Massimiliano "Massimo" Romi (; 22 May 1893 – 24 April 1979) was an Italian

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. Romih was born in Pinguente,

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

(now

Buzet Buzet (; ; ) is a town in Istria, west Croatia, population 6,133 (2011). The historical core of Buzet dates back to the Middle Ages, and today Buzet is known as the town of truffles. Buzet is also known as the home of Croatian motorsport, and eve ...

), and as a Croatian a citizen of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, but 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 ...

the region of

Julian March The Julian March ( Croatian and ), also called Julian Venetia (; ; ; ), is an area of southern Central Europe which is currently divided among Croatia, Italy, and Slovenia.

became part of Italy. Soon afterwards, in keeping with its nationalistic ideals,

Fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...

began to encourage

Italianization Italianization ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is the spread of Italian culture, language and identity by way of integration or assimilation. It is also known for a process organized by the Kingdom of Italy to force cultural and ethnic assimilation of the nati ...

of foreign or foreign-sounding names and he first became Massimiliano Romih, ultimately dropping the "h" off the end of his name after the

San Remo 1930 chess tournament San Remo 1930 was the first international chess tournament held in the Sanremo Casino. Sixteen chess masters including the World Chess Championship, world champion Alexander Alekhine, played a round-robin tournament from 16 January to 4 February 19 ...

. He played several times in the

Italian Chess Championship The Italian Chess Federation (Italian: Federazione Scacchistica Italiana (FSI)) was established in 1920. The first Italian Chess Championship took place at Viareggio 1921. The 1998 Championship was held 21–29 November in Saint-Vincent, Italy, Sai ...

, and tied for 5th/6th at Viareggio 1921 ( Davide Marotti won), got 2nd at Milan 1931 (behind

Stefano Rosselli del Turco Stefano is the Italian form of the masculine given name Στέφανος (Stefanos, Stephen). The name is of Greek origin, Στέφανος, meaning a person who made a significant achievement and has been crowned. In Orthodox Christianity the ach ...

), 3rd at Milan 1934 (

Mario Monticelli Mario Monticelli (16 March 1902, Venice – 30 June 1995, Milan) was an Italian chess player. He was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1950 and the Grandmaster title honoris causa (GME) in 1985. In 1922, he won in Rome (ITA-ch Uni ...

won), shared 2nd place at Florence 1935 (behind Antonio Sacconi). 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 tied for 16th place at Florence 1948, ended 9th at Venice 1951, 3rd at Trieste 1954, and 2nd at Rovigo 1956. Finally, he tied for 12th/15th at Sottomarina (Chioggia) 1970, at the age of 77. He won at Scarborough 1925, ended 3rd at Hyères 1926 ( Abraham Baratz won), tied for 5th/7th at Spa 1926 ( Fritz Sämisch and George Alan Thomas won), got 7th at Venice 1929 (

Rudolf Pitschak Rudolf Pitschak (5 August 1902 – 23 September 1988) was a Czech-German chess master. Born in Rumburk Rumburk (; ) is a town in Děčín District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. It lies on t ...

won), 16th at San Remo 1930 (

Alexander 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 ...

won), 4th at Paris 1938 (

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), and 2nd at Reggio Emilia 1947 (behind

Esteban Canal Esteban Canal (April 19, 1896 – February 14, 1981) was a leading Peruvian chess player who had his best tournament results in the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Chiclayo, Peru, he later lived in Italy, and died in Varese. As a chess player Canal wa ...

). Romi played for Italy in unofficial and official

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

1st unofficial Chess Olympiad The 1st Team Chess Tournament was held together with the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, 12–20 July 1924, at the Hotel Majestic. Fifty-four players representing 18 countries were split into nine preliminary groups of six. The winner of each roun ...

at Paris 1924 (+5 –5 =3); * In

1st Chess Olympiad The 1st 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 women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promo ...

at London 1927 (+3 –9 =3); * In

4th Chess Olympiad The 4th Chess Olympiad (), 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 players. and (unofficial) women ...

at Prague 1931 (+5 –10 =3); * In

6th Chess Olympiad The 6th 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 ...

at Warsaw 1935 (+5 –9 =3); * In

3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad The 3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad was held by German Chess Federation (''Grossdeutscher Schachbund'') as a counterpart of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin with reference to 1924 and 1928 events. Many Jewish chess players took part in the event. Si ...

at Munich 1936 (+6 –11 =3).OlimpBase :: the encyclopaedia of team chess
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References

1893 births 1979 deaths People from Buzet Chess Olympiad competitors People from the Margraviate of Istria Italian people of Croatian descent 20th-century Italian chess players 20th-century Italian sportsmen {{Italy-chess-bio-stub