610:
589:
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were all allowed to travel and even ended up living abroad. Deprived of the same opportunities, Levenfish played only within the confines of Soviet Russia and supplemented his income with a job as an engineer in the glass industry. This eventually resulted in a slow retirement from active play.
254:
293:
Despite his successes, Levenfish was virtually ignored by the Soviet chess authorities, who gave their full blessing to the young rising star and committed communist
Botvinnik. He was the only strong Soviet master of his generation who was denied a
273:
won. In a Soviet-only tournament at
Leningrad 1936, he was third with 8½/14. Participation in the Leningrad–Moscow training tournament of 1939 resulted in a shared 3rd–6th-place finish, with a score of 10/17, behind winner Flohr and
302:(even though he was the reigning Soviet Champion). This further weakened his standing and most likely affected his morale, as well as his development as a chess player. Other players born before the revolution, such as
345:
encountered him in a Moscow subway, just days before his death. Levenfish, who had a wretched look, was clutching a handkerchief to his mouth and declared that he had just had six teeth extracted.
298:. This meant that he could only afford a poorly heated room in a run-down block of flats. Furthermore, the government refused him permission to travel abroad and compete in tournaments such as
222:, where he scored 11½ points from 25 games. At age 22, this was to be his first and last tournament outside Russia or the Soviet Union. His play at the time was compared to that of
349:
recounts the time that
Levenfish visited him, towards the end of his life, armed with a huge pile of papers. It turned out to be a manuscript detailing his lifetime work on rook
341:, echoes the thoughts of some grandmasters who knew him, and they speak of a man of integrity and independence, who never complained about his difficult living conditions.
1041:
1096:
1051:
1116:
1071:
203:
1046:
1091:
750:
Regarding his playing abilities, Sosonko points to his deep understanding of the game and a keen eye for brilliantly imaginative moves. He was also an
1106:
1101:
353:. He asked Smyslov to check for errors, and some minor corrections later, the book was published (1957) bearing both names, under the title
913:
218:
His earliest recognition as a prominent chess player came when he won the St. Petersburg championship of 1909, and played in the strong
755:
63:
1111:
996:
974:
955:
849:
835:
826:, by Grigory Levenfish, 1967. In Russian. Translated into English by Douglas Griffin and published by Quality Chess under the title
227:
770:
Levenfish defeated virtually all of the top
Russian and Soviet players from the 1910s to the early 1950s, and beat world champions
219:
1081:
1076:
1066:
942:
151:
31:
1086:
1061:
868:
262:
1056:
727:
299:
787:
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239:
187:
159:
98:
1036:
1031:
933:
811:
207:
198:, to Jacob Levenfish and Golda Levenfish (née Finkelstein). He spent most of his formative years in
807:
319:
282:
171:
130:
771:
303:
992:
970:
951:
845:
831:
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266:
242:
on four occasions; third in 1920, second in 1923, co-champion at
Leningrad in 1934 (tied with
167:
759:
311:
275:
223:
143:
735:
In his time, Levenfish also wrote books for beginners and edited a collaborative effort on
844:, by Grigory Levenfish and Vasily Smyslov. Translated by Philip J. Booth, 1971, Batsford.
783:
717:
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791:
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199:
195:
1025:
984:
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736:
342:
334:
326:, the world chess federation, in 1950, the year the title was introduced officially.
361:. Smyslov freely admits that all of the hard work was carried out by his co-author.
158:
player who scored his peak competitive results in the 1920s and 1930s. He was twice
795:
357:("The theory of rook endings"), later published in English in 1971 under the title
62:
779:
270:
35:
799:
889:
17:
295:
247:
43:
281:
In match play, he drew with
Botvinnik in 1937 over 13 games, and beat
191:
119:
170:. In 1950 Levenfish was among the first recipients of the title of
252:
166:) and 1937. In 1937 he drew a match against future world champion
155:
323:
175:
743:("Modern openings"). His posthumously published autobiography,
806:, although he did from time to time toy with the hypermodern
265:, he scored 10½/19 points to tie for 6th–7th places, as
257:
Levenfish (left) takes on
Botvinnik in their 1937 match.
238:
At a national level, he finished on the podium at the
798:, and generally preferred classical openings such as
778:
as well. However, he was bested by young superstars
126:
109:
85:
77:
69:
55:
154:7 March] – 9 February 1961) was a Soviet
318:Levenfish was awarded the title of International
858:, edited by Grigory Levenfish, 1940. In Russian.
368:
204:Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology
8:
61:
52:
1097:Saint Petersburg State University alumni
1052:Russian people of Polish-Jewish descent
880:
609:
588:
539:
518:
504:
448:
427:
420:
263:Moscow International tournament of 1935
250:in 1937 with a score of 12½/19 points.
1117:Soviet people of Polish-Jewish descent
1042:Sportspeople from Piotrków Trybunalski
896:(in Russian). Vol. 2, no. 24
747:(1967), contained 79 annotated games.
595:
434:
1072:Chess players from the Russian Empire
914:Event Details: Leningrad/Moscow, 1939
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602:
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7:
246:at 12/19), and outright champion at
230:of 1922, 1924, and 1925 (jointly).
903:– via e3e5.com (2011-02-10).
25:
1092:20th-century Russian male writers
226:. In the next decade, he won the
1047:People from Piotrków Governorate
824:Izbrannye partii i vospominaniya
745:Izbrannye partii i vospominaniya
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289:Lack of support and recognition
786:. Levenfish was strong on the
178:that year for the first time.
148:Григо́рий Я́ковлевич Левенфи́ш
1:
1107:20th-century Polish sportsmen
943:The Oxford Companion to Chess
140:Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish
81:Russian Empire → Soviet Union
73:Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish
32:Eastern Slavic naming customs
1102:Jews from the Russian Empire
1015:player profile and games at
869:List of Jewish chess players
355:Teoriya ladeynykh okonchaniy
220:Carlsbad tournament of 1911
1133:
989:The Encyclopaedia of Chess
723:
30:In this name that follows
29:
147:
60:
1112:20th-century Polish Jews
214:Early chess achievements
182:Early life and education
162:, in 1934 (jointly with
965:Sosonko, Genna (2005).
948:Oxford University Press
228:Leningrad Championships
762:, is named after him.
258:
186:Levenfish was born in
758:, a variation of the
256:
150:; 19 March 1889 [
1082:Soviet chess writers
1077:Soviet chess players
1067:Jewish chess players
890:"Тот самый Левенфиш"
888:Kentler, A. (2002).
812:Nimzo-Indian Defence
208:chemical engineering
202:, where he attended
1087:Soviet male writers
1062:Chess theoreticians
967:Russian Silhouettes
894:Шахматный Петербург
339:Russian Silhouettes
283:Vladimir Alatortsev
240:Soviet Championship
234:Soviet Championship
194:, then part of the
27:Soviet chess player
1057:Chess Grandmasters
772:Alexander Alekhine
728:algebraic notation
726:This example uses
304:Alexander Alekhine
259:
1013:Grigory Levenfish
856:Sovremenny debyut
741:Sovremenny debyut
716:6.f4 against the
714:
713:
365:Levenfish Attack
267:Mikhail Botvinnik
168:Mikhail Botvinnik
137:
136:
56:Grigory Levenfish
16:(Redirected from
1124:
1002:
980:
969:. New In Chess.
961:
946:(2nd ed.).
920:
918:Chessmetrics.com
911:
905:
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808:Grünfeld Defence
760:Sicilian Defence
756:Levenfish Attack
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312:Akiba Rubinstein
276:Samuel Reshevsky
224:Mikhail Chigorin
149:
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105:, Russian Empire
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784:David Bronstein
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718:Sicilian Dragon
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366:
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308:Efim Bogoljubov
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244:Ilya Rabinovich
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164:Ilya Rabinovich
160:Soviet champion
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113:9 February 1961
103:Congress Poland
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1017:Chessgames.com
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1007:External links
1005:
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985:Sunnucks, Anne
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938:Whyld, Kenneth
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828:Soviet Outcast
819:
816:
804:Queen's Gambit
792:French Defence
776:Emanuel Lasker
767:
764:
754:theorist; the
737:chess openings
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347:Vasily Smyslov
337:, in his book
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200:St. Petersburg
196:Russian Empire
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122:, Soviet Union
117:(aged 71)
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70:Full name
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998:0-7091-1030-8
994:
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978:
976:90-5691-078-7
972:
968:
963:
959:
957:0-19-280049-3
953:
949:
945:
944:
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934:Hooper, David
931:
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919:
915:
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907:
895:
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867:
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850:0-7134-0449-3
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836:9781784830861
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766:Playing style
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348:
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343:Boris Spassky
340:
336:
335:Genna Sosonko
329:
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313:
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96:19 March 1889
88:
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54:
49:
45:
42: and the
41:
37:
33:
19:
988:
966:
941:
927:Bibliography
917:
909:
898:. Retrieved
893:
883:
855:
842:Rook Endings
841:
827:
823:
796:Slav Defence
790:side of the
769:
749:
744:
740:
734:
359:Rook Endings
358:
354:
338:
333:
317:
292:
280:
260:
237:
217:
206:and studied
185:
139:
138:
115:(1961-02-09)
47:
39:
1037:1961 deaths
1032:1889 births
320:Grandmaster
172:Grandmaster
131:Grandmaster
44:family name
40:Yakovlevich
1026:Categories
900:2020-09-08
875:References
780:Paul Keres
271:Salo Flohr
92:1889-03-19
36:patronymic
940:(1996) .
830:in 2019.
800:Ruy Lopez
739:, titled
300:AVRO 1938
285:in 1940.
48:Levenfish
18:Levenfish
991:. Hale.
987:(1970).
863:See also
794:and the
351:endgames
188:Piotrków
99:Piotrków
752:opening
296:stipend
261:In the
248:Tbilisi
144:Russian
78:Country
995:
973:
954:
848:
834:
330:Legacy
310:, and
192:Poland
133:(1950)
120:Moscow
34:, the
818:Books
788:Black
156:chess
127:Title
993:ISBN
971:ISBN
952:ISBN
846:ISBN
832:ISBN
810:and
802:and
782:and
774:and
324:FIDE
269:and
176:FIDE
152:O.S.
110:Died
86:Born
322:by
46:is
38:is
1028::
950:.
936:;
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814:.
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380:c
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374:a
142:(
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90:(
50:.
20:)
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