Mikhail Chigorin (12 November 1850–25 January 1908) was a leading Russian chess player and the first grandmaster from Russia. He served as a major source of inspiration for the "Soviet school of chess," which dominated the chess world in the latter part of the 20th century. He played two matches against Wilhelm Steinitz for the World Chess Championship; the first in 1889 he lost 10.5–6.5; the second in 1892 he lost 12.5–10.5. His overall record against Steinitz was respectable: +24-27=8. November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... January 25 is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A chess table is a table with a chessboard painted or engraved on it. ... The five original grandmasters of chess, from left to right: Lasker (seated), Alekhine, Capablanca, Marshall, Tarrasch (seated) The title International Grandmaster is awarded to world-class chess masters by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. ... State motto: Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (transliteration: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Russian, Workers of the world, unite!) Official language None; Russian (de facto) Capital Moscow Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km²  ?% Population  - Total  - Density 3rd before collapse 293,047,571 (July 1991) 13. ... Wilhelm Steinitz Wilhelm Steinitz (May 17, 1836, Prague, Czech Republic (then Austrian Empire) - August 12, 1900,New York City, United States) was an Austrian chess player, and the first official World Champion of chess. ... The 1984 World Chess Championship was between Anatoly Karpov (right) and Garry Kasparov (left). ... 1889 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1892 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

He drew a match with Siegbert Tarrasch in Saint Petersburg in 1893 (+9-9=4). He had a narrow lifetime plus score of +14-13=8. Siegbert Tarrasch (March 5, 1862 – February 17, 1934) was one of the strongest chess players of the late 19th century and early 20th century. ... 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...

Chigorin started serious chess rather late in life, and his first international tournament was Berlin 1881, where he was 3rd=.   Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005); down from 4. ...

He placed second, ahead of reigning world champion Lasker and former world champion Steinitz, in the Hastings 1895 chess tournament, in which all the greatest players of the time participated. The winner, Harry Nelson Pillsbury, lost their individual game and had great respect for Chigorin's ability. Chigorin maintained a narrow lifetime plus score against him (+8-7=6). Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player and mathematician, born at Berlinchen in Brandenburg (now Barlinek in Poland). ... The chess tournament that was conducted at Hastings, England from August 5 to September 2 1895 has been called by many commentators as the greatest of all time, and a milestone in the history of chess, for several reasons. ... Harry Nelson Pillsbury (December 5, 1872 - July, 1906), was United States Chess Champion from 1898 until his death in 1906. ...

He was 2nd= in Budapest 1896, and beat Rudolf Charousek +3-1 in the playoff. He was skilled at gambits, and won the Vienna King's Gambit Tournament in 1903. He also beat Lasker +2-1=3 in a sponsored Rice Gambit in Brighton, where he took black in every game; neither player took the result as reflecting chess strength as opposed to the weakness of the gambit. Budapest (pronounced ) is the capital city of Hungary and the countrys principal political, industrial, commercial and transportation centre. ... Rudolf Rezso Charousek (1873 – 1900) was a Hungarian-Jewish chess player. ... Brighton on the southern Sussex coast is one of the largest and most famous seaside resorts in England. ...

Chigorin has several chess openings named after him, most notably the Chigorin Variation of the Ruy Lopez (in algebraic notation, 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Na5). There is also the Chigorin Defense to the Queen's Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6). The first moves of a chess game are the opening moves, collectively referred to as the opening. ... The Ruy Lopez, sometimes known as the Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves 1. ... Algebraic chess notation is the method used today by all competition chess organizations and most books, magazines, and newspapers to record and describe the play of chess games. ... The Chigorin Defense is a chess opening named for 19th century Russian grandmaster Mikhail Chigorin. ... The Queens Gambit is a chess opening that starts with the moves 1. ...

Although Chigorin had a heavily negative record against Lasker (+1-8=4), he beat Lasker with the black pieces in their first game at Hastings in 1895. This was a classic two knights v two bishops, where Lasker's bishops were better but he underestimated Chigorin's strategy.[1] Hastings is a town and local government district in South East England, in the county of East Sussex. ... 1895 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The knight (Old English: cniht = boy, lad or servant) (or, colloquially, horse) is a piece in the game of chess, representing a knight (armoured soldier) and often depicted as a horses head. ... OKABold text OKA IS SO SMART OKA IS SO SMART OKA IS SO SMART OKA IS SO SMART OKA IS SO SMART OKA IS SO SMART OKA IS SO SMART OKA IS SO SMART OKA IS SO SMART OKA IS SO SMART OKA IS SO SMART OKA IS SO...

Chigorin had the measure of Richard Teichmann (+8-3=1) but couldn't handle David Janowski (+4-17=4). Richard Teichmann (1868–1925) was a leading German chess player. ... Dawid Janowski (1868 - 1927) was a leading Polish chess master. ...

External link

• Chigorin's games at muljadi.org
• 25 Critical Positions from His Games