News and SocietyCelebrities

Bronstein David Ionovich: Soviet Grandmaster and Chess Writer

Bronstein David Ionovich is a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, an applicant for the title of world champion in 1951, a two-time champion of the USSR. Bronstein was considered one of the strongest players in the world from the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s. Colleagues called him a creative genius, as well as a master of tactics. In addition, he was still a famous chess writer, his book "International Grandmaster Tournament" became a real encyclopedia for beginners and more experienced players.

Childhood and youth

Bronstein David Ionovich was born on February 19, 1924 in the White Church (Ukraine), on the territory of the former USSR, was brought up in a poor Jewish family. His father, Ion Borisovich, was a simple worker at a flour mill, and his mother, Maria Davydovna, was in charge of the department for work among women (the department of working women and peasant women) in the district committee. In 1926, the Bronstein family moved to the city of Berdyansk, near the Azov coast, and soon, four years later, moved to Kiev. Here Bronstein David Ionovich goes to school for the first time. The boy studied well enough, but he felt the greatest attraction for various sections and circles - he was fond of mathematics, chess and aeromodelling.

The Kiev Chess School

At the age of six, his grandfather taught him to play chess, and soon the game becomes for him almost the most important meaning of life. The guy constantly spent time at the chessboard, he could even play against himself. At the age of twelve, David wins his first chess tournament (the competition took place within the school). This achievement was a motivating factor to enroll in the chess section. His coach was the famous international chess master Alexander Constantinople.

The chess school influenced the development of the skills of the young chess player, and soon fifteen-year-old David Bronstein takes part in the Kiev chess championship, where he takes the second place. The next year, already sixteen-year-old David won the title of master of sports (1940), taking second place in the Ukrainian chess championship.

Black Times

In 1937, the Bronstein family is experiencing a serious tragedy - the father is being repressed as an enemy of the people and is sentenced to imprisonment for 7 years. Later this fact affected the fate of David. After graduating from high school in 1941, the young chess player had plans to study mathematics at the University of Kiev, but the "tarnished" reputation of the family blocked the road to the university.

The Great Patriotic War: the life of a chess player

During the Great Patriotic War, the young chess player was forced to go to the city of Ordzhonikidze (now Vladikavkaz), which is in the Caucasus, because he was sent to work in one of the hospitals (according to wartime laws). In the ranks of the Soviet Army, the young chess player did not get due to poor vision. Bronstein David Ionovich repeatedly asked to voluntarily go to the front, but he was not taken. In 1943, when the Battle of Stalingrad was over, Bronstein, together with the youth brigade, was sent to the city for restoration works. During working hours he worked at the construction site, and at night he studied and improved the variations of chess debuts, writing combinations on scraps of paper.

After the victory of the Red Army over Nazi Germany, young Bronshtein is invited to Moscow to take part in the thirteenth USSR chess championship, in which David performs with a rather bad result: sports anger encourages the chess player to develop further. However, in 1945 Bronstein David Ionovich entered the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute, where he studied for only a year.

Achievements and titles

Bronstein's incredible natural talent was further revealed after the end of the Great Patriotic War. In 1946, he confidently beat all opponents in the chess tournament of the Moscow championship, and in 1948 and 1949, Won the USSR championships in chess. The first major international triumph of Bronstein was at the tournament in Saltsjöbaden (Sweden) in 1948, where he was awarded the title of Grandmaster.

In 1950, Budapest hosted a tournament of chess applicants, in which Bronstein confidently squared off with such strong players as Isaac Boleslavsky, Gideon Stahlberg and Paul Keres. As a result, the Soviet Grandmaster became the winner of the tournament of contenders in 1950, and now on the way to David was only the world champion - Mikhail Botvinnik.

Match for the title of world champion against Botvinnik

In 1951, Mikhail Botvinnik (current world champion) and David Bronshtein (chess player who won the tournament of contenders) met in the game for the title of world champion. The world chess community did not share the opinion that Bronstein could have any chances to win - everyone was rooting for Mikhail Botvinnik. The game was equal and very difficult for both opponents, after the seventh game the score was 4: 3 in favor of the current champion. The struggle continued, the chess players alternately won each other or agreed to a draw. Young Bronstein played excellent, at times it seemed that the challenger would become the champion. And such a moment was! The total score after the 22nd game was for Bronstein - 11.5: 10.5. There were only two games left before the honorary title of "world champion". David Ionovich fought as he could, but the penultimate party lost with a bang, playing a dubious endgame. The last game ended in a draw - the total score was 12: 12. Mikhail Botvinnik confirmed his right to wear a chess crown on his last breath. According to the regulations of the World Chess Championship, a draw result is a testament to the fact that the title was protected by the current champion.

Bronstein reacted quite calmly and even with humor, saying: "It's okay, I won at Botvinnik, you would all look at me with open mouths."

Similar articles

 

 

 

 

Trending Now

 

 

 

 

Newest

Copyright © 2018 en.birmiss.com. Theme powered by WordPress.