Ilya Abramovich Kan (; 4 May 1909 – 12 December 1978) was a Soviet

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 ...

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) by

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

in 1950. Kan was born in

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

. He played ten times in the Soviet Championship. In 1929, he finished third in

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 ...

in the 6th edition of the championship, won by

Boris Verlinsky Boris Markovich Verlinsky (8 January 1888 – 30 October 1950) was a Soviet chess player, who was awarded the title International Master by FIDE, the world chess federation, in 1950. He was one of the top Soviet players in the 1920s, and was Sovi ...

. In 1931, he took 7th place 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 ...

(7th URS-ch;

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 ...

won). In 1933, he took 9th in

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 ...

(8th URS-ch; Botvinnik won). In 1934/35, he tied for 9-12th in Leningrad (9th URS-ch;

Grigory Levenfish Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish (; – 9 February 1961) was a Soviet chess player who scored his peak competitive results in the 1920s and 1930s. He was twice Soviet champion, in 1934 (jointly with Ilya Rabinovich) and 1937. In 1937 he drew a m ...

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 ...

won). In 1937, he took 13th in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

(10th URS-ch; Levenfish won). In 1939, he tied for 13-14th in Leningrad (11th URS-ch; Botvinnik won). In 1945, he took 17th in Moscow (14th URS-ch; Botvinnik won). In 1947, he tied for 13-15th in Leningrad (15th URS-ch;

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 ...

won). In 1952, he took 18th in Moscow (20th URS-ch; Botvinnik and

Mark Taimanov Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (; 7 February 1926 – 28 November 2016) was one of the leading Soviet and Russian chess players, among the world's top 20 players from 1946 to 1971. A prolific chess author, Taimanov was awarded the title of Grandmas ...

won). In 1955, he took 17th in Moscow (22nd URS-ch;

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov (; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who was the seventh World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidates Tournament, Candidate for the World Chess Championship on ...

and

Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller (; ; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice (in 1955 and 1979) and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occa ...

won). In the 1931 Moscow Championship, he finished in second place, behind Nikolai Riumin. In the 1933/34 edition, also won by Riumin, Kan placed 5th. In 1934, he took 5th in Leningrad (Botvinnik won). He tied for 6-7th at Moscow 1935 (2nd it; Botvinnik and

Salo Flohr Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournam ...

won). In 1936, he tied for 7-10th in Moscow (3rd it;

José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was the third World Chess Championship, world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he was widely renowned for his exceptional Chess ...

won). In 1936, he tied for 1st-2nd with

Vladimir Alatortsev Vladimir Alexeyevich Alatortsev (, pronounced "a LAH tart sev"; 14 May 1909 – 13 January 1987) was a Soviet chess player, author, and administrator. During his career, he became champion of both Leningrad and Moscow, and played in the S ...

in Moscow–ch. In 1937, he took 4th in Moscow–ch (Alatortsev and

Sergey Belavenets Sergey Vsevolodovich Belavenets (; 18 July 19106 March 1942) was a Soviet chess master, theoretician, and chess journalist. Early life Belavenets was born in Smolensk to a noble family with a long history of serving in the Russian navy. He a ...

won). In 1937, he took 2nd, behind

Reuben Fine Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mi ...

, in Moscow. The website

Chessmetrics Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo and Edo rating systems. Implementation Chessmetrics is a weighted average of past performance. The score considers a player's ...

.com, which retroactively rates older players, ranks Kan as 13th in the world in 1944. His opening theory contributions were mainly in the

Sicilian Defence The Sicilian Defence is a chess opening that begins with the following moves: :1. e4 c5 The Sicilian is the most popular and best-scoring response to White's first move 1.e4. The opening 1.d4 is a statistically more successful opening for Whi ...

variation which bears his name: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6. This flexible line has been adopted frequently by top players since 1950, including

Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, ⁣and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 ...

and

Tony Miles Anthony John Miles (23 April 1955 – 12 November 2001) was an English chess player and the first Englishman to earn the International Grandmaster, Grandmaster title. Early and personal life Miles was born on 23 April 1955 in Edgbaston, a sub ...

. The line is also known as the Paulsen Variation, named after

Louis Paulsen Louis Paulsen (15 January 1833 in Gut Nassengrund near Blomberg, Principality of Lippe – 18 August 1891) was a German chess player. In the 1860s and 1870s, he was among the top players in the world. He was a younger brother of Wilfried Pa ...

, who played it earlier in the 19th century. Kan scored several victories over Botvinnik early in his career; Botvinnik was World Champion in 1948–1957, 1958–1960, and 1961–1963. He was editor-in-chief of Chess-Bulletin, a well-known Russian Chess Magazine '' Shakhmatny Bulletin'' issue 6.Tim Harding (2001-12-11)
"''Shakhmatny Bulletin'': An Old Friend Revisited"
(PDF). ''

ChessCafe.com ChessCafe.com is a website that publishes endgame studies, book reviews and other articles related to chess on a weekly basis. It was founded in 1996 by Hanon Russell, and is well known as a repository of articles about chess and its history. I ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kan, Ilya 1909 births 1978 deaths Sportspeople from Samara, Russia People from Samarsky Uyezd Russian Jews Soviet chess players Jewish chess players Chess International Masters Chess theoreticians