Szymon Winawer

Called Szymon Winawer in the German Simon Winawer, ( born March 6, 1838 in Warsaw, † November 29, 1919 in Warsaw ) was a Polish chess player of the 19th century.

Life

Winawer came in 1838 in Warsaw, the son of a very wealthy Jewish vodka factory to the world. He had nine brothers and one sister. His passion for chess, he developed early in the Warsaw cafes, where the Russian master player Alexander Petrov became aware of him and prophesied a bright future. As Winawer 1867 for the first time took part in an international tournament in Paris, he won right away the second price of 800 francs, behind Baron Ignaz von Kolisch, but ahead of players such as Wilhelm Steinitz and Gustav Neumann. He reportedly traveled on business to Paris, where he just randomly took the opportunity to play chess.

In 1868, a national tournament with 23 participants was held in Warsaw for the first time, which he won as expected. His great success moving Winawer to participate from then on regularly at all major chess tournaments of his time. In the 1870s and 1880s he was regarded as one of the leading players in the world. After 1883, he took a nearly ten -year-old chess break, to devote himself to his business. When he went to the chess board as a 55 - year-old, it is no longer allowed him to build on his successful time as a world - class player. His last tournament he played in Monte Carlo in 1901. His greatest successes are the Tournament Win of Saint Petersburg in 1875, Paris 1878, Vienna 1882 and Nuremberg in 1883. His best historical Elo rating of 2708, he reached in April 1883. Accordingly, he was more than a year ranked second in the world rankings.

During his stay in St. Petersburg in 1875, he also won a match against Ilya Schumow 5-2. In St. Petersburg he met on Chigorin, who was then still had the level of a coffee house player. The joint training was fruitful for both. Winawer occurred, although he claimed to have never read a chess book as a major chess theoretician. According to him and Aaron Nimzowitsch one of the most played variants is named for the French defense: the Nimzowitsch / Winawer Variation - called or even Winawer Variation - after 1.e2 e6 2.d2 -e4 e7 -d4 d7 -d5 3 Nb1 - c3 Bf8 - b4, which he repeatedly anwandte 1883 tournament in London. Also in the Slav Defence of Women Gambites Winawer has left its mark: 1.d2 d5 2.c2 d4 d7 - c4 - c7 - c6 - c3 e7 - e5 3.Sb1 ( The Winawer Gambit ). At a time when the state did not exist Poland and Warsaw as part of Congress Poland belonged to the Russian Empire, Winawer was at its tournaments waiting to be viewed as poles and representatives of Warsaw. He died at the age of 81 in his hometown.

Others

Paulin Frydman, the son of a sister of Winawer, was in the 1920s and 1930s also a leading Polish chess master who was awarded the title of International Master in 1955 by FIDE.