Semyon Zinovyevich Alapin (russian: Семён Зиновьевич Алапин; – 15 July 1923) was a Russian
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,
openings analyst, and
puzzle composer. He was also a
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, railway engineer and a grain commodities merchant.
Biography
Born in
Saint 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 ...
,
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. ...
, into a Jewish family on ,
nephew of the Jewish memoirist
Pauline Wengeroff. He was one of the strongest chess players in the
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. ...
in the late 19th century. He died in
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, Germany, on 15 July 1923.
Legacy
Today he is best known for his creation of opening systems in almost all major openings. Most of these are of little significance today, but Alapin's Variation of the
Sicilian Defence is an important opening line that is often played by leading
grandmasters.
List of openings named after Alapin
*
Alapin's Variation of the
Sicilian Defence: 1. e4 c5 2. c3
*
Alapin's Opening in the
Open Game: 1. e4 e5 2. Ne2!?
*Alapin's Gambit of the
French Defence
The French Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. e4 e6
This is most commonly followed by 2.d4 d5, with Black intending ...c5 soon after, attacking White's and gaining on the . The French has a reputation for solidity ...
: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Be3!?
*Alapin's Defence of the
Ruy Lopez: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bb4
*Alapin's Variation of the
Caro-Kann Defence: 1. e4 c6 2. c3
*Alapin's Variation of the
Dutch Defence (also known as the "Manhattan Variation"): 1. d4 f5 2. Qd3
*Alapin's Variation of the
Queen's Gambit: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 b6
*Alapin–Steinitz Variation of the
Evans Gambit: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. 0-0 d6 7. d4 Bg4
*Sanders–Alapin Variation of the
Evans Gambit: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. 0-0 d6 7. d4 Bd7
See also
*
List of Russian chess players
References
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alapin, Semyon
1856 births
1923 deaths
Chess players from the Russian Empire
Chess theoreticians
Chess composers
Jewish chess players
Sportspeople from Saint Petersburg
19th-century chess players
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany