Nicolas Rossolimo

Nicolas Rossolimo (February 28, 1910, Kiev – July 24, 1975, New York) was an American-French-Russian-Greek chess Grandmaster. He was many times champion of Paris, France, and after relocating to the United States won the 1955 U.S. Open Championship. He earned many brilliancy prizes for his games, authored two chess books, and ran a popular chess studio in New York.

The Rossolimo Variation of the Sicilian Defence bears his name.

Biography and chess career

Nikolai Spiridonovich Rossolimo (Russian: Николай Спиридонович Россолимо) was born in Ukraine when it was part of the Russian Empire, to Spiridon Rossolimo, a painter and portraitist, and his wife née Ksenia Nikolaevna Skugarevskaya, an aristocratic writer and war correspondent.^[1] He was a nephew of the famous Russian neurologist and psychiatrist Grigory Ivanovich Rossolimo. He lived in Moscow during the mid-1920s, and moved to Paris with his Russian mother in 1929.

Having finished second behind former World Champion José Raúl Capablanca in a tournament in Paris in 1938, he won the French Championship in 1948.^[2] Moreover he was Paris Champion a record seven times, and drew two matches in 1948 and 1949 with Savielly Tartakower. In 1955 he won the U.S. Open Championship held in Long Beach, California, on tiebreaks ahead of Samuel Reshevsky. The prize was a new Buick automobile.

Rossolimo played for France in the Chess Olympiads of 1950 and 1972, and for the United States in 1958, 1960, and 1966.^[3] He was awarded the International Master title in 1950 and the International Grandmaster title in 1953.

In 1952, he moved to the U.S. with his wife Véra and son Alexander to rejoin his mother and Greek father in New York. (After moving to the U.S., his first name was often spelled "Nicholas".) In New York he worked as a waiter, a taxi driver, played the accordion and worked as a singer, and ran a chess studio as well to support himself and his family. The legendary Rossolimo Chess Studio was located in Greenwich Village in Manhattan. It was somewhat like a café that served food and drinks, and also sold chess sets and books, but where members of the public – including famous artists such as Marcel Duchamp – could come and play chess with each other, and occasionally play Nick Rossolimo himself for a fee (Rossolimo would play simultaneous chess with many of the patrons).

Rossolimo died of head injuries following a fall down a flight of stairs, just after finishing third in his final event, the 1975 World Open.^[4]

Chess talent

The strongest players Rossolimo defeated were Efim Bogoljubov, David Bronstein, and former World Champion Max Euwe, against whom he had two wins and a lifetime plus score. He also scored draws against four world champions: José Capablanca, Max Euwe, Bobby Fischer, and Vassily Smyslov.

Rossolimo won many brilliancy and "best-game" prizes for his beautiful chess games, and has been called an "artist of chess".^[5][6] Here is one of Rossolimo's most celebrated brilliancies:

Nicolas Rossolimo–Paul Reissman, San Juan 1967
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Qb3 Nce7 11.0-0 c6 12.Rfe1 0-0 13.a4 b6? 14.Ne5 Bb7 15.a5 Rc8 16.Ne4 Qc7 17.a6! Ba8 18.Qh3 Nf4 19.Qg4 Ned5 20.Ra3 Ne6 21.Bxd5 cxd5 22.Nf6+ Kh8 23.Qg6!! Qc2 24.Rh3! 1–0

Legacy

One of Rossolimo's more enduring innovations is the variation of the Sicilian Defence which bears his name – the Rossolimo Attack: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5. While generally steering clear of the tactical fireworks common to open Sicilians, the Rossolimo Variation offers White some chance of an opening advantage, while allowing the first player to sidestep massive quantities of theory associated with the open Sicilian.^[7]

Other

Rossolimo wrote two books: Les Echecs au coin du feu, a collection of his studies and endgames with a preface by Savielly Tartakower, published in Paris in 1947; and Rossolimo's Brilliancy Prizes, self-published in New York in 1970. He also made a record of songs in Russian, French, and English, with an album cover designed by Marcel Duchamp and produced by the Kismet Record Company.^[8] He is the hero of a chapter in the book, Losing Moses on the Freeway.^[9] Nicolas Rossolimo also held a brown belt in judo.

Tournaments and matches

The following table gives Rossolimo's placings and scores in a number of major tournaments and matches. (The "Score" column gives the number of points / the total possible. The "+" indicates the number of won games, "−" the number of losses, and "=" the number of draws.)

References

1. ^ Globe Trotter, "Дневник 1899–1906", New York: Rausen Bros., 1951.
2. ^ Championnats de France (French)
3. ^ OlimpBase Men's Chess Olympiads Nicolas Rossolimo
4. ^ Nicholas Rossolimo: 1910–1975. Requiem for a Grand Master, by Jerry Kantor // The Village Voice – Aug 25, 1975.
5. ^ Авербах Ю. "Художник шахмат. К 100-летию Николая Россолимо" // 64 – Шахматное обозрение, № 10, 2010. (Translation of reference: "Artist of Chess. On the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nicolas Rossolimo", by Yuri Lvovich Averbakh – Shakhmatnoye Obozrenie, 64 (chess magazine), № 10, October 2010.)
6. ^ Harold Dondis and Patrick Wolff, "Chess Notes", The Boston Globe, 7 November 2011, page G15.
7. ^ Victor Bologan, The Rossolimo Sicilian: A Powerful Anti-Sicilian that Avoids Tons of Theory, New In Chess, 2011, ISBN 905691345X, ISBN 978-905691345, 256 pp.
8. ^ Nicolas Rossolimo – Russian Songs, Kismet Hi-Fi Recordings, vol. KR-5.
9. ^ Chris Hedges, Losing Moses on the Freeway, Chapter IX. Free Press, Simon & Schuster Inc., 2005.
10. ^ ^{a b} Individual standing

External links

• The Rossolimo Sicilian a three-part article
• Nicolas Rossolimo player profile at ChessGames.com