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Alexey (Alex) Sergeyevich Selezniev (, alternative transliterations: Selesniev, Selesniew, Selesnev, Selesnieff; pronounced "selezNYOFF"; 1888June 1967) was a Russian
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 and
chess composer A chess composer is a person who creates endgame studies or chess problems. Chess composers usually specialize in a particular genre, e.g. endgame studies, twomovers, threemovers, moremovers, helpmates, selfmates, fairy problems, or retro ...
. Selezniev was born in
Tambov Tambov ( , ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna ...
,
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 ...
, into a wealthy merchant Russian family, and was a graduate from
Moscow University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...
's law faculty. He played in a number of pre-revolutionary tournaments at the Moscow Chess Club. He tied for 8-10th at
Vilna 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 ...
1912 (7th RUS-ch, B tourn, Karel Hromadka won). In 1913, he tied for 1st-2nd, tied for 4-5th, and tied for 5-6th in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. In July–August 1914, he played 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 ...
(19th DSB Congress), and tied for 6-10th in interrupted tournament (''Hauptturnier A''). 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, Maliutin, Rabinovich, Romanovsky, Saburov, Selezniev, Weinstein) from the Mannheim tournament were interned by
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. In September 1914, four of them (Alekhine, Bogatyrchuk, Saburov, and Koppelman) were freed and allowed to return home through
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. The Russian internees played eight tournaments, the first in
Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...
(1914) and all the others in Triberg im Schwarzwald (1914–1917). Selesniew tied for 4-5th at Baden-Baden 1914 ( Alexander Flamberg won), and took 5th at Triberg 1914 (
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 ...
won). He took 4th, tied for 2nd-3rd, took 2nd, and took 3rd at Triberg 1915 (all tournaments Bogoljubov won). He tied for 2nd-3rd at Triberg 1916 ( Ilya Rabinovich won). He won (jointly with Rabinovich) in the Triberg chess tournament in 1917. Selezniev played several matches. In 1916, he drew with Hans Fahrni in Triberg (+2 –2 =2); in 1917 lost to Bogoljubow in Triberg (+2 –3 =3); in 1920 won against Curt von Bardeleben in Berlin (+2 –0 =4), in 1921 won against
Richard Teichmann Richard Teichmann (24 December 1868 – 15 June 1925) was a German chess master and a chess composer. He was known as "Richard the Fifth" because he often finished in fifth place in tournaments. But in 1911 he scored a convincing win in Karl ...
in Berlin (+1 –0 =1). After
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, in 1919, he won in
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 ...
(Quadrangular), and took 2nd, behind Bogoljubow. In 1920, he won in Berlin, and took 14th in Göteborg (
Richard Réti Richard Réti (28 May 1889 – 6 June 1929) was an Austro-Hungarian and later Czechoslovak chess player, chess author and composer of endgame studies. He was one of the principal proponents of hypermodernism in chess. With the exception of N ...
won). In 1921, he tied for 3rd-4th (Pentagonal, Alexander Alekhine won) and took 4th (Quadrangular,
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 ...
won) in Triberg. In 1922, he tied for 14-15th in
Piešťany Piešťany (; , , , ) is a town in Slovakia. It is located in the western part of the country within the Trnava Region and is the seat of its Piešťany District, own district. It is the biggest and best known spa town in Slovakia and has around ...
(Pistyan) (Bogoljubow won). In 1923, he took 4th in Maehrisch-Ostrau (
Emanuel Lasker Emanuel Lasker (; December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher. He was the second World Chess Champion, holding the title for 27 years, from 1894 to 1921, the longest reign of any officially ...
won). In 1924, he tied for 4-5th in Meran (
Ernst Grünfeld ---- Ernst Franz Grünfeld (November 21, 1893 – April 3, 1962) was an Austrian chess player and writer, mainly on chess opening, opening Chess theory, theory. He was among the inaugural recipients of the Grandmaster (chess), grandmaster t ...
won). He and Bogoljubov had careers that followed similar paths. Both players were interned in Germany for the duration of World War I, and decided to stay there until 1924. That year, both players were sent invitations to participate in the third USSR Championship, and somehow
Nikolai Krylenko Nikolai Vasilyevich Krylenko (, ; 2 May 1885 – 29 July 1938) was an Old Bolshevik and Soviet politician, military commander, and jurist. Krylenko served in a variety of posts in the Soviet law, Soviet legal system, rising to become Minis ...
convinced them to play and stay in the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Selezniev participated in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth USSR Championships (1924, 1925, 1927, and 1929), but had only mediocre results each time. He tied for 6-8th at Moscow 1924 (Bogoljubov won), took 14th at Leningrad 1925 (Bogoljubov won), tied for 15-17th at Moscow 1927 ( Fedor Bogatyrchuk and
Peter Romanovsky Pyotr Arsenyevich Romanovsky (; 29 July 1892 – 1 March 1964) was a Russian and Soviet chess player and author. He won the Soviet Championship in 1923 and, jointly, 1927. Biography At the beginning of his career in Saint Petersburg, he shared f ...
won). Selezniev won, ahead of
Vsevolod Rauzer Vsevolod Alfredovich Rauzer, also spelled Wsewolod Rauser (; 16 October 1908 — 29 December 1941) was a Soviet Ukrainian chess master known for his great contributions to chess opening theory, especially of the Sicilian Defence. Achievements ...
, at Poltava 1927 (4th UKR-ch, off contest), and tied for 3rd-4th at Odessa 1928 (5th UKR-ch, Yakov Vilner and Vladimir Kirillov won). He was eliminated in the quarter-final of play at
Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...
1929 (6th USSR-ch). He tied for 4-6th in the semi-final of 7th USSR-ch in 1931. He took 10th at
Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
1935 ( Vasily Panov won). He was living in the Ukrainian city of
Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...
when it was overrun by
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
. Bogoljubov helped him get transferred to Triberg, and he eventually made his way to
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he took 4th at Oldenburg 1948 ( Povilas Tautvaišas won). Seleniev died in
Bordeaux, France Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selezniev, Alexey 1888 births 1967 deaths Chess players from the Russian Empire Soviet chess players Soviet emigrants to France