The Russian Chess Championship has taken various forms.
10-511: In 1874, Emanuel Schiffers defeated Andrey Chardin in a match held in St. Petersburg with five wins and four losses. Schiffers was considered the first Russian champion until his student, Mikhail Chigorin , defeated him in a match held in St. Petersburg in 1879. Chigorin won with seven wins, four losses, and two draws. In 1899, the format of the championship was changed to a round-robin tournament known as
20-810: The All-Russian Masters' Tournament. The winners were: After the formation of the USSR the USSR Chess Championship was established as the national championship. However the Russian championship continued to exist as the championship of the RSFSR . The first two USSR championships in 1920 and 1923 were also recognized as RSFSR championships; the modern numbering of Russian championships begins with these two tournaments. The cities Moscow and Leningrad held their own championships and their players were ineligible to play in
30-637: The RSFSR championship. However, some did participate as outside competitors: for example, Taimanov finished with the same number of points as Tarasov in the 1960 championship, but only Tarasov was awarded the title as Taimanov was from Leningrad. Rashid Nezhmetdinov held the record of five wins of the Russian Chess Championship. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Championship
40-503: The last of these being highly regarded by Edward Winter: In 1945, he and Kenneth Harkness wrote An Invitation to Chess , which became one of the most successful chess books ever written, with sales reaching six figures. Perhaps his most famous book is Logical Chess: Move by Move , first released in 1957. This takes 33 classic games from 1889 to 1952, played by masters such as Capablanca , Alekhine , and Tarrasch , and explains them in an instructive manner. An algebraic notation version
50-463: Was a Russian chess player and chess writer. For many years he was the second leading Russian player after Mikhail Chigorin . Schiffers parents emigrated from Germany. He was born in Saint Petersburg and also died there. Schiffers held the title of Russian champion for 10 years before finally being defeated by his student, Mikhail Chigorin, in 1880. At their first meeting in 1873, Schiffers
60-625: Was able to offer Chigorin (also from St. Petersburg) knight odds . In 1878 they played on even terms, Schiffers losing the first of two matches 7–3, but winning the second 7½–6½, thus establishing himself as the second strongest player in Russia after Chigorin himself. They later played two more matches with Chigorin winning both. At Rostov on Don in 1896, he played a match against former world chess champion Wilhelm Steinitz , losing 6½–4½. Schiffers played eight major foreign tournaments from Frankfurt 1887 to Cologne 1898. His best tournament result
70-575: Was at Hastings 1895 where he finished sixth with 12/21 ( Harry Pillsbury won). In 1899 and 1900/01, he took second places, behind Chigorin, in All Russian Masters Tournament (1st and 2nd RUS-ch). Schiffers was known as "Russia's Chess Teacher". In 1889, he gave the first public lectures on chess theory in Russia, at the St. Petersburg Chess Association and in other cities. He wrote the chess textbook Samouchitel shakhmatnoi igry ( Chess Self Taught , published 1906). In November 1899 it
80-893: Was born in Pryluky, Ukraine , then a part of the Russian Empire and emigrated to the United States in 1905. Chernev was a national master -strength player and was devoted to chess. He wrote that he "probably read more about chess, and played more games than any man in history." Chernev's deep love for the game is obvious to any reader of his books. Chess historian Edward Winter commented: He wrote 20 chess books, among them: Chessboard Magic! , The Bright Side of Chess , The Fireside Book of Chess (with Fred Reinfeld ), The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played , 1000 Best Short Games of Chess , Practical Chess Endings , Combinations: The Heart of Chess , and Capablanca's Best Chess Endings ,
90-877: Was re-established as a national championship, and players from Moscow and St. Petersburg were allowed to participate. Prior to 2004, the championship was organized as a Swiss-style tournament except for 1997 and 1999, where a knockout format was used. In 2004, the tournament reverted to a round robin with the strongest players in the country directly seeded into the final (called the Superfinal) held in Moscow while others progress through qualifying tournaments. Third place match: GM Alexey Dreev (2650) 1½:½ IM Alexander Lastin (2535) Emanuel Schiffers Emanuel (Emmanuel) Stepanovich Schiffers ( Russian : Эммануил Степанович Шифферс ; 4 May [ O.S. 22 April] 1850 – 12 December [ O.S. 29 November] 1904)
100-460: Was reported that he became insane and was taken to an asylum. Schiffers–Harmonist, Frankfurt 1887, has been anthologized in many game collections and was dubbed "Schiffers' Immortal Game" by Irving Chernev . It features a spectacular rook sacrifice followed by a long winning combination . Irving Chernev Irving Chernev (January 29, 1900 – September 29, 1981) was a chess player and prolific Ukrainian-born American chess author. He
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