Alexander Markovich Konstantinopolsky. Some Games and Pictures.

O.K. chess.com's resident inducer of the word 'who?' is back with another of the forgotten and neglected of chess history! Another from the extraordinary chess legacy of The Ukraine btw. 

Also a player more than capable of beating the best - Botvinnik, Smyslov and Keres for example, a noted theoretician and a world class correspondence player right up to his final years.

This short article came about because of the comments section in my last article!! here

For those of you who do not follow my articles, or do, but ignore the comments section at the bottom of the page, you might enjoy going to them and joining in!! We are a happy little group who get together with friends and have a natter about chess and life. The conversation goes where it goes, and the only 'rule' is that absolute politeness and respect for others is compulsory. no egos or self promotion - what a nice place to be!!

If you go to the comments there, you will see how this article came about, when the name of Konstantinoplosky

                                                              From 1932 via wikipedia.

came into the conversation.

Realizing that I was too short of time to do a full article I dived ( apologies for my grammar - I didn't go to 'Uni' and learn how to be clever!!) into my library and pulled out 4 or 5 books, in particular this one.

and chose 6 games - I always feel that is a good number for these short articles - just because they had stuck in my head. Not a 'best games of' choice by any means, but I like them!!

Apart from being a huge influence on Bronstein, as well as a long term trainer of his, Konstantinopolsky was also the trainer of the Soviet ladies team for a long period, starting somewhere around 1955-1956, - perhaps he gives it as 1954 -  which explains his absence from top level over the board - o.b. - chess after that time. A nice picture from the black book. ( apologies for the quality of the images taken from that source - they are what they are!) with the great Nona Gaprindashvilli.

O.K. I had better do what I do, and let you look at my small selection of games, which I hope you will enjoy. as I say, they are the ones that stick in my head, not a 'best games' selection, or wins over the famous.

Firstly a correspondence - c.c. - game. Konstantinopolky won the very first c.c. championship of the USSR. No mean achievement! He was still a strong c.c. player right up to his death in 1985.

( incidentally I am Simaginfan! It is strange that despite being a Soviet c.c. Championship winner he is only a c.c. I.M. - like Simagin. Also he only became an FIDE G.M - via the emeritus status - a short time before his death. Go figure!!)

He played some magnificent chess in that event, but also had a huge slice of luck!

In his game against Simagin his opponent set up the position incorrectly and made what us c.c players  call a 'clerical error' losing the game on the spot. It happens!!

Konstantinopolsky's best game from the event was not only a  beautiful one. ( his win with Black against the future 'Great', the wonderful  Yakov Estrin, could also be included, but  time presses) Today the main theme is well known, but at the time it was almost unheard of.

Grodzensky in the book Red Letters, co-written with Tim Harding gives a full page of affectionate tribute to his friend Konstantinopolsky. Two quick quotes:-

''A prominent feature of ''Konsky's'' character was that he loved chess in himself, not himself in chess.''

''While approving my intention of organizing a Mirotvorsky memorial Tournament, he added: ''don't arrange any tournaments in my memory - it takes so much effort to write my name''.

Such little things tell me that he was my kind of chess player, and a nice guy.

A cartoon courtesy of @RoaringPawn  Thanks mate!

Apart from his practical results and standing as a trainer, Konstantinopolsky was also highly regarded as a theoretician across a wide range of openings - for example the Ruy Lopez and the Dutch Defence. In particular he was an expert in the Caro Kann - especially the 5...gxf6 line - one on that to follow. The following is not only a very beautiful game with a lovely finish, but one of theoretical importance at the time.

A beautiful - in my eyes - photograph of the two players - from the black book - taken in London in 1954.

The pure Russian Exchange sacrifice. Something that I associate with first Simagin and then Petrosian. Here is a fascinating example that pre-dates both of those players.

Some 50  years later - in the last years of his life - Konstantinopolsky produced a real mind -  boggler of a game in a c.c. match. Even by the standards of c.c. games at the top level of the time, this one is incredibly difficult to understand!

 O.K. Picture time! I think that I have three of Konstantinopolsky with Bronstein!! So, one from my friend @kamalakanta btw a huge thanks to him and @RoaringPawn for their contributions. Cheers guys! Humble gratitude as always for all your support and help.

Here's an incredible game where Konstantinopolsky keeps on threatening to sacrifice the exchange in unusual circumstances until his opponent - a great player in his own right - simply falls apart.

Time for one last game, but no time to do full notes - will basically give it as a 'White to play and win' type puzzle, but with all the moves. Even with the diagram in front of me - knowing that something must be there - I found this one tough when I first studied the game!! ( Yep, a chance for you to show how much better than me you are, by telling me you saw it in 2 seconds!!!))

It is also - as happened in my Furman article - a game between two great Soviet trainers - Zaitsev - Igor - was a trainer - like Furman - of Anatoly Karpov, which brings us back round to the beginning!!

Anyone would think that I was capable of putting these little articles together with some sort of planning!!!

And a last picture of Konstantinopolsky and Bronstein.

I hope you enjoyed the wonderful games and nice pictures. 

Feel free to join the fun in the comments section - add any relevant games, pictures, stories, etc. All - polite - contributions welcomed and appreciated.

Cheers everyone. Speak soon.

Simaginfan.