MIKHAIL CHIGORIN (born Nov-12-1850, died Jan-25-1908, 57 years old) Russia PRONUNCIATION: [what is this?] Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (Михаил Иванович Чигорин), born Gatchina RUS; died Lublin POL (Russian Empire). Chigorin (also spelled Tchigorin, Tjigorin, or Tschigorin) grew up as an orphan in Gatchina.(1) He died after a long illness on January 25, 1908, in Lublin, Poland,(2) in the presence of his wife and his daughter.(1) He was first buried in the Lublin cemetery, but was later moved to the Novodevichy Cemetery in St. Petersburg. Chigorin was the first Russian player to participate in International tournaments, and he is credited with initiating the flourishing of Chess in Russia in the 20th century.(3) Early Career He learned to play chess already at the Gatchina orphanage, where his schoolteacher was his first chess teacher. Later, Emmanuel Schiffers became his teacher.(1) Chigorin's first tournament appearance was at the 1875 St. Petersburg Handicap tournament, where he came in 3rd (Schiffers won).(2) In the following years, Chigorin only worked as the editor of Schachmaty and Schachmatny Listok.(2)(3) Yet his playing strength increased, and he won the St. Petersburg tournaments in 1877, 1879 and 1880.(4) He was also successful in matches against Schiffers, winning in Chigorin - Schiffers, 1st Match (1878), Chigorin - Schiffers, 3rd Match (1879) and 1880,(5) and narrowly losing in Chigorin - Schiffers, 2nd Match (1878). Chigorin also beat Semyon Alapin in matches in 1880 and 1881.(6) International events His first International tournament at 2nd DSB Congress, Berlin (1881) was a great success as he shared 3rd-4th place with Simon Winawer, both the first Eastern European players to compete internationally.(3) After a mediocre result at Vienna (1882), he came in 4th at London (1883). Chigorin had become one of the strongest players in the world,(3)(7) but took a break from tournament chess until 1889. He celebrated his comeback with a shared 1st place New York (1889) together with Max Weiss .(8) World Championship Matches He played two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz, losing Steinitz - Chigorin World Championship Match (1889) and Steinitz - Chigorin World Championship Rematch (1892). Later Career In matches, he drew World Championship Challengers Isidor Gunsberg in 1890,(9) and Siegbert Tarrasch in 1893.(10) Chigorin beat Wilhelm Steinitz in a 2-games cable match played from 1890 to 1891, which created widespread interest.(11)(12) One of his greatest successes was his 2nd place behind Harry Pillsbury in Hastings (1895) ahead of Dr. Emanuel Lasker, Siegbert Tarrasch and Wilhelm Steinitz, when his play was considered to have been the strongest in the tournament.(2)(3) Furthermore, he won 1st place in Budapest (1896) after play-off and at the King's Gambit tournament Vienna (1903). In 1906, Chigorin beat Georg Salwe in a match in Lodz.(13) Contributions to Chess Theory Chigorin has many openings named after him, most notably the Chigorin Variation of the Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♘c6 3.♗b5 a6 4.♗a4 ♘f6 5.0-0 ♗e7 6.♖e1 b5 7. ♗b3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 ♘a5) and Chigorin's Defense to the Queen's Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 ♘c6). Opinions Garry Kasparov : "In many respects his style was the forerunner of Alekhine's style, and in the mid-20th century the young Spassky - a great connoisseur of Chigorin's games - played in a similar manner..." (Garry Kasparov, On my great predecessors Part I, Everyman Chess, 2003, page 75) Sources (1) Olga M Kusakova-Chigorina, My Father, Mikhail Chigorin, Novoye Russkoye Slovo, No. 16290, February 2, 1958. Retrieved from mishanp, August 18, 2010, http://www.chessintranslation.com/2... (2) Adolf Zinkl in the Neuen Freien Presse of January 28, 1908. Reprinted on pages 40-41 of the February 1908 Wiener Schachzeitung. Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek" (3) St. Petersburger Zeitung of January 15, 1908. Reprinted on pages 38-40 of the February 1908 Wiener Schachzeitung. Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek" (4) Rod Edwards, 1877: http://www.edochess.ca/tournaments/... 1879: http://www.edochess.ca/tournaments/... 1880: http://www.edochess.ca/tournaments/... (5) Rod Edwards, 1880: http://www.edochess.ca/matches/m776... (6) Rod Edwards, 1880: http://www.edochess.ca/matches/m777... 1881: http://www.edochess.ca/matches/m792... (7) Rod Edwards, http://www.edochess.ca/players/p388... (8) Rod Edwards, http://www.edochess.ca/tournaments/... (9) Rod Edwards, http://www.edochess.ca/matches/m927... (10) Rod Edwards, http://www.edochess.ca/matches/m101... (11) Kurt Landsberger, William Steinitz - Chess Champion 2d ed. (McFarland 1995), p.251 (12) Page 6 of the New York Sun, November 20, 1890 (noted by John Blackstone (Las Vegas, NV, USA). Retrieved in Jacques N. Pope's http://www.chessarch.com/excavation... ); and Wilhelm Steinitz on page 4 of the New York Tribune, May 1, 1891. Retrieved in Edward Winter's C.N. 7851, http://www.chesshistory.com/ (13) Rod Edwards, http://www.edochess.ca/matches/m146... notes: Chigorin played consultation chess on the teams of Lasker / Chigorin / Marshall / Teichmann & Steinitz / Chigorin Last updated: 2025-04-13 18:15:20

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page 1 of 37; games 1-25 of 915  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Chigorin vs Davydow 1-0 27 1874 St. Petersburg C37 King's Gambit Accepted 2. V Knorre vs Chigorin 0-1 14 1874 St Petersburg C50 Giuoco Piano 3. Chigorin vs Shumov 1-0 25 1875 St Petersburg cg C34 King's Gambit Accepted 4. Chigorin vs Gratchevsky   1-0 18 1875 Knight Odds Game 000 Chess variants 5. NN vs Chigorin 0-1 27 1875 St. Petersburg C37 King's Gambit Accepted 6. Chigorin vs Alapin 1-0 29 1875 St Petersburg B45 Sicilian, Taimanov 7. Chigorin vs A Ascharin 1-0 29 1875 St. Petersburg Chess Club C27 Vienna Game 8. Winawer vs Chigorin 1-0 28 1875 St. Petersburg National t C52 Evans Gambit 9. Chigorin vs A Ascharin 1-0 29 1875 St. Petersburg National t B45 Sicilian, Taimanov 10. Schiffers vs Chigorin   0-1 37 1876 St. Petersburg Tournament-A C51 Evans Gambit 11. Chigorin vs Shumov 1-0 26 1876 St. Petersburg C21 Center Game 12. Shumov vs Chigorin   1-0 54 1876 St. Petersburg B40 Sicilian 13. Chigorin vs I Miasnikov / V Kolokoltsev 1-0 20 1876 corr C80 Ruy Lopez, Open 14. Chigorin vs I Miasnikov 1-0 16 1876 Casual C37 King's Gambit Accepted 15. Chigorin vs Schiffers 0-1 36 1876 St. Petersburg C50 Giuoco Piano 16. Chigorin vs A Ascharin   0-1 45 1876 St. Petersburg Tournament-A C25 Vienna 17. Chigorin vs A Khardin 1-0 37 1877 St. Petersburg C33 King's Gambit Accepted 18. Alapin vs Chigorin 0-1 21 1877 St. Petersburg National t C33 King's Gambit Accepted 19. Chigorin vs A Ascharin 1-0 25 1877 St. Petersburg B46 Sicilian, Taimanov Variation 20. Chigorin vs M Beskrovny 1-0 40 1877 St. Petersburg C59 Two Knights 21. Chigorin vs A Ascharin   ½-½ 39 1877 St. Petersburg National t C25 Vienna 22. Chigorin vs Alapin   1-0 31 1877 St. Petersburg National t C33 King's Gambit Accepted 23. Chigorin vs H Clemenz   0-1 24 1877 St. Petersburg National t C30 King's Gambit Declined 24. Chigorin vs Schiffers   1-0 50 1877 St. Petersburg National t C31 King's Gambit Declined, Falkbeer Counter Gambit 25. Schiffers vs Chigorin 1-0 20 1877 St. Petersburg National t C11 French  page 1 of 37; games 1-25 of 915

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 7 OF 12 ·  Later Kibitzing> Sep-04-07    FHBradley: <WilhelmThe2nd:> Thanks for the fascinating material! Feb-09-08    brankat: January 25th this year marked a hundredth anniversary of M.Chigorin's death. Yet, so many of his games are still full of life, vibrant youth, and excitement. Thank You for the games, Mikhail! Feb-09-08    Open Defence: If you observe closely you can see him allocating forums for analysis at chessgames.com :) Feb-09-08    Open Defence: yeah <chancho> proof of existence hehehe Feb-26-08    Knight13: By the time when Janowski went up against the horse lover Chigorin was past his time. That's why Chigorin lost to him so badly! (I seriously doubt Janowski was so beyond Chigorin's level) Mar-13-08    Knight13: Second place finisher in Hastings, 1895. Hastings result: (based on 22 rounds, in order) Chigorin 1 X 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 1 16 May-05-08    rudysanford: Are either Bogoljubov's or Santasiere's books on Chigorin worth getting? I saw that they are mentioned earlier in the thread but didn't see much of opinion one way or the other regarding their worth. I would guess that the Khalifman edition would be worthwhile, but I have not found a source yet. May-09-08    Resignation Trap: <rudysanford> I have a copy of "My Love Affair with Tchigorin", and I bought it primarily for Santasiere's annotations. It contains 100 games, 93 of which are on our database in this collection: Game Collection: Santasiere's "My Love Affair With Tchigorin" . The book has very little biographical information, and concentrates on his games. You can purchase a copy of it now on http://www.amazon.com for only $ 6.98 in new condition, just be sure to spell the name "Tchigorin". At that price, you can hardly go wrong. May-15-08    FHBradley: <rudysanford:> I have Bogoljubov's collection of Chigorin's selected games. It contains a rather insubstantial introduction by Raymond Keene plus 240 games annotated in the Informator style. The Khalifman & Soloviov book is better, as it contains a some details (much more than in the other book) plus 775 games of which 200 have been annotated (á la Informator). It's well worth having, if you are interested in (i) Chigorin; (ii) Chigorin's games; (iii) history of 19th and early 20th century chess; (iv) any combination of these. As the authors are Russian who presumably has access to rare material, I would have hoped more quotations from Chigorin himself. There's also a book on Tchigorin by Jimmy Adams from the late 80s. It's probably very good and a must for any serious Tchigorinist, but I haven't seen it and I don't think it's easily available. May-16-08    Knight13: Chessmetrics Player Profile: Mikhail Chigorin Born: 1850-Nov Died: 1908-Jan Best World Rank: #2 (17 different months between the October 1889 rating list and the September 1897 rating list ) Highest Rating: 2797 on the October 1895 rating list, #3 in world, age 44y11m Best Individual Performance: 2787 in Budapest, 1896, scoring 10/14 (71%) vs 2676-rated opposition May-18-08    FHBradley: <Knight13> I don't think you have given the right order for Tchigorin in Hastings 1895. For one thing, he lost to Janowski in round 20 in what may be the worst game of his entire career; it's strange how he was able to play some of his best chess and some of his worst chess in a very same tournament; but he was known to be somewhat unstable as a sportsman. May-18-08    Benzol: <Knight13> Chigorins progress in Hastings round by round can be traced in Game Collection: Hastings 1895 Hope this helps. :) Jun-24-08    FHBradley: For the first five players we have the following: Pillsbury 01½111111110½1½110111 Chigorin 111011111½1½0111½½101 Lasker 101011111½1111½1½1001 Tarrasch 00½10½1110½101½111111 Steinitz 1½111000011½1½½110101 Jun-24-08    FHBradley: And for the poor von Bardeleben we have the following: 1½½1111½1000½0½00½1½1 In the first nine rounds, he was playing the tournament of his life, and the rest was a misery. Sep-01-08    Geronimo: Geronimo: I've always admired Chigorin. If I remember correctly he started playing chess quite late in life (for a grandmaster), i.e. after 20 years old. Anybody know more about that? The Chigorin defense has a lot of life in it. I'm no master, but played against the unsuspecting, it can be quite devastating. For anyone who still holds onto the fiction that Chigo "preferred" knights over bishops, See Pillsbury vs Chigorin, 1896 and watch him go to town... Sep-01-08    Geronimo: Sorry, I meant: Pillsbury vs Chigorin, 1896 Sep-01-08    myschkin: . . . Chigorin 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. His first international tournament was Berlin 1881, where he became 3rd=. Sep-11-08    nimh: Chigorin is couple of levels above Modern 2100-rated players: http://www.zone.ee/chessanalysis/su... It's surprising for me that the forefather of russian chess exhibited such a good level of play, practically equal to Morphy. And what a pathetic level of accuracy by 2100-rated players... but it might be just a bad luck though Oct-23-08    Ladolcevita: Is this a portrait?No photos in colour?? I think this portait somehow touches me...... Nov-12-08    brankat: A 158 years since M.Chigorin's birth! And yet, so many of his games, and ideas, feel as fresh and new, as if they were played only recently. Two greatest players of the period, Chigorin and Steinitz were contemporaries, although the latter was 14 years older. They played 2 matches for the Champion's title, in 1889 and 1892. Steinitz prevailed both times. They were very much different in how they saw the game, in approach, and style. Here is Fred Reinfeld's comment: "These two geniuses had an unrivaled insight into the nature of chess. Whereas the popularizers think of chess as being amenable to order, logic, exactitude, calculation, foresight and other comparable qualities, Steinitz and Tchigorin agreed on one thing: that chess can be, and often is, as irrational as life itself. It is full of disorder, imperfection, blunders, inexactitudes, fortuitous happenings, and unforeseen consequences. But whereas Steinitz strove with all his might to impose order on the irrational, Tchigorin went to the other extreme. Let us surrender to the irrational, he said in effect. Steinitz tried to banish the unforeseen. Tchigorin took delight in it. Steinitz sought order, system, logic, balance, broad basic postulates; Tchigorin wanted surprise, change, novelty, glitter, the lightning stroke from a clear sky." It may be of interest to some to note that Bobby Fischer held Chigorin in very high regard, and during the preparations for his match with Spassky in 1972, he spent just as much time studying the games of M.Chigorin as he did the work of Spassky. Fischer considered himself a disciple of W.Steinitz, and Spassky a disciple of M.Chigorin. R.I.P. Master Mikhail! Nov-12-08    FHBradley: I think Yuri Shulman somewhere said that he reached the level of an IM studying the games of Alekhine and Tchigorin. Happy birthday Gospodin Mikhail! Nov-12-08    talisman: <brankat> i did not know that about fischer. thanks. happy birtday big guy. Nov-22-08    Karpova: I just finished a game collection on the Game Collection: Lodz triple-round match tournament 1906 but I'm not quite sure about Chigorin's games against Salwe (the ones against Flamberg were submitted to chessgames.com and they don't seem to have met in another tournament but maybe someone else knows more about this also): As you know, Chigorin played a match against Salwe preceding that tournament. Most of the Salwe-Chigorin games are missing from the database. I tried http://db.mychess.com/ where more games between them are to be found but it's also not so clear where they are from. So, who knows which games between Chigorin and Salwe are from their match and which are from that tournament? I chose these three games: Chigorin vs Salwe, 1906 Salwe vs Chigorin, 1906 Chigorin vs Salwe, 1906 Nov-22-08    sneaky pete: <Karpova> The 3 games you chose are also given, in that order, as played in the tournament by Khalifman and Soloviov (1999 edition of their Chess Stars collection). They have only 9 games of the preceding match, so most likely the other 6 games were not preserved. Nov-22-08    Karpova: <sneaky pete> Thank you very much! Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 12) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 7 OF 12 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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