Leonid Aleksandrovich Shamkovich (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Леони́д Алекса́ндрович Шамко́вич; June 1, 1923 – April 22, 2005) was a

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 ...

Grandmaster and chess writer. He was born in a Jewish family in

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Chess career

Shamkovich became a Grandmaster in 1965 and won several tournaments, with his best victory coming at

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

in 1967, where he tied for first place with

Nikolai Krogius Nikolai Vladimirovich Krogius (; 22 July 1930 – 14 July 2022) was a Russian chess Grandmaster, International Arbiter (1985), psychologist, chess coach, chess administrator, and author. He won several tournament titles at Sochi and in Eastern ...

, Vladimir Simagin,

Boris Spassky Boris Vasilyevich Spassky (; January 30, 1937 – February 27, 2025) was a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. Spassky played three world championship matches: he lost to Tigra ...

and Alexander Zaitsev. Other notable results included a tie for 3rd at the 1962

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 ...

Championship (behind

Yuri Averbakh Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (; 8 February 1922 – 7 May 2022) was a Russian chess grandmaster and author. He was chairman of the USSR Chess Federation from 1973 to 1978. Averbakh was the first centenarian FIDE Grandmaster. Despite his eyesight and ...

and

Evgeny Vasiukov Evgeni Andreyevich Vasiukov (, March 5, 1933 – May 10, 2018) was a Russian chess player, one of the strongest in the world during his peak. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1961. During his career, he won the Moscow Champio ...

) and finishing third at

Mariánské Lázně Mariánské Lázně (; ) is a spa town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. Most of the town's buildings come from its Golden Era in the second half of the 19th century, when many c ...

1965 (behind

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 ...

and

Vlastimil Hort Vlastimil Hort (12 January 1944 – 12 May 2025) was a Czech and German chess grandmaster. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the World Chess Championship 1978, 1977–78 Candidates Tournament for ...

). Shamkovich left the Soviet Union in 1975, moving first to Israel, then Canada, and finally the United States, where he lived the remainder of his life. He won the 1975

Canadian Open Chess Championship The Canadian Open Chess Championship is Canada's Open chess championship, first held in 1956, and held annually since 1973, usually in mid-summer. It is organized by the Chess Federation of Canada. The event celebrated its 50th rendition in 2013. ...

. He continued to play through the 1990s, and wrote several chess books. Shamkovich tied for first place in the 1987 U.S. Masters Chess Championship. His ''Sacrifice in Chess'' begins: "A real sacrifice involves a radical change in the character of a game which cannot be effected without foresight, fantasy, and the willingness to risk."

Personal life

His aristocratic bearing and manner of speech earned him the nickname "Prince". Shamkovich died of complications from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

and

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

in his

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

home on April 22, 2005.

Books

* ''Caro–Kann 4 ...Nd7'', Leonid Shamkovich &

Eric Schiller Eric Schiller (March 20, 1955 – November 3, 2018) was an American chess player, trainer, arbiter and one of the most prolific authors of books on chess in the 20th century. Early life and education Schiller was born in New York City. He atten ...

, Chess Enterprises, 1987. . * ''Chess Sacrifices'', Leonid Shamkovich & A. Kalajs (Translator), Chess Player, 1976. . * ''The Chess Terrorist's Handbook'', Leonid Shamkovich & Paul Hodges (Editor), American Chess Promotions, 1995. . * ''Fischer–Spassky 1992: World Chess Championship Rematch'', Leonid Shamkovich, Jan R. Cartier & Lou Hays (Editor), Hays Publishing, 1993. . * ''The Gruenfeld Defense'', Leonid Shamkovich & Jan R. Cartier, Hays Publishing, 1997. . * ''Karpov–Kasparov 1990: An Expert Analysis'', Don Maddox, Ron Henley & Leonid Shamkovich (Contributor),

Three Rivers Press Three Rivers Press is the trade paperback imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House. It publishes original paperback titles as well as paperback reprints of books issued initially in hardcover by the other Crown imprin ...

, 1991. . * ''Kasparov's Opening Repertoire'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, B.T. Batsford, 1995. . * ''Killer Chess Tactics: World Champion Tactics and Combinations'',

Raymond Keene Raymond Dennis Keene (born 29 January 1948) is an English chess grandmaster, a FIDE International Arbiter, a chess organiser, and a journalist and author. He won the British Chess Championship in 1971 and was the first player from England t ...

, Eric Schiller & Leonid Shamkovich,

Cardoza Publishing Avery Cardoza is an American author, professional gambler, and publisher. Cardoza is the owner of the Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of ...

, 2003 (2nd Edition). . * ''The Modern Chess Sacrifice'', Leonid Shamkovich,

David McKay Company David McKay Publications (also known as David McKay Company) was an American book publisher which also published some of the first comic books, including the long-running titles ''Ace Comics'', ''King Comics'', and '' Magic Comics''; as well as ...

, 1978 (2nd Edition). . * ''A New Era'', Michael Khodarkovsky, Leonid Shamkovich &

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...

(Foreword by),

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...

, 1997. . * ''Play The Tarrasch'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller,

Pergamon Press Pergamon Press was an Oxford-based publishing house, founded by Paul Rosbaud and Robert Maxwell, that published scientific and medical books and journals. Originally called Butterworth-Springer, it is now an imprint of Elsevier. History The c ...

, 1984. . * ''Sacrifice in Chess'', Leonid Shamkovich, Alfred Kalnajs & Son, 1972. . * ''Saving Lost Positions'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, B.T. Batsford, 1987. . * ''Saving Lost Positions'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller,

Ishi Press Richard Bozulich (born 1936) is an American author, publisher of Go (board game), Go books in English and college math instructor. He co-founded the Ishi Press. He has worked with several Japanese Go professional, professional players. He had ...

, revised in 2011. . * ''Schliemann Defense'', Eric Schiller & Leonid Shamkovich,

, 2012. . * ''The Schliemann Defense • Volume 1 Tartakower Variation: 5...Nf6'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, Chess Enterprises, 1993. . * ''The Schliemann Defense • Volume 2 Classical Variation'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, Chess Enterprises, 1996. . * ''Spanish Gambits'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, B.T. B.T. Batsford, 1986. . * ''Spanish Gambits'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller,

, updated in 2011. . * ''Spanish: Schliemann (Jaenisch)'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, B.T. Batsford, 1983. . * ''Tactical Chess Training'', Leonid Shamkovich & Jan R. Cartier, Hays Publishing, 1996. . * ''The Tactical World Of Chess'', Leonid Shamkovich,

, 1981. . * ''World Champion Tactics'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller,

, 1999. .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shamkovich, Leonid 1923 births 2005 deaths Chess Grandmasters Chess theoreticians Soviet chess players Israeli chess players American chess players Jewish chess players Soviet Jews Deaths from Parkinson's disease in New York (state) Soviet chess writers Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Chess players from Rostov-on-Don Soviet expatriate sportspeople in Israel Soviet expatriate sportspeople in the United States Soviet expatriate sportspeople in Canada Soviet emigrants to the United States Chess players from New York City

Chess career

Personal life

Books

See also

References

External links