Markas (Marcos) Luckis (17 January 1905, in
Pskov – 9 February 1973, in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...
) was a Lithuanian–Argentine
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
master.
Biography
Luckis twice won the Kaunas City Chess Championship in 1927 and 1928.
Markas Luckis played for
Lithuania in five official and one unofficial
Chess Olympiads
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 and ...
.
* In July 1931, on reserve board at
4th Chess Olympiad
The 4th Chess Olympiad ( cz, 4. Šachová olympiáda), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female playe ...
in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
(+5 –4 =6);
* In July 1933, on fourth board at
5th Chess Olympiad
The 5th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and (unofficial) women's tournament, as well as several events des ...
in
Folkestone
Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...
(+3 –4 =1);
* In August 1935, on reserve board at
6th Chess Olympiad
The 6th Chess Olympiad ( pl, 6. Olimpiada szachowa), organized by the FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and (unofficial) women's tournament, a ...
in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...
(+8 –2 =6);
* In August/September 1936, on fourth board at
3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
(+9 –2 =9);
* In July/August 1937, on fourth board at
7th Chess Olympiad in
Stockholm (+7 –1 =9);
* In August/September 1939, on third board at
8th Chess Olympiad in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...
(+7 –8 =5).
Luckis won three individual medals: one silver in 1936, and two bronze in 1935 and 1937.
In September 1939, when World War II broke out, Luckis, along with many other participants of the 8th Chess Olympiad, decided to stay permanently in Argentina.
In October 1939, he took 8th at Buenos Aires (Círculo de Ajedrez). The event was won by
Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf (born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf) (15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was a ...
and
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 fi ...
. In 1941, he took 5th at Sao Pedro de Piracicaba. The event was won by
Erich Eliskases and
Carlos Guimard. In 1941, he took 2nd, behind Eliskases, at Montevideo.
Marcos Luckis played several times in international tournaments at Mar del Plata. In 1942, he tied for 6-7th. In 1946, he tied for 5-8th. In 1947, he took 16th. In 1948, he tied for 10-12th. In 1949, he took 5th. In 1950, he took 17th. In 1952, he tied for 11-13 th. In 1962, he tied for 7-8th.
He also played in Argentine championships at Buenos Aires. In 1941, he finished 1st, but he could not win the title as a then-foreign player (Lithuanian citizen). In 1947, he took 2nd, behind
Héctor Rossetto
Héctor Decio Rossetto (8 September 1922 in Bahía Blanca, Argentina – 23 January 2009 in Buenos Aires) was an Argentinian chess player.
He earned the title of International Master in 1950 and the Grandmaster title in 1960.
He was a five-ti ...
. In 1961, he took 2nd, again behind Rossetto. In 1963, he tied for 8-9th (
Raimundo García won). In 1965, he tied for 10-11th (
Raúl Sanguineti won).
In 1951, Luckis tied for 14-16th at Mar del Plata/Buenos Aires (1st zonal tournament for South America). In 1966, he tied for 11-13th at Buenos Aires/Río Hondo (zt).
BrasilBase
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Notable chess games
Markas Luckis vs Karel Skalička (CSR), Prague 1931, 4th Olympiad, Queen’s Gambit Declined, Classical, D61, 1-0
Markas Luckis vs Arthur MacKenzie (SCO), Folkestone 1933, 5th Olympiad, King's Indian, Fianchetto, E67, 1-0
Markas Luckis vs Moshe Czerniak (Palestine), Warsaw 1935, 6th Olympiad, Slav Defence, D11, 1-0
Markas Luckis vs Victor Kahn (FRA), Buenos Aires 1939, 8th Olympiad, Queen’s Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch, D41, 1-0
Mieczysław (Miguel) Najdorf vs Markas (Marcos) Luckis, Buenos Aires(Círculo de Ajedrez) 1939, Sicilian, Dragon, B72, 0-1
Marcos Luckis vs Hector Rossetto, Montevideo 1941, Grünfeld, Russian Variation, D96, 1-0
Marcos Luckis vs Gideon Stahlberg, Mar del Plata 1944, Sicilian, Scheveningen, B84, 1-0
Marcos Luckis vs Donald Byrne, La Plata–New York radio match 1947, King’s Indian, Classical, E94, 1-0
Francisco Benko vs Marcos Luckis, Buenos Aires 1961, ARG-ch, Caro-Kann, Panov Attack, B14, 0-1
Alberto Foguelman vs Marcos Luckis, Buenos Aires 1965, ARG-ch, Catalan, Closed, E09, 0-1
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Luckis, Markas
1905 births
1973 deaths
Lithuanian chess players
Argentine chess players
Lithuanian emigrants to Argentina
Chess Olympiad competitors
20th-century chess players