Andor (André, Andre, Andrei) Arnoldovich Lilienthal

Reuben Fine Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mi ...

, ''The World's Great Chess Games'', Dover Publications, 1983, p. 216. . (5 May 1911 – 8 May 2010) was a Hungarian and Soviet

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 ...

player. In his long career, he played against ten male and female

world champions A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, beating

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 Cham ...

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 ...

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 ...

Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 until 1937. He served 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 ...

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov ( rus, Васи́лий Васи́льевич Смысло́в, Vasíliy Vasíl'yevich Smyslóv; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, who was World Chess Champion from 1957 t ...

, and

Vera Menchik Vera Francevna Mencikova (russian: Вера Францевна Менчик, ''Vera Frantsevna Menchik''; cz, Věra Menčíková; 16 February 1906 – 26 June 1944), was a Russian-born Czechoslovak chess player who primarily resided in En ...

.Slobodan Adzic
He Has Beaten Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine as well as Old Age!
ChessBase News, May 30, 2005. At the time of his death, he was the oldest living grandmaster (since surpassed by

Yuri Averbakh Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (russian: Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. He was the first centenar ...

), and the last surviving person from the original group of grandmasters awarded the title by

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 ...

in 1950.

Biography

Lilienthal, of Jewish origin, was born in Moscow,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

, and moved to Hungary at the age of two. David Hooper and

Kenneth Whyld Kenneth Whyld (6 March 1926 – 11 July 2003) was a British chess author and researcher, best known as the co-author (with David Hooper) of ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'', a single-volume chess reference work in English. Whyld was a str ...

, ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' (2nd ed. 1992), Oxford University Press, p. 226. . He played for Hungary in three

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 ...

s: Folkestone 1933 (scoring +7−0=6 as the reserve, the fifth player on the team), Warsaw 1935 (scoring +11−0=8 on second board), and Stockholm 1937 (scoring +9−2=6 on , leading his team to the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, et ...

). He won the individual

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

for his board (reserve and second board, respectively) at the 1933 and 1935 Olympiads, and had the fourth-best result on first board in 1937. His total score in the Olympiads was 75.51%.Négyesi, p. 15. Lilienthal Torino

Emigrating to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

in 1935, Lilienthal became a Soviet citizen in 1939. He played in the

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 winner ...

eight times. His best result came in the 1940 championship, when he tied for first with

Igor Bondarevsky Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky (russian: Игорь Захарович Бондаревский; May 12, 1913 – June 14, 1979) was a Soviet Russian chess player, trainer, and chess author. He held the title of Grandmaster in both over-the-board ...

, ahead of Smyslov,

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

Isaac Boleslavsky Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky ( uk, Ісаак Єфремович Болеславський, russian: Исаак Ефремович Болеславский; 9 June 1919 – 15 February 1977) was a Soviet chess player and writer. Early caree ...

, Botvinnik, and 14 other players. He qualified for the

Candidates Tournament The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The w ...

once, in 1948. From 1951 until 1960 he was

Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (, ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style ...

's trainer. Lilienthal began a friendship with Vasily Smyslov in 1938, and was Smyslov's in his world championship matches against Botvinnik. He retired from tournament play in 1965 and returned to Hungary in 1976. His last tournament was Zamárdi 1980, where he finished sixth in the B group, scoring +3−1=11. Lilienthal remained actively involved in the chess world into his ninth decade. He died on May 8, 2010 at the age of 99; it was reported that he had been ill for some time. According to

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 ...

Robert James Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 1 ...

approved only three chess players who could carry his coffin at his funeral: Andor Lilienthal,

Lajos Portisch Lajos Portisch (born 4 April 1937) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated ...

, and Boris Spassky.

Notable games

Lilienthal was one of the few players with an even record against Capablanca. Lilienthal's "most celebrated victory" is his win commanding the white pieces against Capablanca at

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

1934–35: :1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 b6 6. f3 d5 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 Ba6 9. e4 Offering a pawn sacrifice introduced by

– Erich Eliskases, Hastings 1933–34. 9... Bxc4 9...dxe4 10.fxe4 g5 11.Bg3 Nxe4 12.Be5, followed by Qc2 or Bd3, gives White an .Négyesi, p. 45. 10. Bxc4 dxc4 11. Qa4+ Qd7 12. Qxc4 Qc6 Eliskases got a satisfactory game after 12...Nc6. 13. Qd3 Nbd7 14. Ne2 Rd8 15. 0-0 a5 16. Qc2 Qc4 17. f4 Rc8 18. f5 e5 19. dxe5 (see diagram) Qxe4? Lilienthal analyzes 19...Qc5+ 20.Bf2! Qxe5 21.Bd4 Qxe4 22.Qxe4 Nxe4 23.Bxg7 Rh7 24.f6 "and Black's position is hopeless." On 19...Nxe5, White retains the initiative with 20.Nf4, for example 20...Nfd7 21.Rad1 0-0 22.Nd5 threatening 23.Ne7+ or 23.f6.Négyesi, p. 47. 19...Nxe4 20.Rf4 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 Ng5 22.Bf2 is strong for White.Notes by

Harry Golombek Harry Golombek OBE (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995) was a British chess player, chess author, and wartime codebreaker. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948. He was born in Lambeth to ...

in the ''

British Chess Magazine ''British Chess Magazine'' is the world's oldest chess journal in continuous publication. First published in January 1881, it has appeared at monthly intervals ever since. It is frequently known in the chess world as ''BCM''. The founder an ...

'', 1935, reprinted in Reg Cload and

Raymond Keene Raymond Dennis Keene (born 29 January 1948) is an English chess grandmaster, a FIDE International Arbiter, a chess organiser, and a journalist and author. He won the British Chess Championship in 1971, and was the first player from England ...

, ''Battles of Hastings: A History of the Hastings International Chess Congress'', Pergamon Press, 1991, pp. 36–37. . 20. exf6!! A spectacular

queen sacrifice In chess, a queen sacrifice is a move that sacrifices a queen in return for some compensation, such as a tactical or positional advantage. Queen sacrifice: real versus sham In his book ''The Art of Sacrifice in Chess'', Rudolf Spielmann disti ...

. 20... Qxc2 No better is 20...Qxh4 21.fxg7 Rg8 22.f6! followed by Rf4; if 22...Nxf6 23.Qf5 Ke7 and now 24.Rae1 or 24.Qe5+ wins.

I. A. Horowitz Israel Albert Horowitz (often known as I. A. Horowitz or Al Horowitz) (November 15, 1907 – January 18, 1973) was an American International Master of chess. He is most remembered today for the books he wrote about chess. In 1989 he was induc ...

and

Fred Reinfeld Fred Reinfeld (January 27, 1910 – May 29, 1964) was an American writer on chess and many other subjects. He was also a strong chess master, often among the top ten American players from the early 1930s to the early 1940s, as well as a college ...

, ''Chess Traps, Pitfalls & Swindles: How to Set Them and How to Avoid Them'', Simon and Schuster, 1954, pp. 43–45. . 21. fxg7 Rg8 22. Nd4 Threatening a murderous check on e1. 22... Qe4 If 22...Qa4, 23.Rae1+ Ne5 24.Rxe5+ Kd7 25.Rd5+ Ke8 26.Re1#. On 22...Qd2, 23.Rae1+ Ne5 24.Rxe5+ Kd7 25.Rd5+ Ke8 26.Re1+ wins. As in the game, Black loses back the queen after 22...Qxc3 23.Rae1+ Ne5 24.Rxe5+ Kd7 25.Re7+ Kd6 26.Nb5+ or 22...Qd3 23.Rae1+ Ne5 24.Rxe5+ Kd7 25.Rd5+. 23. Rae1 Nc5 24. Rxe4+ Nxe4 25. Re1 Rxg7 26. Rxe4+ Kd7 Seeing that 27.Re7+ Kd6 28.f6 and 29.Bg3+ wins, Capablanca resigned. The game is famed, and Lilienthal relates, "wherever I went on an

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibitio ...

tour, both in the

and elsewhere, chess players and fans always asked me to show them how I sacrificed the queen against the great Cuban." When

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11� ...

noticed Lilienthal in the audience at his 1992 return match against

, Fischer greeted him with the remark "Pawn e5 takes f6."Négyesi, p. 5.

References

External links

* *
Lilienthal!
Collection of wins by Lilienthal against notable players. * Gorodin, Dmitri (2002)
Andor Lilienthal and His Contribution to the History of Modern Chess
Chesscafe.com. * Anzikeev, Valdimir
The Last of the Chess Mohicans
'' 64'', May 2006 * Winter, Edward
Chess Note 6569, A. Lilienthal
Photographs of Lilienthal from the collection of Edward Winter. Chesshistory.com.
Obituary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lilienthal, Andor 1911 births 2010 deaths Hungarian chess players Jewish chess players Russian chess players Soviet chess players Chess grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Hungarian Jews Soviet Jews Russian Jews Hungarian emigrants to the Soviet Union Hungarian expatriates in the Soviet Union Hungarian expatriates in Russia Sportspeople from Moscow

Biography

Notable games

See also

References

External links