Jewish players and theoreticians have long been involved in the game of chess and have significantly contributed to the development of chess. Chess gained popularity amongst Jews in the 12th century. [1] The game was privileged by distinguished rabbis, [2] as well as by women. [3]
Of the first 13 undisputed world champions, six were Jewish or had some Jewish ancestry: Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker, Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov. The Modern School of Chess espoused by Steinitz and Siegbert Tarrasch, the Hypermodernism influenced by Aron Nimzowitsch and Richard Réti, and the Soviet Chess School promoted by Botvinnik were all strongly influenced by Jewish players. Other influential Jewish chess theoreticians, writers and players include Johannes Zukertort, Savielly Tartakower, Akiba Rubinstein, Gyula Breyer, Rudolf Spielmann, Samuel Reshevsky, Reuben Fine, David Bronstein, and Miguel Najdorf. [4] [5] [6]
Arpad Elo, the inventor of the scientific rating system employed by FIDE, analysed some 476 major tournament players from the 19th century onward, and of the 51 highest ranked players, approximately one half were Jewish. [7] This includes one of the strongest ever players, Garry Kasparov, who was world No. 1 from 1985 until his retirement in 2005. Kasparov is half-Jewish descent through his father. Bobby Fischer, the highest rated player in history when he became world champion in 1972, had a Jewish mother and likely father despite antisemitic views. The list also includes perhaps the strongest female chess player ever Judit Polgár. [8]
Beer-sheba in Israel is the city with the most chess grandmasters per capita in the world. [9] Israel has also won one silver and one bronze medal at Chess Olympiads. [10]
The list refers to chess players who are Jewish and have attained outstanding achievements in chess.
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest population of Jews in the world. Within these territories, the primarily Ashkenazi Jewish communities of many different areas flourished and developed many of modern Judaism's most distinctive theological and cultural traditions, while also facing periods of antisemitic discriminatory policies and persecution, including violent pogroms.
Pinsk is a city in Brest Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Pinsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is located in the historical region of Polesia, at the confluence of the Pina River and the Pripyat River. The region was known as the Pinsk Marshes and is southwest of Minsk. As of 2024, it has a population of 124,295.
Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret. Administratively, it serves as the administrative centre of Ternopil Oblast. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. It is served by Ternopil Airport. The population of Ternopil was estimated at 225,004.
Boris Franzevich Gulko is a Soviet-American Grandmaster in chess. Notably, he is the only person to win both the Soviet Chess Championship and the U.S. Chess Championship, and one of the few players with a plus score against Garry Kasparov.
The International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame was opened July 7, 1981, in Netanya, Israel. It honors Jewish athletes and their accomplishments from anywhere around the world.
Nemyriv is a historic city in Vinnytsia Oblast (province) in Ukraine, located in the historical region of Podolia. It was the administrative center of former Nemyriv Raion (district). Population: 11,421.
The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jewish communities have existed in the modern territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus'. Important Jewish religious and cultural movements, from Hasidism to Zionism, arose there. According to the World Jewish Congress, the Jewish community in Ukraine constitutes Europe's third-largest and the world's fifth-largest.
Sport in Israel plays an important role in Israeli culture and is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sport. The most popular sports in Israel have traditionally been Association football (mainly) and basketball (secondly) – with the first being considered the national sport – in both of which Israeli professional teams have been competitive internationally. Israel is an international center for Jewish sport around the world and since 1932 the Maccabiah Games, an Olympic-style event for Jewish athletes, is held in the country. Despite Israel's location in the Asian continent, the Israeli sports associations in various sports belong to the European associations due to the refusal of many Arab Asian countries to compete with Israeli athletes.
Kopychyntsi is a small city in Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Kopychyntsi urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Kopychyntsi is the birthplace of Vasyl Ivanchuk, a chess grandmaster; Israel Jacob Kligler, who led the effort of eradicating malaria in Mandatory Palestine; and Pinhas Lavon, an Israeli politician. The population of the town is 7000. The population of Kopychyntsi municipality is 13 965.
Adrian Bohdanovych Mikhalchishin is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster now playing for Slovenia. Education: Lviv University, faculty of physics 1976. Mikhalchishin is married, with two children.
Arthur William Dake was an American chess player. He was born in Portland, Oregon and died in Reno, Nevada.
The history of the Jews in Azerbaijan dates back many centuries. Today, Jews in Azerbaijan mainly consist of three distinct groups: Mountain Jews, the most sizable and most ancient group; Ashkenazi Jews, who settled in the area during the late 19th-early 20th centuries, and during World War II; and Georgian Jews who settled mainly in Baku during the early part of the 20th century.
Mikhail Gurevich is a Soviet-born Belgian chess player. He was a top ten ranked player from 1989 to 1991. Gurevich became an International Grandmaster in 1986, and is currently an FIDE arbiter and senior trainer.
The 14th Maccabiah Games brought 5,100 athletes to Israel from 48 nations.
The 18th Maccabiah Games, were held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. These Games were the world's fifth-largest sporting event, behind the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Police and Fire Games, and Universiade. On the 13 July, more than 6,000 Jewish athletes from all over the world joined Team Israel's 3,000 participants at the Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv District, Israel, for the opening ceremony. American swimmer Jason Lezak was given the honor of lighting the Maccabiah torch at the Opening Ceremony.
This article details the year of 2017 with respect to the game of chess. Major chess-related events that took place in 2017 include the Women's World Chess Championship 2017 knockout tournament, the Chess World Cup, the FIDE Grand Prix Series, and the abolishing of the consecutiveness requirement within the fivefold repetition rule.