Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin (russian: Вячесла́в Васи́льевич Раго́зин; 8 October 1908 – 11 March 1962) was a 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, writer and editor. He was world champion in

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 ...

and held the title of Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess.

Chess career

Born in St. Petersburg, Ragozin's chess career first came to the fore with a series of excellent results in the 1930s. In the earliest of these, he defeated the respected master Alexander Ilyin-Zhenevsky in a 1930 match and was himself awarded the title of Soviet master. At Moscow 1935, he won the best game prize for his victory against

Andor Lilienthal Andor (André, Andre, Andrei) Arnoldovich Lilienthal Reuben Fine, ''The World's Great Chess Games'', Dover Publications, 1983, p. 216. . (5 May 1911 – 8 May 2010) was a Hungarian and Soviet chess player. In his long career, he played against te ...

. At the very strong Moscow tournament of 1936, he beat Salo Flohr and Emanuel Lasker and came very close to defeating

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 ...

, the ever-resourceful ex-world champion scrambling to find a draw by

perpetual check In the game of chess, perpetual check is a situation in which one player can a draw by an unending series of checks. This typically arises when the player who is checking cannot deliver checkmate, and failing to continue the series of checks give ...

at the game's frantic conclusion. There followed a victory at the Leningrad championship of 1936 and second place shared with

Alexander Konstantinopolsky Alexander Markovich Konstantinopolsky (russian: Александр Маркович Константинопольский; 19 February 1910 – 21 September 1990) was a Soviet chess player, trainer and writer. He was a five-time champion of Ki ...

(behind

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 ...

) at the Soviet Championship of 1937. At the 1939 Leningrad-Moscow tournament, he finished third equal, behind Flohr and

Samuel Reshevsky Samuel Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski; November 26, 1911 – April 4, 1992) was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-196 ...

, but ahead of

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 ...

. Success continued into the 1940s with first prize at Sverdlovsk in 1942 and a repeat triumph at the Leningrad Championship of 1945. In 1946, he finished outright first at Helsinki and beat Igor Bondarevsky in a match. His greatest achievement in over-the-board chess then followed at the

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 ...

Memorial tournament of 1947, held in Moscow, where he placed second, half a point behind

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 ...

and ahead of Vasily Smyslov,

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 ...

and Keres. By the 1950s, he and most of his generation had been overtaken by the new wave of players emerging from the Soviet chess schools, but Ragozin continued his patronage of the Soviet Championship, competing a total of eleven times, from 1934 to 1956. Of his rare post-1950 international tournament appearances, his best result came at the 1956

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 Champion. He was also a highly influential writer and c ...

Memorial tournament in

Mariánské Lázně Mariánské Lázně (; german: Marienbad) is a spa town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Most of the town's buildings come from its Golden Era in the second half of the 19th cent ...

, where he finished second behind

Miroslav Filip Miroslav Filip (27 October 1928 – 27 April 2009) was a Czech chess grandmaster. Filip was awarded the title of International Master in 1953, and the Grandmaster title in 1955. Filip represented Czechoslovakia in 12 consecutive Chess Olympia ...

, ahead of Flohr, Ludek Pachman,

Gideon Ståhlberg Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg (26 January 1908 – 26 May 1967) was a Swedish chess player. He was among the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became ...

and a young Wolfgang Uhlmann. Throughout his life, he displayed an interest and talent for almost every aspect of the game of chess. For his over-the-board play, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster 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 and in 1951 he obtained that of International Arbiter. From 1956–1958, his main focus switched to

, where he showed that he was also an expert analyst and theoretician by becoming the second

ICCF ICCF may stand for: * International Conference on Cold Fusion, also known as "International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Science" * International Conservation Caucus Foundation * International Correspondence Chess Federation * Internat ...

World Correspondence Chess Champion The World Correspondence Chess Championship determines the World Champion in correspondence chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest the title. The official World Correspondence Chess Championship is managed by the International Corre ...

in 1959 (winning 9 games, drawing 4 games, and losing 1 game). His correspondence chess grandmaster title was awarded the same year.

Second to Botvinnik

Ragozin's achievements and creative playing style attracted the attention of then

world champion 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, ...

Mikhail Botvinnik. He recognized that Ragozin would make an ideal sparring partner and they played many secret training matches, as Botvinnik prepared for important world championship encounters. Ragozin's style had always been experimental and risky, particularly with regard to the

sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exis ...

of pawns for the

initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a ...

. As Botvinnik was attempting to put together a repertoire of solid, reliable openings, it was vital that they were rigorously tested against any latent sacrificial play. Accordingly, many historians attribute Ragozin's contribution as a significant factor in Botvinnik's success. Ragozin and Botvinnik also teamed up to train for the 1944 Soviet championship. To simulate the noise that would be present in the tournament hall, they practiced with the radio blasting at high volume. Botvinnik won the tournament, whilst Ragozin, placing 13th out of 17, blamed his defeats on the unusual quietness of his surroundings.

Later career

From 1946 to 1955, Ragozin edited the magazine publication ''

Shakhmaty v SSSR ''Shakhmaty v SSSR'' (russian: Шахматы в СССР; ''Chess in the USSR'') was a Soviet chess magazine published between 1931 and 1991. It was edited by Viacheslav Ragozin for several years. Yuri Averbakh was also an editor. From 1921 or ...

'' as well as maintaining a career as a civil engineer. He was vice-president of

from 1950 through 1961. He died in Moscow while putting together a collection of his best games, which his friends completed for publication in 1964, under the title ''Izbrannye Partii Ragozina'' (''Ragozin's Selected Games''). It contains 74 games spanning his career.

Contributions to opening theory

His contributions to opening

theory A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may ...

mainly concerned the development of systems by which Black could achieve equality in the

Queen's Gambit The Queen's Gambit is the chess opening that starts with the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 It is one of the oldest openings and is still commonly played today. It is traditionally described as a '' gambit'' because White appears to sacrifice the ...

and

Nimzo-Indian The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. d4 Nf6 :2. c4 e6 :3. Nc3 Bb4 Other move orders, such as 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 Bb4, are also feasible. In the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'', the Nimzo-Indian ...

complexes. The

Queen's Gambit Declined The Queen's Gambit Declined (or QGD) is a chess opening in which Black declines a pawn offered by White in the Queen's Gambit: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 e6 This is known as the ''Orthodox Line'' of the Queen's Gambit Declined. When the "Queen's Gambi ...

Ragozin Defence, typically arrived at via the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 (or by transposition) offering Black active play from the start, has enjoyed a resurgence in recent times.

Notable chess games

Viacheslav Ragozin vs P Noskov, Moscow-Leningrad Match 1930, Sicilian Defense: French Variation. Normal (B40), 1-0
An exchange sacrifice for the sake of attack
Andre Lilienthal vs Viacheslav Ragozin, 1935, Nimzo-Indian, Samisch (E24), 0-1
The power of advanced pawns
Emanuel Lasker vs Viacheslav Ragozin, It 1936, Sicilian, Dragon, Classical (B73), 0-1
Lasker is lost in tactical complications
Petar Trifunovic vs Vacheslav Ragozin, Moscow 1947, Dutch Defence, 0-1
White's obsession with achieving the e4 break makes him susceptible to a neat tactic.
Volf Bergraser vs Viacheslav Ragozin, corr-2 1956, King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav Panno (E66), 0-1
A very complicated game ending with a queen sacrifice – and white is not able to keep an advanced pawn
Ragozin vs Tal, Riga 1951, Semi Slav Noteboom (D31), 0-1
40 year old Ragozin loses to 15 year old Tal who displays characteristic panache and ability to grab and hold the initiative.

Notes

References

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ragozin, Viacheslav 1908 births 1962 deaths Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Chess grandmasters World Correspondence Chess Champions Correspondence chess grandmasters Chess double grandmasters Russian chess players Soviet chess players Russian chess writers Chess arbiters Chess coaches Chess theoreticians 20th-century chess players