What Russia Taught The World About Chess
Written by Alexey Zakharov
In the last hundred or so years, Russia became almost synonymous with chess. The country in its many incarnations Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and now “just” Russia produced more grandmasters and world champions than any other, and its players enriched the ancient game immensely.
So, let’s now delve (shallowly, and then, of course, more and more deeply) into what Russia and its predecessor states brought to the world of chess.
Long, Tongue-Twisting Names
It’s more of a joke entry, of course, but GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, the new challenger to GM Magnus Carlsen, is only the latest in the long, distinguished line of Russian and Soviet players who look like an absolutely insurmountable wall of letters when written in English, such as Roman Dzindzichashvili, Zurab Azmaiparashvili, Elena Fatalibekova, Alexander Konstantinopolsky, Olga Semenova-Tyan-Shanskaya, Alexander Ilyin-Zhenevsky, and Fyodor Dus-Chotimir
By Rachel S. Kovacs | February 18, 2021
Those viewers who have enjoyed “The Queen’s Gambit” or reviewed it for others’ pleasure have been captivated with the protagonist’s story, but perhaps more so with the mystique of the chess board that enraptures casual observers and devotees of the game. Evan Rabin would confirm that although the Netflix miniseries is not the primary driver for the growth of his chess business during the pandemic, it has piqued interest in a game that for Evan is his passion and his profession. The attention that the show has garnered prompted Dylan McClain of the New York Times (December 10, 2020) to give Mr. Rabin a nod, and perhaps a slight boost, but that is hardly the full story.
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