My new location is almost complete.

All the postings have been moved (and all the graphics work).

I only lack moving the comments... another set of problems altogether

 

 

Because of the difficulty I've been experiencing with images here, along with several other considerations, I am creating a new location and I'm in the long, painful process of relocating  the posts here to their new home.

 

The new URL is, or will be  http://batgirl.atspace.com/archives.html

which can be reached by clicking HERE

it's very incomplete, but it should come around gradually.

In the meantime, I'll  leave everything here intact.

 

 

Alexander Kazimirovich Tolush (born on January 5,1910 - died on February 3, 1969  ) was a follower of the famous chess patriarch Pyotr Romanovsky, a man who raised his family of daughters while working as a state bank inspector and still made time to to play in 18 tournaments and have 250+ additional serious games between 1924 and 1929 and whose home on Vasilievsky Island became a mecca for future chess hopefuls (Romanovsky was also a talented amateur poet and musician, fond of the romantic chess era but equally comfortable playing in the new hyper-modern style being promoted by Richard Reti whom he met at Mannheim in 1914)

Tolush's contemporaries included Botvinnik, Smyslov, Kotov, Keres, Rauzer, Flohr, Boleslavshy, Liliental and Bronstein, just to name a few.

Tolush was Boris Spassky's mentor, infusing him with the same love of combinational chess that Romanovky inspired in himself.

Here Tolush mates Botvinnik while employing the 19th century Center Game (eventually, Botvinnik finished 1st, Tolush 7th):

[Event "13th Soviet Championship"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1944.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Tolush Alexander"]
[Black "Botvinnik Mikhail"]
[ECO "C22"]

{Center game}
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qe3 Bb4+
5.Nc3 Nge7 6.Bd2 O-O 7.O-O-O d6 8.Qg3 Kh8
9.f4 f5 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Qe8 12.Nf3 f4
13.Qf2 Bg4 14.Re1 Rd8 15.Bd3 Qh5 16.Be4 Ba5
17.h3 Bf5 18.Rhf1 Bb6 19.Qe2 Be6 20.a3 a6
21.Bd3 Ba7 22.Ne4 Nd5 23.g4 Qe8 24.Neg5 Bg8
25.Qe4 Ne3 26.e6 Rxd3 27.Qxd3 h6 28.Nf7+ Bxf7
29.exf7 Qxf7 30.Bxe3 Bxe3+ 31.Kb1 Rd8 32.Qc3 Qd5
33.h4 Qe4 34.h5 Rd5 35.g5 hxg5 36.h6 Qg6
37.hxg7 Qxg7 38.Rh1+ Kg8 39.Qc4 Qf7 40.Qb3 Nd8
41.Rh5 Qxh5 42.Qxd5+ Nf7 43.Qe4 Kf8 44.Rd1 g4
45.Ne1 Nd6 46.Qe6 g3 47.Rd5 Qf7 48.Qh6+ Qg7
49.Qh4 Nf7 50.Ng2 Qg6 51.Rd7 Kg8 52.Qe7 b6
53.Nh4 Qh5 54.Qf6 Bc5 55.Ng6 g2
{you're mated, Mikhail Moiseyevich!}
56.Qxf7+ 
1-0

 

the story...

 

Tolush was never quite good enough to ever become World Champion. This he accepted. But he had a burning desire to reach a difficult, yet attainable goal - that of Soviet Champion. He was in the running through most of the Soviet Championships in which he played, but it the 24th Soviet Championship of 1957 where his goal was in the palm of his hand.

In this tournament he and Bronstein were tied 13-7 going into the last day. Bronstein was to play Ratmir Kholomov, a pre-war prodigy, while Tolush was to play Mikhail Tal, a rising star.

Tolush was the favorite and was being congratulated by his supporters even before his last game. Tolush was optimistic, yet quite aware the championship wasn't his yet. This was his last realistic chance to achieve his dream and he didn't want to jinx it.

Bronstein drew with Kholomov.

[Event "24th Soviet championship"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1957.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "M Tal"]
[Black "A Tolush"]
[ECO "E81"]

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7
5.f3 e5 6.Nge2 Nbd7 7.Bg5 c6 8.Qd2 O-O
9.d5 c5 10.g4 a6 11.Ng3 Re8 12.h4 Qa5
13.Bh6 Nf8 14.h5 Qc7 15.Bd3 b5 16.O-O-O bxc4
17.Bb1 Bh8 18.Rdg1 Rb8 19.Nf5 N6d7 20.Bg5 Bg7
21.Nxg7 Kxg7 22.Bh6+ Kg8 23.f4 exf4 24.Qxf4 Qd8
25.hxg6 Nxg6 26.Qh2 Nde5 27.Bf4 Nf8
{Tal said his oponent's expression never changed during the entire game, but here Tal could almost feel his opponent's heart skip since: 27...Nxf4! 28.Qxf7+ Kf8 29.Qh6+ Ke7 30.Qxf4 Kd7 gives chances to both sides}
28.Qh6 Neg6
29.Bg5 f6 30.e5 Rxe5 31.Bxg6 Rb7 32.Ne4 fxg5
33.Rf1 Rxe4 34.Bxe4 Rg7 35.Rf6 Bxg4 36.Rhf1 Nd7
37.Rxd6 Qe7 38.Rxa6 Kh8 39.Bxh7 Nb8 40.Bf5 Kg8
41.Be6+ Bxe6 42.Rxe6 {black resigns}
1-0

"With olympian calmness Alexander Kazimirovich [Tolush] stopped the clocks and congratulated me on the championship title," Tal wrote. Keres and Bronstein were among the first to add their congratulations to Tal, who had become not only national champion but the 19th  Soviet grandmaster. Only after an hour of animated interviews with reporters did Tal notice Tolush, who had fallen to fifth place, slowly walking to the exit, deep in thought."

adapted from "Soviet Chess 1917-1991"  by Andy Soltis

 

 

here's the game:

 

Mikhail Botvinnik - Tigran Petrosian

Istanbul, 1998

Grünfeld Defence

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. g3 0-0 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. 0-0 c6 8. e4 Nb6 9. h3 N8d7 10. Nc3 h6 11. Qe2 Kh7 12. Rd1 e6 13. e5 Nd5 14. Ne4 Qe7 15. b3 b5 16. Bb2 a5 17. Rdc1 Bb7 18. Nfd2 a4 19. Nd6 a3 20. Bc3 b4 21. Bxb4 Ba6 22. Qg4 Nxb4 23. Bxc6 Nxc6 24. Rxc6 Nxe5 25. dxe5 Bxe5 26. Rd1 Bxd6 27. Ne4 Be5 28. Nc5 Rfd8 29. Rxd8 Rxd8 30. Nxa6 Qb7 31. Qc4 Rd1+ 32. Kg2 Rd6 33. Nb4 Rd4 34. Qc5 Rxb4 35. Kh2 Rb5 36. Qc4 Rb6 37. Rc8 Bg7 38. Qc2 Qd7 39. Rc7 Qd5 40. Rxf7 Rc6 41. Qe2 Rc1 0-1

 

Mikhail Botvinnik, born in 1984 in Belarus, emigrated to Israel with his family.

Tigran Petrosian, born in 1983, lives in Yerevan.

Mikhail Botvinnik played Tigran Petrosian on Board 4 in the match between Israel and Armenia during the Children's Olympiad.

White plays OK for a kid, but Black is a Terror.

Neither of them are related to their famous namesakes.

I got this from HERE who got it from New in Chess.

Men's Chess Olympiads
Date	Title	City	Country	Winner
1927	1st Chess Olympiad	London	United Kingdom	Hungary
1928	2nd Chess Olympiad	The Hague	Netherlands	Hungary
1930	3rd Chess Olympiad	Hamburg	Germany	Poland
1931	4th Chess Olympiad	Prague	Czechoslovakia	USA
1933	5th Chess Olympiad	Folkestone	England	USA
1935	6th Chess Olympiad	Warsaw	Poland	USA
1937	7th Chess Olympiad	Stockholm	Sweden	USA
1939	8th Chess Olympiad	Buenos Aires	Argentina	Germany
1950	9th Chess Olympiad	Dubrovnik	Yugoslavia	Yugoslavia
1952	10th Chess Olympiad	Helsinki	Finland	USSR
1954	11th Chess Olympiad	Amsterdam	Netherlands	USSR
1956	12th Chess Olympiad	Moscow	USSR	USSR
1958	13th Chess Olympiad	Munich	West Germany	USSR
1960	14th Chess Olympiad	Leipzig	East Germany	USSR
1962	15th Chess Olympiad	Varna	Bulgaria	USSR
1964	16th Chess Olympiad,	Tel Aviv	Israel	USSR
1966	17th Chess Olympiad	Havana	Cuba	USSR
1968	18th Chess Olympiad	Lugano	Switzerland	USSR
1970	19th Chess Olympiad	Siegen	West Germany	USSR
1972	20th Chess Olympiad	Skopje	Yugoslavia	USSR
1974	21st Chess Olympiad	Nice	France	USSR
1976	22nd Chess Olympiad	Haifa	Israel	USA
1978	23rd Chess Olympiad	Buenos Aires	Argentina	Hungary
1980	24th Chess Olympiad	Valletta	Malta	USSR
1982	25th Chess Olympiad	Lucerne	Switzerland	USSR
1984	26th Chess Olympiad	Thessaloniki	Greece	USSR
1986	27th Chess Olympiad	Dubai	United Arab Emirates	USSR
1988	28th Chess Olympiad	Thessaloniki	Greece	USSR
1990	29th Chess Olympiad	Novi Sad	Yugoslavia	USSR
1992	30th Chess Olympiad	Manila	Philippines	Russia
1994	31st Chess Olympiad	Moscow	Russia	Russia I
1996	32nd Chess Olympiad	Yerevan	Armenia	Russia
1998	33rd Chess Olympiad	Elista	Kalmykia	Russia
2000	34th Chess Olympiad	Istanbul	Turkey	Russia
2002	35th Chess Olympiad	Bled	Slovenia	Russia
2004	36th Chess Olympiad	Calvià	Majorca	October 2004
2006	37th Chess Olympiad	Turin	Italy	May/June 2006
1924	1st unofficial Chess Olympiad	Paris	France	Czechoslovakia
1926	2nd unofficial Chess Olympiad	Budapest	Hungary	Hungary
1936	3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad	Munich	Germany	Hungary
1976	4th unofficial Chess Olympiad	Tripoli	Libya	El Salvador

More Iron Curtain tragedies

In an earlier posting  I listed problemists who reached  bad endgames under Stalin.

This is a continuation

 

The previously mentioned problemists were:

Mikhail Platov
Vasily Nikolayevich Platov
Alexei Alexeyevich Troizky
Avrid Kubbel
Karl Artur Leonid Kubbel
Yevgeny Kubbel
Petr Moussoury
Mikhail Barulin

some additions and corrections:

Mikhail Barulin 1897-1943
became "Master of Sport in Chess Composition" in 1934.
editor of problem section in "64" magazine
He was arrested on 11-13-1941

Avrid Kubbel actually died of nephritis (as revealed to his heirs in 1957), date unknown. The report of his death during the attack on Lenningrad was fiction.

 

 

Nikolai Krylenko's motto
"It is not enough to execute the guilty. Shooting some of the innocent will impress the masses more."

 

Another problemist, Lazar Borisovich Zalkind (1886-1945) was an economist.
In 1927, he became chairman of the All-Union Association of Chess Problem and Study Lovers.
He was arrested 1930 for his part in a supposed plot to infiltrate the Bolshevik government positions with pro-Mensheviks. Krylemko personally prosecuted him. His sentence was 8 years in prison.
Afterwards, Krylenko replaced the All-Union Association with a government controlled Composition Committe headed by a none-chess playing beauracrat.
Zalkind was released in 1938 but new accusations were added to the original ones to increase his term an additional 5 years at an even more severe labor camp. When he was fianlly released in 1943, he learned that his son, Boris had just died on the Byelorussian front.
He himself died of heart failure 6-25-1945.

 

Konstantin Shukevich-Tretyakov was an important chess organizer and an ardent Bolshevik.
He arrested 8-18-1938 for unspecified counterrevolutionary activities. His sentence was 5 years in a labor camp. He died four years into his sentence in Sevastopol on 1-10-1942.
His had named his daughter "Revolution."

Mikhail Shebarshin was one of the few accomplished Russian blindfold player playeds. He played against 10 boards in 1926. His opponents consisted of  consulting teams made up of club members. He won 8 and drew 2 games.  In the 1926 Lennigrad Championship semi-finals he scored 12-1,  1/2 pt. behind Botvinnik.
He was arrested in 1930 for unspecified counterrevolutionary activities,  went to prison where it's known he was the prison chess champion but beyond that, his fate remains unknowm.

Pyotr Izmailov (1907-1937), winner of the 1st Russian Federation championship in 1928 at age 21, was an engineer-geophysicist.
He was convicted in 1936, after a 20 min. trial, of plotting to kill Stalin and was exected in April, 1937.
His wife was also sentenced to 8 years at the labor camp in Kolyma because she was "a mamber of the family of a traitor."

Vladimir Petrov (1907-1945) from Riga, Latvia was one of the strongest players of his day. He tied for first with Solo Flohr and Sammy Reshevsky at Kemeri 1937 ahead of both Keres and Alekhine.
Arrested 8-31-1942 for violating article 58 (a vague anti-counterrevolutionary article in the criminal code under which many people were unjustly convicted), he was sentenced to 10 years in the labor camp at Kotlas. He died there the following year, 8-26-1943, of inflammation of the lungs.

The great Russian player, Ilya Rabinovich (1891-1942)  died of starvation when choosing to remain in Lenningrad during it's evacuation saying "I was champion of Lenningrad 11 times and can't leave my city at this difficut time." He remained instead to give propaganda speeches over the radio. He died on 4-23-1942.

 

Schachdorf Ströbeck

The Chess Village

click image

Exploits and Triumphs in Europe of Paul Morphy

[The Atlantic monthly. / Volume 4, Issue 24, October 1859]

 

 

 

 

 

Morphy and Architecture?

 

What's that all about??

 

I should know...I wrote it...

 

but I'm not telling...

 

you have to read it here

 

Some unusual chess links

500+ chess-related gifs

Beautiful chessboards made of leather

German-English chess dictionary

A very detailed chess glossary

Chess Channel - Chess TV on your computer

 

This might be my final entry on Lisa Lane.

 

I took all the information I had  plus a lot more from original articles from various magazines in the early 1960's, and I made the Lisa Lane Website

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Vaiva Palunas

One of my favorite chess pictures!

 

The original blurb under this picture said:

Six-year-old Vaiva Palunas fidgets as she contemplates her next move against three-time US women's Grandmaster champion Elena Donaldson in Seattle on Thursday. Seattle hosts the US Chess Championship from January 5-13, 2002 where men and women will play each other for the first time.

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