Judit Polgár
Mikhail Tal 1961
Mikhail Botvinnik
Isabelle Choko
Emanuel Lasker
Wilhelm Steinitz
Siegbert Tarrasch
Aron Nimzowitsch
Akiba Rubinstein
Viktor Korchnoi
Savielly Tartakower
Boris Gelfand
Jennifer Shahade
Alexander Khalifman

Jewish players and theoreticians have long been involved in the game of chess and have significantly contributed to the development of chess, which has been described as the "Jewish national game". 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, four were Jewish or had some Jewish ancestry: Wilhelm Steinitz, Emanuel Lasker, Mikhail Botvinnik and Mikhail Tal. 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 does not identify as Jewish, although one of his parents did. Similarly, Bobby Fischer, the highest rated player in history when he became world champion in 1972, is believed to have had two Jewish parents, although Fischer himself was antisemitic and strongly denied having a Jewish identity, the topic of his father was a very sensitive topic to Bobby Fischer. 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]

List

The list refers to chess players who are Jewish and have attained outstanding achievements in chess.

See also

References

  1. ^ Abrahams (11 Jan 2013). Jewish Life In The Middle Ages. Routledge.
  2. ^ Israel Abrahams. Jewish Life in the Middle Ages. p. 390.
  3. ^ H. J. R. Murray (2015). A History of Chess: The Original 1913 Edition. p. 221.
  4. ^ Winter, Edward. "Chess and Jews". chesshistory.com. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  5. ^ "Greatest Chess Players". Chessgame.com.
  6. ^ Berkovich, Felix (2000). Jewish Chess Masters on Stamps. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. pp. Chapter 5.
  7. ^ Elo, Arpad (1978). The Rating of Chess Players, Past and Present. New York: ARCO.
  8. ^ "World Top Chess players". FIDE.
  9. ^ Rabinowitz, Gavin (2005-01-30). "Beersheba Masters Kings, Knights, Pawns". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 30, 2005.
  10. ^ "OlimpBase :: The encyclopaedia of team chess". Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2013-03-13.
  11. ^ Isidore Singer, Cyrus Adler (1964). The Jewish encyclopedia: a descriptive record of the history, religion, literature, and customs of the Jewish people from the earliest times. Vol. 4. KTAV. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
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  13. ^ S. Tinsley (1892). The Dresden Tournament: A Review. The British Chess Magazine. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Jewish Chess Players". JInfo.org. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
  15. ^ "Chairman of the board". Haaretz.
  16. ^ David Spanier (1984). Total chess. Dutton. ISBN 0-525-24302-X. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Peter S. Horvitz (2007). The Big Book of Jewish Sports Heroes: An Illustrated Compendium of Sports History and The 150 Greatest Jewish Sports Stars. SP Books. ISBN 978-1-56171-907-5. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  18. ^ Hearst, Eliot; Knott, John (2009-04-03). Blindfold Chess: History, Psychology, Techniques, Champions, World Records, and Important Games. ISBN 978-0-7864-5292-7. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  19. ^ Adler, Cyrus; Szold, Henrietta (December 3, 2007). American Jewish year book. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  20. ^ (MomOnaBreak) (2023-04-21). "Isabelle Choko: Holocaust Survivor Who Became A Chess Champion". Chess.com. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  21. ^ Seidler, Fritz (October 23, 2006). The bloodless pogrom. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  22. ^ a b Chess, JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved on 2010-06-21.
  23. ^ Bermant, Chaim (January 23, 1995). The Jews. ISBN 978-0-297-77419-8. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  24. ^ Postal, Bernard; Silver, Jesse; Silver, Roy (October 9, 2008). Encyclopedia of Jews in sports. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  25. ^ Greenberg, Martin Harry (November 1979). The Jewish lists: physicists and ... ISBN 978-0-8052-3711-5. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  26. ^ Interview with Fred Wilson
  27. ^ The Chess player's chronicle. May 14, 2007. Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  28. ^ "Jews In CHess". The Jewish Record. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
  29. ^ Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (September 10, 2009). The Oxford companion to chess. ISBN 978-0-19-280049-7. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  30. ^ a b c d e Yaffe, Charles D. (2010-06-28). Alekhine's Anguish: A Novel of the Chess World. ISBN 978-0-7864-8229-0. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  31. ^ Greenberg, Martin Harry (November 1979). The Jewish lists: physicists and ... ISBN 978-0-8052-3711-5. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  32. ^ Gilbert, Martin (February 16, 2007). The Jews of hope. ISBN 978-0-670-80377-4. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  33. ^ Branover, Herman; Berlin, Isaiah; Wagner, Zeev (August 28, 2008). The Encyclopedia of Russian Jewry: Biographies, A-I. ISBN 978-0-7657-9981-4. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  34. ^ Branover, Herman; Berlin, Isaiah; Wagner, Zeev (August 28, 2008). The Encyclopedia of Russian Jewry: Biographies, A-I. ISBN 978-0-7657-9981-4. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  35. ^ The British chess magazine. May 22, 2007. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  36. ^ "Russian Jewish Encyclopedia". Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  37. ^ The British chess magazine. January 21, 2010. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  38. ^ Greenberg, Martin Harry (1979). The Jewish lists: physicists and ... ISBN 978-0-8052-3711-5. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  39. ^ Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (September 10, 2009). The Oxford companion to chess. ISBN 978-0-19-280049-7. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  40. ^ Ribalow, Harold Uriel (June 4, 2009). The Jew in American sports. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  41. ^ The economist. October 14, 2008. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  42. ^ Spanier, David (July 28, 2008). Total chess. ISBN 978-0-525-24302-1. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  43. ^ a b "2013 Maccabiah Games – The Jewish Olympics". July 24, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2016.
  44. ^ "10-year-old chess champ is king of the board". 7 April 2006.
  45. ^ Weinfeld, Eduardo (September 1, 2009). Enciclopedia judaica castellana: El ... Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  46. ^ "Judit Polgár". Jewish Virtual Library.
  47. ^ Greenberg, Martin Harry (November 1979). The Jewish lists: physicists and ... ISBN 978-0-8052-3711-5. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  48. ^ a b c Shapiro, Michael (1997). The Jewish 100: a ranking of the ... ISBN 978-0-684-81934-1. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  49. ^ "Fide Archive". 2023-02-07. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  50. ^ Ben-Dak, Yehudit Haspel (2022-04-27). "Jennifer Shahade: Jewish-Arab. Woman. Chess Champion, and Poker Winner". Retrieved 2023-08-20.
  51. ^ jewish chess "Sosonko". Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  52. ^ Greenberg, Martin Harry (November 1979). The Jewish lists: physicists and ... ISBN 978-0-8052-3711-5. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  53. ^ Greenberg, Martin Harry (November 1979). The Jewish lists: physicists and ... ISBN 978-0-8052-3711-5. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  54. ^ Greenberg, Martin Harry (November 1979). The Jewish lists: physicists and ... ISBN 978-0-8052-3711-5. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  55. ^ Avrum Ehrlich, M. (2009). Encyclopedia of the Jewish diaspora ... ISBN 978-1-85109-873-6. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  56. ^ Hurst, Sarah (July 2003). Curse of Kirsan: Adventures in the Chess Underworld. ISBN 978-1-888690-15-6. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  57. ^ Draitser, Emil (2008-09-04). Shush!: growing up Jewish under ... ISBN 978-0-520-94225-7. Retrieved June 4, 2010.
  58. ^ Chess life. January 20, 2010. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  59. ^ "В Москве состоялась презентация "Шахматной еврейской энциклопедии"".
  60. ^ Weinreb, Michael (2007-12-27). Game of Kings: A Year Among the Geeks, Oddballs, and Geniuses Who Make Up America's Top High School Chess Team. ISBN 978-1-59240-338-7. Retrieved June 4, 2010.

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