Niemzowitsch happens not to be a russian chess player. Therefore do I have to chose a new favorite: Karpov. I like his positional style very much.
Your favorite Russian player of all time
Sort:
SmyslovFan wrote:
Tal was Latvian, not Russian. Nimzowitsch was also born in Riga. But since that was part of the Russian empire at the time of his birth, it's possible to include him.
Just as anyone born in Paris between 1940 and 1944 is German.
Mar 19, 2013
0
#44
I said it's possible, not that I agree with it. A more challenging argument would be whether, say, Sultan Khan, was Indian or Pakistani.
Hervé Villechaize, for example.
SmyslovFan wrote:
I said it's possible, not that I agree with it. A more challenging argument would be whether, say, Sultan Khan, was Indian or Pakistani.
Or Muhammad Ali Jinnah for that matter.
SmyslovFan wrote:
I said it's possible, not that I agree with it. A more challenging argument would be whether, say, Sultan Khan, was Indian or Pakistani.
It's possible to call him a Martian, too.
Mar 19, 2013
0
#48
BigPoison, who were you referring to that was born in Moscow in 1936? Tal was born in Riga in 1936, so I don't think you meant him.
Could be wrong, but I don't think he was referring to a specific player, just a hypothetical.
I was attempting to make a point similar to TheGrobe's. I'm just not as witty. Like the Baltic states, Russia itself, was part of the Soviet Union.
My favorite Soviet player of all time is Leonid Stein from the Ukraine. Three time USSR Champion and he also won super strong Alekhime Memorial in 1967. Owned plus lifetime scores vs Spassky and Tal. Inflicted defeats on Smyslov,Petrosian and Botvinnik. Only 38 when he died...
Another favourite of mine is Grigory Levenfish who wrote most of a famous book on rook endgames (proofread by Smyslov, though listed as co-author). Soviet co-champion in 34 and sole champion in 37. Drew a match with Botvinnik, who disliked him intensely after Levenfish had written somewhere that Botvinnik's superiority over his opponents was caused by his opening preparation....I guess the Patriarch would have preferred Levenfish to say he understood chess better than anybody else!
Mine is for sure is Tal, i just really like his style of play, even though it isn't fit my style.
Nowadays I like Alexander Morozevich and his Chigorin defense !!
soulpower74 wrote:
My favorite Soviet player of all time is Leonid Stein from the Ukraine. Three time USSR Champion and he also won super strong Alekhime Memorial in 1967. Owned plus lifetime scores vs Spassky and Tal. Inflicted defeats on Smyslov,Petrosian and Botvinnik. Only 38 when he died...
yeah i wanted to like stein so much because i really liked the title they gave him :master of risk strategy, but the last 2 games i saw from him werent my taste so much.
Efim Bogolijubow:
Karpov
paulgottlieb wrote:
A large percentage of "Russian" chess masters were not actually Russian. Petrosian was Armenian and proud of it. Tal was Latvian and a Jew. Geller and Stein were from the Ukraine and Jewish. Kasparov's faher was Jewish and he was born in Azerbaijan. The old Soviet empire was big and contained an enormous mix of ethnicities. Now that I think of it, I believe that Kamsky is of Tatar descent and Lev Aronian is Armenian.
Note: The reason I mention the fact that many of these players were Jewish is because "Jew" was recognized as a nationality in the old Soviet Union.
really kamsky is tartar??? i mean i knew the name roustam is famous name in iran but he doesnt look tartar at all, well at least not to me and i have absolutly no clue how tartars are supposed to look like.
anyway many great masters were jewish, i think most often its obvious from the name like Stein or Lilienthal that i think is a jewish name as well. But that Tal was jewish was a really great suprise to me when i heard it the first time.
Yes its funny when i look at the game of Aronian with his crazy exchange sack, it reminds me a bit of Petrosian.
Alekhine, he beat Capablanca.
Tal was Latvian, not Russian. Nimzowitsch was also born in Riga. But since that was part of the Russian empire at the time of his birth, it's possible to include him.
Do you consider someone born in Moscow in '36 a Russian?
Which player was born in Moscow in 1936?