Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish (March 9, 1889 - February 9, 1961) was a leading Jewish Russian chess grandmaster of the 1920s and 1930s. March 9 is the 68th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (69th in Leap years). ... 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... The title International Grandmaster is awarded to superb chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. It is a lifetime title, in chess literature usually abbreviated as GM or IGM (this is in contrast to WGM for Woman Grandmaster and IM for International Master). ...

Born in Poland, then part of the Russian Empire, he spent most of his formative years in St. Petersburg, where he attended the University and studied chemical engineering. His earliest recognition as a prominent chess player, came when he won the St. Petersburg chess championship of 1909 and played in the strong Carlsbad (now Karlovy Vary) tournament of 1911. His play at this time was compared to that of the great master Chigorin. Into the next decade, he continued to perform well in local tournaments, most notably winning the Leningrad Championships of 1922, 1924 and 1925 (jointly). At a national level too, he enjoyed an excellent record at the Soviet Championship; third in 1920, second in 1923, co-champion in 1934 and outright champion in 1937. Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of Russian history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva at the east end of the Gulf of Finland... Karlovy Vary (help· info) or Carlsbad (German: Karlsbad), is a spa city situated in the western part of the Czech Republic on confluence of OhÅ™e and Teplá rivers. ... Mikhail Chigorin (12 November 1850–25 January 1908) was a leading Russian chess player and the first grandmaster from Russia. ... Winner list: 1991 (58th,Moscow) Minasian, Artashes 1990 (57th,Leningrad) Beliavsky, Alexander / Yudasin, Leonid / Bareev, Evgeny / Vyzmanavin, Alexey ex aequo 1989 (56th,Odessa) Vaganian, Rafael 1988 (55th,Moscow) Karpov, Anatoly / Kasparov, Garry ex aequo 1987 (54th,Minsk) Beliavsky, Alexander 1986 (53th,Kiev) Zeshkovsky, Vitaly 1985 (52th,Riga) Gavrikov, Viktor / Gurevich...

In match play, he drew with Botvinnik in 1937 and beat Alatortsev in 1940. Participation at the Leningrad-Moscow training tournament of 1939, resulted in a (shared) third place finish behind Flohr and Reshevsky. Mikhail Moiseevich Botvinnik (Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник) (August 17, 1911 - May 5, 1995) was a Russian International Grandmaster and long-time World Champion of chess. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... Samuel Herman (Sammy) Reshevsky (born November 26, 1911, Ozorkow, Poland - died April 4, 1992, New York, USA) was a leading American chess Grandmaster. ...

Despite his successes, Levenfish was virtually ignored by the Soviet chess authorities. They consistently supported his great rival Botvinnik and pretenders to the throne were not encouraged. Consequently, he lived his life in somewhat tragic circumstances, as the only strong Soviet master of his generation who was denied a stipend. This meant that he could only afford a poorly heated room in a run-down block of flats. Worse still, the government refused him permission to travel abroad and compete in tournaments such as AVRO 1938 (even though he was the reigning Soviet Champion). This further weakened his standing and most likely affected his morale; not to mention his continued development as a chess player. Other players born pre-revolution, such as Alekhine, Bogoljubov, Rubinstein and Nimzowitsch, 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. A stipend is a form of payment or salary, such as for an internship or apprenticeship. ... Alexander Alekhine Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine (sometimes spelled Aljechin) (in Russian, Александр Александрович Алéхин), (October 31 or November 1, 1892 – March 24, 1946) was a chess master and a former World Chess Champion. ... Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubov, alternatively Yefim Bogolyubov, (1889 – 1952) was a leading Russian chess master. ... Akiba Rubinstein (born 12 December 1882, died 15 March 1961 in Antwerp) was a brilliant Polish chess master and a famous grandmaster at the beginning of the 20th century. ... Aron Nimzowitsch (also Nimzovich or Niemzowitsch) (November 7, 1886, Riga – March 16, 1935, Denmark) was a Latvian chess grandmaster. ...

Sosonko, in his book Russian Silhouettes, 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. Spassky 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. Smyslov 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 endings. He asked Smyslov to check for errors and some minor corrections later, the book was published (1957) bearing both names, under the (translated) title The Theory Of Rook Endings (later published in English in 1971 under the title Rook Endings). Smyslov freely admits that all of the hard work was carried out by his co-author. Boris Spassky Boris Vasilievich Spassky (also Spasski) (Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский) (born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess player and former world champion. ... Vasily Vasiliyevich Smyslov (Васи́лий Смысло́в) (born March 24, 1921) is a Russian chess grandmaster. ...

In his time, Grigory Levenfish also wrote books for beginners and edited a collaborative effort on chess openings, titled Modern Openings. His posthumously published autobiography, Izbrannye Partii I Vospominanya (1967), contained 79 annotated games. He died in Moscow in 1961.

Levenfish Attack versus Sicilian Dragon

Regarding his playing abilities, Sosonko points to his deep understanding of the game and a keen eye for brilliantly imaginative moves. It was as a tactician that he really excelled, delivering elegant combinations and unexpected tactical blows, that many thought were impossibly ambitious. He was also an accomplished and leading opening theorist; the inventor of the Levenfish Attack, a sharp variation of the Sicilian Defence, devised to combat Black's ever-popular Dragon set-up. It remains fully playable in modern practice. The first moves of a chess game are the opening moves, collectively referred to as the opening. ... The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening which begins with: 1. ...

Victor Korchnoi (white) played the sixty-four year old Levenfish (black) at Moscow in 1953, when the old master proved that he was still tactically aware; Viktor Korchnoi (Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й) (born March 23, 1931) is sometimes reckoned to be the strongest chess player never to have been world champion. ...

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. 0-0 0-0 6. d4 Nbd7 7. Qb3 c6 8. Nc3 b6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bf4 Bb7 11. Rad1 Re8 12. Rfe1 a5 13. a3 Bf8 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. Bxe5 b5 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. e4 b4 18. axb4 axb4 19. Na4 dxe4 20. Nc5 Bxc5 21. dxc5 Bc8 22. Bxe4 Bh3 23. Rd6? Rxe4! 24. Rxe4 Qxd6! 25. Qxb4 Qxc5! 26. Qe1 g6 0-1

References

• Hooper, David and Kenneth Whyld (1996). The Oxford Companion To Chess, Oxford University. ISBN 0192800493.
• Sosonko, Genna (2005). Russian Silhouettes, New In Chess. ISBN 9056910787.
• Sunnucks, Anne (1970). The Encyclopaedia of Chess, St. Martin's.