Sergey Vsevolodovich Belavenets (; 18 July 19106 March 1942) was a

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 ...

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 ...

, theoretician, and chess journalist.

Early life

Belavenets was born in

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

to a noble family with a long history of serving in the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n navy. He and Mikhail Yudovich, known as the Smolensk twins, had been close friends since meeting in a school match in 1925. Over the next few years they studied with Belavenets's uncle, Konstantin Vygodchikov.

Chess career

Belavenets took 4th in the 2nd Belarusian Championship in 1925 ( Solomon Rozental won), tied for 5-9th in the 11th Championship of Moscow in 1930, tied for 1st-3rd in the 13th Championship of Moscow in 1932, took 4th in the 14th Championship of Moscow in 1933/34, won at Moscow 1934 (the 4th Russian Championship), took 3rd in the 15th Championship of Moscow in 1935, tied for 3rd-5th in the 16th Championship of Moscow in 1936, shared 1st in the 17th Championship of Moscow 1937. He tied for 1st-2nd with

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov (; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who was the seventh World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidates Tournament, Candidate for the World Chess Championship on ...

in the 18th Championship of Moscow in 1938, tied for 6-7th in the 19th Championship of Moscow in 1939/40, and took 2nd in the 20th Championship of Moscow in 1941.

Death

While fighting in the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

during the

Second World War 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 ...

, Belavenets was killed in an action at

Staraya Russa Staraya Russa (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Polist, Polist River, south of Veliky Novgorod, the administrative center of the oblast. Its population has steadily decreased over ...

in 1942. Since 1984, international chess competitions "In Memoriam of S.V.Belavenets" have been held in Smolensk. His daughter Liudmila held the title of women's world

correspondence chess Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less commo ...

champion from 1984 to 1992.

References

1910 births 1942 deaths Sportspeople from Smolensk Soviet chess players Soviet chess writers Soviet male writers Soviet military personnel killed in World War II {{Russia-chess-bio-stub