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Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet
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 ...
player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title
International Grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a Chess title, title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Chess Championship, World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is hel ...
from
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 1950. Flohr dominated many tournaments of the pre-World War II years, and by the late 1930s was considered a contender for the
World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
. However, his patient, positional style was overtaken by the sharper, more tactical methods of the younger Soviet echelon after World War II.


Early life

Flohr had a troubled childhood beset by personal crises. He was born in a Jewish family in
Horodenka Horodenka (, ; , occasionally '';'' ) is a city located in Kolomyia Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, in Western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Horodenka urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Population: In 2001 the population ...
in what was then Galicia,
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(now in
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). He and his brother were orphaned during World War I when their parents were killed in a massacre, and they fled to the newly formed nation of Czechoslovakia. Flohr settled in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, gradually acquiring a reputation as a skilled chess player by playing for stakes in the city's many cafés. During 1924, he participated in
simultaneous exhibition A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition (commonly chess or Go) in which one player (typically of high rank, such as a grandmaster or dan-level player) plays multiple games at a time with a number of other pl ...
s by Richard Réti and Rudolf Spielmann, and he was still giving displays well into his seventies.


Early successes

Flohr won the Kautsky Memorial tournaments of 1928 and 1929 which were held in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, and made his international debut at the Rohitsch-Sauerbrunn ( Rogaška Slatina) tournament in
Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
, where he finished second to
Akiba Rubinstein Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1 December 1880 – 14 March 1961) was a Polish chess player. He is considered to have been one of the greatest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Rubinstein was granted the title International Grandma ...
in the latter's final success. Flohr had also taken a job as a chess journalist; one of his first assignments was to cover the 1928 Berlin tournament, during which he continued to win money on the side by playing chess.


World title contender

Flohr's playing ability peaked in the mid-1930s, when he became one of the world's strongest players and a leading contender for the World Championship. He became champion of Czechoslovakia in 1933 and 1936 and played in many tournaments throughout Europe, generally finishing amongst the top three. Notable victories were at Bad Sliač in 1932, where he shared first place with
Milan Vidmar Milan Vidmar (; 22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugural recip ...
;
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in 1933; Bad Liebenwerda in 1934 with 9½/11;
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in 1935 where he tied for first with George Koltanowski; Moscow 1935 where he tied for first place with future World Champion
Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (; ;  – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who held five world titles in three different reigns. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer sci ...
; Poděbrady in 1936 with the score of +10 −1 =6; and Kemeri in 1937 where he shared the top spot with Vladimir Petrov and Samuel Reshevsky. During this period, he had several other notable high finishes, such as
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1932 (tied for second with 11½/15, after World Champion
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 ...
); Zürich 1934 (tied for second with 12/15, again trailing Alekhine); and
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1937 (second behind Paul Felix Schmidt). Flohr also frequently visited England, regularly playing in the Hastings tournaments of the 1930s. He finished first in 1931/32, 1932/33 and 1933/34, he finished in a tie for first place with
Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 ...
and Sir George Thomas in 1934/35, and he was second behind Reuben Fine in 1935/36. He also won the
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tournament of 1936 ahead of former World Champion
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 ...
. Flohr became a national hero in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. His name was used to sell many of the luxury products of the time, including Salo Flohr cigarettes, slippers and eau-de-cologne.


Excels in Chess Olympiads

His form for his adopted country in the
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 ...
s was equally impressive, according to the comprehensive Olympiad site olimpbase.org. He made his debut at Hamburg 1930 on board one, scoring 14½/17 for the silver medal. On home soil at Prague 1931, again on board one, he scored 11/18, and led Czechoslovakia to a team bronze medal. At Folkestone 1933, he again played board one, scored 9/14, helped Czechoslovakia win the team silver medal, and earned a bronze medal for himself. At Warsaw 1935, on board one he scored an undefeated 13/17 for another individual gold medal, and Czechoslovakia finished fifth. Then at Stockholm 1937, once again on board one, he scored 12½/16 for a third individual gold medal. In five Olympiads, he won two individual gold medals, a silver and a bronze. His aggregate was 60/82, for a 73% score against the top players in the world.


Match results

Flohr enjoyed a fair amount of success in match play. He played matches with two of his main rivals for the right to challenge reigning champion
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 ...
. He tied a 16-game match against Euwe in 1932 (+3 −3 =10), and he tied a match against Botvinnik in 1933 (+2 −2 =8). Flohr beat Gösta Stoltz by 5½–2½ in 1931, and a year later he beat Mir Sultan Khan, the 1932 and 1933 British Champion, by 3½–2½. Flohr also defeated Johannes van den Bosch at
The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
in 1932 by 6–2. In 1933, he won two matches in Switzerland, first over Oskar Naegeli by 4–2 at Bern, and then by 4½–1½ over
Henri Grob Henri Grob (4 June 1904) was a Swiss chess player, artist, and painter. He was Swiss chess champion twice, and was awarded the title of International Master in 1950 at its inauguration. Grob pioneered eccentric chess openings, in particular 1.g ...
at
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.


Official challenger, war years

Flohr had married in 1935. By 1937,
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 ...
had nominated him as the official candidate to play Alekhine for the World Championship. However, with World War II looming, it proved impossible for Flohr to raise the stake money in Czechoslovakia, so the plans were dropped. The next year, Flohr was one of the eight elite players invited to the great AVRO tournament of November 1938. He finished last, and this put an end to his chances of a World Championship match with Alekhine. AVRO may have been the only time in chess history when the top eight players in the world contested an important tournament. While AVRO was a strong tournament and Flohr's last-placed finish was no disgrace, his result may also be explained by his difficult personal circumstances at the time. The German invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938 had left Flohr, as a Polish-Ukrainian Jew, in grave personal danger. Flohr remained in the Netherlands in early 1939, playing in several small events. He tied for first place in
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KNSB with
Max Euwe Machgielis "Max" Euwe (; May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess player, mathematician, author, and chess administrator. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, a title he held from 1935 ...
and László Szabó at 3½/5. He tied third/fourth place in Amsterdam VARA with 3/5, as Euwe and Salo Landau won. He won Baarn I with 2½/3. Then, he and his family fled, first to Sweden, and then to Moscow with the help of his friend Botvinnik. While in Sweden, he tied for first place at
Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
with Rudolf Spielmann with 10 points out of 11.


Soviet citizen, recovers form

Flohr was able to recover his form after reaching safety in Moscow. He won Kemeri 1939 with a score of 12/15. He also won the strong 1939 Leningrad/Moscow tournament with 12/17. He tied for second place at Margate 1939 with 6½/9 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 ...
. He then tied for second at
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1939 with 8½/11, behind former World Champion Euwe. Flohr did not play in any official strong Soviet events from 1940–42, though he did lose a 1942 match to Vladimir Makogonov in
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by 2–0. He became a naturalized
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
citizen in 1942, and developed his writing career in his new country, contributing articles to Soviet newspapers and magazines including ''Ogonek''. As the Soviet Union first stopped then reversed the Axis invasion, some chess activity started up again, and in 1943 Flohr won a small but strong tournament in
Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...
. In 1944 he was again victorious in a Bolshevik Society tournament at
Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
, tied with Alexei Sokolsky. He withdrew from the 1945 USSR Championship after only three games. After the war, he was still a contender for a possible World Championship match. He finished 6th at the 1948
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 ...
in
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, thereby qualifying for the 1950 Candidates Tournament in
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. However, he finished joint last with 7 out of 18, and never entered the World Championship cycle again, concentrating on journalism. He also developed a role as a chess organiser. He did play periodically at high levels, both within the Soviet Union and abroad, with some success, until the late 1960s. He was awarded the title of International Arbiter in 1963. Flohr died in Moscow on July 18, 1983.


Achievements and legacy

Flohr was one of Czechoslovakia's greatest chess players ever and proved virtually invincible at the Olympiads of the 1930s. His tournament record was impressive, with his tactical skill and excellent endgame technique securing him many famous victories.
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 ...
awarded him the
International Grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a Chess title, title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Chess Championship, World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is hel ...
title on its inaugural list in 1950. He made some important contributions to opening theory: a 'Flohr variation' can be found in six major openings, including the Caro–Kann Defence, the
Ruy Lopez The Ruy Lopez (; ), also called the Spanish Opening or Spanish Game, is a chess opening characterised by the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. Nf3 Nc6 :3. Bb5 The Ruy Lopez remains one of the most popular chess openings, featuring many variations. In ...
, the
English Opening The English Opening is a chess opening that begins with the move: : 1. c4 A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, one of the four most successful of White's twenty possible first moves. White begins ...
, and the Grünfeld Defence. The Flohr–Zaitsev Variation of the Closed Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8) was successfully adopted by World Champion
Anatoly Karpov Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, ⁣and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 ...
in the 1980s. Flohr was primarily a strategist who excelled in the endgame.Steve Giddens, ''The Greatest Ever Chess Endgames'', 2012, , p. 108 He favoured the closed game with White, and during the prime of his career, he was especially deadly with the
Queen's Gambit The Queen's Gambit is the chess opening that starts with the moves: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 It is one of the oldest openings and is still commonly played today. It is traditionally described as a '' gambit'' because White appears to sacrifice the ...
, as the game selection shows. Flohr almost never opened with 1.e4. He was one of the main developers of the Caro–Kann, which was an obscure and poorly regarded line as late as the 1920s when Flohr adopted it. The Second World War killed any chance he had of winning the world title, and the stress of becoming a refugee for the second time in his life affected his style of play. He became a much more cautious player in his post-war games and earned a drawish reputation, with many short draws which were hardly contested. Players such as Vasily Smyslov,
David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein (; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in World Chess Championship 195 ...
, Isaac Boleslavsky,
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 ...
,
Alexander Kotov Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov (Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Ко́тов; ( – 8 January 1981) was a Soviet chess International Grandmaster, grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet chess champion, a two-time world title Cand ...
, Tigran Petrosian, Efim Geller, Mark Taimanov, Yuri Averbakh,
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 ...
,
Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet and Latvian chess player and the eighth World Chess Champion. He is considered a creative genius and is widely regarded as Comparison of top chess players throughout history, one ...
,
Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (, ; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion. Bor ...
, and Leonid Stein dominated the landscape with their sharper styles and innovative openings. Flohr was never able to defeat Alekhine head-to-head, losing five games and drawing seven in their 12 encounters. Alekhine had a sharp, tactical style, and he could also play outstanding positional chess. According to the site Chessmetrics.com, which compares historical ratings, Flohr was among the world's top 20 players from 1930 to 1951, except for the war years 1942–44 when he was largely inactive; and his ranking peaked at No. 2 in the world in 193


Notable games


Salo Flohr vs Max Euwe, Amsterdam / Karlsbad match 1932, Queen's Gambit, Exchange Variation (D36), 1–0
Virtually perfect game by White showing optimal strategy in this variation.
Mikhail Botvinnik vs Salo Flohr, Leningrad / Moscow match 1933, Caro–Kann Defence, Panov–Botvinnik Attack (B13), 0–1
Botvinnik adopts his favourite line, but has to concede defeat.
Salo Flohr vs Isaac Kashdan, Folkestone Olympiad 1933, English Opening, Flohr–Mikenas Attack (A18), 1–0
Flohr adopts one of the lines which will eventually bear his name, with good success here.
Salo Flohr vs Paul Keres, Warsaw Olympiad 1935, Queen's Gambit Declined, Exchange Variation (D37), 1–0
Keres was the 19-year-old new star making his international debut, but he is out of his league here.
Salo Flohr vs J.R. Capablanca, Nottingham 1936, Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower Variation (D59), 1–0
Even the phenomenal Capablanca, former World Champion and joint winner of Nottingham, can't defend against Flohr's Queen's Gambit.
Salo Flohr vs Emanuel Lasker, Moscow 1936, Reti Opening (A06), 1–0
Solid positional performance in one of the fashionable hypermodern variations.
David Bronstein vs Salo Flohr, USSR Championship, Moscow 1944, Ruy Lopez, Open Variation (C82), 0–1
The 20-year-old Bronstein was making his debut at the top Soviet level, but learns a lesson here.
Salo Flohr vs Tigran Petrosian, USSR Championship, Moscow 1949, Old Indian Defence (A54), 1–0
The 20-year-old Petrosian was making his debut at the top Soviet level, and learns a positional lesson.
Salo Flohr vs Efim Geller, USSR Championship, Moscow 1950, Reti Opening (A05), 1–0
Another young Master learns that the veteran Flohr still packs a punch.
Leonid Stein vs Salo Flohr, Ukrainian Championship, Kyiv 1957, Caro–Kann Defence, Flohr–Smyslov Modern Variation (B17), 0–1
Another smooth positional massage from the Master of the 'Roach'.
Salo Flohr vs Bent Larsen, Noordwijk 1965, Sicilian Defence, Accelerated Dragon Variation (B39), 1–0
Flohr takes off one of the Candidates of that time in his last great victory.


Writings and further reading

*''12th Chess Tournament of Nations'' oscow 1956 Olympiad by Salomon Flohr, Moscow, Fiskultura i Sport, 1957 (Russian). *''Salo Flohr's Best Games of Chess'', by Salomon Flohr (translated from the Russian by Gregory S. Donges), Davenport, Iowa, Thinker's Press, 1985, . *''Grandmaster Flohr'', by Viktor D. Baturinsky (Hg), Moscow, Fiskultura i Sport, 1985 (Russian). *''Salo Flohr und das Schachleben in der Tschechoslawakei'', by Helmut Wieteck, Hamburg, Neu-Jung Verlag, 2005, (German). *''Schackmästare utan hemland'', by Henrik Malm Lindberg, Stockholm, Personhistorisk Tidskrift, 2020, (Swedish).


See also

* List of Jewish chess players


References


External links

*
Film newsreel about a simultaneous display of Salo Flohr and Mikhail Botvinnik, Hilversum (NL), 1 January 1964
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flohr, Salo 1908 births 1983 deaths People from Horodenka Ukrainian Jews Jews from Austria-Hungary Chess Grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Czech chess players Chess arbiters Czechoslovak emigrants to the Soviet Union Czech Jews Czechoslovak refugees Chess theoreticians Soviet chess writers Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Jewish chess players Jews who emigrated to escape Nazism Soviet chess players Soviet Jews Soviet people of Czech descent