Savielly Tartakower
| Savielly Tartakower | |
|---|---|
Savielly Tartakower
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| Full name | Ksawery Tartakower |
| Country | Poland France |
| Born |
22 February 1887 Rostov-on-Don, Russia |
| Died | 4 February 1956 (aged 68) Paris, France |
| Title | Grandmaster (1950) |
Ksawery Tartakower (also known as Saviely or Savielly Tartakower in English, less often Xavier Tartacover or Xavier Tartakover; 1887–1956) was a leading Polish and French chess grandmaster. He was also a leading chess journalist and author of the 1920s and 1930s whose books remain popular even today. Tartakower is remembered for his sharp wit and aphorisms.
Tartakower was born on 22 February 1887 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, to Austrian citizens of Jewish origin. His parents were killed in a robbery in Rostov-on-Don in 1911. Tartakower stayed mainly in Austria. He graduated from the law faculties of universities in Geneva and Vienna. He spoke both German and French perfectly. During his studies he became interested in chess and started attending chess meetings in various cafés for chess players in Vienna. He met many notable masters of the time, among them Carl Schlechter, Géza Maróczy (against whom he later won what was probably his most famous brilliancy), Milan Vidmar, and Richard Réti. His first achievement was first place in a tournament in Nuremberg in 1906. Three years later he achieved second place in the tournament in Vienna, losing only to Réti.
During World War I he was drafted into the Austro-Hungarian army, and served as a staff officer on various posts. He went to the Russian front with the Viennese infantry house-regiment.
After the war he emigrated to France, and settled in Paris. Although Tartakower did not even speak Polish, after Poland regained its independence in 1918 he accepted Polish citizenship and became one of the most prominent honorary ambassadors of Poland abroad. He was the captain and trainer of Polish Chess Team in six international tournaments, winning a gold medal for Poland at the Hamburg Olympiad in 1930.
In France, he decided to become a professional chess player. He also started cooperating with various chess-related magazines, as well as writing several books and brochures related to chess. The most famous of these, Die Hypermoderne Schachpartie ("The Hypermodernist Chess Game") was published in 1924 and has been issued in almost a hundred editions since. Tartakower took part in many of the most important chess tournaments of the epoch. In 1927 and 1928 he won two tournaments in Hastings and shared first place with Aron Nimzowitsch in London. On the latter occasion, he defeated such notable players as Frank Marshall, Milan Vidmar, and Efim Bogoljubov. In 1930 he won the Liège tournament, beating Mir Sultan Khan by two points. Further down the list were, among others, Akiba Rubinstein, Nimzowitsch, and Marshall.
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