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Alexander Koblencs (, , ; 3 September 1916,
Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
– 9 December 1993,
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
) was a Latvian
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, trainer, and writer. He is best known as the trainer of the 1960-61 World Champion
Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet and Latvian chess player and the eighth World Chess Champion. He is considered a creative genius and is widely regarded as Comparison of top chess players throughout history, one ...
. In 1935, he took 4th place in Rosas ( Salo Flohr won). In 1936, he took 5th in Reus ( Esteban Canal and Silbermann won). In 1937, he won, ahead of
Lajos Steiner Lajos Steiner (14 June 1903, in Nagyvárad ( Oradea) – 22 April 1975, in Sydney) was a Hungarian–born Australian chess master. Steiner was one of four children of Bernat Steiner, a mathematics teacher, and his wife Cecilia (née Schwarz) ...
, in
Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...
with 9/11. In 1938, he took 5th in
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
( Erich Eliskases and Mario Monticelli won). In 1939, he tied for 13-14th in Kemeri-Riga (Flohr won). Koblencs won the Latvian Championship four times (1941, 1945, 1946, 1949). Although he took 2nd, behind Vladimir Alatortsev in 1945, and behind Mark Taimanov in 1949, both were off contest (hors concours). In June 1944, he took 2nd, behind Voldemārs Mežgailis, in Udelnaya (Latvian SSR ch.). In 1944/45, he took 2nd, behind Paul Keres, in
Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
(
Baltic Chess Championship The first Baltic Chess Congress took place in Riga, Latvia (then Russian Empire), in 1899. The winner was Robert Behting, the elder brother of Kārlis Bētiņš, who won a play-off game with Karl Wilhelm Rosenkrantz. The second Baltic Chess Cong ...
). In 1945, he took 14th in Moscow (14th USSR-ch). In October/November 1945, he tied for 3rd-4th in Riga (Baltic Republics ch., Vladas Mikėnas won). In June/July 1946, he tied for 6-8th 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 ...
(Baltic Rep. ch, Yuri Averbakh won). In 1961, he took 3rd in Palanga (Baltic Rep. ch, Iivo Nei won).http://www.geocities.com/al2055mag/index.html RUSBASE (part III), 1961-1969,1985-1990
Archived
2009-10-25. As a trainer, he started to work with young
Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet and Latvian chess player and the eighth World Chess Champion. He is considered a creative genius and is widely regarded as Comparison of top chess players throughout history, one ...
in 1949, and coached him through his meteoric rise from the mid-1950s. Most prominently, he coached him in his
World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, 2024 World Chess Championship. ...
matches in 1960 and 1961 against
Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (; ;  – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who held five world titles in three different reigns. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer sci ...
. He also coached the team of the Soviet Union (e.g., 1956 in Moscow and 1960 in
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
). Koblencs is also well known as a writer of chess books, many of which have been translated, in particular into German. For several years, he was the editor of the Latvian chess magazine ''Šahs'' and of the German chess magazine ''Schach-Journal''. Koblencs spent his final years living in Germany.


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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koblencs, Alexander 1916 births 1993 deaths Latvian chess players Soviet chess players Chess players from Riga Latvian chess writers Chess coaches