Alexander Flamberg (1880 – 24 January 1926) was a Polish

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

master.

Biography

Alexander Davidovich Flamberg was born in 1880 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

(then

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. He spent his early years in England, where he learned to play chess. After return to Warsaw, he became one of the strongest Polish chess players. In 1900, he took 2nd, behind Salomon Langleben, in Warsaw. He won the Warsaw championships in 1901 and 1902. Flamberg played his first strong tournament in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

(''Quadrangular'') in 1906, where he took 3rd, behind

Akiba Rubinstein Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1 December 1880 – 14 March 1961) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Rubinstein was granted the title International Grandma ...

and

Mikhail Chigorin Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (also ''Tchigorin''; ; – ) was a Russian chess player. He played two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz, losing both times. The last great player of the Romantic chess style, he also served as a ma ...

. In 1910, he won the Warsaw championship ahead of Rubinstein, but lost a match to him (+0 –4 =1). In 1910, he took 3rd, behind

Gersz Rotlewi Gersz (Georg, George, Gersh) Rotlewi (Rotlevi, Rotlevy) (1889 – 1920) was a Polish chess master. Biography In 1906, Rotlewi tied for 5-6th in Łódź (Akiba Rubinstein won). In 1907, he took 3rd, behind Rubinstein and Dawid Daniuszewski, in Lo ...

and Rubinstein, in Warsaw. In 1911, he tied for 2nd-3rd with

Gersz Salwe Gersz Salwe (12 December 1862, Warsaw – 15 December 1920, Łódź), also written Salve, , was a Polish chess master. Biography Salwe was born into a Jewish family in Warsaw (then Russian Empire). He was Szlama Zalman's son. He gained the know ...

, behind Rubinstein, in Warsaw. In 1911, Flamberg took 2nd, behind

Stepan Levitsky Stepan (Stefan) Levitsky (Levitski, Lewitzki) (25 April 1876, in Serpukhov – 21 March 1924, in Glubokaya) was a Russian Chess Master. In 1899 he took third place in Moscow (All Russian Masters’ Tournament, first Russian Championship, Mikhail ...

, in St Petersburg (All-Russian Amateur Tournament). In 1912, he tied for 6-7th with

Sergey von Freymann Sergey von Freymann (Freyman, Frejman, Freiman) (1882–1946) was a Russian-Uzbekistani chess master. In 1906, von Freymann took 2nd, behind Semyon Alapin, in Sankt Petersburg. In 1907, he tied for 6-7th in St Petersburg (Eugene Znosko-Borovs ...

Abbazia Opatija (; ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in northwestern Croatia. The traditional seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf is known for its Mediterranean climate and its historic bu ...

(Opatija). The event was won by

Rudolf Spielmann Rudolf Spielmann (5 May 1883 – 20 August 1942) was a Jewish-Austrian chess master of the romantic school, and chess writer. Career Spielmann was born in 1883, second child of Moritz and Cecilia Spielmann, and had a younger brother Edgar, an ...

. In 1912, he took 2nd, behind Rubinstein, in Warsaw. In 1912, he took 2nd, behind

Efim Bogoljubow Efim Bogoljubow, also known as Efim Dimitrijewitsch Bogoljubow (April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952), was a Russian-born German Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Early career Bogoljubow learned how to play chess at 15 years old, and dev ...

, in Łódź. In 1912, he took 5th in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

(the 7th All-Russian Masters' Tournament, RUS-ch). The event was won by Rubinstein. In 1913, Flamberg won in Warsaw (''Triangular'') ahead of

Oldřich Duras Oldřich Duras (born Důras; 30 October 1882 – 5 January 1957) was a Czech chess master. He was among the leading chess masters of the early 20th century. Biography Duras was born on 30 October 1882 in Pchery, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary. He cam ...

and

Moishe Lowtzky Moishe (Mojżesz) Lowtzky (Łowcki) (1881–1940) was a Ukrainian–Polish chess master. Biography He was born into a Jewish family in Ukraine. In 1903, Lowtzky tied for 6-7th with Eugene Znosko-Borovsky in Kyiv (3rd RUS-ch). The event was won ...

. In 1913, he drew a match with Duras (+1 –1 =0) and won a match against Bogoljubow (+4 –0 =1), both in Warsaw. In 1913/14, he took 3rd, behind

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine. He disliked when Russians sometimes pronounced the of as , , which he regarded as a Yiddish distortion of his name, and insisted that the correct Russian pronunciation was . (March 24, 1946) was a Russian ...

and

Aron Nimzowitsch Aron Nimzowitsch (; , ''Aron Isayevich Nimtsovich''; 7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935) was a Latvian-born Danish chess player and writer. In the late 1920s, Nimzowitsch was one of the best chess players in the world. He was the foremost f ...

, in

Sankt Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601,9 ...

(the 8th RUS-ch). In 1914, Flamberg won in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

(then

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

). In July/August 1914, he took 17th in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

(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 Ch ...

, Alekhine won).Schach Nachrichten
/ref> After the declaration of war against Russia, eleven "Russian" players (

Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine. He disliked when Russians sometimes pronounced the of as , , which he regarded as a Yiddish distortion of his name, and insisted that the correct Russian pronunciation was . (March 24, 1946) was a Russian ...

, Bogoljubow, Bogatyrchuk, Flamberg, Koppelman, Maljutin,

Rabinovich Rabinovich or Rabinovitch (Рабино́вич, רבינוביץ), is a Russian Ashkenazi Jewish surname, Slavic for "son of the rabbi". The Polish/Lithuanian equivalents are Rabinowitz or Rabinowicz. People People bearing the surname include: *A ...

, Romanovsky,

Saburov Saburov (feminine: Saburova) is a Russian-language surname. It may refer to: *, a family of Russian nobility * Maksim Saburov (1900-1977), Soviet engineer, economist and politician * Nurlan Saburov (born 1991), Kazakh–Russian comedian * Peter P ...

, Selesniev, Weinstein) from the interrupted Mannheim tournament were interned by Germany. In September 1914, four of them (Alekhine, Bogatyrchuk, Saburov, and Koppelman) were freed and allowed, through Switzerland, to return home. The Russian internees played eight tournaments, the first in Baden Baden (1914) and all the others in Triberg (1914/15, 1915, 1916, 1917). The tournaments were mostly won by Bogoljubow (five times). The winners were also: Flamberg in 1914, and

Ilya Rabinovich Ilya Leontievich Rabinovich (; 11 May 1891 – 23 April 1942) was a Russian and later Soviet chess player, among the best in his country for three decades, from 1910 to 1940. His best result was a shared first place in the 9th Soviet Championship ...

in 1916 and 1917 (last one tied with

Alexey Selezniev Alexey (Alex) Sergeyevich Selezniev (, alternative transliterations: Selesniev, Selesniew, Selesnev, Selesnieff; pronounced "selezNYOFF"; 1888June 1967) was a Russian chess master and chess composer. Selezniev was born in Tambov, Russian Empire, ...

). Flamberg was allowed to return to Warsaw in 1916 (central Poland under German administration). In 1916, he tied for 4-5th (Rubinstein and Lowtzky won). In 1917, he tied for 3rd-4th (Rubinstein won). In 1919/20, he took 2nd, behind Zdzislaw Belsitzmann, but ahead of Rubinstein. In 1923, he won, ahead of

Paulin Frydman Paulino (Paulin) Frydman (26 May 1905 in Warsaw, Poland – 2 February 1982 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) was a Polish chess master. Career In 1922, Paulin Frydman took 2nd place, behind Kazimierz Makarczyk in Warsaw. In 1923, he tied for 2nd ...

, in Warsaw. In 1924, he tied for 1st with Lowtzky in Warsaw. In 1926, Flamberg died relatively young in his native Warsaw.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flamberg, Alexander 1880 births 1926 deaths 19th-century Polish Jews Jewish chess players Chess players from Warsaw 19th-century Polish chess players 20th-century Polish chess players 20th-century Polish sportsmen Chess players from the Russian Empire

Biography

See also

References

External links