Fedir Parfenovych Bohatyrchuk (also ''Bogatirchuk'', ''Bohatirchuk'', ''Bogatyrtschuk'') ( uk, Федір Парфенович Богатирчук; , ''Fyodor Parfenyevich Bogatyrchuk''; 27 November 1892 – 4 September 1984) was a
Ukrainian-Canadian chess player, doctor of
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care p ...
(radiologist), political
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range f ...
, and writer.
Russian, Ukrainian and Soviet chess
Early chess, trained by Chigorin
As a youth, Bohatyrchuk sometimes traveled to chess tournaments with the great player
Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (also ''Tchigorin''; russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Чиго́рин; – ) was a Russian chess player. He played two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz, losing both times. The last great ...
(1850–1908), who had in 1892 narrowly lost a match for the World Championship to
Wilhelm Steinitz
William Steinitz (born Wilhelm Steinitz; May 14, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and, later, American chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first official World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. He was also a highly ...
. Chigorin trained the young player, and influenced his style and openings.
In 1911, Bohatyrchuk won the Kiev City Championship; he was followed by
Stefan Izbinsky,
Efim Bogoljubov
Efim Bogoljubow ( or ), also known as Ewfim Dimitrijewitsch Bogoljubow, ( (); also Romanized ''Bogoljubov'', ''Bogolyubov''; uk, Юхим Дмитрович Боголюбов, Yukhym Dmytrovych Boholiubov; April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952) ...
, etc. In 1912, he placed 3rd in the All-Russian Championship. In February 1914, he lost an exhibition game against
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play.
Capablan ...
at Kiev. In 1914, he took 3rd at Kiev.
Interned at Mannheim
In July/August 1914, he tied for 6th–10th at
Mannheim (the 19th
DSB Congress The '' Deutscher Schachbund'' (DSB) was founded in Leipzig on 18 July, 1877. When the next meeting took place in the Schützenhaus on 15 July 1879, sixty-two clubs had become member of the chess federation. Hofrat Rudolf von Gottschall became Cha ...
, ''Hauptturnier A'', or Group II at the event). Bohatyrchuk was part of a group, along with ten other "Russian" players from the interrupted
Mannheim tournament, which was interned by Germany after the declaration of war against Russia, which began World War I. In September 1914, Bohatyrchuk and three others (
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns.
By the age of 22, Alekhine was already ...
,
Peter Petrovich Saburov
Peter Petrovich Saburov (Sabouroff) (, Saint Petersburg, Russia – 26 March 1932, Geneva, Switzerland) was a Russian diplomat, chess master and organizer, and musical composer.
He was a son of Peter Alexandrovich Saburov, a diplomat and chess o ...
, and
N. Koppelman) were freed and allowed to return home. Some writers have asserted that Alekhine used his family's influence to arrange this; his wealthy father was a member of the
Duma of Czar
Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of ...
at this time.
En route back to Russia, via Switzerland, Bohatyrchuk and Alekhine spent nearly a month in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of G ...
, Italy, while waiting for transportation to arrive, playing over one hundred games against each other. Bohatyrchuk later stated that "The enforced stay in Genoa undoubtedly did more for my chess development than the games in subsequent years with ordinary opponents."
Competes in six Soviet championships
Bohatyrchuk played in six
USSR Chess Championship
The USSR Chess Championship was played from 1921 to 1991. Organized by the USSR Chess Federation, it was the strongest national chess championship ever held, with eight world chess champions and four world championship finalists among its winners ...
s: 1923, 1924, 1927, 1931, 1933, and 1934.
In July 1923, he tied for 3rd–5th at
Petrograd
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
(
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
), 2nd USSR Championship. In 1924, he took 2nd, behind
Yakov Vilner, at Kiev, 1st
Ukrainian Chess Championship. In August–September 1924, he tied for 3rd–4th at Moscow, 3rd USSR Ch.
In December 1925, he took 11th of 21 at
Moscow 1925 chess tournament (the first Soviet-organized International Tournament). The event was won by
Efim Bogoljubov
Efim Bogoljubow ( or ), also known as Ewfim Dimitrijewitsch Bogoljubow, ( (); also Romanized ''Bogoljubov'', ''Bogolyubov''; uk, Юхим Дмитрович Боголюбов, Yukhym Dmytrovych Boholiubov; April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952) ...
, followed by
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially recognised World Chess Champ ...
,
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play.
Capablan ...
,
Frank Marshall, etc. This was the first Soviet government-sponsored tournament, and had 11 of the world's top 16 players, based on ratings from
chessmetrics.com, making it one of the greatest events in chess history. Bohatyrchuk achieved a 2628 performance, according to the Chessmetrics website, which calculates historical ratings.
Author, Soviet champion 1927
In 1926, Bohatyrchuk wrote the first chess book ''Шахи'' (Szachy, Shakhy, Chess) in
Ukrainian. In 1927, he won at Kiev. In October 1927, he tied for 1st–2nd with
Peter Romanovsky at Moscow, 5th USSR Ch., with (+10−1=9). In 1929, he won at Kiev.
In November 1931, he tied for 3rd–6th at Moscow (7th USSR Ch.), with 10/17, as
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess.
Botvinnik ...
won. In 1933, he won at Moscow (Quadrangular), with 4.5/6. In September 1933, he took 8th at
Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
(8th USSR Ch.), with 10.5/19, as Botvinnik won again. In December 1934 /January 1935, he tied for 3rd–4th at Leningrad (9th USSR Ch.), with 11.5/19, just half a point behind the joint winners
Grigory Levenfish
Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish (russian: Григо́рий Я́ковлевич Левенфи́ш; – 9 February 1961) was a Soviet chess player who scored his peak competitive results in the 1920s and 1930s. He was twice Soviet champion ...
and
Ilya Rabinovich
Ilya Leontievich Rabinovich (russian: Илья Леонтьевич Рабинович; 11 May 1891 – 23 April 1942) was a Russian and later Soviet chess player, among the best ones in his country for three decades, from 1910 to 1940. His best ...
. During the mid-1930s, the Soviet Chess Federation requested that Bohatyrchuk play more frequently in top events, but he declined, due to his professional career obligations.
Success against Botvinnik
In March 1935, he tied for 16th–17th at
Moscow 1935 chess tournament (the second Soviet-organized International Tournament), with 8/19. The event, which had 8 of the world's top 18 players, according to Chessmetrics, was won by Botvinnik and
Salo Flohr
Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tourna ...
, but Bohatyrchuk beat
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess.
Botvinnik ...
in their individual game. Bohatyrchuk has mentioned in his autobiography (printed in Russian in San Francisco in 1978) that just after this game the head of the Soviet Chess Federation, Minister of Justice
Nikolai Krylenko, approached him and said: "You will never beat Botvinnik again!" That was indeed the case, as Bohatyrchuk never played Botvinnik again, leaving him with a lifetime score of (+3−0=1) against Botvinnik, who was, however, nearly 20 years younger. Note that the book ''Botvinnik's Selected Games 1947–1970'' lists Bohatyrchuk's record against Botvinnik as (+3−0=2).
Late 1930s chess results, 1937 Ukrainian champion
In March 1936, he took 3rd at Kiev (8th Ukrainian Chess Championship, with 11.5/17. In July 1937, he won at Kiev (the 9th
Ukrainian Chess Championship), with 12.5/17. In 1938, he took 2nd at Kiev (USSR Ch. semi-final), with 11/17, behind only winner
Vasily Panov, but he did not continue on to play at the 11th USSR Championship in 1939, although he had qualified for this.
High school, family, medical education, and military service
Bohatyrchuk completed his high school studies in 1912. He entered the
University of Kiev later that year to study
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care p ...
, and served in the Russian military, medical corps, during World War I.
He had married Olga Zykina (1892–1990) by 1915; the couple had one daughter, Dr. Tamara Jeletzky (1917–1998).
He eventually graduated as a professional
radiologist
Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiatio ...
, which at that time was an emerging specialty; he completed his habilitation in 1940.
During the
Russian Civil War
, date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
, 1917–1922, he was employed by a military hospital, and was a professor of
anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...
at the Institute of Physical Education and Sport in Kiev.
Collaboration with the anti-communist Russian forces during World War II
As a radiologist, Bohatyrchuk was seconded to a German medical research facility when Kiev fell to the
Wehrmacht in September 1941.
During World War II, he was a head of the
Ukrainian Red Cross, and of the Institute of Experimental Medicine. While working with the
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, an ...
, Bohatyrchuk did a lot to help the Soviet prisoners of war kept in the German camps in extremely harsh conditions. These activities irritated the Germans, and in February 1942 Bohatyrchuk was arrested and spent about a month in a
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one or ...
detention centre in Kiev. There also exists information that, while working at the Institute of Experimental Medicine, Bohatyrchuk provided a cover to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
female employee (a sister of the Kiev master Boris Ratner), thereby saving her from execution or deportation to a
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...
.
At a later stage of the war, Bohatyrchuk signed the
Prague Manifesto
The Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (russian: Комитет освобождения народов России, ', abbreviated as russian: КОНР, ') was a committee composed of military and civilian Nazi collaborato ...
, and became viewed by the Soviet authorities as a Nazi
collaborator. When the Soviet forces counterattacked and moved into Kiev, Bohatyrchuk, together with his family, migrated to
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
, then to
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a tempera ...
, in 1944. There he joined the
Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia
The Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (russian: Комитет освобождения народов России, ', abbreviated as russian: КОНР, ') was a committee composed of military and civilian Nazi collaborato ...
, an anti-communist, collaborationist militia headed by the Russian general
Andrey Vlasov
Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov (russian: Андрéй Андрéевич Влáсов, – August 1, 1946) was a Soviet Red Army general and Nazi collaborator. During World War II, he fought in the Battle of Moscow and later was captured atte ...
. Bohatyrchuk was also the leader of the Ukrainian National Council (Ukrainśka Narodna Rada).
As a result of these activities, which were viewed by the Soviets as
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
, Bohatyrchuk became the number one "
persona non-grata" in Soviet chess until the defection of
Viktor Korchnoi in 1976. The Soviets removed many of his games from their official records, but many of them were later reclaimed using outside sources.
Chess in Nazi-occupied Europe and American Zone of Occupation
In February 1944, he took 2nd, with 8/9, behind
Efim Bogoljubow
Efim Bogoljubow ( or ), also known as Ewfim Dimitrijewitsch Bogoljubow, ( (); also Romanized ''Bogoljubov'', ''Bogolyubov''; uk, Юхим Дмитрович Боголюбов, Yukhym Dmytrovych Boholiubov; April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952) ...
, at
Radom
Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975– ...
, Poland (the 5th
General Government chess tournament General Government chess championships (''Schachmeisterschaft des Generalgouvernements'') were Nazi tournaments held during World War II in occupied central Poland. Hans Frank, the Governor-General of General Government, was the patron of those tour ...
). In spring 1944, he drew a match against
Stepan Popel at
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
(2 : 2). In May 1944, in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a tempera ...
, Bohatyrchuk played an 8-game clock simultaneous training series against local masters, including
Čeněk Kottnauer,
Luděk Pachman, Jiri Podgorný, and Karel Průcha, scoring an overall dominant (+7−0=1).
At the end of World War II, as the German armies were retreating, Bohatyrchuk moved on to a number of German cities, including Berlin and
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of ...
, and finally ended up in the American-controlled city of
Bayreuth
Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital ...
in May 1945, as the European war drew to a close. For a time he lived in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and H ...
, playing in German chess events under the disguised name of ('Bogenko'), so as to avoid repatriation to the USSR. In March 1946, he won a 14-player round-robin for displaced persons, staged in the Allied camp at
Meerbeck,
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
, Germany. He scored 11/13, with (+10−1=2); second was
Lūcijs Endzelīns with 10.5, while third was
Romanas Arlauskas with 10. Later in 1946, he won, followed by
Elmārs Zemgalis,
Wolfgang Unzicker
Wolfgang Unzicker (26 June 1925 – 20 April 2006) was one of the strongest German chess Grandmasters from 1945 to about 1970.
He decided against making chess his profession, choosing law instead.
Unzicker was at times the world's strongest amat ...
, etc. at
Regensburg
Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is t ...
(
Klaus Junge
Klaus Junge (1 January 1924 – 17 April 1945) was one of the youngest Chilean-German chess masters. In several tournaments during the 1940s he held his own among the world's leading players. An officer in the Wehrmacht, he died during the Batt ...
Memorial), with 7/9. In February 1947, he took 3rd at
Kirchheim unter Teck
Kirchheim unter Teck ( Swabian: ''Kircha'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the district of Esslingen. It is located on the small river Lauter, a tributary of the Neckar. It is 10 km (6 miles) near the Teck castle, approximat ...
. In May 1947, he placed 6th at
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 20 ...
, a ten-player international round-robin, won by Bogolyubov.
In September 1947, he took 4th at
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the S ...
, his last event before departing for Canada.
Settles in Canada
After the end of World War II, the US, United Kingdom, and Canada chose to give
asylum to large numbers of Eastern Europeans. Canada became a safe haven for many Ukrainians. These policies were dictated by the exigencies of the Cold War, specifically by a hope to use some of these people in case the Cold War were to switch into a hot phase. Also, some of the immigrants had professional skills which were of interest to the western powers.
Professor of medicine
These policies enabled Bohatyrchuk to emigrate to Canada in 1948, where he settled in the capital city
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
. He became a professor of medicine at the
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ott ...
, and the author of many scientific studies.
He received the Barclay Medal in 1955 from the British Radiological Society. From 1960, he was an honorary member of the Canadian Radiological Society.
Political activist, writer
Bohatyrchuk, writing in 1949 from Canada a letter to the British magazine ''Chess'', was one of the first to describe the Soviet state's methods of high salaries and luxury benefits for promising and talented sportspeople, including chess players, along with intensive training, as part of an overall program to demonstrate the superiority of the communist system. The Soviets were maintaining that their top chess players, including the new world champion Botvinnik, were amateurs, in contrast to the chess professionals elsewhere in the world. His letter generated significant interest and controversy throughout the chess world at the time, including many replies from worldwide chess figures such as
Robert G. Wade and
Luděk Pachman. Bohatyrchuk certainly won no friends in Soviet chess leadership with this activism, which shone undesired attention on their practices, while providing expert direct contradiction.
Bohatyrchuk also wrote historical and recollection books. At the congress of the Ukrainian federalists in
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls ...
in 1952, he was elected Chairman of the Association of the Ukrainian Federalist Democrats, and chief editor of the press organs "Skhidnyak" and the "Federalist Democrat". He was the author of many newspaper and periodical articles on the history of ODNR (
Liberation Movement of Peoples of Russia). He wrote his autobiography: "My Life Path to Vlasov and Manifesto of Prague" (published in San Francisco, 1978) (in
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
* Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...
: Мой жизненный путь к Власову и Пражскому Манифесту, ''Moy zhiznennyi put' k Vlasovu i Prazhskomu Manifestu'').
Canadian chess
Competes in three Canadian championships, 1954 Olympiad
He played in three Closed
Canadian Chess Championships. In 1949, he took 2nd at
Arvida (winner was
Maurice Fox), with 7/9, ahead of
Daniel Yanofsky,
Frank Anderson, and
Povilas Vaitonis. In 1951, he tied for 3rd–4th places at
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. T ...
(winner was
Povilas Vaitonis), with 8.5/12. In 1955, he tied for 3rd–5th at Ottawa (winner was Frank Anderson, ahead of
Daniel Yanofsky).
Bohatyrchuk, in his 62nd year, also represented Canada at the 11th
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 an ...
at
Amsterdam 1954, playing board four (+7−5=3).
International Master
In 1954,
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
granted him the title of
International Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
. His earlier achievements, particularly in USSR Championships, may have been sufficient for the higher
Grandmaster title, but the Soviets blocked this for political reasons.
Canadian Correspondence champion, International Correspondence Master
In his late sixties he took up
Correspondence chess
Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less commo ...
, becoming Canadian Correspondence Chess Champion (1963, 1964) and playing 1st board for Canada at the Correspondence Chess Olympiad (1962–1965). In 1967, he was awarded the title of
ICCF International Master, and was the top-rated correspondence player in Canada at the end of 1967, at age 75.
Bohatyrchuk stayed active in local Ottawa chess into his early eighties, and played correspondence chess until age 85.
While living in Ottawa, Bohatyrchuk helped to train the young
Lawrence Day (born 1949), who himself became a FIDE International Master in 1972, and who went on to represent Canada a national record 13 times at Chess Olympiads. Day's chess style has been influenced significantly by Bohatyrchuk.
Chess legacy
Former world champion, GM
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky ( rus, Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский, Borís Vasíl'yevich Spásskiy; born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 ...
, stated in 2017, after reviewing Bohatyrchuk's games, that "if Bohatyrchuk plays chess professionally, he could be the first Soviet world champion."
Bohatyrchuk, born in 1892, belonged to the same Russian chess generation as
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns.
By the age of 22, Alekhine was already ...
(born 1892),
Efim Bogolyubov
Efim Bogoljubow ( or ), also known as Ewfim Dimitrijewitsch Bogoljubow, ( (); also Romanized ''Bogoljubov'', ''Bogolyubov''; uk, Юхим Дмитрович Боголюбов, Yukhym Dmytrovych Boholiubov; April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952) ...
(born 1889),
Peter Romanovsky (born 1892),
Grigory Levenfish
Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish (russian: Григо́рий Я́ковлевич Левенфи́ш; – 9 February 1961) was a Soviet chess player who scored his peak competitive results in the 1920s and 1930s. He was twice Soviet champion ...
(born 1889),
Ilya Rabinovich
Ilya Leontievich Rabinovich (russian: Илья Леонтьевич Рабинович; 11 May 1891 – 23 April 1942) was a Russian and later Soviet chess player, among the best ones in his country for three decades, from 1910 to 1940. His best ...
(born 1891), and
Boris Verlinsky
Boris Markovich Verlinsky (8 January 1888 – 30 October 1950) was a Soviet chess player, who was awarded the title International Master by FIDE, the world chess federation, in 1950. He was one of the top Soviet players in the 1920s, and was Sovi ...
(born 1888); this group was beginning to rise to prominence prior to the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
of 1917.
His peak world ranking was No. 15, at 2629, in October and November 1927, after he tied for first place in the 1927 Soviet Championship, according to Chessmetrics. There were no international chess ratings calculated officially until 1970; the Chessmetrics website offers ratings calculated retrospectively by modern algorithms. However, Chessmetrics is missing many of his important events from its database used to calculate the ratings.
Except for the ill-fated Mannheim 1914 event, Bohatyrchuk did not have the opportunity to compete in an international tournament outside Russia or the Soviet Union until near the end of World War II, and even those events came while he was a fugitive from the Soviets.
He was inducted into the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame in 2011.
Russian chess author Sergey Voronkov published, in 2017 in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a tempera ...
, publisher Russkiya tradicia, a two-volume set of books covering Bohatyrchuk. Volume one is in Russian, a translated reprint of his 1978 book, published in San Francisco, entitled "Moi zhiznenny put k Vlasovu i Prazhskomu manifestu" (Translation from the Russian to English: "My living route to Vlasov and Prague Manifesto"). Volume two, also in Russian, covers the games of Bohatyrchuk, collected from all available contemporary sources.
Alleged role model for Dr. Zhivago
Biography author Sergey Voronkov and
Lawrence Day, Canadian chess master and pupil of Bohatyrchuk, have argued that Bohatyrchuk served as a role model for the fictional
Dr. Zhivago, as depicted in the novel of that title by
Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (; rus, Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к, p=bɐˈrʲis lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ pəstɛrˈnak; 30 May 1960) was a Russian poet, novelist, composer and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pa ...
, and in the 1965 Academy Award-winning film ''
Dr. Zhivago'', based on the novel.
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...
chess column by Lawrence Day, 5 Jan. 2002
Death
Bohatyrchuk died in 1984 at age 91, and is buried in Pinecrest Cemetery in Ottawa, together with his wife Olga, who died in 1990.
Notable games
Alexander Ilyin-Zhenevsky vs. Fedor Parfenovich Bohatirchuk, Moscow 1924, 3rd USSR ch, Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense, C62, 0–1Fedor Parfenovich Bohatirchuk vs. Mikhail Botvinnik, Moscow 1927, 5th USSR ch, French Defense, Winawer Advance Variation, C17, 1–0Fedor Parfenovich Bohatirchuk vs. Mikhail Botvinnik, Leningrad 1933, 8th USSR ch, Sicilian, Dragon, B72, 1–0Vsevolod Rauzer vs. Fedor Parfenovich Bohatirchuk, Leningrad 1934, 9th USSR ch, Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, Fianchetto Variation, C76, 0–1Fedor Parfenovich Bohatirchuk vs. Mikhail Botvinnik, Moscow 1935, 2nd it, Four Knights, C49, 1–0Ludek Pachman vs. Fedor Bohatirchuk, Prague 1944, Sicilian Defense, B95, 0–1Elmars Zemgalis vs. Fedor Parfenovich Bohatirchuk, Regensburg 1946, Klaus Junge Memorial, English, A21, 0–1Povilas Vaitonis vs. Fedor Parfenovich Bohatirchuk, Canadian Championship, Arvida 1949, CAN-ch, Grünfeld Defense, D93, 0–1Fedor Parfenovich Bohatirchuk vs. Frank Ross Anderson, Canadian Championship, Vancouver 1951, CAN-ch, Bird's Opening, A03, 1–0Fedor Parfenovich Bohatirchuk vs. Federico Norcia, Amsterdam 1954, 11th Olympiad, Ruy Lopez, Classical, C64, 1–0
See also
*
List of Eastern Bloc defectors
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
Bibliography
*
Further reading
* ''Fedor Bohatyrchuk: The Forgotten Champion'', by Emanuel Sztein and Lenny Cavallaro, Chess Life magazine, January 1984, pp. 22–23.
Interviewwith
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky ( rus, Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский, Borís Vasíl'yevich Spásskiy; born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 ...
about Bohatyrchuk
*
External links
* Archives of Fedir Bohatyrchu
(Fedir Bohatyrchuk fonds, R1397)are held at
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is t ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bohatyrchuk, Fedir
1892 births
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