Moshe Czerniak (born Moizes Czerniak, also knowns as Miguel Czerniak; ; 3 February 1910 – 31 August 1984) was a Polish-Israeli 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) 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 1952.

Biography

In 1930 Moshe Czerniak took ninth at Warsaw in an event won by Paulino Frydman. In 1934 Czerniak

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

from Poland to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

(then the British Mandate). In April 1935, he tied for 7th–8th in Tel Aviv (the 2nd

Maccabiah Games The Maccabiah Games (, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics") is an international multi-sport event with summer and winter sports competitions featuring Jews and Israelis regardless of religion ...

Abram Blass Moshe Aba Blass (; born 1896, Łomża, Poland - 1971, Tel-Aviv, Israel) was a Polish-Israeli chess master. Born in Łomża (then Russian Empire), he moved to the US, staying from 1911 to 1924. After returning to Poland, he lived in Warsaw. In 192 ...

won). He was Israeli Chess Championship in 1936 and 1938. In April 1939, he played in the First Lasker Chess Club Championship in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. In June 1939, he became the champion of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. Czerniak played for his adopted country at first reserve board in the 6th

Chess Olympiad 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 FIDE Onli ...

at Warsaw 1935 (+6 =2 −5), and at first board in the 8th Olympiad at

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

1939 (+4 =2 −10).Moshe Czerniak
team chess record at OlimpBase In September 1939, when

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 ...

broke out, Czerniak, along with many other participants in the

8th Chess Olympiad The 8th Chess Olympiad (), organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), comprised an open tournament, as well as a Women's World Championship contest. The main team event took place between August 21 and September 19, 1939, in ...

, decided to stay in Argentina. Immediately after the 8th Olympiad, in October 1939, he tied for 3rd–4th with

Gideon Ståhlberg Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg (26 January 1908 – 26 May 1967) was a Swedish chess player. He was among the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became No ...

, behind

Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf ( ; born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf; 15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish-Argentine 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 leadin ...

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 five ...

in the Buenos Aires 1939 chess tournament (''Circulo''). In 1940, he tied for 7–9th in Argentine championships (''Torneo Mayor''). In 1941, he won in Quilmes. In 1941, he took 2nd, behind Paulino Frydman in Buenos Aires, and tied for 6th–8th in the Mar del Plata 1941 chess tournament. In 1943, he took 2nd, behind Najdorf, in Rosario, and took 3rd in Buenos Aires. In 1944 and in 1948, he won in Buenos Aires. In 1949, he took 4th in Mar del Plata, and tied for 3rd–4th in Argentine championships (''Torneo Mayor''). In 1950, he tied for 9th–11th in Mar del Plata. In 1950 Czerniak settled in

. In 1951, he won at Vienna (the 4th Schlechter Memorial). In 1951, he won at

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia (; ), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until Unification of Italy, 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 172,51 ...

. In 1955, he won the Israeli Championship. In 1958, he took 2nd, behind

Jan Hein Donner Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner (July 6, 1927 – November 27, 1988) was a Dutch chess grandmaster and writer. He was born in The Hague. His father Jan Donner was a prominent Dutch politician and judge. Donner won the Dutch Championship in 195 ...

, at Beverwijk. In 1961, he tied for 1st–3rd with Milan Matulović and

Petar Trifunović Petar Trifunović (31 August 1910 – 8 December 1980) was a Yugoslav and Serbian chess player, who was awarded the international grandmaster title, and was a five-time Yugoslav champion. Chess career Yugoslavia was for ...

at Netanya. In 1962, he tied for 1st–2nd with Hiong Liong Tan at Amsterdam (2nd IBM Tournament). In 1963, he tied for 2nd–3rd with Donner, behind

Lajos Portisch Lajos Portisch (born 4 April 1937) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated in twelve c ...

, at Amsterdam (3rd IBM). In 1963, he took 2nd, behind Nikola Padevsky, at Polanica Zdrój ( Rubinstein Memorial). In 1964, he tied for 4th–9th at Polanica Zdrój. In 1965, he won at Netanya. In 1966, he tied for 7th–8th at Tel Aviv. In 1968, he tied for 2nd–3rd with

Daniel Yanofsky Daniel Abraham "Abe" Yanofsky (March 25, 1925 – March 5, 2000) was a Canadian chess player, chess arbiter, writer, lawyer, and politician. An eight-time Canadian chess champion, Yanofsky was Canada's first grandmaster and the first grandmaste ...

, behind Robert Fischer, at Netanya. Czerniak played for Israel in nine

s: 1952, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1968, and 1974. He won the team championship of Israel in 1974 at the age of 64. Czerniak was awarded the

title in 1952. He wrote many chess books in three languages. In 1956 he founded the first Israeli chess magazine, ''64 Squares''. For more than thirty years he was the chess editor of the Israeli daily ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

''. He was also the chess teacher of IM and Grandmaster of chess composition, Yochanan Afek. In 1976 he got a special award from the Israeli education ministry for his lifelong contribution to the education of chess. The yearly chess festival in Tel Aviv is named after him. Furthermore, a variation in the Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation is named after him.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Czerniak, Moshe 1910 births 1984 deaths Chess International Masters Chess Olympiad competitors Israeli chess players 20th-century Israeli Jews Jewish chess players Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Polish expatriates in Argentina Sportspeople from Tel Aviv Chess players from Warsaw 20th-century Polish chess players 20th-century Polish sportsmen

Biography

See also

References

External links