DTFC Semyon Alapin Memorial Tournament

Thematic tournament, The Alapin Sicilian, also known as the Alapin variation or the “c3 Sicilian,”

THREE DAYS WILL BE 3 ROUNDS AND THE FINAL BETWEEN THE BEST NINE PLAYERS.

Semyon Zinovyevich Alapin (Семён Зиновьевич Алапин; 1856–1923) was a Russian and Lithuanian chess master, openings analyst, and puzzle composer. He was a linguist, railway engineer, and merchant (grain commodities). Today he is best known for his creation of opening systems in almost all major openings. Most of these are of little significance today, but Alapin's Variation of the Sicilian Defense is an important opening line that is often played by leading grandmasters.

Semyon Zinovievich Alapin was born in Vilnius, Lithuania. He later settled in St. Petersburg, then Heidelberg, Germany. While studying at St. Petersburg Engineering Institute, he became one of the strongest players in the city. He shared 1st place with Mikhail Chigorin at the St. Petersburg tourney of 1878-79. Other results include 6th= at Berlin 1897, 10th in the Vienna 1898 Jubilee tournament and 5th at Monte Carlo 1901. In 1893, he tied for 1st place in the championship of Berlin. In 1911, he won the championship of Munich.

Alapin drew a match (+1, =4, -1) with Carl Schlechter in 1899 and beat Siegbert Tarrasch in a (training) match (+4 -3 =2) in 1902/3. In 1907, he played in a match against the Russian master Stefan Levitsky (Saint Petersburg, 1907) which he won 5-0.

Alapin has a number of opening variations named after him. Alapin’s Opening is 1.e4 e5 2.Ne2, while the Sicilian, Alapin variation is 1.e4 c5 2.c3. Alapin’s Gambit is 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Be3.

Alapin livened up his writings with the fictitious characters 'Defendarov' and 'Attakinsky'. He was a linguist and involved in grain commodities. He spent his later years in Heidelberg, Germany and died there in 1923.

Wikipedia article: Semyon Alapin