Samuil Osipovich Vainshtein (Weinstein, Wainstein, Vainstein, Wajnsztejn) (1894–1942) was a Russian

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 Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

, organizer, publisher and editor. In July/August 1914, he was playing in Mannheim at (the 19th

DSB Congress The '' Deutscher Schachbund'' (DSB) was founded in Leipzig on 18 July, 1877. When the next meeting took place in the Schützenhaus on 15 July 1879, sixty-two clubs had become member of the chess federation. Hofrat Rudolf von Gottschall Rudolf Got ...

, when it was interrupted by the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. After the declaration of war against Russia, eleven Russian players (

Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns. By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...

, Bogoljubow, Bogatyrchuk, Flamberg, Koppelman, Maljutin,

Rabinovich Rabinovich or Rabinovitch (Рабино́вич, רבינוביץ), is a Russian Ashkenazi Jewish surname, Slavic for "son of the rabbi" or "son of Rabin". The Polish/Lithuanian equivalents are Rabinowitz or Rabinowicz. People People bearing the s ...

Romanovsky Romanovsky (masculine), Romanovskaya (feminine), or Romanovskoye (neuter) may refer to: *Romanovsky (surname) * Romanovsky District, name of several districts in Russia *Romanovsky (rural locality) (''Romanovskaya'', ''Romanovskoye''), name of sever ...

, Saburov, Selezniev,

Weinstein Weinstein is a German or Yiddish surname meaning wine stone, referring to the crystals of cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate) resulting from the process of fermenting grape juice.Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the Rhine, the border with France, ...

1914 (

Alexander Flamberg Alexander Flamberg (1880, Warsaw – 24 January 1926, Warsaw) was a Polish chess master. Biography Alexander Davidovich Flamberg born in Warsaw (then Russian Empire), spent his early years in England, where he learned to play chess. After retu ...

won), took 6th at

Triberg Triberg im Schwarzwald is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located in the Schwarzwald-Baar district in the Black Forest. In 2020, it had a population of 4,656. Triberg lies in the middle of the Black Forest between 500 and 1038 metres above ...

1914/15 (

Efim Bogoljubow Efim Bogoljubow ( or ), also known as Ewfim Dimitrijewitsch Bogoljubow, ( (); also Romanized ''Bogoljubov'', ''Bogolyubov''; uk, Юхим Дмитрович Боголюбов, Yukhym Dmytrovych Boholiubov; April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952) ...

won), tied for 5-6th, and twice took 6th at Triberg 1915 (all tournaments Bogoljubov won), tied for 4-5th at Triberg 1916 (

Ilya Rabinovich Ilya Leontievich Rabinovich (russian: Илья Леонтьевич Рабинович; 11 May 1891 – 23 April 1942) was a Russian and later Soviet chess player, among the best ones in his country for three decades, from 1910 to 1940. His best ...

won), and took 4th at Triberg 1917 (Rabinovich and

Alexey Selezniev Alexey (Alex) Sergeyevich Selezniev (russian: Алексе́й Серге́евич Селезнёв, alternative transliterations: Selesniev, Selesniew, Selesnev, Selesnieff; pronounced "selezNYOFF"; 1888June 1967) was a chess master and chess co ...

won). After the war, he returned to Russia, and lived in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

(Leningrad), where he played in several tournaments. He tied for 7-8th in the 1st

Leningrad City Chess Championship The Leningrad City Chess Championship is a chess tournament held officially in the city of Leningrad, Russia starting from 1920. The city was called Petrograd from 1914 to 1924, then Leningrad until 1991, and Saint Petersburg afterwards. Only player ...

in 1920 (I. Rabinovich won), took 4th in 1921 (Platz won), twice finished 10th, in 1922 and 1925 (both won by

Grigory Levenfish Grigory Yakovlevich Levenfish (russian: Григо́рий Я́ковлевич Левенфи́ш; – 9 February 1961) was a Soviet chess player who scored his peak competitive results in the 1920s and 1930s. He was twice Soviet champion ...

), and tied for 3rd-4th in 1925 (Gotthilf won). He also shared 4th at

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

1920 ("Chess Olympiad", B tournament), and tied for 8-10th at Moscow 1927 (

Peter Romanovsky Peter Arsenievich Romanovsky (russian: Пётр Арсеньевич Романо́вский; 29 July 1892 – 1 March 1964) was a Russian chess player and author. He won the Soviet Championship in 1923 and, jointly, 1927. Biography At the begi ...

won). He knew all the principal European languages perfectly. Vainshtein was one of the most authoritative chess workers. He headed the All-Russian chess union as early as 1924 and was both publisher and editor of the ''Shakhmatnyi Listok'' ("Chess Leaflet") magazine. He was an organizer and administrator of Leningrad Chess Club (since 1938 the head of the club). He died during the

siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet Union, So ...

in 1942.Chess During World War II by Bill Wall (June 17, 2008)
at www.geocities.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vainshtein, Samuil 1894 births 1942 deaths Russian Jews Chess players from the Russian Empire Jewish chess players Soviet chess players Victims of the Siege of Leningrad