 1995, America’s youngest master at 10 years, 6 months (since broken by Hikaru Nakamura). Jordy Mont-Reynaud set the old record as youngest master in 1994. He tied for first place in the 1998 U.S. Cadet Championship (under 16) with national master Dmitry Schneider. In April 2000, he became an International Master (IM) at age 15, becoming the youngest IM in the United States at the time (since broken by Hikaru Nakamura).

Bhend, Edwin (1931- )

Swiss International Master (1960). Swiss Champion in 1966.

Bielicki, Carlos (1940- )

Argentine International Master (1959) who was Junior World Champion in 1959.

Bigelow, Horace Ransom (1898-1980)

In 1923, he took last place in the 9^th American Chess Congress in Lake Hopatcong, New York (won by Marshall and Kupchik). In 1929, he won the Marshall Chess Club Championship. He was a journalist for the American Chess Bulletin.

Bilek, Istvan (1932- )

Hungarian Grandmaster (1962). He won the Hungarian Championship in 1963, 1965, and 1970. In 1979 at an international tournament in Skupsk, he had a bye in the first round, drew his next 10 games in 13, 14, 12, 9, 12, 13, 17, and 9 moves, taking 5, 12, 15, 26, 7, 4, 5, 12, 18, and 5 minutes, respectively. Thus, he made only 125 moves in 109 minutes in this 11 round master event. When he won the Hungarian championship in 1970, he wife won the Hungarian women's championship.

Bilek - Bachtiar, Beverwijk 1966

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 g6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Nh5 9.Qf3 e6 10.exd6 Qxd6 11.O-O Bb7 12.Rd1 Qc5 (12...Qb4) 13.Qd3 Qe7 14.Bg5 f6 15.Be3 Kf7 16.Qd7 (16...Bc8 17.Bxe6+ Kg7 18.Qxc6 Bb7 19.Qc4 Rd8 20.Rxd8 Qxd8 21.g4) 1-0

Bilguer, Paul Rudolf von (1815-1840)

Author of the Handbuch des Schachspiels, the most influential chess book for over 90 years. The first edition was completed in 1843, after his death at the age of 24, by Baron Tassilo Heydebrand von der Lasa . Von der Lasa also edited the next four editions. He was an Army Lieutenant and one of the seven German Pleiades.

Binet, Alfred (1857-1911)

French psychologist who began the first intelligence quotient (IQ) tests. Alfred Binet conducted the first serious psychological study of the game of chess in 1894. He studied blindfold chess players as a subset of his investigations into memory. He wrote Psychologie des grands calculateurs et joueurs d’echecs.

Binham, Timothy (1956- )

Finnish International Master (1983). Finnish Champion in 1984.

Bird, Henry Edward (1830-1908)

An accountant and strong amateur player from England. He wrote six different books on chess. He won the first brilliancy prize (a sliver cup) for his victory over James Mason, New York 1876. he favored the opening 1.f4, now called Bird’s Opening. He played chess at the London coffee house, Simpson’s Divan, for over 50 years, from 1846 until it closed in 1903.

Bird - Em Lasker, Newcastle 1892

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Bc4 cxb2 5.Bxb2 Qg5 6.Nf3 Qxg2 7.Rg1 Bb4+?? (7...Qh3) 8.Ke2 Qh3 9.Bxf7+ Kd8 10.Bxg7 Ne7 11.Ng5 Qh4 12.Ne6 mate 1-0

Birnboim, Nathan (1950- )

Israeli International Master (1978). Israeli Champion in 1976 and 1980.

Bischoff, Klaus (1961- )

German Grandmaster. His FIDE rating is 2560. In 2003, he became the first German Internet Champion.

Bisguier, Arthur (1929- )

American Grandmaster (1956). Winner of the U.S. Junior Championship in 1946 and 1949, U.S. Championship in 1954, winner of three U.S. Opens (1950, 1956, 1959), and represented the U.S. in five Olympiads. He won the U.S. Senior Open in 1989, 1997, and 1998. In 2005, he was named Dean of American Chess.

Donovan - Bisguier, Detroit 1950

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.a3 d6 6.e3 Bf5 7.exd6 Bxd6 8.Be2 Qf6 9.Nd4?? (9.Nc3) 9...Nxf2 10.Kxf2 Bc2+ 11.Nf3 Bxd1 12.Rxd1 Ne5 13.Nbd2 Ng4+ 14.Kg1 Bxh2+ (15.Nxh2 Qf2+ 16.Kh1 Qxe2) 0-1

Bishop

The origin of the name of the chess bishop is obscure. It was introduced in the 15^th century, taking the move of the courier and placed where the alfil used to be at the set up of the chess pieces on a chessboard. The appearance of the Muslim fil was formless but with two protuberances said to symbolize the elephant from which the piece derives its name. Perhaps these suggest the Bishop’s mitre, hence Bishop, the name used in English-speaking countries since the new game gained acceptance. The original move of the bishop was only three squares diagonally. By 1500 it could move to any open square diagonally.

Biyiasas, Peter (1950- )

Canadian Grandmaster (1978) who later moved to the United States. He has won the Canadian championship twice (1972, 1975). In 1978 he won the World Open. In 1981 Bobby Fischer stayed at Biyiasas’s home. They played hundreds of blitz and bullet chess games. Biyiasas got one draw and lost all the rest. He is married to International Master Ruth Haring.

Bjelica, Dimitrije (1935- )

Yugoslav chess journalist and master that may have played the greatest number of games at one time. In 1982 he played 301 games at once, winning 258, drawing 36, and losing 7 in nine hours. He is a former champion of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has interviewed and filmed every world champion since Botvinnik. He has written over 80 chess books with 190 editions and produced 35 chess videos. He is the founder of the World Children’s Chess Olympiad.

Blackburne, Joseph Henry (1841-1924)

English player of grandmaster strength. He learned the game at age 19. He won the British championship in 1868. His nickname was the Black Death, given to him by a comment in the tournament book of Vienna 1873. He was also known for his temper. After losing to Steinitz in a match, he threw him out of a window. Luckily for Steinitz that they were on the first floor. From 1870 to 1888 he was one of the top 5 chess players in the world. He was once arrested as a spy because he sent chess moves in the mail and it was thought the moves were coded secrets. He tied for first in the British Championship of 1914 at the age of 72. During a simultaneous exhibition at Cambridge University, the students thought to gain the advantage by placing a bottle of whisky and a glass at each end of the playing oval. In the end he emptied both bottles and won all his games in record time. During the temperance movement in England, he declared that whisky drinking improved one's chess because alcohol cleared the brain and he tried to prove that theory as often as possible. It is estimated he played 100,000 games of chess in his career.

Blackburne - Fleissig, Vienna 1873

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Qe2 Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bc2 d5 8.exd5 Qxd5? (8...Ne7) 9.d4 Bd6 10.Bb3 Qe4 11.Qxe4 Nxe4 12.Bd5 1-0

Blackmar, Armand (1826-1888)

Music professor, music publisher, and amateur chess player. He established a music house in New Orleans during the Civil War. He wrote Southern patriotic music such as the Dixie War Song (1861), the Beauregard Manassas quick-step (1861), Southern Marseillaise (1861), and the Bonnie Blue Flag (1862). The bonnie blue flag was the first Confederate flag. He became the major wartime publisher of songs, issuing about half of the songs brought out during the Civil War. However, the city was captured in 1862 and occupied by Union forces. His brother moved to Augusta, Georgia to carry on music publishing for the Confederacy. Blackmar was arrested and imprisoned for publishing Confederacy music such as Bonnie Blue Flag.. The Union soldiers burnt his publishing company to the ground and confiscated all his Confederate States’ copyrights. In 1881-1882 he analyzed and published the Blackmar Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.f3) in the July 1882 issue of Brentano’s Chess.

Blake, Joseph (1859-1951)

Tie for 1^st in the 1909 British Championship, but lost the play-off. He was British Correspondence Champion in 1922.

Blatny, Pavel (1968- )

Grandmaster from the Czech Republic. His FIDE rating is 2533. In 1998, he tied for 1^st (with Cyrus Lakdawala) at the American Open. In 2002, he tied for 1^st (with Yuri Shulman) at the American Open. In 2003, he tied for 1^st (with Atalik and Akobian) at the American Open.

Blau, Max (1918-1984)

Swiss International Master (1953). Swiss Champion in 1953, 1955, 1956, and 1967.

Bledow, Ludwig (1795-1846)

German professor of mathematics (PhD). He founded the first German chess association in 1827. He was the first person to suggest an international chess tournament (in a letter to von der Lasa in 1843). In 1846, he founded of the first German magazine, Deutsche Schachzeitung. He was the founder of the German Pleiades. He was a chess book collector. When he died, he had over 14,000 volumes of chess books, the largest private chess library in the world.

Horowitz – Bledow, Berlin 1837

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Bb6 5.d4 Qe7 6.d5 Qe7 7.Be2 d6 8.h3 f5 9.Bg5 Nf6 10.Nbd2 O-O 11.Nh4 fxe4 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Bxe7 Bxf2+ 14.Kf1 Ng3 mate 0-1

Blimp

Perhaps the first master chess game played on a blimp occurred on the opening day of the 1932 Pasadena International Chess Congress (won by Alekhine). On the opening day in August, Isaac Kashdan and Arnold Dake played an exhibition game over Pasadena in a Goodyear blimp called “Volunteer.” The blimp had been used during the Olympic games in Los Angeles. The moves were transmitted by radio to the opening luncheon meeting. The game was declared drawn by repetition after 19 moves.

Blind Chess players

In 1950 Sir. T. Thomas was the first blind player to play in a chess Olympiad (Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia). Blind player R. Bonham formed the International Braille Association. The first World Blind Correspondence Championship began in 1955 and was won by R. Bonham. James Slagle won the first U.S. Championship for the blind in 1971. The American master Albert Sandrin (1923-) of Chicago participated in the World Chess Championship for the Blind and played all his games from memory, without use of a board. In 1968 the United States had only 25 blind chess players in its Braille Chess Association. The Soviet Union had 150,000 blind players in its Braille Chess Association.

Blindfold Checkers

Blindfold checkers is more difficult than blindfold chess. The greatest number played blindfold simultaneously is 28. The uniformity of checkers makes it harder to reach distinctive positions.

Blindfold Chess

Buzecca, a Muslim, was the first blindfold player in Europe, playing two games blindfold in Florence in 1265. It took 518 years before three games were played blindfold, by Philidor in 1783. One newspaper wrote 'This exertion of Mr. Philidor's abilities appear one of the greatest of which the human memory is susceptible. That record stood for 74 years. In 1857 Louis Paulsen played four games blindfold simultaneously (see simultaneous). In 1930, blindfold chess was once forbidden by law in the Soviet Union because it is considered artistically pointless and harmful to one's health.

Blocker, Calvin (1955- )

International Master (1982). 12-time Ohio Champion.

Bloodgood, Claude Frizzel (1937-2001)

Claude Frizzel Bloodgood (born Klaus Frizzel Bluttgutt III) was born in La Paz, Mexico on July 14, 1937 (some sources say he was born in 1924). He was the author of The Tactical Grob, Blackburne-Hartlaub Gambit(1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 d6), and Nimzovich Attack: The Norfolk Gambits. In the late 1950’s, he was editor of the Viriginia Chess News Roundup and the rating statistician for the Virginia State Chess Association. In 1958, he started the All Service Postal Chess Club (ASPCC). In 1970 he was sentenced to death for killing his stepmother by strangulation in 1969, apparently in a fight about an inheritance and bad-check charges. While on death row (prisoner 99432), he played over 2,000 postal games simultaneously. The postage was paid by the State of Virginia. He was scheduled for execution 6 times, but received a reprieve on all occasions. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1972 and the state stopped paying postage. He was allowed to play in chess tournaments outside the prison, accompanied by a guard. In 1974, Bloodgood escaped after he and another chess player (Lewis Capleaner – a murderer inmate) overpowered a guard (George Winslow) who was escorting them to a chess tournament. Bloodgood cuffed the guard, stole his guns, and fled to New York. When he was recaptured after several weeks at large, his correspondence privilege was taken away from him at Virginia State Penitentiary. His escape led to the resignation of Virginia’s director of prisons, no more prisoners taken to outside chess tournaments, and the Virginia Penitentiary Chess program dismantled. The guard was also arrested for his involvement in the escape. In 1996 he was the 2nd highest USCF ranked player in the country (2702), just behind Gata Kamsky. His actual strength was much less (perhaps weak expert). He built up a high numerical rating by organizing chess tournaments and matches in prison, and consistently beat the other weaker players. Each time he won another tournament, he accrued a few more rating points. From 1993 to 1999, he played 3,174 rated chess games, winning over 91 percent of his games. His rating pointed out a flaw in the USCF rating system. He participated in the 15^th U.S. Correspondence Championship, which began in June, 2000, scoring 3 wins and 9 losses (he died before finishing his last game). He died of lung cancer in the hospital of the Powhatan Correctional Center near Richmond, Virginia on August 4, 2001.

Blumenfeld, Beniamin (1884-1947)

Born in Volkovisk, Russia who invented the Blumenfeld Counter Gambit (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nf3 b5). He became a student of chess psychology and received a doctorate for a thesis on the nature of blunders in chess. He died in Moscow in 1947.

Blumenfeld – NN, Russia

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.Nb5 Bxe3 7.fxe3 Qd8 8.Qg4 g6 9.Qf4 d6 10.Bc4 Ne5 11.O-O Be6 12.Bxe6 fxe6 13.N1c3 Kd7?! (13...Ne7) 14.Rad1 Kc8? (14...Ke7) 15.Qxe5! (15...dxe5 16.Rxd8+ Kxd8 17.Rf8+ Kd7 18.Rxa8) 1-0

Blumin, Boris (1907-1998)

He won the Montreal City Championship in 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, and 1939. Canadian Chess Champion in 1936 and 1937. He moved to New York in 1939.

Bobotsov, Milko (1931- )

First Bulgarian to be awarded the title of International Grandmaster (1961). He was Bulgarian champion in 1958. He played in 8 Bulgarian Chess Olympiads.

Saborido - Bobotsov, Bulgaria 1969

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 O-O 5.Be3 d6 6.f3 Nc6 7.Nge2 a6 8.Qd2 Rb8 9.g4 Re8 10.O-O-O b5 11.Ng3 e5 12.Nce2 Nxd4 13.Nxd4 exd4 14.Bxd4 Be6 15.Nf5 Bxf5 16.gxf5 c5 17.Be3 bxc4 18.fxg6 hxg6 19.Bxc4 d5 20.exd5 Nd7 21.b3 Qf6 22.Bf4?? (22.Rde1) 22...Qa1+ (23.Kc2 Qxa2 24.Kc1 Qa1+ 25.Kc1 Qa3+ 26.Kb1 Rxb3+ 27.Bxb3 Qa1+ 28.Kc2 Qb2+ 29.Kd3 Qxb3+ 30.Qc3 Qxc3 mate) 0-1

Boden, Samuel (1826-1882)

English chess player. In 1858, Paul Morphy declared that Boden was the strongest of all English players. Against Morphy, he won 1 game, drew 4 games, and lost 6 games. From 1858 to 1873, he edited a chess column for The Field. He worked for the railway company and was an amateur painter and art critic. He died of typhoid fever.

Schulder – Boden, London 1853

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 f5 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.d4 fxe4 6.dxe5 exf3 7.exf6 Qxf6 8.gxf3 Nc6 9.f4 Bd7 10.Be3 O-O-O 11.Nd2 Re8 12.Qf3 Bf5 13.O-O-O d5 14.Bxd5 Qxc3+ 15.bxc3 Ba3 mate 0-1

Boensch, Uwe (1958- )

German Grandmaster (1986), born in East Germany. He is the headmaster of the FIDE Trainer Academy.

Boey, Josef (1934- )

Belgian International Master (1973) and Correspondence Grandmaster (1975). He took 2^nd place in the 7^th World Correspondence Championship, 1972-1975. In the 8^th World Correspondence Championship, 1975-1980, he placed 11^th-12^th. He did not play in the 9^th World Correspondence Championship, but took 7^th place in the 10^th World Correspondence Championship, 1978-1984.

Bogart, Humphrey (1900-1957)

Before becoming a movie star, Humphrey Bogart hustled strangers at 5-minute chess for 50 cents a game in chess parlors in New York Times Square during the 1920s and 1930s. During the 1930s depression, Bogart, Reshevsky, and Denker were in adjacent department store windows playing passerbys for dimes. In 1943 the FBI prevented him from playing postal chess, thinking the chess notation were secret codes. He was a USCF tournament director and active in the California State Chess Association. He once drew a game against Reshevsky in a simultaneous exhibition. He made 75 films and chess appears in several of his movies. He and his wife, Lauren Bacall, appeared on the cover of Chess Review in 1945 playing chess with Charles Boyer. Bogart rated his friends according to their ability to play chess.

Bogdanovic, Rajko (1931- )

International Master (1963) from Bosnia. He played in 10 Yugoslav championships. His occupation was journalist and radio reporter.

Bogdanovski, Vlatko (1964- )

Grandmaster from Macedonia. His FIDE rating is 2443.

Bogoljubow, Efim (1889-1952)

Grandmaster (1951), born in Kiev, who once spent over two hours over his 24th move against Steiner, Berlin 1928, and then chose a move that lost a piece. In 1928 he defeated Max Euwe in a match in the Netherlands (won 3, lost 2, drew 5). The match was for the title of FIDE champion, so Bogoljubow was the first FIDE world champion. This was stated in the minutes of the FIDE’s 5^th chess congress at The Hague in 1928. He played Alexander Alekhine in 1929 and 1934 for the World Chess Championship and lost both matches by a wide margin. His most famous statement was "When I'm White I win because I'm White. When I'm Black I win because I'm Bogoljubow." He died in Triberg, Germany after concluding a simultaneous chess exhibition. He was USSR Champion in 1924 and 1925. He left the USSR in 1925 and settled in Germany. He renounced his USSR citizenship in 1926 and became a German citizen in 1927. He was then denounced as a political renegade in the Soviet Union. He won the German championship in 1925, 1931, 1933, and 1949.

Bogoljubow – Meister, France 1951

1.e4 d6 2.Nf3 Nd7 3.Bc4 g6 4.Bxf7+ Kxf7 5.Ng5+ Kf6 6.Qf3+ 1-0

Bogoljubow - Prokes, Baden 1922

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.e4 h5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nh3 d6 7.Bg5 Qd7 8.exd6 Bxd6 9.Be2 f6 10.Bf4 Nce5 11.f3 Nh6 12.Be3 Qf7 13.Nf4 Nxc4? (13...O-O) 14.Qa4+ (and 15.Qxc4) 1-0

Bogatirchuk, Feodor (1892-1984)

Russian International Master (1954) from Kiev who emigrated from the USSR to Canada in 1949 and was the first persona non grata in Soviet chess. In 1912, he tied for 2^nd in the championship of Czarist Russia. He was the author of the first chess book in Ukrainian in 1926. He won the USSR championship in 1927 (tied with Pyotr Romanovsky). He played in 6 Russian championships. He was a medical doctor and professor of radiological anatomy. During World War II he was head of the Ukrainian Red Cross. He was nominated by Canada for the Grandmaster title, but the Soviet representatives to FIDE protested this title, which he never received but deserved.

Boi, Paolo (1528-1598)

One of the leading players of the 16th century. He was also a poet, soldier and sailor from Syracuse. In 1549 he defeated Pope Paul III in a chess match. The Pope offered to make him cardinal, which he refused. In 1574 he defeated Ruy Lopez at the court of King Phillip II of Spain. The King showered him with great rewards including an official appointment in Sicily that paid 500 crowns a year. He was renowned for his ability to play three chess games at once without sight of board. In 1576 he was taken prisoner and sold as a slave to a Turk. He played chess for his master that brought in a lot of money. He later gained his freedom back by teaching his master chess. In 1598 he played a chess match with Salvio in Naples and lost. Three days later he died in his lodgings. Some sources (Murray) say he was poisoned. Other sources say he caught a cold when hunting and died as a result of it. He was 70 years old.

Bolbochan, Jacobo (1906-1984)

Former Argentine chess champion (1932 and 1933) who became an International Master in 1965 at the age of 59. Brother of Julio Bolbochan.

Bolbochan, Julio (1920-1996)

Argentine Grandmaster who received the title in 1977 at the age of 57. He was Argentina champion in 1946 and 1948. He played on 7 Argentine Chess Olympiad teams. Brother of Jacobo Bolbochan.

Bond - Bolbochan, Los Angeles 1991

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qd3 Nbd7 9.Nf3 b5 10.b4 Bb7 11.O-O-O (11.a4) 11...Rc8 12.h3 Qc7 13.Kb2 O-O 14.g4 Nb6 15.Bxb6 Qxb6 16.a3 Rxc3 17.Qxc3 Nxe4 18.Qb3 Bf6+ 19.Kc1 Nc3 (20.Rd2 Qb6 21.Re1 Nxe2+ 22.R1xe2 Qxf3) 0-1

Boleslavasky, Isaac (1919-1977)

Soviet International Grandmaster (1950). He was a Candidate in 1950 (tied for first) and 1953 (10^th-11^th). He was Bronstein second in 1951. He was Smyslov’s second in 1956. He was Petrosian’s second in 1963, 1966, and 1969. He played in 11 USSR Championships. His daughter married Grandmaster David Bronstein.

Boleslavsky – Lilienthal, Moscow, 1941

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nxe5 Qe7 4.d4 f6 5.Nd3 dxe4 6.Nf4 Qf7 7.Nd2 Bf5 8.g4 Bg6 9.Bc4 Qd7 10.Qe2 Qxd4 11.Ne6 Qb6 12.Nxe4 Nd7 13.Bf4 Ne5 14.O-O-O Bf7 15.N4g5 fxg5 16.Bxe5 Bxe6 17.Bxc7 1-0

Bologan, Viorel (1971- )

Grandmaster (1991) from Moldavia, currently living in Germany. In 2003, he won the Aeroflot Open in Moscow and the Dortmund supertournament. He graduated from Moscow Physical Culture and Sports Institute with a PhD. His doctoral thesis was entitled, “Structure of Special Preparation of High-Level Chess Players.” He won the New York Open in 1997.

Bonch-Osmolovsky, Mikhail (1919-1975)

Soviet national master (1951). Soviet chess judge.

Boncourt, M (1770-1845)

Strong French master who drew a match with Szen in 1835. For a time, he was the hidden operator in Maelzel’s The Turk automaton. He almost revealed how The Turk worked when he sneezed during a game. This prompted Maelzel to install a noisy spring to cover up any future coughs and sneezes.

Bondarevsky, Igor (1913-1979)

Soviet Grandmaster (1950) and Correspondence Grandmaster (1961). He played in the USSR championship 9 times, sharing 1^st with Lilienthal in the 1940 championship. He tied for 6^th in the 1948 Saltsjobaden Interzonal, becoming a Candidate. However, he withdrew from the Candidate’s tournament before it started. He was Spassky’s trainer in 1961 and his second in 1966 and 1969. He was an economist.

Sliwa – Bondarevsky, Hastings 1960

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 O-O 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.Qb3 Nxc3 10.Qxc3 b6 11.Rc1 Ba6 12.g3 Nd7 13.Bg2 Rac8 14.Nd2 c5 15.Qa3 cxd4 16.Rxc8 Rxc8 17.b4 Qxb4 0-1

Bonin, Jay (1955- )

International Master (1985) who has won the New York State Championship, the Manhattan Chess Club Championship, and the Marshall Chess Club Championship, all in the same year (1997).

Bonner, Gerald (1941- )

Scottish Champion in 1967, 1970, and 1972.

Bonus Socius (Good Companion)

A manuscript written around 1275 by Nicholas de St. Nicholai of Lombardy, Italy. It contains a collection of chess problems. It is the first large collection of older chess problems. It was the first European manuscript that used coordinate notation.

Bezviner - Bonin, New York 1992

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 O-O 6.Be3 c5 7.dxc5 dxc5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Bxc5 Nc6 10.Nge2 Nd7 11.Be3 Nde5 12.Nf4 Nb4 13.Rc1 Be6 14.a3 Nbd3+ 15.Nxd3 Nxd3+ 16.Bxd3 Rxd3 17.Nd1 Bxb2 18.Rb1 Bxa3 19.Rxb7 Bxc4 20.Bxa7? (20.Rxa7) 20...Rxa7 (21.Rxa7 Bb4+ 22.Kf2 Bc5+ and 23...Bxa7) 0-1

Book, Chess

The first European book on chess is Juegos Axedrez, dados y tablas, written in the 13th century. The first hardback book dealing with chess, Dass Goldin Spil, was published in Augsburg in 1472. The first chess book printed in Russia was a translation of Benjamin Franklin's Morals of Chess, published in St. Petersburg in 1791. The title was Pravila dlia Shashechnoi Igry (Rules for the Game of Chess). However, the title used the word for checkers instead of the word for chess (shakmatnoi). The first book to explain chess strategy was L'Analyze des Eschecs, by Philidor in 1749. It went through more than 100 editions in ten languages. The first chess book published in America was Chess Made Easy, printed and sold by James Humphreys of Philadelphia in 1802. This was just a reprint of Philidor's book published in 1796 with inclusion of Franklin’s Morals of Chess. The first original American book was The Elements of Chess, published in Boston in 1805 by W. Pelham. The first chess book entirely devoted to the analysis of a single opening, Analysis of the Muzio Gambit by Kassin and Cochrane, was published in India in 1829. A book was published in German with the title, Advice to Spectators at Chess Tournaments. All the pages were blank except the last. On the last page were two words, Halt's Maul (keep your mouth shut). The first book review was Chess by Twiss in 1787.

Book, Eero Einar (1910-1990)

Finnish International Master (1950) and engineer. He won the Finnish national championship six times (1931, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1945-46, and 1963) and won the Nordic Championship in 1947. He was given the title Emeritus Grandmaster in 1984.

Book – Heidenheimo, Helsinki 1925

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Qh5 Ng5 5.d4 Ne6 6.d5 g6 7.dxe6 gxh5 8.exf7+ Ke7 9.Bg5+ Kd6 10.O-O-O+ Kc5 11.Rd5+ Kxc4 12.b3+ Kb4 13.Rb5+ Ka3 14.Nb1+ Kxa2 15.Ra5+ Ba3+ 16.Rxa3 mate 1-0

Borisek, Jure (1986- )

International master from Slovenia. His FIDE rating is 2509.

Borisenko, Georgi (1922- )

Ukranian Correspondence Grandmaster (1965). He played in eight Soviet championships. He took 2^nd place (behind Zagorovsky) in the 4^th World Correspondence Championship, 1962-1965. In 1966 he was awarded the Correspondence Grandmaster title.

Borisenko – Bertholdt, Leningrad 1960

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 O-O 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 c5 7.e3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nc6 9.Bd3 d5 10.cxd5 exd5 11.O-O Bxc3 12.bxc3 Ne5 13.Rb1 b6 14.Bb5 Bd7 15.f4 Neg4 16.Re1 Re8 17.Qf3 g5 18.fxg5 Ne4 19.g6 f6 20.h3 Nd2 21.Qxd5+ 1-0

Borochow, Henry (1898- )

U.S. Master Emeritus. He won the California State Championship in 1930 and 1931. In 1932, he took 6^th in the Pasadena International Tournament (won by Alekhine). He won the Western Championship. He was a Vice President of the U.S. Chess Federation.

Borochow – Fine, Pasadena 1932

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 Nc6 4.c4 Nb6 5.d5 Nxe5 6.c5 Nbc4 7.f4 e6 8.Qd4 Qh4+ 9.g3 Qh6 10.Nc3 exd5 11.fxe5 1-0

Bosnia

In 1993, a person was shot and killed while playing a chess game in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the first to die from sniper fire while playing chess. The first chess championship of Bosnia-Herzegovina was held in 1994, won by Rade Milovanovic. In 1996 a chess match was held to help raise funds to assist in clearing Bosnia of leftover landmines. The match was staged between two Norwegian Grandmasters (Agdestein and Gausel) and two Bosnian Grandmasters (Sokolov and Nikolic). The match ended in a draw.

Botsari, Anna-Maria (1972- )

Woman Grandmaster from Greece. Her FIDE rating is 2297. She once held the record of most opponents in consecutive chess games. In 2001, she played 1,102 consecutive games against different opponents, with 1,094 wins and 7 draws. The event has at Kalavryta, Greece. In 2004, she tied for 1^st in the Greek Women’s championship. In 2005, Susan Polgar played 1,131 consecutive games.

Botterill, George (1949- )

British International Master (1978). Welsh Champion in 1973 and 1974. British champion in 1974 and 1977.

Botvinnik, Mikhail (1911-1995 )

6th world chess champion (1948-1957, 1958-60, 1961-1963) who was the only man to win the title three times. He has played every world champion of this century and the early trainer of Karpov and Kasparov. He has a PhD (1951) in Electrical Engineering and now works on computer chess programs. He received $5,000 for winning his first world championship. In 1970 he gave up tournament chess in order to concentrate on the development of chess computers. He learned chess at age 12. By age 15 he was one of the strongest players in the USSR, taking 5th place in the USSR championship. In 1931 he won the USSR championship at age 19. Botvinnik did not play in the 15^th USSR championship in 1947 in protest over the cancellation of the world championship. The match-tournament was held in 1948, and Botvinnik won it, becoming the 6^th official world chess champion.

Mazel - Botvinnik, Leningrad 1938

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 c5 4.f4 Nc6 5.Nf3 d5 6.e5 Ng4 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Qb3 Nb4 9.a3? (9.h3) 9...c4 10.Qa4+ Bd7 11.Qd1 Qb6 (threatening 12...Qf2 mate; if 12.Qe2 Nd3+ 13.Kd1 Qb3 mate) 0-1

Bourdonnais-MacDonnell match

Match played in London in 1834 by Louis-Charles de La Bourdonnais and Alexander McDonnell. At least 85 games were played, the largest number of games ever played successively in match conditions. Neither knew a word of the other's language. There was no time limit and McDonnell sometimes spent over an hour and a half on a move. The match was really a series of six matches. Labourdonnais won 45 games, drew 13 games, and lost 27 games. The match lasted over four months. McDonnell was considered the best player in England and Bourdonnais was the best player in France. The match was played at the Westminster Chess Club.

Bourdonnais, Louis-Charles Mahe de La (1795-1840)

French master and strongest chess player of his time. He learned chess in Paris in 1814 while attending school. He was undisputed champion of France in the 1820s. In 1834 he played a series of matches with England’s strongest player, Alexander McDonnell, and won. In 1836 he became editor of the world’s first chess magazine, Le Palamede. He died in London and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery and was buried near McDonnell.

Jouy – Bourdonnais, Paris 1836

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Ne5 Qh4+ 6.Kf1 f3 7.Nxf7 Nc6 8.d4 Bg7 9.c3 Nf6 10.Nxh8 d5 11.exd5 Ne4 12.Qe1 g3 13.Bd3 fxg2+ 14.Kxg2 Bh3+ 15.Kg1 Nxd4 16.Qxe4+ Qxe4 17.Bxe4 Ne2 mate 0-1

Boutteville, Cesar (1917- )

Born in Vietnam, he was French Champion 6 times (1945, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1959, and 1967).

Bouwmeester, Hans (1929- )

Dutch International Master (1954) and mathematics teacher. He was appointed the first official coach of the Royal Dutch Chess Federation. From 1956 to 1968, he was editor of Losbladige Schaakberichten. He came in 2^nd place in the 1957 and 1967 Dutch Championships. He later became a Grandmaster in Correspondence Chess.

Donner – Bouwmeester, Amsterdam 1948

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.f4 O-O 9.f5 Qb6 10.Bg5 Nxe4 0-1

Bouaziz, Slim (1950- )

First Grandmaster from Tunisia and first Grandmaster from Africa. His FIDE rating is 2341. In 1985, he took last place in the Tunis Interzonal. He withdrew after 6 rounds. He drew one game and lost the rest. In 1987, he took 17^th out of 18 in the Szirak Interzonal.

Brady, Frank

First editor of Chess Life magazine and business manager of the US Chess Federation. Author of Profile of a Prodigy. Editor and publisher of Chessworld magazine. He has a PhD in Communications from NYU.

Brekke, Jacob

Norwegian Champion in 1919, 1920, 1923, and 1925.

Breyer, Gyula (Julius) (1893-1921)

Hungarian of Grandmaster strength, he set a new blindfold record of 25 opponents (won 15, drew 7, lost 3) in 1921 in Berlin. He was one of the pioneering leaders of hypermodern chess. He was the Hungarian champion in 1912. He died of a heart attack at the age of 28

Breyer - Ballai, Pistyan 1912

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 f5 4.d4 fxe4 5.Nxe5 Nf6 6.Bc4 d5 7.Nxd5 Nxd5 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Nxg6 hxg6? (9...Nf6) 10.Qxg6+ Kd7 11.Bxd5 Qe8 12.Bf7 Qe7 13.Bg5 Ne5 14.Qf5+ (14...Kc6 15.Qxe4+ and 16.Bxe7) 1-0.

Bridge

Chess masters who are/were also strong bridge players include Gerald Abrahams, James Aitken, Hugh Alexander, Mary Bain, Arthur Bisguier, Efim Bogoljubov, Wolfgang Heidenfeld, Charles Kalme, Emanuel Lasker, Irena Levitina, Tony Miles, Rossetto, Gideon Stahlberg, and Simon Webb.

Brinck-Claussen, Bjorn (1942- )

Nordic Champion in 1963. Danish Champion in 1966, 1970, and 1977.

Brinckmann, Alfred (1891-1967)

German International Master (1953). He authored several chess tournament books.

Brinckmann – Preusse, Germany 1927

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Ng3 e5 6.Nf3 exd4 7.Nxd4 Bc5 8.Qe2+ Be7 9.Be3 O-O 10.O-O-O Qc7 11.Ndf5 Be6 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7 13.Bg5 h6 14.Nf5 Qb4 15.Rd4 Qc5 16.Nxh6+ gxh6 17.Bxf6 Qf5 18.Qf3 1-0

British Chess Association (BCA)

The first national body to promote chess in Britain. A newly organized BCA was founded in 1884 by Wordsworth Donisthorpe (1847-1914). Winston Churchill's father, Lord Randolph Churchill (1849-1895), was elected Vice President of the BCA in 1885. Another active member was John Ruskin (1819-1900), art critic an social critic . The President was the poet Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892). This organization soon failed after several years and reorganized as the British Chess Federation in 1904. An earlier organization called the British Chess Association, had its first championship in November, 1866. This was considered the first British Chess Championship. It was won by Cecil Valentine De Vere. In 1857, there was a British Chess Association Congress in Manchester, won by Johann Loewenthal. The 1862 BCA membership included 30 of British strongest players.

British Chess Federation (BCF)

British Chess Federation, founded on May 7, 1904. It was the governing body of chess in England from 1904 until 2005. In 2006, it was renamed the English Chess Federation. The first BCF champion was William Ewart Napier.

British Chess Magazine

First chess magazine to complete 100 years of continuous publication (1881 to 1981). It began as a monthly chess magazine in October, 1872 called Huddersfield College Magazine. On January 1, 1881 it became the British Chess Magazine.

Broadbent, Reginald (1906- )

Took 1^st place in the British Championship in 1947 (lost the play-off) 1948, and 1950.

Brodsky, Michail (1969- )

Grandmaster from the Ukraine. His FIDE rating is 2554.

Bronstein, David (1924-2006)

Grandmaster (1950) and winner of the first Interzonal in 1948 at Saltsjobaden who survived an assassination attack during the tournament. On the last day Bronstein was playing Tartakover. Suddenly, a Lithuanian made a lunge at Bronstein to kill him. Several spectators grabbed him. He wanted to murder all Russians because he claimed the Russians were responsible for sending his sister to Siberia and murdering her. Bronstein won the game and the Interzonal with a 13.5-5.5 score. First place prize for the first interzonal was $550. He wrote a classic book covering the 1953 Candidates Tournament in Zurich. Many consider this the greatest chess book ever written. Bronstein married Grandmaster Isaac Boleslavksy’s daughter. In 1951 he tied the world championship match 12-12 with Botvinnik. A tie match meant that the world champion would retain his title. Thus, Bronstein became the man who came the closest to the world championship without winning it. He played in 20 USSR championships.

Bronstein - Tomic, Vinkovci 1970

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.c3 Qb6 5.Ba4 Bg7 6.O-O e5 7.Na3 Nge7 8.b4 cxb4 9.Nc4 Qc5 10.d3 bxc3 11.Rb1 c2 (11...Nd4) 12.Qxc2 Nd4? (12...a6) 13.Nxd4 (13...Qxd4 14.Be3; 13...exd4 14.Ba3 Qh5 15.Nd6+) 1-0

Bronstein – I. Zaitsev, USSR 1969

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d5 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Bc4 Nxd5 6.O-O Be6 7.Bb3 Bd6 8.c4 Ne7 9.d4 Ng6 10.c5 Be7 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.Re1 O-O 13.Rxe6 Bxc5? 14.Qb3 Bxd4+ 15.Nxd4 Qxd4+ 16.Be3! 1-0

Bronstein, David (1879-1940)

Original name of Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary. He was the commissar for war who created the Red Army and came to power with Lenin. He spent much of his time during World War I playing chess in Vienna’s Cafe Central. His main opponent was Baron Rothchild. He and Lenin played chess together a great deal.

Browne, Walter Shawn (1949- )

Six-time U.S. chess champion (1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, and 1983). He became a Grandmaster in 1970 while representing Australia (he was born in Australia and raised in New York). He is the founder of the World Blitz Chess Association (WBCA). He was inducted in the US Hall of Fame in 2003. In 1966 he won the US Junior Championship. He has won the National Open 11 times and the American Open 8 times (from 1971 to 1997). He won the first World Open, held in New York, in 1973. In 1964 he won the New York State Junior Championship with a perfect 5-0 score. In 1966 he won the first U.S. Junior Championship. In 1969 he won the Australian championship. In a Canadian tournament in 1971, one of Browne’s opponents tried to fluster him in a time-pressure scramble by banging an extra Queen down on the side of the board. The opponent’s pawn was about to make it to the 8^th rank and get promoted to a Queen. Browne picked up the extra Queen and hurled it across the tournament room. Browne learned the game at age 8. He made master at age 14. He dropped out of high school (Erasmus High) to play chess and poker. His wife, Racquel, is a clinical psychologist from Argentina. In 2005, he won the US Senior Open in Las Vegas.

Browne - Polstein, Atlantic City 1972

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.N1e2 e5 7.dxe5 Qa5+ 8.Bd2 Qxe5 9.Bc3 Qc7 10.Qd2 f6 11.O-O-O Ne7 12.Nf4 Bf7 13.Qe3 Nd7 (13...Qb6) 14.Nf5 Ne5? 15.Bxe5 (15...fxe5 or 15...Qxd5 16.Nd6+; 15...Nxf5 16.Bxc7+ Nxe3 17.fxe3 Bxa2 18.b3) 1-0

V. Bhat – Browne, San Francisco 2000

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Nxd7 5.O-O Ngf6 6.Qe2 e6 7.b3 Be7 8.Bb2 O-O 9.c4 a6 10.d4 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Re8 12.Nc3 Qa5 13.Rad1 Rac8 14.Kh1 Bf8 15.f4 Qh5 16.Qe3 Qxh2+ 0-1

Bruce, Rowena (1919-1999)

The only player to have played two world champions in a tournament on the same day. In the Plymouth 1938 tournament she played world woman champion Menchik in the morning and world champion Alekhine in the afternoon for rounds 2 and 3. She has won the British Ladies' Championship 11 times, from 1937 to 1969. She was the World Girls’ Champion in the 1920s (Rowena Dew).

Bruehl, Hans (John) Moritz von (1736-1809)

Hans (John) Moritz von Bruehl was born on December 19, 1736 in Wiederau, Germany. He was Minister of Saxony in Germany and Ambassador to England, and lived in London. He was one of the strongest players of the London chess club. He gave support to Philidor. He was a count. In 1782, at the Parsloe’s, Philidor drew with Bruehl and defeated Dr. Thomas Bowdler blindfolded, simultaneously. Philidor played several blindfold games against Bruehl throughout the years. In 1788, Bruehl defeated Cotter and lost to General H. S. Conway in two chess matches in London. In 1795, Philidor published a third edition of his chess book, L’analyse du jeu des Eschecs, and dedicated it to his friend and chess patron, Count Bruehl. The count was also interested in music (a patron of musicians) and astronomy (he built his own observatory). He was a colonel in the French service. He died in London on June 9, 1809.

Brunner, Lucas (1967- )

First Swiss Grandmaster. His FIDE rating is 2480.

Trachsel - Brunner, Bern 1993

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 O-O 6.Nd5 Re8 7.Be2 e4 8.Ng1 Bd6 9.a3 Nxd5 10.cxd5 Qg5 11.g3 Qxd5 12.f3? (12.Bc4) 12...Nd4 13.exd4 exf3 (14.Nxf3 Qxf3) 0-1

Brustman, Agnieszka (1962- )

Women’s Grandmaster (1985). European Junior Women’s Champion in 1980. World Junior Women’s Champion in 1982.

Bruzon, Lazaro (1982- )

Cuba’s youngest grandmaster and the 2000 World Junior Chess Champion. 1n 1999, he became a grandmaster 32 days after becoming an International Master. He was eliminated in the first round in the 2004 Tripoli FIDE World Championship. He won the Cuban Championship in 2004 and 2005.

Brynell, Stellan (1962- )

Grandmaster from Sweden. His FIDE rating is 2484.

Bryson, Douglas (1957- )

British Correspondence Champion in 1983, 1984, and 1985.

Buchholz Score

The Buchholz Score, used by FIDE, is the sum of the score of each of the opponents of a player. It is used in tiebreaking of chess scores. The idea is that the same score is more valuable if achieved against players with better performances in a given tournament. In the U.S., it is known as the Solkoff Score.

Buck, Charles Francis (1841-1918)

Born in Durrheim, Grand Duch of Baden, Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1852 with his parents, who settled in New Orleans. He was the city attorney of New Orleans from 1880 to 1884. He was a member of Congress from 1895 to 1897. In 1885 he was president of the New Orleans Chess Club and was selected to be the referee in the Zukertort-Steinitz match.

Buckle, Henry Thomas (1821-1862)

Winner of the first modern chess tournament, the Ries Divan knockout tourney of 1849. He spent his time writing History of Civilization in England, which he published in 1857 (volume 1). He was a British historian who studied 19 languages (he could speak seven languages and read twelve languages). He had a library of over 22,000 books. He died of typhoid fever in Damascus at the age of 40.

Buckle - Unknown, London 1840

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.d3 Nge7 6.Bg5 Bg4 7.Nd5 Nd4 8.Nxe5 Bxd1?? (8...dxe5) 9.Nf6+ gxf6 10.Bxf7 mate 1-0

Bukic, Enver (1937- )

Yugoslav Grandmaster (1976). In 1975, he tied for 1^st place at the Kostic Memorial in Vrsac.

Bukic – Damjanovic, Skopje 1967

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Nc3 Ne4 7.Bd2 O-O 8.d5 f5 9.Qc2 Bf6 10.Nxe4 fxe4 11.Qxe4 exd5 12.Qc2 Re8 13.O-O a5 14.cxd5 Rxe2 15.Rfe1 Rxe1+ 16.Rxe1 d6 17.Ng5 Bxg5 18.Bxg5 Qxg5 19.Qxc7 Nd7 20.Qxd7 1-0

Bundesliga

German national team chess tournament. It is the strongest team championship in the world. Grandmasters from around the world are recruited to play in these team events and paid as much as $50,000.

Buoncompagni (Boncompagni), Giacomo (1548-1612)

Duke of Sora and Arce, and leading patron of chess in the 17th century. He was the illegitimate son of Pope Gregory XIII (Ugo Buoncompagni of Bologna). It was Pope Gregory who adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1582. Most of the great players of the period (such as Ruy Lopez and Polerio) played in his palace and were liberally rewarded for doing so. The King of Spain appointed Giacomo general in his army. Giacomo was made a cardinal and his father tried to make him king of Ireland.

Burger, Karl (1933-2000)

International Master (with two GM norms) who took last place in the 1969 U.S. Chess Championship, with 4 draws and 7 losses. He was a medical doctor and a former chess teacher to Bobby Fischer at the Manhattan Chess Club. He played chess in over 20 countries and 47 of the 50 states. In 1993 he won the Georgia State Championship.

Burger – Suttles, New York 1965

1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.f4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.e5 Ng4 8.e6 fxe6 9.Ng5 Bxb5 10.Qxg4 Bd7 11.Nxh7 Kf7 12.Ng5+ Kg8 13.Nxe6 cxd4 14.Qxg6 Bxe6 15.Qxe6+ Kf8 16.Ne4 1-0

Burgess, Graham (1968- )

FIDE master. In 1994, he set a world record for playing marathon blitz chess. He played 500 games in three days.

Burma (Myanmar)

Chess arrived in Burman in the 8^th century via the kingdoms of Arakan and Mon. The game was perceived as a quasi-religious game symbolizing the battle between good and evil. Burmese chess (sittuyin) was played in the royal courts during the Pagan period (1044-1287). The Myanmar Chess Federation joined FIDE in 1990.

Burmakin, Vladimir (1967- )

Grandmaster from Russia. His FIDE rating is 2590.

Burn, Amos (1848-1925)

One of the world’s top ten chess players between 1886 and 1912. He was a cotton broker and a sugar broker from Liverpool and remained an amateur chess player. He started his international chess career at the late age of 37. He edited a chess column in The Field from 1913 to 1925. He was a member of the Liverpool Chess Club from 1867 to 1925, serving as its president for many years. His nickname was Bulldog or “The Highwayman.” In 1871, he tied for 1^st in the British Championship, but lost the play-off to Wisker. He was analyzing a chess game for his chess column when he died of a stroke.

Burn – Owen, Liverpool 1874

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.h4 Nc6 7.h5 e5 8.hxg6 fxg6 9.Nf3 Ng4 10.Bc4+ Kh8 11.Ng5 Bh6 12.Qxg4 Bxg4 13.Rxh6 Kg7 14.Rxh7+ 1-0

NN – Burn, England 1866

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 4.c3 d5 5.Nxe5 dxe4 6.Qa4 Qd5 7.f4 Bd7 8.Nxd7 Kxd7 9.O-O Nf5 10.b4 a5 11.Kh1 axb4 12.Bxc6+ bxc6 13.Qxa8 Bc5 14.Qxh8 Ng3+ 15.hxg3 Qh5 mate 0-1

Butnorius, Algimantas (1946- )

International Master (1983) from Lithuania.

Bykhovsky, Avigdor (1955- )

Russian Grandmaster. His FIDE rating is 2457.

Bykova, Yelizavyeta (1911-1989)

Women’s World Champion from 1953 to 1956, and from 1958 to 1962. From 1956 to 1958 she lost her title to Olga Rubtsova. In 1962 she lost her title to Nona Gaprindashvili. She was USSR Women’s champion in 1947, 1948, and 1950. She earned the Women’s Grandmaster title in 1976.

Byrne, Donald (1930-1976)

Winner of the 1953 US Open. He was on three US Olympiad teams (1962, 1964, 1968). He was an associate professor of English at Penn State University. He was inducted in the US Chess Hall of Fame in 2003. He became an International Master in 1962. He died of lupus at the age of 45.

Byrne, Robert (1928- )

Grandmaster (1964) and a graduate of Yale who became a philosophy teacher, then gave it up to become a chess professional. He won the 1972 U.S. Championship and was third place finisher at the 1973 Leningrad Interzonal (behind Karpov and Korchnoi). As a result, he became only the third American (after Fischer and Benko) to ever qualify for the Candidates. He was 45 at the time. He is a chess correspondent for the New York Times.

R. Byrne - Hurst, New York 1947

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bd3 b6 7.Qe2 Be7 8.Bf4 Bb7 9.O-O-O Qc8 10.Ne5 h6 11.h4 a6 12.Rh3 Bd6 13.Rg3 Bf8 14.Re1 Qd8? (14...Nd5) 15.Nxf7! (15...Kxf7 16.Ng5+ Ke8 17.Bg6+ Ke7 18.Qxe6 mate) 1-0

cable match

In 1895, the first transatlantic cable match (moves transmitted by telegraph) was played between the British Chess Club and the Manhattan Chess Club. In 1897 a cable match between the British House of Commons and the U.S. House of Representatives resulted in a draw. In 1899 a cable match between American universities and British universities took place. It was won by a single game by the British universities. Between 1896 and 1911, England and the USA played 13 cable matches. Each team had 6 wins each, and 1 tie. The total points were 64 to 64.

Cabrilo, Goran (1958- )

Grandmaster from Serbia and Montenegro (Yugoslavia). His FIDE rating is 2469. He took 40^th-47^th at the 1990 Manila Interzonal.

Cafe de la Regence (Coffee House)

Perhaps the most famous of coffee house where chess was played. This coffee house was opened up in Paris by an American in 1670. Chess players from Café Procope moved to the Café de la Regence. Around 1740 chess players gathered there to play chess. Players like Philidor, Morphy, Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Legall, Deschappelles, Bourdonnais, Saint Amant, Franklin, Napoleon, Voltaire, Rousseau, Robespiere, Calvi and other played there until 1916, when the chess room was closed. Paul Morphy did not like the Café de la Regeance, calling it an ill frequented establishment.

Cafferty, Bernard (1934- )

British Boys’ Champion in 1952 and British Junior Champion in 1954. He was British Correspondence Champion in 1960 and 5-time British Lightning Champion from 1964 to 1969. He took part in every British championship from 1957 to 1970. Former editor of the British Chess Magazine.

Cafferty – Corbin, Birmingham, England 1963

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.Qb3 Qe7 8.O-O Bb6 9.Ba3 d6 10.Bb5 Be6 11.Qa4 Bd7 12.cxd4 a6 13.Nc3 Qf6 14.e5 Qg6 15.exd6 cxd6 16.Rfe1+ Kd8 17.Nd5 Ba5 18.Bxc6 Bxe1 19Rxe1 1-0

Caissa

The muse or goddess of chess, originally a wood-nymph, in a poem by Sir William Jones written in 1763 (and published in 1772) called Caissa. It was inspired by Vida’s Scacchia Ludus (written in 1513 and published in 1535), the poem that tells about the invention of chess by Mars.

Calvi, Ignazio (1797-1872)

Italian chess master and chess problem composer who stayed in France for 4 years as a political refugee. He was a leading player and teacher at the Cafe de la Regance. In 1845 he drew a match with Kieseritzky (7 wins, 7 losses, 1 draw) in one of the first chess matches ever held. He contributed a chess course to Le Palamede magazine. He returned to Italy in 1848 and joined the Army. He retired in 1862 as a major.

Calvo Minguez, Ricardo (1943-2002)

Spanish journalist, chess historian, medical doctor and International Master (1973) who was censured by FIDE for writing articles that were critical of the world chess federation. He played for Spain in 5 chess Olympiads. He died of cancer of the esophagus.

Calvo - Korchnoi, Havana 1966

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Ba7 7.c4 Na6 8.O-O Qh4 9.N1d2 Nge7 10.c5 Ne5 11.Be2 b6 12.f4 N5c6 13.Nc4 bxc5 14.g3 Qh6? (14...Qh3) 15.f5 Qf6 16.fxe6 Qxe6 17.Nd6+ Kf8 18.Bc4 1-0

Cambridge-Oxford University Chess Club match

Longest running annual match in chess. The traditional series began in 1873 with the help of future world champion Wilhelm Steinitz (won by Oxford University 10-3). The 124th varsity chess match was held in 2006, won by Oxford University. Cambridge University is ahead in the series, 74 to 60.

Campomanes, Florencio (1927- )

First non-European elected FIDE President (1982-1995). He played Board 2 for the Philippines in the 1956 Olympiad in Moscow, the 1958 Olympiad in Munich, and was the top board for the Philippines in the 1960 Chess Olympiad. When he was elect FIDE President in 1982 the entire FIDE staff and FIDE secretary resigned in protest. His biggest controversy was the stopping of the Karpov-Kasparov match in February 1985. He graduated from Brown University.

Campora, Daniel (1957- )

Argentine Grandmaster (1986). He was Argentinian champion in 1986 and 1989. He led the Argentine team at the 1984 Chess Olympiad.

Campora – Eslon, Argentina 1991

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 d6 5.d4 Bd7 6.O-O Be7 7.Re1 exd4 8.Nxd4 O-O 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.Qf3 Re8 11.e5 Ng4 12.e6 1-0

Canada

Chess has been played in Canada since at least 1759. General Sir John Hale and General Wolfe played chess during the taking of Quebec in 1759. The Montreal Chess Club was founded in 1844. The Canadian Chess Association (CCA) was formed in 1872. The first Canadian Chess Champion was Albert Ensor (1873). The Canadian Correspondence Chess Association was founded in 1921. The CCA transformed into the Canadian Chess Federation (CCF) in 1932. The CCF transformed into the Chess Federation of Canada (CFC) in 1945.

Canal, Esteban (1896-1981)

Peruvian International Master (1950) who received an honorary Grandmaster title in 1977 at the age of 81. Canal lived in Venice, Italy since 1923, yet represented Peru as late as 1950 in the chess Olympiad.

Canal - Unknown, Leipzig 1916

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bg5 Bb4 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Ne2 O-O 8.O-O Be7 9.Re1 Nb4 10.Ng3 Nxd3 11.Qxd3 c6 12.Nh5 Be6 13.Nf4 h6 (13...Ng4) 14.Bxh6 gxh6 15.Rxe6 fxe6? (15...Nd6) 16.Qg6+ Kh8 17.Nxe6 1-0

Canute (995-1035)

King of Denmark, Norway, and England from 1016 to 1035. He supposedly learned the game of chess during a visit to Rome in 1027. From the saga of Olaf Haraldson, the king had a Danish earl, Earl Godwin Ulfnadson (Ulf), his brother-in-law, murdered when the earl overturned a chessboard after the king made a bad move and tried to take it back. The king called Ulf a coward for not replaying the game. The earl left the king and had gone to Saint Lucius’ church the next day. The king had a man follow him on orders to kill the earl. The earl was stabbed to death.

Capablanca y Graupera, Jose Raoul (1888-1942)

Cuban-born, Capablanca was American-educated and sent to a private school (Woodycliff School of South Orange) in New Jersey when he was 16 in 1904. He joined the Manhattan Chess Club at that time and impressed many of the players. In 1906 he went to Columbia University in New York to study chemical engineering, he spent most of his time at the Manhattan Chess Club. Two years later he dropped out of Columbia University and dedicated most of his time to chess. In 1908-09 he toured the U.S. and lost only one game in hundreds of games played during simultaneous exhibitions, winning all the others. He won the New York state chess championship in 1910. In 1913 Capablanca obtained a post in the Cuban Foreign Office with the title of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary General from the Government of Cuba to the World at Large. After his divorce from his first wife, her family had him demoted to the post of Commercial Attaché. He once had the mayor of Havana clear a tournament room so that no one would see him resign a game (against Marshall in 1913). He once refused to pose with a beautiful film star, saying, "Why should I give her publicity?" Capablanca lost only 36 games out of 567 in his whole life. He did not lose a single game from 1916 to 1924. Capablanca never had a chess set at home. On March 7, 1942, he was seated at a chess board at the Manhattan Chess Club, watching a skittles game, when he suddenly toppled backwards from his char. He had suffered a massive stroke (cerebral hemorrhage) and died later that night in a New York hospital. At the time of his death, he was the commercial attaché of the Cuban Embassy in New York. General Batista, President of Cuba, took personal charge of the funeral arrangements.

Reti - Capablanca, Berlin 1928

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.c3 a6 5.Ba4 f5 6.d4 fxe4 7.Ng5 exd4 8.Nxe4 Nf6 9.Bg5 Be7 10.Qxd4 (10.Bxc6+) 10...b5 11.Nxf6+ gxf6 12.Qd5 bxa4 13.Bh6 Qd7 14.O-O Bb7 15.Bg7 O-O-O 16.Bxh8 Ne5 17.Qd1 Bf3! 18.gxf3 Qh3 (threatening 19...Rg8+) 0-1

Cardoso, Ruth (1934-2000)

Ruth Cardose was born in Salvador, Brazil on February 9, 1934. She held the title of Woman International Master (WIM) from FIDE. She won the South American Women’s Championship in 1966, 1969, and 1972. She won the Brazilian Women’s Championship eight times in a row. She played four time in the Woman’s Interzonal Championship. She played in five World Chess Olympiads, playing first board for the Brazilian team each time. She died on Feb 11, 2000.

Cards and chess

The division of cards into fours suits originated from chess. At one time, it was thought that cards were based in the Indian 4-handed chess (chaturanga).

Carlsen, Magnus (1990- )

Norwegian child prodigy who gained the Grandmaster title (2004) at the age of 13 years, 4 months and 26 days. He became the 2^nd youngest GM in chess history, behind only Sergey Karjakin. He was trained by Simen Agdestein, Norway’s top chess player. He learned chess at the age of 8.

Carlsen – Ibraev, Calvia 2004

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.Nf3 Qb6 7.e3 Qc7 8.b3 b6 9.Bb2 Bb7 10.Nb5 Qd8 11.O-O-O O-O 12.Ng5 Re8 13.h4 e5 14.Nd6 Bxd6 15.Rxd6 h6 16.Qf5 Nc6 17.Rxf6 1-0

Caro, Horatio (1862-1920)

Horatio Caro (KAH-ro) was an was born in Newcastle, England . H later moved to Berlin, Germany. He was the editor of the German chess magazine Bruderschraft. In 1886 he published analysis of the Caro-Kann (1.e4 c6) that he had analyzed with Marcus Kann (1820-1886). He lost matches to Simon Winawer and Jacques Mieses, drew two matches with Curt von Bardeleben, and defeated M. Lewitt.

Caro – Emanuel Lasker, Berlin 1890

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Bf5 3.c4 c6 4.Qb3 Qc8 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Nc3 e6 7.Bf4 a6 8.Na4 Ra7 9.Nb6 Qd8 10.Bxb8 Qxb8 11.Qa4+ Ke7 12.Rc1 g5 13.Ne5 Nh6 14.Nc8+ 1-0

Carr, Neil (1968- )

Youngest player to beat a grandmaster in a clock simultaneous exhibition. In 1978 at the age of 10 he beat a grandmaster. He won the World under-14 championship.

Carroll, Charles (1737-1832)

The last survivor of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence (he represented Maryland), and the only Roman Catholic signer. At age 89 he played the Turk automaton at Baltimore in 1827 and won. An “adjustment” to the machine and the Turk’s queen, which otherwise could have checkmated the next move, helped Carroll to win. Carrol died at the age of 95.

Carroll, Lewis (1832-1898)

Author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1872), the story of Alice and her journey as a pawn across the chessboard, eventually to become a Queen. The 32 pieces are identified as ‘Dramatis Personae’ at the start of the book. Each of them has some part in the story. Lewis Carroll referred the chess pieces as red and white, the usual colors of an ivory chess set. The illustrations were by John Tenniel, who based his illustrations on the St. George’s pattern, not the Staunton pattern. Carroll’s diaries mention chess on several occasions. His diaries indicate that he beat Lord Tennyson’s sons at chess and that he played chess on the train during his journey to Russia. His real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He was a mathematician and lectured at Oxford.

Cassel, Hartwig (1850-1929)

Born in Konitz, West Prussia and later moved to Scotland, where he was a member of the Glasgow Chess Club. From 1882 to 1889, he was the chess editor of the Bradford Observer Budget in England. He was a journalist for the New York Staats Zeitung, New York Tribune, Sun, The Times, The World, and the Associated Press. He was the editor, along with Hermann Helms, of the American Chess Bulletin, which was first published in 1904.

Castling

Castling is the only time in the game when more than one piece may be moved during a turn. Castling can only occur if there are no pieces standing between the king and the rook. Neither king nor rook may have moved from its original position. There can be no opposing piece that could possible capture the king in his original square (you cannot castle while you are in check), the square he moves through, or the square that he ends the turn (you cannot castle into check). Castling was invented around the 1500s to speed up the game. In 1561, a book by Ruy Lopez published in Spain mentioned that castling took two moves. You had to play the rook to king’s bishop one square on one move, then the king to king’s knight one on the next move. At the time, castling seem to be in one move in Italy and France. Up until the mid 19^th century, some rules of chess allowed you to castle, followed by moving the h pawn to h3 (pawn to king’s rook three). The verb castle (to castle) first appeared in a book by Beale in 1656. Earlier words for castling included exchange, change, leap, or shift. The record for the latest castling seems to be on move 48.

Caxton, William (1438-1491)

The first English printer. He is the publisher of the second book to be printed in English, The Game and Playe of the Chesse, in 1475. The book consisted of 72 pages, with no illustrations and printed in Bruges, Belgium. It also became the first printed book in English to make extensive use of woodcuts. The book was dedicated to George, Duke of Clarence, oldest brother of King Edward. It is a translation of a book by Jacobus de Cessolis. An original book is worth over $100,000. The first printed book in English is The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, published by Caxton in 1474.

Caze, M. (1650-1710)

Author of the first manuscript on the King’s Gambit, in 1706. It was his opinion that accepting the King’s Gambit would lead to a forced draw. He was the first to propose a type of random chess, by moving the king and queen around in the back rank. He also wanted to take away the advantage of the first move by playing the pawn only one square up. He was the first to record chess games played by other players, then reprint them. He recorded the games of the best chess players in Paris in the 1680s.

CCLA

Correspondence Chess League of America (although there is a Correspondence Chess League of Australia). It is the oldest and largest postal chess organization in America and second oldest in the world. In 1909, the Correspondence Chess League of Greater New York (CCLGNY) was founded by a group of correspondence players who had been conducting postal chess tournaments since 1897. By 1917, CCLGNY and three other groups merged to create the CCLA. It publishes the largest correspondence chess magazine in the world, The Chess Correspondent, the oldest national magazine in the U.S. The CCLA had the first numerical rating of players in 1940.

Cebalo, Miso (1945- )

Yugoslav (now Croatia) Grandmaster (1985). He tied for 1^st place in the 1985 Yugoslav championship, but lost the play-off to Marjanovic. He tied for 6^th-7^th in the 1985 Taxco Interzonal. He is currently rated 2511.

Cell Phone

In 2003, former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov was kicked out of a chess tournament because his cell phone rang during the course of a match. As per article 13.4 of the laws of chess, he was disqualified when his cell phone rang during a games against GM Evgeny Agrest of Sweden in a European Team Championship. Ponomariov was the first player to be penalized under this law at a major event. FIDE has banned players from carrying cell phones during chess matches as they can be used to receive advice on moves ad help access computer databases of moves online. In 2004, the same thing happened to woman national master and tournament top seed Christine Castellano at the Philippine National Chess Championship. Her phone rang in the middle of a match and she was disqualified. Also in 2004, Agrest himself was disqualified when his cell phone rang. There were rumors that Ponomariov was the one who called and said, “Now we are even.”

Cessolis, Jacobus de (1275-1322)

Dominican monk who wrote De Moribus Hominum ed de Officiis Nobilium Super Ludo Scaccorum (On the Customs of Men and Their Noble Actions with Reference to the Game of Chess). This is the best known of all chess moralities, written around 1300. The moralities deal with all sorts and conditions of men, allegorically represented in their various ranks by chess pieces. In 1474 William Caxton translated the French version into English and printed it under the title The Game of Chess. It was the second book printed in the English language (Caxton translated and published a history of Troy a few months earlier).

Chadwick, Henry (1824-1908)

Born in England, he later came to the USA as a journalist and sportswriter. He became one of the foremost authorities on baseball. In 1860 he edited The Beadle Baseball Player, the first baseball guide on public sale. He is considered the father of baseball. He was enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1938, the only writer elected to the Hall itself. He was an avid chess player and was a member of every chess club in Brooklyn. He wrote a chess column in his own newspaper, the American Chronicle. He wrote Chess for Novices.

Chajes, Oscar (1873-1928)

Oscar Chajes (KHAH-yes) was born in Brody, Russia on December 14, 1873. In 1909 he was the winner of the US Open in Excelsior, Minnesota. He became secretary of the Isaac L. Rice Progressive Chess Club. In 1911, he took last place at Carlsbad. In 1916 he defeated Capablanca in New York (round 2) in 66 moves at the Rice Memorial tournament. Chajes took 3^rd place, after Capablanca and Janowski. Capablanca would not lose another game until the 1924 New York tournament, where he lost to Reti. In 1917 he won the New York State championship in Rochester. He died on February 28, 1928.

Chandler, Murray (1960- )

Grandmaster (1983). He won the 1975-76 New Zealand championship, then settled in England. In 1981, he edited Tournament Chess. In 1984 he was joint Commonwealth Champion. In 1986, he was joint British Champion. From 1991 to 1999 he was editor of the British Chess Magazine.

Fedorowicz – Chandler, Brighton 1979

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Bc4 Bg7 5.Qe2 Nc6 6.e5 Nd7 7.e6 fxe6 8.Nf3 d5 9.Bb5 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Bxd4 11.h4 c6 12.Bd3 e5 13.h5 e4 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.Rxh8+ Bxh8 0-1

Charles, Ray (1930-2004)

Blind musician (born Ray Charles Robinson) who learned chess in 1965 after being busted twice and hospitalized for heroin addiction. He learned chess in the hospital where he went cold turkey after 17 years of drug use. He used a peg set made for the blind. He appeared on the cover of Chess Life in September 2002 and was interviewed by Larry Evans. Ray Charles stated that chess was his favorite game. One of his chess opponents was Willie Nelson, who mentioned Ray Charles’ chess skills at his funeral. He also played chess with Dizzy Gillespie. In the film, Ray, there is a scene of Ray Charles playing chess in the hospital with the doctor while recovering from his addiction. He died of liver disease.

Ray Charles – Larry Evans, Reno 2002

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bc5 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Qe2 O-O 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.Qxe3 Re8 10.f3 d5 11.Qd3 a5 12.O-O-O Ba6 13.Qd2 Bxf1 14.Rhxf1 dxe4 15.Qxd8 Raxd8 16.Rxd8 Rxd8 17.Rd1 Rxd1+ 18.Kxd1 exf3 19.gxf3 Kf8 20.Kc1 Be7 21.Kd2 Ke6 22.Ke3 Nd5+ 23.Kd4 Nxc3 24.Kxc3 Kd5 0-1

Charlick, Henry (1845-1916)

Henry Charlick was born in London on July 8, 1845. In 1887, he won the first championship of Australia, held in Adelaide. From 1887 to 1893, he was champion of South Australia. In the early 1890s, he introduced the moves 1.d4 e5, known as the Charlick Gambit or Englund Gambit. He died on July 26, 1916.

Charousek, Rudolf (1873-1900)

Chess master born in Prague and raised in Hungary. He learned to play chess in his early teenage years. He tied for 1^st (with Chigorin) at Budapest in 1896 and won at Berlin in 1897. His internatonal chess career lasted only two years. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 26.

Charousek – Makovets, Budapest 1893

1.e4 e5 2.f4 Bc5 3.Nf3 d6 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.Bc4 Bb6 7.d4 Bg4 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.Bxf7+ Kf8 10.Ba3+ Ne7 11.O-O exd4 12.Qb3 g6 13.Bxg6 1-0

Chaturanga

The earliest chess precursor that can be clearly defined, dating back to the 7th century in India. The Sanskrit name means quadripartite, or four parts of an army – chariots, elephants, horses, and foot soldiers.

Chaucer, Geoffrey (1342-1400)

His romantic poem, Book of the Duchesse, written in 1369, has many references to chess. Chaucer was the first person to use the word checkmate, derived from Arabic. He introduced the word “fers” as the name for the queen chess piece.

Chauvenet, Louis Russell “Russ” (1920-2003)

U.S. Amateur Champion in 1959. In 1991, he won the fourth National Deaf Championship. He won the National Tournament of the Deaf in 1980, 1983, and 1987. In 1992, he was awarded the Grandmaster title in Silent Chess.

Check

Up until the early 20th century, it was mandatory to announce a check. Up until the late 19th century, it was mandatory to say 'check to the queen' or 'gardez' when she was attacked. At one time, if the King and other piece were simultaneously attacked by a piece, it was customary to announce the fact by saying check to both pieces. Up until the early 19th century, an unannounced check could be ignored. In 1991, the game Wegner-Johnsen in Gausdal had 100 checks for White and 41 checks for Black, for a total of 141 checks in the game. In 1995, the game Rebickova-Voracova in the Czech Republic, ended with 74 checks by the black Queen.

Chekhov, Valery (1955- )

Russian Grandmaster . In 1975 he won the World Junior Championship. He became an IM in 1975 and a GM in 1984. He teaches chess at a children’s center in Moscow.

Chekhov – Razuvaev, Moscow 1982

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.e4 Nc6 5.dxc5 Qa5+ 6.Bd2 Qxc5 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Be2 d6 9.O-O O-O 10.h3 Be6 11.Na4 1-0

Chekhover, Vitaly (1908-1965)

Soviet International Master (1950). He played in the USSR championship five times. He won the Leningrad championship in 1937 and 1949.

Cheparinov, Ivan (1986- )

Grandmaster (2004) from Bulgaria. His FIDE rating is 2634. He won the Bulgarian championship in 2004 and 2005 and was Topalov’s second. In 2005, he played games of 155 and 150 moves in consecutive rounds in the Corus (B) Tournament of 2005.

Chernev, Irving (1900-1981)

Chess master and author of 18 chess books. He learned chess at the age of 12 from his father. He played in the U.S. Championship in 1942 and 1944 and played in numerous New York state championships. He first chess book (with Fred Reinfeld) that he wrote was Chess Strategy and Tactics in 1933. He claimed he read more about chess and played over more chess games than anyone in history. He was employed in the paper industry. He died at the age of 81.

Chernin, Alexander (1960- )

Russian Grandmaster. He was European Junior Champion in 1979-1980. He tied for 1^st place in the 1985 USSR Championship, but lost the play-off. In 1985, he tied for 4^th-5^th at the Tunis Interzonal. He became an IM in 1984 and a GM in 1985.

Chernobyl

The purse from the Karpov-Kasparov 1986 London-Leningrad match ($900,000) was donated to the victims of the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl. The USSR Championship has being played in Kiev at the time of the Chernobyl accident. Over the past 15 years, Karpov had given over half a million dollars to the victims of Chernobyl and runs a Chernobyl Chess School for children.

Cheron, Andre (1895-1980)

French champion in 1926, 1927, and 1929 and one of the great endgame analysts and study composers of all time. He played Board 1 for France in the 1927 Olympiad. He created the longest problem solution to have all checks in it, taking 69 moves. He was an International Master in Chess Composition (1959).

Cheron - Polikier, Chamonix 1927

1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nc3 Nd7 5.Bc4 Nf6? (5...Nb6) 6.e5 dxe5 7.dxe5 Nh5 8.Bxf7+ Kxf7 9.Ng5+ Kg8 10.Qd5+ (10...e6 11.Qxe6+ Kf8 12.Qf7 mate) 1-0

Chess

Chess is also known as ash-shatranj (Arabic), sittuyin (Burmese), sah (Croatian), sach (Czech), siang (Chinese), schak (Danish), echecs (French), schach (German), zatrikion (Greek), shitranj (Hindustani), sakk (Hungarian), scac (Icelandic), scacchi (Italian), shogi (Japanese), tiyang keni (Korean), scaci (Latin), chator (Malay), shatara (Mongol), shatranj (Parsi), chatrang (Persian), szach (Polish), xadrez (Portuguese), schamat (Russian), chaturanga (Sanskrit), ajedrez (Spanish), schack (Swedish), makruk (Thai), chandaraki (Tibetan), and skaki (Turkish).

CHESS 4.6

Chess computer program written at Northwestern University by David Slate and Larry Atkin. In February 1977, it won the Minnesota Open Championship. In August 1977, it won the second World Championship. In September 1977, it achieved a 2000 rating in a tournament in London. On September 18, 1977 it was the first computer to beat a grandmaster when it defeated GM Michael Stean in London.

CHESS the magazine

British monthly chess magazine published by Sutton Coldfield, England since 1935. It changed its name to Pergamon Chess in 1988, then to Macmillan Chess in 1989. Now it is back to Chess. B.H. Wood owned and edited it for 53 years.

CHESS the musical

Most expensive musical play ever put together, costing over $4 million in 1986. The musical was written by Tim Rice in 1984 and music by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (formerly of ABBA). The musical revolves around the romantic triangle of an American chess champion, his girlfriend, and a Russian opponent. A Broadway production opened in 1988, but it lost 6 million dollars and closed after only 68 performances.

Chess960

The rules of Chess960 are mostly the same as orthodox chess, but the setup is different. The pawns begine where they always do. The pieces are arranged at random, with the proviso that bishops must end up on opposite colors, and the king is set up between the two rooks. The black pieces are lined up to mirror the white pieces. That makes for 960 different starting positions in the game. The point of Chess960 is to free chess from memorization and book moves. Bobby Fischer unveiled this chess variant at a 1996 press conference in Buenos Aires. The variant is also called Fischer Random Chess.

Chessboard

The first chessboard of alternating light and dark squares appear in Europe in 1090.

Chess Fever (Shakmatnaya Goryachka)

The most important chess film of the silent era. It was made in Moscow in 1925, produced and directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin (and starring his wife, Anna Zemtzova). Chess players such as world champion Jose Capablanca, Richard Reti, Frederick Yates, Frank Marshall, Seveilly Tartakower, Gideon Stahlberg, Rudolf Spielmann, Ernst Gruenfeld, and Carlos Torre were in the film. It was the first film to deal exclusively with chess. The film was made during the great Moscow International Tournament in 1925. The main character is played by actor Vladimir Fogel, who is addicted to chess. His fiancé believes that chess is the greatest menace to a happy domestic life and wants him to quit playing chess. She runs into Capablanca and tells him how chess has made her hate the world. Capablanca says: “I understand how you feel. I cannot stand the thought of chess when I am with a lovely lady.”

Chess is My Life

Title of an autobiography by both Karpov (1981) and Korchnoi (1977).

Chess Life

Chess Life magazine first appeared as the official publication of the United States Chess Federation (USCF) on September 5, 1946. Its first editor was Montgomery Major. A single issue cover price was 10 to 15 cents in the 1940s and 1950s. In 1969 it merged with Chess Review (1933-1969), which was edited by Isaac Kashdan, and was called Chess Life and Review. In 1980 it reverted back to Chess Life.

Chess Made Easy

The first American published book on chess. It was published in 1802 in Philadelphia by James Humphreys. It contained the rules of chess, games from Philidor and Cunningham, origins of chess, anecdotes, and the Morals of Chess by Benjamin Franklin.

Chess players

The World Chess Federation (FIDE) estimates there are over 600 million chess players in the world. There are 7.5 million FIDE registered chess players in 160 countries.

Chess Player’s Chronicle

England’s first successful chess magazine. Its original name was British Miscellany. Howard Staunton was its editor from 1841 to 1856 (two series). In 1859-1862 it was edited by Kolisch and Zytogorsky. The magazine stayed in existence until 1902.

Chess Review magazine

Chess Review first appeared in January, 1933. The first Editor in Chief was Isaac Kashdan. I.A. Horowitz was the associated editor. Otto Wurzburg was the problem editor. Fritz Brieger was the business manager. Contributing editors included Fred Reinfeld, Arthur Dake, Reuben Fine, Donald MacMurray, Barnie Winkleman, Lester Brand. A year later, the Editor in Chief was I.A. Horowitz. Cost was 25 cents an issue or $2.50 annually. It was known as the picture chess magazine. In 1969 it was sold to the US Chess Federation and merged with Chess Life magazine to become Chess Life and Review. In 1980, Chess Life and Review reverted to its old name of Chess Life.

Chess sets

In 1971, a chess set landed an antiques dealer, Trevor Stowe, in court in London for indecent exhibition while on display in the window. Each of the 32 pieces showed couples in sexual positions. The dealer had to pay $132 in fines and court costs.

Chess World

First English-language chess magazine published in a non-English-speaking country. It was edited by George Koltanowski in Belgium in 1932-33.

Chevalier, Frederick (1907- )

In 1927, he won the Boston Chess Championship. He was a former Harvard College Champion. He wrote a chess column in The Christian Science Monitor.

Chiburdanidze, Maya (1961- )

Six-time World’s women champion for 13 years, from 1978 until her defeat by Xie Jun of China in 1991. Her coach had been Eduard Gufeld. She was USSR women’s champion at 15, won the women’s Interzonal at 16, defeated three of the best women in the world (Alexandria, Akhmilovskaya, and Kusnir) in matches at 17, and world champion (defeating Gaprindashvili) at age 17, the youngest of any world champion in chess. She was awarded the title of International Woman Master in 1974 at the age of 13, making her the youngest title holder in the history of chess up to that time. She didn’t even have a FIDE rating.

Muara - Chiburdanidze, Argentina 1978

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.f3 O-O 7.Be3 e5 8.Nb3 d5 9.Bc5? (9.Bd2) 9...Bxc5 10.Nxc5 d4 11.Ne2 Qa5+ (and 12...Qxc5) 0-1

Chigorin, Mikhail (1850-1908)

Founder of the Russian school of chess. He was the first public chess worker, organizer, and journalist in Russia. His first chess magazine, Chess Sheet, only had 250 subscribers in all of Russia. From 1878 to 1907 he was considered the best Russian chess player. In 1889 he unsuccessfully challenged Steinitz for the world championship in Havana, which ended after 17 games and only one draw (the last game). Steinitz had won 10 and lost 6. A month later Chigorin won America's first international tournament, New York 1889. He took second place in the Hastings 1895 tournament (behind Pillsbury) and won the first three All-Russia tournaments (1899, 1900-01, 1903). At Hastings 1895 he won a ring and a copy of Salvoli's The Theory and Practice of Chess for winning the most Evans Gambits. In 1958 the USSR issued a chess stamp with a portrait of Chigorin. He learned chess at age 16 (some sources say he learned chess in his early 20s).

Schlezer - Chigorin, St Petersburg 1878

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.exf5 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nxe5 Bxf5 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Qxh8 Qe7+ 10.Kd1 Bxf2 11.Qxg8+ Kd7 12.Qc4 Re8 (threatening 13...Qe1+ 14.Rxe1 Rxe1 mate) 0-1

Chigorin – Walbrodt, Budapest 1896

1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.Nf3 dxe4 4.Nxe5 Bd6 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.Qxe4 f6 7.d4 fxe5 8.fxe5 c6 9.Bc4 Bc7 10.O-O Be6 11.Bg5 Qxg5 12.Bxe6 Nh6 13.Bc8 1-0

Chikvaidze, Alexander (1932- )

Replaced former cosmonaut Vitaly Sevastianov in 1986 as President of the Soviet Chess Federation. He was a Georgian career diplomat who served as former Ambassador to Kenya and the Netherlands. He was assigned to the Soviet consulate in San Francisco and embassies in London and New Delhi.

China

The Chinese Emperor Wen-ti executed two foreign chess players after learning that one of the pieces was called "Emperor." He was upset that his title of Emperor could be associated with a mere game and forbade the game. Chinese chess is played on a board 9 squares by 8 and the pieces move on the intersections of the lines rather than the squares, so that the actual playing area is 10 by 9. One of the pieces as a cannon, unknown anywhere else. Chess was not listed as a competitive sport in China until 1956. The Chess Association of China was formed in 1966. It didn't have its first championship tournament until 1974. The first international tournament ever held in China was in 1980.

Christiansen, Larry (1956- )

Player who become an International Grandmaster without ever being an International Master first. In 1977 he was awarded the title after winning an international tournament in Torremolinos, Spain (he took 2^nd place in the same tournament a year before). He is also the first junior high school player to win the National High School Championship in 1971. He won it again in 1973. He won the U.S. Junior Championship in 1973, 1974, and 1975. He won the US Chess Championship in 1980, 1983, and 2002. He took 2^nd place in the World Junion Championship in 1975 (won by Valery Chekhov). He has been runner-up to the US championship four times. In the 1980s he was sponsored by Church’s Fried Chicken to play simultaneous and blindfold exhibitions throughout the United States.

Christiansen - Karpov, Wijk aan Zee 1993

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Ba6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Nc3 c5 7.e4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nc6 9.Nxc6 Bxc6 10.Bf4 Nh5 11.Be3 Bd6? (11...Bc5) 12.Qd1 (threatening 13.Qxd6 and 13.Qxh5) 1-0

Chuchelov, Vladimir (1969- )

Grandmaster from Russia who now lives in Belgium. His peak Elo rating has been 2608.

Churchill, Lord Randolph (1849-1895)

Winston Churchill's father was elected vice president of the British Chess Association in 1885 (the British Chess Association became the British Chess Federation on 1904). Lord Tennyson was the President of the British Chess Association. He took chess lessons from Zukertort and William (Wilhelm) Steinitz. He was the co-founder of the Oxford University Chess Club. He was one of the financial backers of the great 1883 London tournament, won by Zukertort. In 1891 he was the first president of the Johannesburg Chess Club in South Africa. He was a member of Parliament and served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Cifuentes-Parada, Roberto (1957- )

Grandmaster from Chile. He was the champion of Chile in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1986. He now plays for Spain.

Ciocaltea, Victor (1932-1983)

Romanian chess player who became an International Master in 1957 and took 21 years to become a Grandmaster in 1978. He won the Romanian championship 8 times during 1952-1979.

Hutemann - Ciocaltea, Dortmund 1974

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 g6 4.h3 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nh6 6.Bd3 O-O 7.O-O f6 8.Bf4 Nf7 9.e5 fxe5 10.Bxe5 Nxe5 11.dxe5 Nd7 12.Re1 Nc5 13.b4 Ne6 14.Ne2 Rxf3 15.gxf3 Ng5 16.f4 Nxh3+ 17.Kg2 Qf8 18.Kg3? (18.Qd2) 18...Bxe5 (19.fxe5 Qxf2 mate) 0-1

Ciric, Dragoljub (1935- )

Yugoslav (now Croatia) Grandmaster (1965).

Ciric – Velimirovic, Yugoslavia 1963

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.a3 b5 8.Ba2 Bb7 9.Qe2 Nbd7 10.O-O Rc8 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 Qb6 13.Rad1 Be7 14.Kh1 g5 15.Bg3 Ne5 16.f4 gxf4 17.Rxf4 Rg8 18.Bh4 Ng6 19.Rxf6 Nxh4 20.Rxf7 Rxc3 21.bxc3 Rxg2 22.Qh5 Bxe4 23.Rxe7+ 1-0

Clarke, Peter (1933- )

English player who placed 2^nd in five British Championships. He played on 8 English Chess Olympiad teams. He was British Correspondence Champion in 1977. He became a Grandmaster in Correspondence Chess in 1980.

Clarke – Toran, Hastings 1956

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 e5 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.Bc4 Be7 9.a4 O-O 10.Qe2 b6 11.O-O Bb7 12.fxe5 dxe5 13.Bg5 Nh5 14.Rad1 Bc5+ 15.Kh1 Qc7 16.Rxd7 Qxd7 17.Nxe5 Qc7 18.Nxf7 g6 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.Bxd5 Ra7 21.Nd6 Kg7 22.Rxf8 1-0

Clean Score

A perfect 100% score. Capablanca achieved perfect scores three times: New York 1910 (7-0), New York 1913 (13-0), and New York 1914 (11-0). Fischer won the 1963 US Championship 11-0, defeated Taimanov 6-0 and Larsen 6-0 in the Candidates matches. Other clean scores include 1865 Berlin won by Neumann (34-0), 1899 Dutch championship won by Atkins (15-0), 1933 Folkestone Women’s World Championship won by Menchik (14-0), 1937 Stockholm Women’s World Championship won by Menchik (14-0), 1893 New York won by Emanuel Lasker (13-0).

Clock, Chess

The first mechanical chess clock was invented by Thomas Wilson in 1883. Prior to that, sandglasses were used. Sandglasses were first used in London in 1862. The first U.S. patent for a chess clock was issued in 1884 to Amandus Schierwater. The present day push-button clock was first perfected by Veenhoff in 1900. The first electronic chess clock was manufactured in Kiev in 1964.

Club, Chess

The world's first chess club was organized in Italy in 1550. The first chess club in England was Slaughter's Coffee House, founded in London, England in 1715. The oldest chess club in Europe is the Zurich Chess Club, founded in 1809. The first chess club with permanent quarters opened in Manhattan in 1801. The oldest chess club in the U.S. is the Mechanics Institute, organized in 1854 in San Francisco. It was destroyed by earthquake and fire in 1906 and rebuilt in 1909. The Manhattan Chess Club in New York was founded in 1878 and is the oldest chess club in continuous existence. Russia's first chess club was organized by Tchigorin in 1880. The largest chess club in the U.S. is the Labate Chess Centre in Anaheim, California with about 400 members. In 1911, the first team match between the chess clubs of Moscow and Saint Petersburg took place. The oldest chess club in Sweden is the Schacksallskap in Stockholm. It was founded in 1866.

Cochrane, John (1798-1878)

Scottish master and lawyer who spent half his life in India. He played chess in London while on vacation. In 1815 he was a second lieutenant on the HMS Bellerophon, which transported Napoleon to his last exile on the island of Helena. In 1822 he published his Treatise on Chess. In 1824, just before he went to India, he suggested that the London team play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 (Scotch Opening) in their correspondence match with Edinburgh. In 1829 he wrote a book on the Muzio Gambit, published in India. Cochrane is credited with the Cochrane Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nxf7).

Cochrane – Staunton, London 1842

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 Nxd4 4.Nxe5 Ne6 5.Bc4 c6 6.O-O Nf6 7.Nc3 Bb4 8.f4 Qa5 9.Nxf7 Kxf7 10.f5 Qc5+ 11.Kh1 Qxc4 12.fxe6+ Qxe6 13.Qh5+ g6 14.Qh4 Bxc3 15.bxc3 Rf8 16.Bh6 1-0

Code breakers and chess

During World War II some of the top chess players were also code breakers. British masters Harry Golombek, Stuart Milner-Barry and C. H. O'D. Alexander was on the team which broke the Nazi Enigma code. In September 1939, the British chess team had just qualified for the finals in the Buenos Aires Olympiad. When war broke out, they were ordered home on the next ship out. During one watch keeping at night, Milner-Barry sent out an alarm to the rest of the ship when he thought he spotted a U-boat. It turned out to be a porpoise.

Cohen, Lewis

Lewis Cohen never lost a game in the National Elementary Championships, scoring 40-0. He was the 1974 and 1975 Junior High School champion.

Colle, Edgar (1897-1932)

Six time Belgium champion between 1922 and 1929. He died after an operation for a gastric ulcer. The Colle System is 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3.

College

The first college chess club in America may be the Yale Chess Club, who had a delegate to the first American Chess Congress in 1857. The first known intercollegiate chess team match occurred in 1859 between Amherst and Williams colleges. The first international tournament restricted to college students was held in Liverpool, England in 1952. The first official college student Olympiad chess tournament was held in Oslo in 1954.

Collijn, Ludwig (1878-1939)

Swedish author and organizer. He was President of the Swedish Chess Association from 1917 to 1939. He organized and directed the 1937 Stockholm Chess Olympiad. He, and his brother Gustaf (1880-1968), wrote Larobok i Schack, a book on openings and endings.

Collins, John (Jack) W. (1912-2001)

Chess teacher to Bobby Fischer, Robert Byrne, William Lombardy, Donald Byrne, Sal Matera, Ray Weinstein, Lisa Lane, and Rachel Crotto. He has won the U.S. Correspondence Chess Championship (1943), the Marshall Chess Club Championship (1953), and the New York Championship (1952). He was the first postal chess editor of Chess Review. He reached the finals of the first ICCF World Chess Championship in 1953. His first house was on Hawthorne Street in Brooklyn, so he named his chess club that met at his house, the Hawthorne Chess Club. He kept that name when he moved to 91 Lenox Road.

Column, Chess

The first newspaper to publish a chess column was the Liverpool Mercury. The chess column appeared on July 9, 1813 and ended on August 20,1814. Egerton Smith (1774-1841), founder of the Mercury in 1811, wrote the chess column from July 9, 1813 to August 20, 1814. The first chess column to appear in a magazine was written by George Walker for the Lancet in 1823. Due to a lack of popularity, it disappeared after less than a year. The first column to establish itself was that of George Walker in Bells Life. It ran from 1834 to 1873. A chess column first appeared in the weekly Illustrated London News on June 25, 1842. Howard Staunton was its chess columnist from February,1845 to 1878. The last major chess columnist was B. H. Wood, who was its chess columnist until 1979. Chess coverage ended in 1987. The first American chess column appeared in 1845 in the New York Spirit of the Times. It was written by Stanley.

Commons, Kim (1951- )

1971 California State Chess Champion. He won the American Open in 1974 and 1975. In 1976 he became an International Master. He taught chess to Mel Brooks and to all the band members in Jefferson Airplane. He became a real estate agent.

Computers

The first chess effort on the part of a computer is a mate in 2 programmed in 1949 on a Ferranti digital machine. The first computer program that played proper chess was written at MIT by Alex Bernstein in 1959. The Massachusetts Amateur Championship marked the first time a chess computer played chess against human beings under tournament conditions in 1967. MacHack VI, from MIT, ended up with a 1239 provisional rating. The first chess tournament in which the only players were computer programs was held in New York in 1970. There were 6 computer programs competing. The event was won by a CDC 6400 computer (CHESS 3.0) located at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. The first world computer championship was held in Stockholm in 1974 and won by the Soviet program, KAISSA. Cray Blitz was the first chess computer to win a state chess championship when it won the Mississippi Championship in 1981. 1983 was the first time a microcomputer beat a master in tournament play. 1983 was the first time a computer gained an established master's rating. In May, 1997 DEEP BLUE defeated world champion Garry Kasparov in a match. In 2005, HYDRA defeated Michael Adams, #7 in the world, with 5 wins and 1 draw. In August, 2005, the program Zappa won the 13^th World Computer Chess Championship in Rejkjavik. In 2006, DEEP JUNIOR won the 14^th World Computer Chess Championship.

Conquest, Stuart (1967- )

Grandmaster from England. In 1981, he won the World Under 16 Championship. He won the 76^th Hastings International Chess Congress in 2000/2001. His FIDE rating is 2503.

cook

A composition term for an alternative key not intended by the composer. Named after Eugene Cook (1830-1915) of Hoboken, New Jersey, who was so expert a solver, and found second or more solutions to so many problems, that his name came to signify the act.

Cook Eugene Beauharnais (1830-1915)

The foremost American problemist of his day. He had many of his chess problems published in Staunton’s The Chess Player’s Chronicle, and The Illustrated London News. Cook served as President of the New Jersey Chess Association and assumed the post for problem department in The Chess Monthly. At the time, Paul Morphy was the editor of the games section. In 1859 he wrote American Chess-Nuts, a major work of chess problems in America. He personally composed around 800 problems.

Cook, Nathaniel

Designer (along with John Jacques) of the Staunton chessmen in 1835. He registered his design in 1849. Howard Staunton recommended the use of these chessmen six months later and it was offered to the public by the company of John Jaques of London. Cook did not renew his registration, valid for only three years. In 1852 Staunton made a deal with Cook to authorize Staunton's signature as a trademark to attach to the boxes in which his sets were sold. Cook was Staunton’s editor at the Illustrated London Times. Cook's firm was absorbed by John Jaques and Son, Ltd in 1900.

Cooke, H. I.

Author of the first chess book written by a woman, The ABC of Chess, by a Lady. It appeared in England in 1860 and went into 10 editions.

Correspondence Chess

Perhaps the first reputed correspondence game of chess was played in 1119 by King Henry I (1068-1135) of England and King Louis VI (1081-1137) of France. The earliest known postal game was between a Dutch army officer named Freidrich Wilhelm von Mauvillon (1774-1851) stationed at The Hague (Den Haag), Netherlands and one of his friends from Breda in 1804. Mauvillon’s three correspondence chess games (winning two and drawing one) were published in his chess book in 1827. In 1823, the Paris chess club challenged the London chess club in a correspondence match, but the match did not get played. The first well known correspondence challenge was the Edinburgh - London chess club match, from 1824 to 1828. The match was scheduled to continue until three decisive games were completed. Draws did not count (there were 2 draws). Edinburgh won, 2-1. In 1870 the first correspondence chess club, the Caissa Correspondence Club, was founded. In 1932, Janos Balogh won an international correspondence tournament. In 1884, the French chess magazine La Strategie organized an international chess tournament. In 1887, an international correspondence tournament was held, sponsored by the French weekly Le Monde Illustre. Most correspondence games played at once is 1,124 by Stan Vaughan in 1988. In 1948, Robert Wyller played 1,001 correspondence games.. In 1883 Cambridge University played a correspondence match with the Bedlam insane asylum. Bedlam won. The highest rated USCF correspondence player was Penquite at 2929 (won 58 games straight, no losses, and no draws). During World War II, no postal chess play was allowed between civilians and servicemen in the United States and Canada. Soldiers overseas were not allowed to play postal chess due to censorship restrictions.

Corzo, Juan (1873-1941)

Juan Corzo was born in Madrid and was Cuban chess champion in 1902. In 1901, Jose Capablanca, age 12, beat Juan Corzo, age 28, in an informal match in Havana.

Cox, James R.

Winner of the first New York State Championship in 1878.

Cozio, Carlo Francesco (1715-1780)

Italian Count of Montiglio and Count of Salabue. He was the author of a two volume chess book, Il giuoco degli scacchi o sia Nuova idea di attacchi, difese e partiti del Giuoco degli Scacchi, published in 1740. The Ruy Lopez variation 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 is called Cozio’s Defense.

Cramer, Fred (1912-1989)

Former USCF Membership chairman and USCF President (1961-1964). In the 1970s, he was the FIDE vice-president. He was Bobby Fischer’s manager during the 1972 World Championship Match. He was a lighting contractor. He got involved in chess when he provided better lighting to the 1953 US Open in Milwaukee. When Cramer died in 1989, he bequeathed $250,000 to the American Chess Foundation.

Cramling, Pia (1963- )

Grandmaster from Sweden. From 1983 to 1985 she was the world number one female chess player. Her brother, Dan, is a former Swedish national champion. She won the Women’s Chess Oscar in 1983. She is married to Juan Bellon and they live in Spain. She was awarded the WGM title in 1982, the IM title in 1983, and the GM title in 1992.

Skripchenko - P. Cramling, Belgrade 1996

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Qb6 6.e5 Bc5 7.Be3 Nd5 8.Nxd5 exd5 9.Nf5 Qxb2 10.Bxc5 Qc3+ 11.Ke2 Qxc5 12.Nd6+ Kf8 13.f4 Nc6 14.Kf3 (14.Qd3) 14...f6 15.Nxc8 (15.c4) 15...fxe5 16.fxe5 Nxe5+ 17.Kf4?? (17.Ke2) 17...Rxc8 18.Kxe5 Re8+ 19.Qf3 Qe7 (threatening 29...g6 mate) 0-1

Cray Blitz

The first computer to win a state championship (Mississippi in 1981). It won with 5 wins and no losses. Its first rating was 2258, running on a Cray-1 computer. At the time, it was the world’s fastest computer (80 million instructions per second). Cray Blitz was the World Computer Chess Championship from 1983 to 1989. The program was written by Robert Hyatt and Albert Gower, both of the University of Southern Mississippi. The chess program “Crafty” is a direct descendent of Cray Blitz.

Crisan, Alexandru (1962- )

Grandmaster (1997) from Romania. His FIDE rating is listed as 2588. He is President of the Romanian Chess Federation. In 2001, he was accused of faking his Elo rating of 2635 (number 33 in the world). He was accused of bribing other players for Elo points. He was accused of fixing matches for his own benefit and falsifying chess tournament results. He played in one tournament, the Vidmar Memorial in Slovakia, and score only ½ point out of 9.

Crittenden, Kit (1935- )

On August 29, 1948 Kit Crittenden won the North Carolina state championship at age 13, becoming the nation's youngest state champion. The year before, he finished in last place in the state championship.

Croatia

A Croatian legend is that the Croatian king Suronja beat the Venetian doge in a chess game for a number of Croatian islands. The Croatian coat of arms was supposed to have been evolved from the chess board of 64 squares. The first written trace of chess in Croatia dates to 1385. A Croatian merchant had an inventory of a small table and a chess set. Correspondence chess was being played between Croatian and Venetian merchants as early as 1650. The first Croatian chess column appeared in 1875. The first chess tournament was played in Zagreb in 1886. The first Croation chess club was founded on March 11, 1886. The first chess book published in Croatia occurred in 1893. The first book in Croatian was published in 1909.The Croatian Chess Federation was formed in 1912.

Crotto, Rachel (1958- )

In 1972 she was one of the youngest girls ever to play in the U.S. Women's championship, at age 13. She was U.S. Women’s Champion from 1977 to 1979. She took 12^th-13^th place at the 1979 Rio de Janeiro Women’s Interzonal. She took last place in the 1982 Bad Kissingen Interzonal for the Women’s World Chess Championship.

Crum, John (1842-1922)

First Scottish chess champion. He won the event, held in Glasgow, in 1884. He edited a chess column in The Glasgow Weekly Herald.

Csom, Istvan (1940- )

Istvan Csom (Chom) was born in Hungary and became a Hungarian Grandmaster in 1973. He won the Hungarian championship in 1972 and, jointly, in 1973. His FIDE rating is 2463. In 1976, he took 9^th-11^th at the Biel Interzonal Tournament (won by Larsen).

Cuba

In 1952 there was an international tournament in Havana. During the event, there was a revolution in Cuba. The President who sponsored the tournament was deposed. The Mexican entrants were recalled by their government. Finally, the Cuban champion, Juan Quesada, playing in the event died of a heart attack. His funeral was attended by all the masters participating. In 1965 Cuba linked up to the Marshall Chess Club in New York by telex to allow Fischer to play in the Capablanca Memorial tournament being held in Havana. Each game lasted up to seven hours. After the event, Cuba had to pay the bill of over $10,000. Dr Jose Raul Capablanca, son of the late World Champion, transmitted the move in Havana. Cuba spent over $5 million on the 1966 Olympiad held in Havana. Castro played several exhibition games including a draw with Grandmaster Tigran Petrosian. The first open international tournament held in Cuba took place in 1992 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Havana as the capital of the island. Chess came to Cuba with Columbus. Chess is mentioned as being played in Cuba in 16th century books. By the way, Jose Capablanca was never champion of Cuba. His only appearance in the Cuban championship was in 1901, and he took 4^th place.

Cvitan, Ognjen (1961- )

Yugoslav Grandmaster (1987). In 1981 he won the World Junior (Under 20) Championship, ahead of Nigel Short and Salov. His name is pronounced Og-nhien Cvhie-than. His highest rating has been 2633, ranked 69^th in the world in 1994.

Cvitan – Short, Mexico City 1981

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 c5 5.d5 Ba6 6.Qc2 exd5 7.cxd5 Bb7 8.e4 Qe7 9.Bd3 Nxd5 10.O-O Nc7 11.Nc3 Qd8 12.Nd5 Ne6 13.Ne5 Nc6 14.f4 Nxe5 15.fxe5 Be7 16.Qe2 h6 17.Qh5 Rf8 18.Bxh6 gxh6 19.Rxf7 Rxf7 20.Rf1 Ng5 21.Bc4 Kf8 22.Rxf7+ Nxf7 23.Nf6 1-0

Cyprus

In 1910 the Cyprus Chess Association was founded and the first Cyprus chess championship took place. In 1962 Cyprus scored the worst score of any Chess Olympiad team. At Varna the team went 0 for 20 and one of their players, Ioannidis also went 0 for 20. Their team only won 2 games, drew 2 games, and lost 76 games. In 1964 at the Tel Aviv Olympiad. Ionnidis lost all his games (4) and Cyprus, again, took last place, drawing 1 and losing 13. Their team won 5 games, drew 4 games, and lost 47 games.

Czerniak, Moshe (1910-1984)

International Master (1952) and Israel’s first professional chess player. He was born in Poland, immigrated to Palestine, lived in Argentina after World War II broke out, and finally settled in Israel in 1950. He won the championship of Palestine in 1936 and the championship of Israel in 1955. He won the championship of Israel in 1974 at the age of 64.

Czerniak - Constantinou, Lugano 1968

1.e4 c5 2.b3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Bb2 d6 5.exd6 exd6 6.Na3 Nc6 7.Nc4 Nf6 8.Nf3 Be7 9.d4 O-O 10.d5 Nb4 11.Ne3 Re8 12.Be2 Bd7 13.O-O Bf8 14.Re1 Ne4 15.a3 Na6 16.Bxa6 bxa6 17.Qd3 Rb8 18.Nf1 Bf5 19.Qxa6 c4 (19...Re7) 20.Qxc4 Rc8 21.Qd4 Rxc2? (21...Qd7) 22.Ne3 (23...Rxb2 24.Nxf5, threatening 25.Qxb2 and 25.Rxe4) 1-0

Dadian (Salome Dadian de Mingrelie) (1848-1913)

Prince of Mingrelia and sponsor of the 1903 Monte Carlo tournament. He invited Tchigorin to play but later paid him 1,500 francs (greater than 3rd prize money) not to play because Tchigorin had published analysis of one of the Prince's games, pointing out he had made gross errors. A valuable art object was to go to the winner of a short match between the 1st and 2^nd place finishers (Tarrasch and Maroczy). The players wanted a play for money also. This annoyed the Prince who gave the art object to the 3rd place finisher (Pillsbury).

Dake, Arthur (1910-2000)

Arthur Dake became a bridge toll collector, then a highway auto controller, and finally an automobile inspector for the state of Oregon after serving in the merchant marines when he was 16. He and Humphrey Bogart used to make a living hustling chess at Coney Island. In three chess Olympiads, he won 27 games and only lost four games, winning a gold medal and the best result of any individual player at Warsaw 1935. He was given the International Master title in 1954. He received the honorary Grandmaster title in 1986 in recognition of his results in the 1930s. He was the oldest competitive chess grandmaster in history. He learned chess at 17. At 20 he won the Marshall Chess Club Championship.

Dake - Schmitt, Seattle 1949

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Nc3 O-O 8.f4 Nc6 9.d5 Nb8 10.Nf3 e6 11.Bc5 Re8 12.d6 N6d7 13.Ba3 cxd6 14.Bxd6 Qb6 15.Qd2 e5 16.Bc4 exf4? (16...Bh6) 17.Bxf7 Kxf7 18.Ng5+ (18...Kg8 19.Qd5+ Kh8 20.Nf7+ Kg8 21.Nh6+ Kh8 22.Qg8+ Rxg8 23.Nf7 mate) 1-0

Daly, Harlow B. (1883-1979)

Perhaps the oldest person to win a state chess championship. In 1968 he won the Championship of Maine at age 85. He had previously won in 1961 at the age of 77 and in 1965 at the age of 81. He played in the New England Open every year from 1908 (when he won it) to 1971. He won the Massachusetts State Championship in 1940 and 1942. He was still playing chess in his 90s. At 90, in 1973, he won a New Hampshire Open tournament with a perfect 5-0 score. He died at the age of 95. He played chess for 75 years. He won the championships of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.

Damiani, Petrus (Peter) (1007-1072)

Cardinal bishop of Ostia, Italy who wrote to Pope Alexander II in 1061 urging the pope to forbid chess from the clergy and to punish a bishop in Florence for wasting his time playing chess in the evenings. Damiani associated the game with frivolity and the sin of gambling.

Damiano, Pedro (1470-1544)

Portuguese apothecary (pharmacist) and author of Questo Libro e da imparare giocave a scachi et de li partiti, the first chess (modern chess) book in Italy. It was published in Rome and written in Italian and Spanish in 1512. It was the first bestseller of the modern game of chess. It went through eight editions in 50 years, first being published in Rome. The book has ten chapters and 124 pages, 89 of which deal with 72 problems and studies. The book contained chess advice and introduced the smothered mate. In the book, Damiano suggested that chess was invented by Xerxes, and called the game of chess Axedrez, which is the Spanish word for chess today. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 is called Damiano’s Defense. There were no new chess works from Damiano’s book until Ruy Lopez wrote his book in 1561, almost 50 years later. The discovery of Damiano’s chess book and its mistakes encouraged Ruy Lopez to write his own chess book. Pedro Damiano may have been a pseudonym to hide his real name.

Damjanovic, Mato (1927- )

Yugoslav Grandmaster (1964). He was 1^st at Zagreb 1969 and Bad Pyrmont 1970.

Damjanovic – Tudev, Sochi 1964

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.Bxc6+ bxc6 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4 c5 8.Ne2 Bb7 9.Nbc3 f5 10.exf5 Bxg2 11.Rg1 Bb7 12.Nf4 Qf6 13.Ne6 Rc8 14.Qe2 Kd7 15.Be3 Qxf5 16.Nxc5+ dxc5 17.O-O-O+ Bd6 18.Rxg7+ Kc6 19.Qc4 Qf6 20.Rf7 Qg6 21.Ne4 Rb8 22.Bxc5 1-0

Damljanovic, Branko (1961- )

Grandmaster from Serbia/Montenegro. His FIDE rating is 2612. He is the highest rated player from Serbia and Montenegro.

Danielsen, Henrik (1966- )

Grandmaster from Denmark. His FIDE rating is 2511.

Dao Thien Hai (1978- )

Grandmaster from Vietnam. His FIDE rating is 2601. He won the Vietnames championship in 2002. He won the World Under-18 championship in 1994.

Darga, Klaus (1934- )

German Junior Chess Champion in 1951. In 1953 he tied with Oscar Panno in the 2^nd World Junior Championship, held in Copenhagen. West German champion in 1955 and 1961. He became an International Master in 1957 and a Grandmaster in 1964. In the 1964 Amsterdam Interzonal, he took 11^th place, beating Spassky. He works as a computer programmer.

Darin, Bobby (1936-1973)

Born Walden Waldo Cassotto, he was one of the most popular rock and roll American teen idols of the late 1950s. In late 1972, he planned the Bobby Darin International Chess Classic. It would have been the richest chess tournament ever, and he was putting up $25,000 of his own money, but he died before it could take place. Darin was a chess enthusiast. The Bobby Darin Show featured a weekly chess problem. He played chess his whole life, including the day before he died on the operating table during surgery to replace a heart valve. He taught his wife, Sandra Dee, to play chess. While he worked, she played chess with the cast or crew, and was very good, defeating most of her opponents.

Dautov, Rustem (1965- )

Grandmaster from Germany. His FIDE rating is 2595. He married Petra Stadler, who once may have been involved with a relationship with Bobby Fischer.

Davies, Nigel (1960- )

English grandmaster. His FIDE rating is 2521. He is a former British Open Quickplay champion. He has written at least 10 chess books.

Dawson, Thomas (1889-1951)

British problemist who composed over 6,000 chess problems. He specialized in fairy chess and invented the grasshopper (upside down queen) – it moves like a queen but must hop over a piece and land on the next square beyond. He was president of the British Chess Problem Society from 1931 to 1943.

Day, Lawrence (1949- )

Canadian International Master (1972). In 2004 he won the first Canadian Senior (over 50 years old) Chess Championship with a perfect 5-0.

Day – Grimshaw, Ontario 1965

1.Nf3 d5 2.e4 c6 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Ng5 Nf6 5.Bc4 e6 6.O-O Qd4 7.Qe2 Nbd7 8.d3 exd3 9.Bxd3 Ne5 10.Rd1 Nxd3 11.Be3 Nf4 12.Qf3 Nh3+ 13.gxh3 Qe5 14.Rd8+ Ke7 15.Rad1 1-0

de Firmian, Nicholas (Nick) (1957- )

American Grandmaster (1985). He was U.S. chess champion in 1987 (tied with Joel Benjamin), 1995, and 1998. He has a degree in physics and worked with the IBM Deep Blue team in 1997, preparing the computer’s openings for its winning efforts over world champion Garry Kasparov. The U.S. Chess Federation awarded him with “the 1999 Grandmaster of the Year” title.

De Firmian - Meyer, New York 1991

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.e5 Ng4 8.e6 fxe6 9.Ng5 Bxb5 10.Nxe6 Bxd4 11.Nxb5 Qa5+ 12.Qd2 Bf2+ 13.Kd1 Qa4 (13...Ne3+) 14.Qe2 Kf7 15.b3 Qa6 16.Ng5+ Kg7 17.Qxe7+ Kh6 18.Nf7+ (18...Kg7 19.Nxd6+ Kh6 20.Nf5+ gxf5 21.Qg5 mate) 1-0

de Groot, Adrian (1914-2006)

Dutch psychologist and chess master who did the first psychological enquiry into the minds of chess players. His 1965 book, Thought and Choice in Chess, showed the different abilities of masters and amateurs. He found that masters can recall 93% of all the pieces on a board of a chess position from a game (not random) after looking at it for 4 seconds. Experts remembered 72% and weaker chess players were able to recall only 51% of the pieces. When random positions were shown, all levels of players recalled the same percentage of pieces. This suggested that masters were able to use some form of chunking, or pattern-matching, that allowed them to recall the positions. He played on the Dutch Olympiad team in 1936, 1937, and 1939.

de Riviere, Jules (1830-1905)

Leading French master of his day. He was a frequent opponent of Morphy and they were good friends. Morphy pawned his watch that was given to him by the Brooklyn Chess Club to de Riviere, who loaned Morphy a large sum of money. Morphy never paid de Riviere back. Morphy and de Riviere set out to write a book on chess openings, but they never completed or published the book.

de Vere, Cecil (1845-1875)

Cecil Valentine Brown, later known as Cecil de Vere, was born in February 14 (Valentine’s Day), 1845. In 1857, at the age of 12, he was taught who to play chess by a strong London player, Francis Burden (1830-1882). In 1859, he joined the City of London Chess Club. In 1860, at the age of 15, he was a regular at Simpson’s Divan. In 1864, he played a number of games against Reverend George A. MacDonnell, winning the majority of them. In 1865, he won a match against Steinitz (+7-3=2), with Steinitz playing odds of a pawn and a move. In November, 1866, at the age of 21, he won the 1^st British Chess Association Challenge Cup, held in London, becoming the first official British Chess Champion. He remained the youngest titleholder for over a century (until Nigel Short). In June 1867, he took 5^th at Paris France, won by Kolisch. In September 1867, he took 3^rd-4^th at the 3^rd Congress of the British Chess Association at Dundee, Scotland, won by Gustav Neumann. While he was in Dundee, he learned that he had tuberculosis (consumption). He worked at Lloyds Bank, but gave up his employment when he discovered he had tuberculosis. In 1868-69, he tied for 1st place at the 2^nd British Chess Association Challenge Cup, held in London. He lost the play-off to Joseph Blackburne. In 1870, he took 6^th-7^th at Baden-Baden, Germany. In 1872, he took 3^rd-5^th at the 2^nd British Chess Federation Congress in London. In 1872, he was the chess editor of the Field, but lost it after 18 months through inattention to work (he had become an alcoholic). In 1874, he lost a match against Zukertort in London. He died of tuberculosis and a penniless alcoholic at the age of 29 on February 9, 1875 at Torquay.

Burn - de Vere, London 1868

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Bd3 Bd6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.O-O Nf6 7.Re1+ Be6 8.Bf5 O-O 9.Bxe6 fxe6 10.Rxe6 Ne4 11.c4 Rxf3 12.gxf3 Qh4 13.Rxd6? (13.fxe4) 13...Qxf2+ 14.Kh1 Nxd6 15.cxd5 Re8 16.Bd2 Re2 0-1

Dean, George

Medical doctor. Founder and President Emeritus of Chess Collectors International. He is the owner of one of the largest collection of chess sets in the world. He owns the only Faberge chess set in existence, perhaps the most valuable chess set in the world. His chess sets were exhibited at the Karpov-Kasparov World Championship match at the Macklowe Hotel in New York.

Death Of Chess Players

Georgy Agzamov (1954-1986) died after falling down between two rocks at a beach. Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946) choked to death on a piece of meat. Curt Von Bardeleben (1861-1924) committed suicide by jumping out of an upper window of his boarding home. Efim Bogoljobov (1889-1952) died of a heart attack after a simultaneous exhibition. Paolo Boi (1528-1598) was poisoned. Jose Capablanca (1888-1942) died of a stroke after watching a skittles game at the Manhattan Chess Club. Edgar Colle (1897-1932) died after an operation for a gastric ulcer. Ed Edmondson (192001982) had a heart attack while playing chess on the beach. Janos Flesch died in a car wreck in 1983. Karen Grigorian jumped out a window. Nikolai Grigoriev (1895-1938) died after an operation for appendicitis. Alexander Ilyin-Genevsky (1894-1941) got hit by an artillery shell on a barge in Leningrad. Klaus Jung died at the front line in Germany. Salo Landau (1903-1944) died in a German concentration camp. Paul Leonhardt had a heart attack while playing chess at a chess club in 1934. George Mackenzie (1837-1891) died after an overdose of morphine. Frank Marshall (1877-1944) died of a heart attack after leaving a friend’s house in Jersey City. Vera Menchik (1906-1944) died in a V2 German bombing of London. Johannes Minckwitz (1843-1901) committed suicide by throwing himself in front of a train. Paul Morphy (1837-1884) died of a stroke while taking a cold bath. Lembit Oll jumped out of his 4th story apartment. Julius Perlis died in a mountain climb in the Alps in 1913. Vladimir Petrov died in a Russian prison camp in 1945. Harry Pillsbury (1872-1906) died of syphilis. David Przepiorka died in a mass execution outside Warsaw in 1940. Nicholas Rossolimo (1910-1975) died of head injuries after falling down a flight of stairs in Manhattan. Pierre Saint-Amant (1800-1872) died after falling from a horse and carriage. Carl Schlechter (1874-1918) died from pneumonia and starvation. Gideon Stahlberg died during the 1967 Leningrad International tournament. Howard Staunton (1810-1874) died of a heart attack while writing a chess book. Vladimir Simagin (1919-1968) died of a heart attack while playing in a chess tournament. Herman Steiner (1905-1955) died of a heart attack after a game from the California State Championship. Alexei Troitzky (1866-1942) died of starvation during the siege of Leningrad. Abe Turner (1924-1962) was stabbed 9 times in the back by a fellow employee. Alvis Vitolins died by jumping. Frederick Yates (1884-1932) died in his sleep from a leak in a faulty gas pipe connection. Alexander Zaitsev died of thrombosis after a minor operation to remedy a limp by having one leg lengthened. Johann Zukertort (1842-1888) died of a stroke while playing chess at a London coffee house.

DEEP BLUE

IBM’s chess supercomputer that calculates over 200 million moves per second or 50 billion moves in 3 minutes. In May, 1997 it defeated World Champion Garry Kasparov with 2 wins, 1 loss, and 3 draws. Kasparov had defeated Deep Blue in February, 1996 with 3 wins, 1 loss, and 2 draws. Deep Blue has been IBM‘s chess project since 1989. The computer is now on display at the National Museum of American History (Smithsonian).

DEEP JUNIOR

Strongest chess computer program in the world. In 2001 it won the World Micro Computer Chess Championship 2 points ahead of all its competition, with a score of 8 out of 9.. World Computer Chess Champion in 2002. It is the world’s first commercial chess program to run on machines with multi-processors. The program is based on Junior6, the 1997 Microcomputer World Champion. It played a match against Kasparov in January-February, 2003 in New York.

DEEP THOUGHT

Once the strongest chess playing computer in the world. It searched approximately 2 million chess positions per second. Deep Thought became the first computer to defeat a grandmaster in tournament play by defeating Bent Larsen at the 1988 U.S. Open. Deep Thought tied for first place in the U.S. Open with Tony Miles. Deep Thought became the world computer champion in 1989 and defeated David Levy in a match later that year.

Del Rio Angelis, Salvador G. (1978- )

Grandmaster from Spain. His peak Elo rating was 2509.

Delmar, Eugene (1841-1909)

Eugene Delmar was born in New York City on September 12. 1841. In 1874, he won the Brookyn Chess Club championship. In 1876, he tied for 2^nd place in the New York Clipper tournament, behind James Mason. In 1879, he defeated Sam Loyd in a match in New York (+5-1=2). In 1885, he won the 7^th and 8^th Manhattan Chess Club championship. In 1888, he defeated Samuel Lipschuetz in a match in New York (+5-3=0). In 1890, 1891, 1895, and 1897, he won the New York State Chess Association championship. In 1904, he took last place at Cambridge Springs (+3-9=3). For over 50 years, he was a leading chess player in America. He died on February 22, 1909 in New York City.

DeMaro, Barbara

Managing director of the United States Chess Trust, the charitable arm of the United States Chess Federation. She administers the Samford Fellowship (current US chess champion Hikaro Nakamura is the 2005 Samford Chess Fellow). She was the USCF Executive Assistant from 1995 to 2000 and worked for the USCF for over 20 years.

Demonstration Board

The first demonstration board was designed in 1857 by Lowenthal. The first use of a demonstration board in a World Championship match was for the Steinitz-Zukertort match in 1886.

Denker, Arnold Sheldon (1914-2005)

A onetime boxer and boxing manager (won three successive Golden Gloves bouts by knockouts). He won the New York State championship in 1938 and 1939. He won the Manhattan Chess Club Championship in 1939/40 and in 1943/44. He won the 1944 U.S. Chess Championship with 14 wins, a record. He also won it in 1946 when he defeated Herman Steiner in a match. In 1942 he beat Reshevsky on time in the U.S. Championship. While spectators watched, the tournament director (Walter Stephens) mistakenly declared that Denker's time had expired. He was looking at the clock backwards and refused to change is decision, which ultimately gave Reshevsky the title. Denker once appeared in an advertisement for Camel cigarettes. He set a world record of playing 100 opponents in 7.33 hours. He won the Manhattan Chess Club Championship six times. During World War II, he gave simultaneous chess exhibitions at military bases and on board aircraft carriers. Like Reuben Fine, he was invited by the US government to help crack enemy codes. He received an Honorary Grandmaster title in 1981 (he was awarded the International Master title in 1950). He authored The Bobby Fischer I Knew and Other Stories. He died of brain cancer at the age of 90. He was inducted in the US Chess Hall of Fame in 1992. In 2004 he was proclaimed Dean of American Chess, a title given earlier to Hermann Helms and George Koltanowski. In 1984 he sponsored the national championship of high school state chess champions, known as the Denker Championship.

Denker - MacMurray, New York 1932

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 d5 6.Qa4 Qd7 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Nxd5 Qxd5 9.Nb5 Qd7 10.Bd2 e5 (10...a6) 11.O-O-O Bc5? (11...a6) 12.Bg5 Qf5 13.Nc7+ Kf8 14.Rd8+ Nxd8 15.Qe8 mate 1-0

Dervishi, Erald (1979- )

Albania’s first and only Grandmaster (1998). His FIDE rating is 2502. He has been Albanian chess champion.

Deschapelles, Alexandre Louis Honore Lebreton (1780-1847)

Probably the strongest player in the world from 1800 to 1824. He claimed to have mastered chess in four days of study. He lost his right arm fighting the Prussians in Napoleon’s army. He gave up chess and took up whist when he could no longer beat his opponents at odds. George Perigal, after interviewing him, wrote: "M. Deschapelles is the greatest chess player in France; M. Deschapelles is the greatest whist player in France; M. Deschapelles is the greatest billiards player in France; M. Deschapelles is the greatest pumpkin-grower in France; M. Deschapelles is the greatest liar in France." He gave up chess when he was defeated by La Bourdonnais, then became an expert at whist.

Deutsche Schachzeitung

Leading chess periodical in Germany. It is the oldest chess magazine still in existence. It was founded in 1846 by Ludwig Bledow and edited by Adolph Anderssen. The magazine was then called Schachzeitung der Berliner Schachgesellschaft. It changed its name upon the unification of Prussia with the other German states after the Franco-Prussian war. It was not published from 1945 to 1950. It started up again in October 1950.

DiCamillo, Attilio (1917-1962)

He played in three U.S. Chess Championships. He took 10^th-11^th place in 1944. He took 13^th-16^th place in 1946. He took 12^th-13^th place in 1957-58.

Diemer, Emil Josef (1908-1990)

German master who contributed to the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, 1.d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3.f3 or 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e4. In 1935/36 and 1936/37 he took first place in the Premier Reserves Major Tournament at Hastings. In 1965 he was committed to a psychiatric clinic and was told not to play chess. He returned to chess in the 1970s. He had been a member of the Nazi party and was a chess reporter in the 1930s and 1940s. He became preoccupied with Nostradamus, with interpreting the past and foretelling the future.

Diemer – NN, Germany 1948

1.d4 d5 2.a3 a6 3.Nc3 e6 4.e3 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.b4 Be7 7.Bb2 Bf6 8.Nf3 b5 9.e4 Qc7 10.e5 Bxe5 11.Nxb5 1-0

Diesen, Mark (1957- )

International Master (1976), U.S. Co-Junior Champion (with Michael Rohde) and World Junior Champion in 1976 (played in Groningen, Holland). He became the first U.S. player to win the World Junior Championship since Bill Lombardy did it in 1957. At 19, he was the youngest U.S. International Master since Fischer. In 1980 he played in the U.S. Championship, but fell and got hurt after 3 rounds, then withdrew. In 2003 he won the Texas State Championship.

Diez del Corral, Jesus (1933- )

Spanish Grandmaster (1974). He won the Spanish Chess Championship in 1955 and 1965. He is an accountant by profession.

Dilaram’s Mate

The most famous of the Shatranj compositions. In old Arabic manuscripts a nobleman was playing chess and staked his favorite wife, Dilaram (heart’s ease), on one of the games. Unfortunately, the game went badly for the nobleman, and defeat seemed unavoidable. Dilaram shouted to her nobleman how to avoid mate. She said “Sacrifice your two rooks, but not me!” That’s what he did and he won the game.

Dimitrov, Vladimir (1968- )

Grandmaster from Bulgaria. His FIDE rating is 2418.

Ditt, Egon (1931-2005)

FIDE Vice President from 1990 to 1994. FIDE Executive Council from 1994 to 1998. Honorary President of the German Chess Federation. He was treasurer of the European Chess Union.

Divinsky, Nathan (1925- )

Canadian mathematician, chess master, and author. In 1945, he was 3^rd in the Canadian Championship. He played on the 1954 and 1966 Canadian Olympiad chess team. He was the editor of Canadian Chess Chat, Canada’s chess magazine, from 1959 to 1974. His wife, Kim Campbell, was the 19^th Prime Minister of Canada. They were married from 1972 to 1983. He served as assistant dean of science at the University of British Columbia. He served as president of the Canadian Chess Federation.

Divorce

In 1963 a wife of a chess player in Milan filed for divorce because he was so obsessed with chess that he refused to work and support their two children. The court ruled that Mrs. Edvige Ruinstein was entitled to a separation from her husband. When Capablanca divorced his first wife, Gloria, her family had him demoted from Cuban Ambassador to Commercial Attaché of the Cuban Foreign Office. Marcel Duchamp’s first wife, Lydie, divorced him after three months. Lydie cited addiction to chess in the divorce papers. When Boris Spassky divorced his first wife in 1961, he said, “we were like bishops of opposite colors.” Alekhine divorced three times. Divorced chess masters include Alekhine, Capablanca, Donaldson, Duchamp, Hartston, Karpov, Kasparov, Korchnoi, Miles (twice), Oll, Susan Polgar, Shirov, Spassky, Tal, Tarrasch, and Timman.

Dizdar, Goran (1958- )

Grandmaster from Croatia. His FIDE rating is 2518.

Dizdarevic, Emir (1958- )

Yugoslav (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Grandmaster (1988). He is rated around 2520.

Philippe – Dizdarevic, Arandelovac 1985

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5 c6 4.f3 Qb6 5.Na4 Qa5+ 6.c3 Nbd7 7.Nh3 e5 8.Bd2 b5 0-1

Djurhuus, Rune (1970- )

Grandmaster from Norway. His FIDE rating is 2461.

Djuric, Stefan (1955- )

Yugoslav (Serbia and Montenegro) Grandmaster (1982) from Belgrade. He won the 2001 Australian Open.

Djuric – Szabo, Oberwart 1979

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 e6 4.g3 b6 5.e4 Bb7 6.d3 Be7 7.Bg2 O-O 8.O-O d6 9.b3 Nc6 10.d4 d5 11.exd5 exd5 12.cxd5 Nb4 13.dxc5 Nbxd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Bb2 Bxc5 16.Ne5 f6 17.Nd3 Rf7 18.Nxc5 bxc5 19.Qh5 Nb4 20.Bxb7 Rxb7 21.Qxc5 Rc8 22.Rad1 Qe8 23.Qf5 Nxa2 24.Rfe1 Qc6 25.Rd6 1-0

Dlugy, Maxim (1966- )

Maxim Dlugy was born in Moscow on January 29, 1966. He emigrated with his family to New York in 1979. He became a master in 1980, and International Master in 1982, and a Grandmaster in 1986. In 1984, he tied for 3^rd at the U.S. chess championship. In April 1985, at the age of 19, he advanced to the interzonals (he played in the Tunis Interzonal), the youngest U.S. player since Fischer. He tied for 6^th-8^th place (won by Yusupov). In 1985, he won the World Junior Chess Championship. In 1985, he took 2^nd in the New York Open. In 1986 he played first board on the U.S. Olympiad chess team in Dubai. In 1987, he won the National Open in Las Vegas. In 1987 he tied for 3^rd in the U.S. Championship. In 1988, he won the $32,000 Samford Chess Fellowship. In 1988, he won the World Open in Philadelphia. In 1988 and 1990, he won the US Open blitz championship. From 1988 to 1993, Dlugy was ranked number 1 in the world in the World Blitz Chess Association. In 1989, he tied for 1^st at the American Open. He was elected President of the USCF (the first Grandmaster to be elected President) in 1990 and was USCF president from 1990 to 1993. In 1991, he won the 2^nd Harvard Cup man-machine tournament. In 1992, he was the 3^rd highest rated player in the USA, behind Kamsky and Kaidanov. In the 1990s he worked for Bankers Trust on Wall Street as a securities trader. In 2002, he was the investment manager to Russian Growth Fund (based in the Virgin Islands), which invested in a magnesium plant in Solikamsk (Russia’s second biggest magnesium plant; the USA buys 60% of its production). Garry Kasparov once served as a senior advisor at the Russian Growth Fund.