Gavriil Nikolayevich Veresov (, ; 28 July 1912 – 18 November 1979) was a

Soviet 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 ...

chess player. He was awarded the title of

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

(IM) in 1950.

Biography

Veresov was born in Minsk to a journalist father and his mother, he graduated from high school in 1929, after high school, Veresov temporarily worked as a fitter, in 1933 he entered

Belarusian State University The Belarusian State University (BSU) (, ; ) is a university in Minsk, Belarus. It was founded on October 30, 1921. The university was ranked 387th in the world in the 2023 QS World University Rankings. History 1919–1949 On February 25, 1919, ...

, from which he graduated from in 1939. Veresov was a six-time winner of the

Belarusian Chess Championship This is a list of the winners of the Belarusian Chess Championships. {, , valign="top" , :{, class="sortable wikitable" ! # !! Year !! Champions (men) , - , 1 , , 1924 , , Solomon Rosenthal , - , 2 , , 1925 , , Solomon Rosenthal , - , ...

(1936, 1939, 1941, 1958, 1963; in 1956 – ex æquo with Boris Goldenov). Veresov came to the forefront of Soviet chess during the

Second World War 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 ...

. The Chessmetrics website, which assigns retroactive ratings to older players, ranks him as 21st in the world in 1945. He was an aggressive player and notable public figure (inter alia, headed the Soviet chess delegation in Groningen, 1946), but is mostly recognized today for the opening that bears his name – The Veresov Opening. Veresov was born and died in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

. In later life, he held a number of senior government posts in Belorussia.

The Veresov Opening

The Veresov Opening (also known as the Richter-Veresov Attack after International Master

Kurt Richter Kurt Paul Otto Joseph Richter (24 November 1900 – 29 December 1969) was a German chess International Master (IM) and chess writer. Chess career In 1922, Richter for the first time won the Berlin City Chess Championship. In 1928, he tied fo ...

) begins either 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bg5 or, more commonly, 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5. After 3.Bg5, Black's most popular choices are 3... Nbd7, 3... e6, 3... Bf5, 3... c6 and 3... c5, all potentially leading to different variations, with 3...e6 4. e4 giving a

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. Black usually plays ...c5 soon after, attacking White's and gaining on the . The French has a reputation for solidity ...

by transposition. White's plans typically include rapid Queenside castling, and an early f2-f3 and e2-e4 pawn push. The

ECO Eco may refer to ecology or economics. It may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Eco'' (1987 video game), a 1987 life simulation game * Eco (2018 video game), a 2018 simulation game * "Eco" (song), a 2025 song by Joan Thiele * ''Emil ...

code for the Richter-Veresov Attack is D01.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Veresov, Gavriil Nikolayevich 1912 births 1979 deaths Chess players from Minsk Soviet chess players Russian chess players Chess International Masters Chess theoreticians Belarusian State University alumni