Yakov Vilner (1899,

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

– 29 June 1931,

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

) was a Ukrainian

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 ...

master.

Biography

Vilner won the Odesa chess championships four times (1918, 1923, 1925, and 1928). He won the Ukrainian championships three times; at Kyiv 1924 (ahead of Fedor Bohatirchuk), at Kharkiv 1925 (ahead of

Nikolai Sorokin Nikolai Evgenievich Sorokin (; February 15, 1952 – March 26, 2013) was a Russian theatre and film actor, theatre director, educator, and People's Artist of Russia (1999). He was artistic director of the Rostov-on-Don academic drama theatre ...

), and at Odesa 1928 (with Vladimir Kirillov). He also won at Odesa 1926 (ahead of Russo), and at Kyiv 1929 (with Bohatirchuk). He played in several Soviet chess championships. In July 1923, he tied for 11-13th in Petrograd (2nd URS-ch;

Peter Romanovsky Pyotr Arsenyevich Romanovsky (; 29 July 1892 – 1 March 1964) was a Russian and Soviet chess player and author. He won the Soviet Championship in 1923 and, jointly, 1927. Biography At the beginning of his career in Saint Petersburg, he shared f ...

won). In September 1924, he tied for 6-8th in Moscow (3rd URS-ch;

Efim Bogoljubow Efim Bogoljubow, also known as Efim Dimitrijewitsch Bogoljubow (April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952), was a Russian-born German Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Early career Bogoljubow learned how to play chess at 15 years old, and dev ...

won). In 1925, he tied for 11-13th in Leningrad (4th URS-ch; Bogoljubow won). In October 1927, he tied for 15-17th in Moscow (5th URS-ch; Bohatirchuk and Romanovsky won). In September 1929, he tied for 8-9th in Odesa (6th URS-ch qual.;

Boris Verlinsky Boris Markovich Verlinsky (8 January 1888 – 30 October 1950) was a Soviet chess player, who was awarded the title International Master by FIDE, the world chess federation, in 1950. He was one of the top Soviet players in the 1920s, and was Sovi ...

won). Unfortunately, Vilner died young due to chronic asthma.

Notable chess games

Efim Bogoljubow vs Yakov Vilner, Leningrad 1925, 4th URS-ch, Semi-Slav Defense, Meran Variation, D49, 0-1Yakov Vilner vs Mikhail Botvinnik, Moscow 1927, 5th URS-ch, Amazon Attack, Siberian Attack, A45, 1-0Nikolai Sorokin vs Yakov Vilner, Odessa 1929, 6th URS-ch, Slav Defense, Schallopp Variation, D12, 0-1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vilner, Yakov 1899 births Ukrainian chess players Russian chess players Soviet chess players Jewish chess players Ukrainian Jews 1931 deaths 1919 in chess