Ksawery Tartakower (generally known as Saviely or Savielly in English) 1887-1956) was a leading Polish and French chess Grandmaster. He was the king of chess journalism in the 1920s and 30s.

Tartakower is regarded as one of the most notable chess personalities of his time. Harry Golombek translated Tartakower's book of his best games, and in the forward wrote: Dr. Tartakower is far and away the most cultured and the wittiest of all the chess masters I have ever met. His extremely well stored mind and ever-flowing native wit make conversation with him a perpetual delight. So much so that I count it as one of the brightest attractions an international tournament can hold out for me that Dr. Tartakower should also be one of the participants. His talk and thought are rather like a modernized blend of Spinoza and Voltaire; and with it all a dash of paradoxical originality that is essential Tartakower.

A talented chess player, Tartakower is also known for his countless aphorisms, which are sometimes called Tartakoverisms. One of the variations of the Dutch Defence is named after him. The Tartakower Defence in the Queen's Gambit Declined (also known as the Tartakower-Makogonov–Bondarevsky System) also bears his name. As does the most common variation of the Torre Attack. He is alleged to be the inventor of the Orangutan Opening 1.b4 ..., so named after Tartakower fell in love with a great ape during his visit to the zoo whilst playing in the great 1924 tournament in New York.

Capablanca scored +5-0=7 against Tartakower, but they had many hard fights. After their fighting draw in London 1922 (where Tartakower played his new defense), Capablanca said, "You are lacking in solidity", and Tartakower replied in his usual banter, "That is my saving grace". But in Capablanca's reports of the 1939 Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires for the Argentinian newspaper Crítica, he wrote:

The Polish team … is captained and led by Dr S. Tartakower, a master with profound knowledge and great imagination, qualities which make him a formidable adversary. … Luckily for the others, the Polish team has only one Tartakower.

Sugden and Damsky stated that like other chess players of all ages and ranks among whom there is generally no lack of idiosyncrasy-or little superstition, Tartakower, a trenchant wit, took a most unsightly old hat with him from tournament to tournament. "He would only wear it on the last round and he would win. Notably this hat did not guarantee him success in casinos, which he visited as though it were a job of work. The roulette table would regularly acquire both the Grandmaster's prizes and the numerous fees from his endless string of articles." 

Tartakower's Quotations:

• "It's always better to sacrifice your opponent's men."

• "An isolated pawn spreads gloom all over the chessboard."

• "The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made."

• "The winner of the game is the player who makes the next-to-last mistake."

• "The move is there, but you must see it." (Horowitz 1971:137)

• "No game was ever won by resigning."

• "I never defeated a healthy opponent." This quotation refers to players who blame an illness, sometimes imaginary, for their loss.

• "Tactics is knowing what to do when there is something to do. Strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do."

• "All rook and pawn endings are drawn." (The context of this quote shows it is a comment on the fact that a small advantage in a rook and pawn endgame is less likely to be converted into a win.)

 

Besides Tartakower, Poland fielded Najdorf, Frydman, Regedzinsky and Sulik on its team in the 1939 Olympiad in Buenos Aires. Poland refused to play Germany whose army had just invaded Poland after the commencement of the games. (France also refused to play Germany, and England withdrew completely from the competition)