Massimiliano "Massimo" Romi (; 22 May 1893 – 24 April 1979) was an Italian

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

master. Romih was born in Pinguente,

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian and Slovene: ; ist, Eîstria; Istro-Romanian, Italian and Venetian: ; formerly in Latin and in Ancient Greek) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic betwe ...

(now

Buzet Buzet (; la, Piquentum; it, Pinguente) is a town in Istria, west Croatia, population 6,133 (2011). Demographics In 2011 the total municipal population was 6,133 people, distributed in the following settlements (with population shown in parenth ...

), and as a Croatian a citizen of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, but after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

the region of

Julian March Venezia Giulia, traditionally called Julian March (Serbo-Croatian, Slovene: ''Julijska krajina'') or Julian Venetia ( it, Venezia Giulia; vec, Venesia Julia; fur, Vignesie Julie; german: Julisch Venetien) is an area of southeastern Europe wh ...

became part of Italy. Soon afterwards, in keeping with its nationalistic ideals,

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...

began to encourage

Italianization Italianization ( it, italianizzazione; hr, talijanizacija; french: italianisation; sl, poitaljančevanje; german: Italianisierung; el, Ιταλοποίηση) is the spread of Italian culture, language and identity by way of integration or ass ...

of foreign or foreign-sounding names and he first became Massimiliano Romih, ultimately dropping the "h" off the end of his name after the

San Remo 1930 chess tournament San Remo 1930 was the first international chess tournament held in the San Remo casino. Sixteen chess masters including the world champion Alexander Alekhine, played a round-robin tournament from 16 January to 4 February 1930. The games were played ...

. He played several times in the

Italian Chess Championship The Italian Chess Federation (Italian: Federazione Scacchistica Italiana (FSI)) was established in 1920. The first Italian Chess Championship took place at Viareggio 1921. The 1998 Championship was held 21–29 November in Saint-Vincent. The ten- ...

, and tied for 5th/6th at Viareggio 1921 ( Davide Marotti won), got 2nd at Milan 1931 (behind

Stefano Rosselli del Turco Stefano Rosselli del Turco, Marquis, (27 July 1877 – 18 August 1947) was an Italian chess player, writer and publisher. He was five times Italian champion and represented Italy in the Chess Olympiad seven times. He was a member of the famous Ro ...

), 3rd at Milan 1934 (

Mario Monticelli Mario Monticelli (16 March 1902, Venice – 30 June 1995, Milan) was an Italian chess player. He was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1950 and the Grandmaster title honoris causa (GME) in 1985. In 1922, he won in Rome (ITA-ch Uni ...

won), shared 2nd place at Florence 1935 (behind Antonio Sacconi). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he tied for 16th place at Florence 1948, ended 9th at Venice 1951, 3rd at Trieste 1954, and 2nd at Rovigo 1956. Finally, he tied for 12th/15th at Sottomarina (Chioggia) 1970, at the age of 77. He won at Scarborough 1925, ended 3rd at Hyères 1926 (

Abraham Baratz Abraham Baratz (14 September 1895, Bessarabia – 1975, Paris) was a Romanian–French chess master. History In 1924, Baratz took 2nd, behind Eugene Znosko-Borovsky, in Paris. In 1925, he tied for 1st with Vitaly Halberstadt in the 1st Paris Cit ...

won), tied for 5th/7th at Spa 1926 (

Fritz Sämisch Fritz originated as a German nickname for Friedrich, or Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor) as well as for similar names including Fridolin ...

and

George Alan Thomas Sir George Alan Thomas, 7th Baronet (14 June 1881 – 23 July 1972) was a British badminton, tennis and chess player. He was twice British chess champion and a 21-time All-England badminton champion. He also reached the quarterfinals of th ...

won), got 7th at Venice 1929 (

Rudolf Pitschak Rudolf Pitschak (5 August 1902 – 23 September 1988) was a Czech-German chess master. Born in Rumburk (Rumburg), he once was the head of the Brünn (Brno) German Chess Club. He played in Silesian Chess Congress, where he tied for 3rd-4th at G ...

won), 16th at San Remo 1930 (

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 a ...

won), 4th at Paris 1938 (

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. Capabl ...

won), and 2nd at Reggio Emilia 1947 (behind

Esteban Canal Esteban Canal (April 19, 1896 – February 14, 1981) was a leading Peruvian chess player who had his best tournament results in the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Chiclayo, Peru, he later lived in Italy, and died in Varese. As a chess player Canal wa ...

). Romi played for Italy in unofficial and official

Chess Olympiads 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 and ...

: * In

1st unofficial Chess Olympiad The 1st Team Chess Tournament was held together with the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, 12–20 July 1924, at the Hotel Majestic. Fifty-four players representing 18 countries were split into nine preliminary groups of six. The winner of each round ...

at Paris 1924 (+5 –5 =3); * In

1st Chess Olympiad The 1st Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promo ...

at London 1927 (+3 –9 =3); * In

4th Chess Olympiad The 4th 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 Ch ...

at Prague 1931 (+5 –10 =3); * In

6th Chess Olympiad The 6th Chess Olympiad ( pl, 6. Olimpiada szachowa), organized by the FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and (unofficial) women's tournament, a ...

at Warsaw 1935 (+5 –9 =3); * In

3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad The 3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad was held by German Chess Federation (''Grossdeutscher Schachbund'') as a counterpart of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin with reference to 1924 and 1928 events. Many Jewish chess players took part in the event. Si ...

at Munich 1936 (+6 –11 =3).OlimpBase :: the encyclopaedia of team chess
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romih, Max 1893 births 1979 deaths People from Buzet Italian chess players Chess Olympiad competitors People from Istria Italian people of Croatian descent 20th-century chess players