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Isaac Boleslavsky

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Isaac Boleslavsky

Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky (June 9, 1919 Zolotonosha, Ukraine – February 15, 1977 Minsk) was a Ukrainian-Jewish chess Grandmaster.

Early career

In 1933, Boleslavsky became schoolboy champion of Dnipropetrovsk. Three years later, he third prize in the 1936 USSR Junior Championship, held in Leningrad.

In 1938, he won the Ukrainian Championship, aged only 19. In 1939 he again won the Ukraine SSR championship, qualified to play in the USSR Chess Championship at the age of 20, and gained his national chess master title. He earned a degree in philology at Sverdlovsk University.

In 1940, Boleslavsky played in the 12th USSR championship in Moscow. He won 8 of his last 10 games and tied for 5th-6th. At the end of 1940 he won the Ukrainian Championship for the third time in a row. In 1941, he took part in the match-tournament for the title of Absolute Champion of the USSR, and won fourth prize.

In 1945 he took second place in the 14th USSR championship, behind Mikhail Botvinnik. He won 9, drew 6, lost 2. He was awarded the Grandmaster title in the USSR. He played on third board of the USSR-USA radio match. He drew his first game with Reuben Fine and defeated him in the second game, winning a prize for the best game of the match.

In 1946 his daughter Tatiana was born. She later married David Bronstein, 22 years her senior. Boleslavsky and Bronstein became close friends in the late 1930s, and remained so. In 1946, Boleslavsky made his international debut in Groningen and tied for 6th-7th.

In 1950 he was one of the inaugural recipients of the International Grandmaster title from FIDE.

World Championship Candidate

Boleslavsky qualified from the first-ever Interzonal at Saltsjobaden 1948 into the Candidates Tournament two years later in Budapest. In the Candidates tournament—the winner of which would play a World Chess Championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik—he was the only undefeated player, and led for most of the tournament. But in the last round he was caught by Bronstein, who later won a playoff in Moscow (+3−2=9).

This turned out to be Boleslavsky's last chance as a serious contender for the world championship. In 1953 he participated in the Candidates' tournament in Zurich, but finished in 10th-11th places. He never qualified for later Candidates tournaments.

Later career

In 1951 he was Bronstein's assistant during his match with Botvinnik for the world championship, which wound up drawn after 24 games. In 1952 he scored 7 out of 8 at the Helsinki Olympiad. This was the only Olympiad he would play in his career, but he attended several others to provide support for the Soviet team.

He won twice the Belarusian Championship in 1952 (joint) and 1964.

In 1961 he played in his last USSR Championship. He took first place at an international tournament in Debrecen. He was world champion Tigran Petrosian's assistant from 1963 to 1969.

In 1968 he captained the USSR students' team, which won the World Championship at Ybbs. His last tournament appearance was in Minsk in 1971. He was 52. Boleslavsky was the chief trainer of the Soviet Chess Federation in the 1960s, and he remained until his death a very well respected analyst and chess writer.

He died in Minsk on February 15, 1977 at the age of 57, after falling on an icy sidewalk, breaking his hip, being infected in hospital, and not being able to recover.

Chess Legacy

One of Bolesvalsky's main contributions to opening theory is the Boleslavsky Variation in the Sicilian Defence (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be2 e5). This can also be played in the Najdorf Variation, with 5...a6 instead of 5...Nc6.

Boleslavsky, together with fellow Ukrainians Bronstein, Efim Geller, and Alexander Konstantinopolsky, beginning in the late 1930s, turned the King's Indian Defence from a suspect variation into one of the most popular defences today. Hans Kmoch in his book Pawn Power in Chess calls the Kings Indian configuration of black pawns on c6 and d6 (especially if the d-pawn is on a semi-open file) "the Boleslavsky Wall."

A book of his best games, published in 1990, won the prize as the best chess book published in Great Britain that year.

Notable Games

Boleslavsky had a plus record against Mikhail Tal. He even beat Tal with black pieces in Riga in 1958.See game at chessgames.com

References

  • Brace, Edward R. (1977), An Illustrated Dictionary of Chess, Hamlyn Publishing Group, p. 42, ISBN 1-55521-394-4
  • Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1992), The Oxford Companion to Chess (2 ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 52, ISBN 0-19-280049-3
  • Sunnucks, Anne (1970), The Encyclopaedia of Chess, St. Martin's Press, p. 38, LCCN 78-0
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