Raphael Falk

Rafail Alexandrovich Falk (Russian Рафаил Александрович Фальк, scientific transliteration Rafail Aleksandrovič Fal'k; * 1856 in Liepāja, † April 27, 1913 in Tübingen) was a Russian chess master and journalist.

Falk, a lawyer by profession, edited numerous chess columns in several Russian newspapers, including in the Moscow German newspaper (1886-1903), which represented a valuable source of information for the Russian chess player at the beginning of the 20th century. Falk, whose son Robert Rafailovich Falk (1886-1958) later became a well-known Russian painter was, took part in the first official championship of the Russian Empire, the first All-Russian tournament, which was held in Moscow in 1899 and won by Mikhail Chigorin. 1901 Falk celebrated a great success, as he won jointly with Alexei Goncharov first place at the Moscow Championship.