Vladimir Alatortsev
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Alexeyevich Alatortsev (born Turki, Saratov oblast
, Russia
, May 15, 1909, died Moscow
, Russia, January 13, 1987), was a Russia
n chess
grandmaster, organizer, teacher, author, and administrator. During his career, he became champion of both Leningrad
and Moscow
, and played nine times in the Soviet Chess Championship finals, with his best competitive results in the 1930s. He placed clear second in the 1933 Soviet final. He retired from most competitive play in the early 1950s, moving into roles as a chess organizer, teacher, and coach
. He served as Chairman of the All-Union chess section from 1954 to 1959. He served as Chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1959 to 1961. By profession, he was a hydraulics
engineer.
chess rival of Mikhail Botvinnik
, who later became World Champion. However, Botvinnik, who was two years younger, established complete dominance over Alatortsev right from the start, and wound up with a 9-0 lifetime won-loss score with two games drawn.
Alatortsev's first important high-level result was an excellent shared 3rd-6th place in the Soviet Championship
, Moscow
1931 (URS-ch07), with 10/17; Botvinnik won. Alatortsev was again runner-up to Botvinnik in the 1932 Leningrad Championship with 7/11. Alatortsev made his best Soviet Championship result in 1933 at Leningrad (URS-ch08), when he placed clear second with 13/19, as Botvinnik won his second title. At Tbilisi
1933, he tied for 1st-2nd places with Viktor Goglidze at 10/14.
Alatortsev shared the Leningrad title in 1933–34 with Georgy Lisitsin
on 11/15. But he had a disappointing result in the 1934 Leningrad International with 4.5/11, as Botvinnik won to continue his dominance. He scored 7/13 in the Leningrad National tournament in May 1934 for 8th place, as Ilya Rabinovich
won. In the 1934 Soviet Championship at Leningrad (URS-ch09), he scored 10.5/19 for a tied 5th-8th place; Grigory Levenfish
and Ilya Rabinovich won. He earned a place in the 1935 Moscow International tournament, the strongest Soviet event since 1925, and finished with a very good even score of 9.5/19, as Botvinnik and Salo Flohr
won.
Alatortsev drew a 12-game match (+4 =4 −4) with the very strong Hungarian Andor Lilienthal
in 1935. He was jointly champion of Moscow
in both 1936 and 1937. Then in the 1937 Soviet Championship at Tbilisi
(URS-ch10), Alatortsev made 9.5/19 to tie 10th-12th places.
Alatortsev posted his second best pre-war result when he tied for 1st-2nd places with Leonid Shamaev in a strong tournament at Leningrad 1938, with 14/21, ahead of Lilienthal and Viacheslav Ragozin
. Chessmetrics
.com ranks this as a 2684 performance. In the Leningrad-Moscow tournament of 1939, Alatortsev tied for 9th-10th places on 9/17, as Flohr won.
He had to qualify for the next Soviet final, and in the semi-final at Kiev
1940, he scored 9.5/16 to tie for 4th-7th places, but did not advance to the final, losing out on tiebreak. Chessmetrics ranks him as #21 in the world for August 1940, with a rating of 2626.
1942. He made a creditable 6.5/11 for 7th place, as Isaac Boleslavsky
won. He then scored 7/15 at the 1942 Moscow Championship.
won. In the final that same year in Moscow (URS-ch14), he scored just 7.5/17, as Botvinnik dominated the field.
Alatortsev played 'hors concours' in the 1945 Latvian Championship
at Riga
, and won the tournament (but not the title). He scored 8.5/15 in the 1946 Moscow Championship to tie 4th-5th places, as Bronstein won again. He was below 50 per cent for the next two Soviet finals as well; in URS-ch15 at Leningrad 1947, he made 7.5/19, as Paul Keres
won, and then in URS-ch16 at Moscow 1948, he finished well down with 7.5/18, as Bronstein and Alexander Kotov
won. Alatortsev qualified successfully through the semi-final at Moscow 1949 with 9.5/16, and then he played his last Soviet Championship final, URS-ch18 at Moscow 1950, scoring a good 9/17 to tie for 7th-10th places, as Keres won.
, Isaac Boleslavsky
, David Bronstein
, Efim Geller
, Yuri Averbakh
, Tigran Petrosian
, and Mark Taimanov
were all younger and had the benefits of organized Soviet training, so they surpassed the older generation in their achievements. Alatortsev moved into a training role in the late 1940s, assisting the rising star Vasily Smyslov
. He also became involved in tournament organization and administration. Alatortsev was awarded the title of International Master by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, in 1950, when this title was introduced officially.
Alatortsev stopped playing major tournaments in the early 1950s, but occasionally took part in lesser events. He served as head of the Soviet Chess Federation from 1954 to 1961, during a time when there were about three million registered Soviet players. From 1943 to 1974, he was the editor of a chess column in the newspaper Vechernaya Moskva. In 1960, he published the book Modern Chess Theory. His final strong tournament was Tbilisi
1965, where at age 56 he made a respectable 8/17.
Alatortsev never got the opportunity to compete outside the Soviet Union. He was awarded an Honorary Emeritus Grandmaster title by FIDE in 1983. This was clearly well deserved, since his win at Leningrad 1938 and his second place in the Soviet Championship 1933 were definitely strong Grandmaster results. Alatortsev died at age 77, on January 13, 1987. There is a photo of him at chessgames.com, which also has a selection of 231 of his games. Alatortsev favoured the Closed Openings with White, and his style could be characterized as solid and positional, resorting to tactics only when necessary.
Saratov Oblast
Saratov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Saratov. Population: -Demographics:Population:...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, May 15, 1909, died Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia, January 13, 1987), was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
grandmaster, organizer, teacher, author, and administrator. During his career, he became champion of both Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
and Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, and played nine times in the Soviet Chess Championship finals, with his best competitive results in the 1930s. He placed clear second in the 1933 Soviet final. He retired from most competitive play in the early 1950s, moving into roles as a chess organizer, teacher, and coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
. He served as Chairman of the All-Union chess section from 1954 to 1959. He served as Chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1959 to 1961. By profession, he was a hydraulics
Hydraulics
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...
engineer.
Early years, peaks pre-war
Vladimir Alexeyevich Alatortsev was an early LeningradLeningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
chess rival of Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
, who later became World Champion. However, Botvinnik, who was two years younger, established complete dominance over Alatortsev right from the start, and wound up with a 9-0 lifetime won-loss score with two games drawn.
Alatortsev's first important high-level result was an excellent shared 3rd-6th place in the Soviet Championship
USSR Chess Championship
This is a list of all the winners of the USSR Chess Championship. It was the strongest national chess championship ever held, with eight world chess champions and four world championship finalists among its winners...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
1931 (URS-ch07), with 10/17; Botvinnik won. Alatortsev was again runner-up to Botvinnik in the 1932 Leningrad Championship with 7/11. Alatortsev made his best Soviet Championship result in 1933 at Leningrad (URS-ch08), when he placed clear second with 13/19, as Botvinnik won his second title. At Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
1933, he tied for 1st-2nd places with Viktor Goglidze at 10/14.
Alatortsev shared the Leningrad title in 1933–34 with Georgy Lisitsin
Georgy Lisitsin
Georgy Lisitsin was a Russian chess master.He won thrice Leningrad City Chess Championship in 1933/34 , 1939 and 1947 . He participated many times in USSR Chess Championship. His best result was in 1933 when he shared 3rd...
on 11/15. But he had a disappointing result in the 1934 Leningrad International with 4.5/11, as Botvinnik won to continue his dominance. He scored 7/13 in the Leningrad National tournament in May 1934 for 8th place, as Ilya Rabinovich
Ilya Rabinovich
Ilya Rabinovich was a Russian chess master.-Biography:In 1911 Ilya Leontievich Rabinovich tied for 1st with Platz in Saint Petersburg...
won. In the 1934 Soviet Championship at Leningrad (URS-ch09), he scored 10.5/19 for a tied 5th-8th place; Grigory Levenfish
Grigory Levenfish
Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish was a leading Jewish Russian chess grandmaster of the 1920s and 1930s. He was twice Soviet champion - in 1934 and 1937. In 1937 he tied a match against future world champion Mikhail Botvinnik...
and Ilya Rabinovich won. He earned a place in the 1935 Moscow International tournament, the strongest Soviet event since 1925, and finished with a very good even score of 9.5/19, as Botvinnik and Salo Flohr
Salo Flohr
Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr was a leading Czech and later Soviet chess grandmaster of the mid-20th century, who became a national hero in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. His name was used to sell many of the luxury products of the time, including Salo Flohr cigarettes, slippers and eau-de-cologne...
won.
Alatortsev drew a 12-game match (+4 =4 −4) with the very strong Hungarian Andor Lilienthal
Andor Lilienthal
Andor Arnoldovich Lilienthal was a Hungarian and Soviet chess Grandmaster. In his long career, he played against ten male and female world champions, beating Emanuel Lasker, José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Max Euwe, Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, and Vera Menchik...
in 1935. He was jointly champion of Moscow
Moscow City Chess Championship
-References: ****** from chessbase.com...
in both 1936 and 1937. Then in the 1937 Soviet Championship at Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
(URS-ch10), Alatortsev made 9.5/19 to tie 10th-12th places.
Alatortsev posted his second best pre-war result when he tied for 1st-2nd places with Leonid Shamaev in a strong tournament at Leningrad 1938, with 14/21, ahead of Lilienthal and Viacheslav Ragozin
Viacheslav Ragozin
Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin was a Soviet chess Grandmaster, an International Arbiter of chess, and a World Correspondence Chess Champion. He was also a chess writer and editor.- Biography :...
. Chessmetrics
Chessmetrics
Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system.-Implementation:...
.com ranks this as a 2684 performance. In the Leningrad-Moscow tournament of 1939, Alatortsev tied for 9th-10th places on 9/17, as Flohr won.
He had to qualify for the next Soviet final, and in the semi-final at Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
1940, he scored 9.5/16 to tie for 4th-7th places, but did not advance to the final, losing out on tiebreak. Chessmetrics ranks him as #21 in the world for August 1940, with a rating of 2626.
War years
The Second World War came to the Soviet Union in June 1941, putting a stop to most organized chess for the next several years. But Alatortsev's solid pre-war results earned him an invitation to a very strong event at KuibyshevSamara, Russia
Samara , is the sixth largest city in Russia. It is situated in the southeastern part of European Russia at the confluence of the Volga and Samara Rivers. Samara is the administrative center of Samara Oblast. Population: . The metropolitan area of Samara-Tolyatti-Syzran within Samara Oblast...
1942. He made a creditable 6.5/11 for 7th place, as Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky was a Soviet–Jewish chess Grandmaster.-Early career:Boleslavsky taught himself chess at age 9...
won. He then scored 7/15 at the 1942 Moscow Championship.
Post-war form drops
With the Nazi invaders in full retreat by 1944, organized chess slowly got going again in the Soviet Union. Alatortsev struggled in the 1944 Soviet Championship at Moscow (URS-ch13) with just 5.5/16 for 16th place, as Botvinnik won. He had to return to qualifying for the next Soviet final, and made it through at Moscow in the semi-final with 10.5/15 to tie for 2nd-4th places, as David BronsteinDavid Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
won. In the final that same year in Moscow (URS-ch14), he scored just 7.5/17, as Botvinnik dominated the field.
Alatortsev played 'hors concours' in the 1945 Latvian Championship
Latvian Chess Championship
-History:Professional level Latvian chess players have already appeared in the nineteenth century. They participated in chess tournaments and union congresses, organized by the Riga Chess Association. After the World War I, when Latvia became an independent country, official Latvian chess...
at Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, and won the tournament (but not the title). He scored 8.5/15 in the 1946 Moscow Championship to tie 4th-5th places, as Bronstein won again. He was below 50 per cent for the next two Soviet finals as well; in URS-ch15 at Leningrad 1947, he made 7.5/19, as Paul Keres
Paul Keres
Paul Keres , was an Estonian chess grandmaster, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s....
won, and then in URS-ch16 at Moscow 1948, he finished well down with 7.5/18, as Bronstein and Alexander Kotov
Alexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the...
won. Alatortsev qualified successfully through the semi-final at Moscow 1949 with 9.5/16, and then he played his last Soviet Championship final, URS-ch18 at Moscow 1950, scoring a good 9/17 to tie for 7th-10th places, as Keres won.
Coach, organizer, author
It was clear that the new generation of Soviet players was taking over the top places in tournaments. Players such as Alexander KotovAlexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the...
, Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky was a Soviet–Jewish chess Grandmaster.-Early career:Boleslavsky taught himself chess at age 9...
, David Bronstein
David Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
, Efim Geller
Efim Geller
Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions...
, Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Lvovich Averbakh is a Soviet and Russian chess player and author. He is currently the oldest living chess grandmaster.-Life and career:...
, Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
, and Mark Taimanov
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov is a leading Soviet and Russian chess player and concert pianist.-Chess:He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top...
were all younger and had the benefits of organized Soviet training, so they surpassed the older generation in their achievements. Alatortsev moved into a training role in the late 1940s, assisting the rising star Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...
. He also became involved in tournament organization and administration. Alatortsev was awarded the title of International Master by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, in 1950, when this title was introduced officially.
Alatortsev stopped playing major tournaments in the early 1950s, but occasionally took part in lesser events. He served as head of the Soviet Chess Federation from 1954 to 1961, during a time when there were about three million registered Soviet players. From 1943 to 1974, he was the editor of a chess column in the newspaper Vechernaya Moskva. In 1960, he published the book Modern Chess Theory. His final strong tournament was Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
1965, where at age 56 he made a respectable 8/17.
Alatortsev never got the opportunity to compete outside the Soviet Union. He was awarded an Honorary Emeritus Grandmaster title by FIDE in 1983. This was clearly well deserved, since his win at Leningrad 1938 and his second place in the Soviet Championship 1933 were definitely strong Grandmaster results. Alatortsev died at age 77, on January 13, 1987. There is a photo of him at chessgames.com, which also has a selection of 231 of his games. Alatortsev favoured the Closed Openings with White, and his style could be characterized as solid and positional, resorting to tactics only when necessary.
Notable chess games
- Vladimir Alatortsev vs Viktor Goglidze, USSR Championship, Moscow 1931, Queen's Gambit Declined, Barmen Variation (D37), 1-0 Black sacrifices a piece for a dangerous attack, but perfect defence by White proves it to be unsound.
- Vasily Panov vs Vladimir Alatortsev, USSR Championship, Leningrad 1934, French Defence, Winawer Variation (C18), 0-1 This sharp line was becoming fashionable, and this was one of the key early games showing that it was viable for Black.
- Vladimir Alatortsev vs Grigory Levenfish, Leningrad 1934, Queen's Gambit Declined, Slav Defence (D11), 1-0 Patient strategical triumph over a very strong player, keyed by queenside passed pawns.
- Vladimir Alatortsev vs Andor Lilienthal, Leningrad Championship 1938, Grunfeld Defence, Exchange Variation (D85), 1-0 A bit of an offbeat line seems to catch Black off-guard.
- Paul Keres vs Vladimir Alatortsev, Leningrad-Moscow 1939, Queen's Gambit Declined, Slav Defence (D30), 0-1 Keres had tied for first in the super-strong AVRO event a few months earlier.
- David Bronstein vs Vladimir Alatortsev, USSR Championship, Moscow 1944, Ruy Lopez, Closed (C92), 0-1 Bronstein was one of the most promising of the new wave of Soviet players which would dominate chess after the war.