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Nicolas Rossolimo

Rossolimo ponders his move at a simultaneous exhibition 1951

NICOLAS ROSSOLIMO (born Feb-28-1910, died Jul-24-1975, 65 years old) United States of America [what is this?] Nicholas Rossolimo was born in Kiev. Awarded the IM title at its inception in 1950 and the GM title in 1953, he moved to Paris with his Russian mother in 1929. Whilst in France Rossolimo finished second behind Jose Raul Capablanca in 1938 in a tournament in Paris, won the French Championship in 1948, was Paris Champion five times and drew two matches, in 1948 and 1949 with Savielly Tartakower. In 1953 Rossolimo moved to the USA to be with his parents. He worked as a bellhop, a taxi driver, played the accordion and worked as a singer as well as running a chess studio to support himself. In 1955, Rossolimo won the U.S. Open in Long Beach. His prize was a Buick car. A multi-talented man, Rossolimo spoke five languages, recorded an album Russian Songs (with cover art by Marcel Duchamp), and earned a brown belt in judo. On July 24, 1975, he died of head injuries three days after accidentally falling down two flights of stairs in New York. Earlier in the month, Rossolimo had finished clear third at the World Open, behind Pal Benko and Alan Trefler. YouTube documentary made by <jessicafischerqueen>, <Crawfb5> and <Annie K.>: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis... Wikipedia article: Nicolas Rossolimo https://www.chesstour.com/wo75s.htm Last updated: 2025-01-23 10:52:18

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page 1 of 23; games 1-25 of 560  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. N Petukhov vs Rossolimo   0-1 29 1927 Moscow Trade Workers' Championship E12 Queen's Indian 2. Tartakower vs Rossolimo 1-0 27 1936 Paris B63 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack 3. Rossolimo vs L Monosson   1-0 30 1936 Paris Championship A46 Queen's Pawn Game 4. I Koenig vs Rossolimo   0-1 30 1937 Paris (l'Expostion) B06 Robatsch 5. Capablanca vs Rossolimo 1-0 29 1938 Paris D63 Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense 6. Rossolimo vs Capablanca ½-½ 16 1938 Paris C50 Giuoco Piano 7. C Chaude de Silans vs Rossolimo ½-½ 34 1939 Paris A54 Old Indian, Ukrainian Variation, 4.Nf3 8. Rossolimo vs L Monosson   1-0 41 1939 Paris Championship A46 Queen's Pawn Game 9. Rossolimo vs J Foltys   1-0 46 1947 FRA-CSR A13 English 10. Rossolimo vs Pachman 0-1 39 1947 Hilversum Zonal A97 Dutch, Ilyin-Genevsky 11. A Tsvetkov vs Rossolimo   1-0 63 1947 Hilversum Zonal A41 Queen's Pawn Game (with ...d6) 12. Rossolimo vs Szabo 0-1 44 1947 Hilversum Zonal A13 English 13. T van Scheltinga vs Rossolimo   1-0 66 1947 Hilversum Zonal A57 Benko Gambit 14. Rossolimo vs C Doerner   1-0 57 1947 Hilversum Zonal A04 Reti Opening 15. Rossolimo vs K Plater   ½-½ 34 1947 Hilversum Zonal A04 Reti Opening 16. B O'Sullivan vs Rossolimo 0-1 10 1947 Hilversum Zonal E17 Queen's Indian 17. Rossolimo vs M Blau   1-0 48 1947 Hilversum Zonal A04 Reti Opening 18. O'Kelly vs Rossolimo 1-0 41 1947 Hilversum Zonal E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical 19. Rossolimo vs Y Porat   ½-½ 45 1947 Hilversum Zonal A15 English 20. C H Alexander vs Rossolimo 0-1 38 1947 Hilversum Zonal C18 French, Winawer 21. Rossolimo vs V Castaldi 1-0 16 1947 Hilversum Zonal D01 Richter-Veresov Attack 22. P Trifunovic vs Rossolimo   ½-½ 25 1947 Hilversum Zonal A47 Queen's Indian 23. Rossolimo vs I Romanenko 1-0 17 1948 Salzburg B31 Sicilian, Rossolimo Variation 24. L Prins vs Rossolimo   1-0 73 1948 Hoogovens B54 Sicilian 25. H van Steenis vs Rossolimo   1-0 66 1948 Hoogovens B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen  page 1 of 23; games 1-25 of 560

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 5 ·  Later Kibitzing> Dec-07-02    Sneaky: "Nicolas Rossolimo, born in Kiev, spent his youth in France and was French champion in 1948. After becoming a GM in 1953, awarded the title on the basis of several fine European results, he emigrated to the United States and soon after opened his famous chess studio in New York City's Greenwich Village. In 1955 he won the U.S. Open and represented America at the chess Olympaids in 1958, 1960, and 1966. A superb combinational player, Rossolimo was more interested in creating beautiful games than in playing to win. Although occasionally inconsistent he was a genuine chess artist and has left us a rich legacy of brilliancies." -- Fred Wilson Dec-07-02    Kenneth Sterling: Wasn't he the guy who drove a taxi? I always thought he was from Greece. Dec-07-02    Kulla Tierchen: He died a heinous death after a person or persons unknown pushed him down a flight a stairs. He was not found for a long period, then lingered on and died several days later. It was scandal at the time. Dec-07-02    Sneaky: My God, that's horrible. Dec-07-02    PVS: I think he recorded an record album of Russian folk songs. He was born in Kiev, but spent some of his youth in Greece. Dec-07-02    THE GENERAL: THANK YOU. Feb-22-03    dippel: As chess player Rossolimo reminds me of Paul Morphy or Frank Marshall. Look what he did to Reissmann in 1967 In Puerto Rico: Rossolimo vs P Reissman, 1967 23. Dg6!! An amazing attack. Just as Frank Marshall did it - 23…Dg3!! in 1912 in Breslau to Stepan Levitzky. Aug-08-03    Sylvester: This is a really cool guy to have as player of the day. Aug-08-03    myratingstinks: I couldn't find anything online on this player. A little help would be appreciated :) Mar-24-04    capanegra: I’m searching for a game played by Rossolimo in 1944 during his stay in Paris. This is the only information I have. I discovered it in an old Argentinean paper, in which this game was the puzzle of the day. Rossolimo plays White, and wins with an incredible outstanding mating combination (if someone wants the position I can provide it later). Does anyone have a collection of Rossolimo’s games of that period? Mar-24-04    ruylopez900: Did Rossolimo really play this little or (as I suspect) is chessgames.com missing some of his games? Mar-25-04    capanegra: Nicolas Rossolimo (1910-1975): Born in Kiev of Greek parents who moved to France, winning the Paris championship ten times, then to the U.S. where he won the U.S. Open in 1955 (a new Buick). He made a record of Russian folk songs, earned a brown belt in judo, and was a taxi driver in Paris and New York City. He played on three U.S. Olympic teams and was on the French Olympic team in 1972. He died in Greenwich village at his chess club, after falling down a flight of stairs. Mar-25-04    nikolaas: He made also chess problems. Mar-25-04    capanegra: Yes. Here’s a very pretty one composed at 18 years before leaving the Ukraine for France in 1929. White to play and wins. WW: ♔g3; ♘a6; ♖g7 BB: ♔c8; ♗f1; ♙h2 Mar-26-04    nikolaas: This is a good one: W: kg2, qe6, ba1, nf3 b: kh7, qb4, rf8, pg7, ph6 Mar-26-04    capanegra: <nikolaas> Not sure because I don’t have the chessboard with me right now (just paper and pencil; it’s difficult when you work in an office), but I think I’ve got it: 1.♕d7 ♖g8 2.♕f5+ ♔h8 3.♕g6 ♕f4 4.♔f2 ♕c1 5.♗e5 ♕h1 6.♗b2 ♕h3 7.♔g1. After this, the queen must leave the protection of the h6 pawn, and Black gets mated. Is it correct? Mar-27-04    nikolaas: The 5th move is ♗e4 to avoid ♕cg+.I don't know or it makes a difference (I also haven't a chessboard near me) but I think it does. Mar-27-04    capanegra: <nikolaas> Oops, you are right. Then it is 5.♗d4 ♕f4 (if 5…♕h1 6.♗b2 ♕h3 7.♔g1) 6.♗b2 and the queen runs out of checks. Nice example of the Knight’s capacity to protect the King against the checks of a queen. Did you take a look at the problem I posted previously? <nikolaas> By the way, if you want to post any game which is not in the database, go to PGN Upload Utility I read also that Rossolimo was the precursor of the “random chess”. Later, Fischer took his idea and proposed a change in chess rules, following the “random chess” principles. It consists in raffling the initial location of the pieces behind the Pawns line, with certain conditions (Bishops must have different colors, one Rook must be at the left side of the King and the other at the right side, and the castle is permitted as usual). Fischer said that this variety brought more possibilities to innovate in the opening, because it allowed approximately 550 different initial positions. In 2001, Peter Leko and Michael Adams played a match with this modality, and Leko won by 4.5 to 3.5. Mar-27-04    nikolaas: <capanegra> Thanks I already know. I'll try your problem, but my endgames are disastrous. Mar-27-04    nikolaas: That "random chess" seems strange to me. I brings indeed more possibilities but it it always to nice to see what a difference possiblilities can rise from the same beginning. Mar-28-04    arthur nugent: As to the question of his death I'm not sure that it was deliberate.Do we have proof? His collegues don't seem to support this and they are outspoken.(Evans,Benko) N. Rossilimo wrote an article in Chess Life(late sixties?) complaining about the need to play for the point and eliminating creativity!Does anyone have that article.Would make interesting reading. Arthur Sep-08-04    capanegra: Rossolimo once made, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful mating combination ever seen on a chessboard. And he did it playing a simul! http://www.ajedrezenmadrid.com/teor... (problem number 7) Sep-08-04    Lawrence: <capanegra>, that mate is called <Philidor's Legacy> and there are many examples. Sep-08-04    Giancarlo: <Philidor's Legacy> Kasparov vs Wahls, 1992 Sep-08-04    iron maiden: <capanegra> For more examples, check the Game Collection: Philidor's Legacy. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 5) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 5 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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