Mikhail Chigorin
| Mikhail Chigorin | |
|---|---|
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| Full name | Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin |
| Country | Russian Empire |
| Born | 12 November 1850 Gatchina, St. Petersburg Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | January 25, 1908 (aged 57) Lublin, Lublin Governorate Russian Empire (Congress Poland) |
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (also Tchigorin; Russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Чиго́рин; 12 November [O.S. 31 October] 1850 – 25 January [O.S. 12 January] 1908) was a leading Russian chess player. He played two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz, losing both times. The last great player of the Romantic chess style, he also served as a major source of inspiration for the "Soviet Chess School", which dominated the chess world in the middle and latter parts of the 20th century.
Chigorin was born in Gatchina but moved to nearby Saint Petersburg some time later. His father worked in the Okhtensk gunpowder works. Chigorin's parents died young and Chigorin entered the Gatchinsk Orphans' Institute at the age of 10. He became serious about chess uncommonly late in life; his schoolteacher taught him the moves at the age of 16, but he did not take to the game until around 1874, having first finished his studies before commencing a career as a government officer.
Once smitten with the game, he terminated his employment and started life as a chess professional. In 1876, he started a chess magazine, Chess Sheet, which he edited until 1881 (only 250 subscribers in all of Russia). He played a series of matches with established masters Emanuel Schiffers (1878–1880) and Semyon Alapin (1880) and notched up a large plus score against each. It was not long after that he was regarded as the best player in the city and possibly the whole of Russia.
His first international tournament was Berlin 1881, where he was equal third (+10-5=1) with Szymon Winawer, behind Johannes Zukertort and Joseph Henry Blackburne. This event included 17 master competitors.
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