Povilas Vaitonis
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Povilas (Paul) Vaitonis (1911-1983) was a Lithuanian–Canadian
chess master A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pres ...
. He was a five-time Lithuanian champion and was twice Canadian champion. He also represented Lithuania and later Canada at Chess Olympiads.


Chess career

Vaitonis played for Lithuania in one unofficial and four official Chess Olympiads: * In July 1933, he played second board at the
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 desig ...
in Folkestone (+5 –5 =2) * In August 1935, he played fourth board at the
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 ...
in Warsaw (+5 –5 =3) * In August/September 1936, he played third board at the
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 ...
in Munich (+12 –6 =2) * In July-August 1937, he played second board at the
7th Chess Olympiad The 7th Chess Olympiad (), organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and (unofficial) women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between July 31 and August 14, 1937, in Stockholm Stock ...
in Stockholm (+8 –5 =5) * In August-September 1939, he played second board at 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 ...
in Buenos Aires (+6 –8 =6) * His Olympiad total for Lithuania was (+36 -29 =18). Vaitonis played three matches against
Vladas Mikėnas Vladas Mikėnas (17 April 1910 – 3 November 1992) was a Lithuanian and Soviet chess player and journalist. He was awarded the titles of International Master and Honorary Grandmaster by FIDE. Early career Vladas Mikėnas played for Lithuani ...
. In 1934, he lost a match (2-6). In 1937, he lost (4.5-5.5) and in 1938 he lost (3-9). Vaitonis may have been the first player to use what is now called the
Benko Gambit The Benko Gambit (or Volga Gambit) is a chess opening characterised by the move 3...b5 in the Benoni Defence arising after: :1. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4, d4 b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nf6, Nf6 :2. b:Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nf6/2. ...
(1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5), in its most common move order, in a game against Einar Thorvaldsson at the 1936 Munich non-FIDE Olympiad. Vaitonis was Lithuanian champion in 1934, 1937, 1938, 1942, and 1944. In July 1943, he took 4th place, behind Birmanas, Romanas Arlauskas, and Leonardas Abramavičius, at the 12th Lithuanian Championship in Vilnius. He left Lithuania just before the advancing Soviet forces to avoid deportation to Siberia or other persecutions of the occupying Soviet regime (e.g.,
Vladimirs Petrovs Vladimirs Petrovs (; 27 September 1908 – 26 August 1943) was a Latvian Russian chess player. Biography He was born in Riga, in the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire (present-day Latvia). Though he learned the game of chess relative ...
). In 1944-45, he joined the exodus of many other Baltic players - such as Arlauskas, Dreibergs, Endzelins, Jursevskis, Mednis, Ozols, Sarapu, Tautvaišas, Zemgalis - to the West. In 1948, he came to Canada and settled in Hamilton, Ontario. He wrote a weekly chess column for the ''
Hamilton Spectator ''The Hamilton Spectator'', founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation, ''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar. ...
'' from 1953–55. In 1949, Vaitonis took 5th place at the Canadian championship at Arvida, Quebec. In 1951 and again in 1957, he won the Canadian championship at Vancouver. In September-October 1952, he took 19th place at the 2nd
Interzonal Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the Ca ...
at Stockholm. In 1953, he took 3rd place at the Canadian championship at Winnipeg. Vaitonis played for Canada in two Olympiads: * In September 1954, he played third board at the
11th Chess Olympiad The 11th 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. team tournament, as well as several other events designed to pro ...
in Amsterdam (+6 –3 =5) * In September-October 1958, he played third board at the
13th Chess Olympiad The 13th Chess Olympiad (), organized by 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. team tournament, as well as ...
in Munich (+4 –5 =5) * His total for Canada in Olympiads was (+10 -8 =10) He was awarded the
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 ...
title in 1952. In the 1960s, he continued to participate in Canadian championships and on teams (Lithuanian Chess Club, McMaster University). Vaitonis was inducted posthumously into the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame in 2011.


Notable games


Povilas Vaitonis vs Erich Eliskases, Folkestone 1933, 5th Olympiad, English Opening, Anglo-Indian Defense, Queen's Knight Variation, A16, 1-0Octavio Trompowsky vs Povilas Vaitonis, Buenos Aires 1939, 8th Olympiad (f-A), Trompowsky Attack, A45, 0-1Paul Vaitonis vs Fedor Parfenovich Bohatirchuk, Vancouver 1951, Canadian Championship, Queen's Pawn Game, A41, 1-0


External links




Chess games of Povilas Vaitonis


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaitonis, Povilas 1911 births 1983 deaths Canadian people of Lithuanian descent Canadian chess players Chess International Masters Chess Olympiad competitors Lithuanian chess players Lithuanian refugees People from Kovno Governorate People from Utena District Municipality Sportspeople from Utena County Soviet emigrants to Canada Sportspeople from Hamilton, Ontario 20th-century Canadian chess players