Viktors Rosenbergs was a Latvian chess player who is notable for two reasons. First, he was the first serious chess teacher of Vladimir Petrov. In 1922 Vladimirs Petrovs challenged Rosenbergs to a blitz match of 100 games. Rosenbergs established a large lead, but Petrovs learned quickly and narrowly won the match.1
Second, in September 1935 Rosenbergs earned a modicum of fame by defeating Alexander Alekhine in a simultaneous exhibition game in Riga. Rosenbergs received a 15 lats prize, which was rather a large sum at that time. Rosenbergs was one of 15 Riga chessplayers to defeat Alekhine during this exhibition.2
Vladimirs Petrovs, who supervised the event, generously said "Our players played very well, but it is clear that Alekhine had insufficient rest after the Warsaw Olympics."1 Alekhine was equally generous in his comments about his Rigan opponents: "This is the first simultaneous in my life where I have scored below 50%. True, I felt somewhat tired after Warsaw, but the Riga players are due for recognition... I can say that Moscow and St. Petersburg now have been joined by another city where the chess standards are exceptionally high."1
Notes
1. Andris Fride, "Vladimirs Petrovs, a Chessplayer's Story: From Greatness to the Gulags" (Caissa Editions, 2004), pp. 10-11
2.Val Zemitis, "Encyclopedia of Latvian Chessplayers Volume II: 1900-2000 L-Z" (Old Amber Publishing Company, Davis CA, 2009), p.55
Kibitzing
