On Feb 16, 6:47*pm, RookHouse wrote:

What do we know about Tolush, other than he was Spassky's mentor and
won the 1953 Bucharest tournament??

From the Oxford Companion (2nd edition):

Tolush, Alexander Kazimirovich (1910-1969): Soviet player, GM 1953,
ICCM 1965, chess journalist. Though he was an outstanding master of
attack, his play was never sound enough for the highest honors. A
citizen of Leningrad, where he coached Spassky from 1951 to 1961 ...
The best of his ten attempts to win the USSR championship we 1950,
second (+9 =6 -3) equal with Aronin and Lipnitsky, after Keres; 1952,
fourth (+8 =7 -4) equal with Boleslavsky, after Botvinnik, Taimanov
and Geller, ahead of Bronstein; and 1957, fourth (+10 =6 -5) equal
with Spassky, after Tal, Bronstein and Keres.

Sunnucks' encyclopedia says that he made Soviet national master in
1938, served in the Red Army in WW II, then really blossomed, winning
the Leningrad Ch 1946 and 1947.

Elo sets his peak 5-year rating at 2560.

Soltis' "Soviet Chess 1917-1991" has many references to Tolush, far
too many to cite here. He studied under Peter Romanovsky, and
"eventually adopted Romanovsky's love of combinations and tactics and
passed it on to his students, principally Boris Spassky." Soltis
mentions that Tolush could have stayed exempt from military service
due to circulatory problems in his legs, but he nevertheless
volunteered and earned the rank of lieutenant.
He features an interesting game from the 13th Soviet Championship,
in which Tolush beat Botvinnik using a 19th-century opening:

[Event "URS-ch13"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1944.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tolush, Alexander V"]
[Black "Botvinnik, Mikhail"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C22"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "1944.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[Source "ChessBase"]

1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 Nge7 6. Bd2 O-O 7.
O-O-O d6
8. Qg3 Kh8 9. f4 f5 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Qe8 12. Nf3 f4 13. Qf2 Bg4
14. Re1 Rd8
15. Bd3 Qh5 16. Be4 Ba5 17. h3 Bf5 18. Rhf1 Bb6 19. Qe2 Be6 20. a3 a6
21. Bd3
Ba7 22. Ne4 Nd5 23. g4 Qe8 24. Neg5 Bg8 25. Qe4 Ne3 26. e6 Rxd3 27.
Qxd3 h6 28.
Nf7+ Bxf7 29. exf7 Qxf7 30. Bxe3 Bxe3+ 31. Kb1 Rd8 32. Qc3 Qd5 33. h4
Qe4 34.
h5 Rd5 35. g5 hxg5 36. h6 Qg6 37. hxg7+ Qxg7 38. Rh1+ Kg8 39. Qc4 Qf7
40. Qb3
Nd8 41. Rh5 Qxh5 42. Qxd5+ Nf7 43. Qe4

At this point Soltis comments "Tolush had whispered his slogan,
'Forward Kazimirich!' as he tightened the net around the black king.
Botvinnik, in severe time pressure, rushed to make the control at move
56."

43...Kf8 44. Rd1 g4 45. Ne1 Nd6 46. Qe6 g3
47. Rd5 Qf7 48. Qh6+ Qg7 49. Qh4 Nf7 50. Ng2 Qg6 51. Rd7 Kg8 52. Qe7
b6 53. Nh4
Qh5 54. Qf6 Bc5 55. Ng6 g2 56. Qxf7# 1-0

"You're mated, Mikhail Moiseyevich!" Tolush announced loudly.
(Soltis)

To play in this event, Tolush had been given a break from front-line
duty fighting the Germans. I guess he had to go back to the front when
the tournament was over. Shows how much the Russians valued chess!

On Feb 17, 10:12*am, wrote:
On Feb 16, 6:47*pm, RookHouse wrote:



What do we know about Tolush, other than he was Spassky's mentor and
won the 1953 Bucharest tournament??

* From the Oxford Companion (2nd edition):

* Tolush, Alexander Kazimirovich (1910-1969): Soviet player, GM 1953,
ICCM 1965, chess journalist. Though he was an outstanding master of
attack, his play was never sound enough for the highest honors. A
citizen of Leningrad, where he coached Spassky from 1951 to 1961 ...
The best of his ten attempts to win the USSR championship we 1950,
second (+9 =6 -3) equal with Aronin and Lipnitsky, after Keres; 1952,
fourth (+8 =7 -4) equal with Boleslavsky, after Botvinnik, Taimanov
and Geller, ahead of Bronstein; and 1957, fourth (+10 =6 -5) equal
with Spassky, after Tal, Bronstein and Keres.

* Sunnucks' encyclopedia says that he made Soviet national master in
1938, served in the Red Army in WW II, then really blossomed, winning
the Leningrad Ch 1946 and 1947.

* Elo sets his peak 5-year rating at 2560.

* Soltis' "Soviet Chess 1917-1991" has many references to Tolush, far
too many to cite here. He studied under Peter Romanovsky, and
"eventually adopted Romanovsky's love of combinations and tactics and
passed it on to his students, principally Boris Spassky." Soltis
mentions that Tolush could have stayed exempt from military service
due to circulatory problems in his legs, but he nevertheless
volunteered and earned the rank of lieutenant.
* He features an interesting game from the 13th Soviet Championship,
in which Tolush beat Botvinnik using a 19th-century opening:

[Event "URS-ch13"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1944.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tolush, Alexander V"]
[Black "Botvinnik, Mikhail"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C22"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "1944.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[Source "ChessBase"]

1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 Nge7 6. Bd2 O-O 7.
O-O-O d6
8. Qg3 Kh8 9. f4 f5 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Qe8 12. Nf3 f4 13. Qf2 Bg4
14. Re1 Rd8
15. Bd3 Qh5 16. Be4 Ba5 17. h3 Bf5 18. Rhf1 Bb6 19. Qe2 Be6 20. a3 a6
21. Bd3
Ba7 22. Ne4 Nd5 23. g4 Qe8 24. Neg5 Bg8 25. Qe4 Ne3 26. e6 Rxd3 27.
Qxd3 h6 28.
Nf7+ Bxf7 29. exf7 Qxf7 30. Bxe3 Bxe3+ 31. Kb1 Rd8 32. Qc3 Qd5 33. h4
Qe4 34.
h5 Rd5 35. g5 hxg5 36. h6 Qg6 37. hxg7+ Qxg7 38. Rh1+ Kg8 39. Qc4 Qf7
40. Qb3
Nd8 41. Rh5 Qxh5 42. Qxd5+ Nf7 43. Qe4

* At this point Soltis comments "Tolush had whispered his slogan,
'Forward Kazimirich!' as he tightened the net around the black king.
Botvinnik, in severe time pressure, rushed to make the control at move
56."

43...Kf8 44. Rd1 g4 45. Ne1 Nd6 46. Qe6 g3
47. Rd5 Qf7 48. Qh6+ Qg7 49. Qh4 Nf7 50. Ng2 Qg6 51. Rd7 Kg8 52. Qe7
b6 53. Nh4
Qh5 54. Qf6 Bc5 55. Ng6 g2 56. Qxf7# 1-0

* "You're mated, Mikhail Moiseyevich!" Tolush announced loudly.
(Soltis)

* To play in this event, Tolush had been given a break from front-line
duty fighting the Germans. I guess he had to go back to the front when
the tournament was over. Shows how much the Russians valued chess!

Thanks for the info. I actually own the Soltis' "Soviet Chess
1917-1991" book, but have not looked through it yet.

I have this bad habit of buying chess books faster than I have time to
actually read them.

On Feb 17, 11:44*am, RookHouse wrote:
On Feb 17, 10:12*am, wrote:





On Feb 16, 6:47*pm, RookHouse wrote:

What do we know about Tolush, other than he was Spassky's mentor and
won the 1953 Bucharest tournament??

* From the Oxford Companion (2nd edition):

* Tolush, Alexander Kazimirovich (1910-1969): Soviet player, GM 1953,
ICCM 1965, chess journalist. Though he was an outstanding master of
attack, his play was never sound enough for the highest honors. A
citizen of Leningrad, where he coached Spassky from 1951 to 1961 ...
The best of his ten attempts to win the USSR championship we 1950,
second (+9 =6 -3) equal with Aronin and Lipnitsky, after Keres; 1952,
fourth (+8 =7 -4) equal with Boleslavsky, after Botvinnik, Taimanov
and Geller, ahead of Bronstein; and 1957, fourth (+10 =6 -5) equal
with Spassky, after Tal, Bronstein and Keres.

* Sunnucks' encyclopedia says that he made Soviet national master in
1938, served in the Red Army in WW II, then really blossomed, winning
the Leningrad Ch 1946 and 1947.

* Elo sets his peak 5-year rating at 2560.

* Soltis' "Soviet Chess 1917-1991" has many references to Tolush, far
too many to cite here. He studied under Peter Romanovsky, and
"eventually adopted Romanovsky's love of combinations and tactics and
passed it on to his students, principally Boris Spassky." Soltis
mentions that Tolush could have stayed exempt from military service
due to circulatory problems in his legs, but he nevertheless
volunteered and earned the rank of lieutenant.
* He features an interesting game from the 13th Soviet Championship,
in which Tolush beat Botvinnik using a 19th-century opening:

[Event "URS-ch13"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1944.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tolush, Alexander V"]
[Black "Botvinnik, Mikhail"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C22"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "1944.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[Source "ChessBase"]

1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 Nge7 6. Bd2 O-O 7.
O-O-O d6
8. Qg3 Kh8 9. f4 f5 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Qe8 12. Nf3 f4 13. Qf2 Bg4
14. Re1 Rd8
15. Bd3 Qh5 16. Be4 Ba5 17. h3 Bf5 18. Rhf1 Bb6 19. Qe2 Be6 20. a3 a6
21. Bd3
Ba7 22. Ne4 Nd5 23. g4 Qe8 24. Neg5 Bg8 25. Qe4 Ne3 26. e6 Rxd3 27.
Qxd3 h6 28.
Nf7+ Bxf7 29. exf7 Qxf7 30. Bxe3 Bxe3+ 31. Kb1 Rd8 32. Qc3 Qd5 33. h4
Qe4 34.
h5 Rd5 35. g5 hxg5 36. h6 Qg6 37. hxg7+ Qxg7 38. Rh1+ Kg8 39. Qc4 Qf7
40. Qb3
Nd8 41. Rh5 Qxh5 42. Qxd5+ Nf7 43. Qe4

* At this point Soltis comments "Tolush had whispered his slogan,
'Forward Kazimirich!' as he tightened the net around the black king.
Botvinnik, in severe time pressure, rushed to make the control at move
56."

43...Kf8 44. Rd1 g4 45. Ne1 Nd6 46. Qe6 g3
47. Rd5 Qf7 48. Qh6+ Qg7 49. Qh4 Nf7 50. Ng2 Qg6 51. Rd7 Kg8 52. Qe7
b6 53. Nh4
Qh5 54. Qf6 Bc5 55. Ng6 g2 56. Qxf7# 1-0

* "You're mated, Mikhail Moiseyevich!" Tolush announced loudly.
(Soltis)

* To play in this event, Tolush had been given a break from front-line
duty fighting the Germans. I guess he had to go back to the front when
the tournament was over. Shows how much the Russians valued chess!

Thanks for the info. *I actually own the Soltis' "Soviet Chess
1917-1991" book, but have not looked through it yet.

It is a very good book. Not stringent in terms of scholarlship, but
a good overview and quite adequate for most reference purposes.
Definitely one of Soltis' best efforts. I reviewed it several years
ago:

http://www.chesscafe.com/text/sovietchess.txt

I have this bad habit of buying chess books faster than I have time to
actually read them.

That is not at all a bad habit. I probably already own more books
(on chess and many other topics) than I will ever read, but that does
not stop me from buying more. To paraphrase the Fabulous Furry Freak
Brothers, books will get you through times of no money better than
money will get you through times of no books.

On Feb 17, 3:12 pm, wrote:
On Feb 16, 6:47 pm, RookHouse wrote:



What do we know about Tolush, other than he was Spassky's mentor and
won the 1953 Bucharest tournament??

From the Oxford Companion (2nd edition):

Tolush, Alexander Kazimirovich (1910-1969): Soviet player, GM 1953,
ICCM 1965, chess journalist. Though he was an outstanding master of
attack, his play was never sound enough for the highest honors. A
citizen of Leningrad, where he coached Spassky from 1951 to 1961 ...
The best of his ten attempts to win the USSR championship we 1950,
second (+9 =6 -3) equal with Aronin and Lipnitsky, after Keres; 1952,
fourth (+8 =7 -4) equal with Boleslavsky, after Botvinnik, Taimanov
and Geller, ahead of Bronstein; and 1957, fourth (+10 =6 -5) equal
with Spassky, after Tal, Bronstein and Keres.

Sunnucks' encyclopedia says that he made Soviet national master in
1938, served in the Red Army in WW II, then really blossomed, winning
the Leningrad Ch 1946 and 1947.

Elo sets his peak 5-year rating at 2560.

Soltis' "Soviet Chess 1917-1991" has many references to Tolush, far
too many to cite here. He studied under Peter Romanovsky, and
"eventually adopted Romanovsky's love of combinations and tactics and
passed it on to his students, principally Boris Spassky." Soltis
mentions that Tolush could have stayed exempt from military service
due to circulatory problems in his legs, but he nevertheless
volunteered and earned the rank of lieutenant.
He features an interesting game from the 13th Soviet Championship,
in which Tolush beat Botvinnik using a 19th-century opening:

[Event "URS-ch13"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "1944.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tolush, Alexander V"]
[Black "Botvinnik, Mikhail"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C22"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "1944.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "17"]
[EventCountry "URS"]
[Source "ChessBase"]

1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 Nge7 6. Bd2 O-O 7.
O-O-O d6
8. Qg3 Kh8 9. f4 f5 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Qe8 12. Nf3 f4 13. Qf2 Bg4
14. Re1 Rd8
15. Bd3 Qh5 16. Be4 Ba5 17. h3 Bf5 18. Rhf1 Bb6 19. Qe2 Be6 20. a3 a6
21. Bd3
Ba7 22. Ne4 Nd5 23. g4 Qe8 24. Neg5 Bg8 25. Qe4 Ne3 26. e6 Rxd3 27.
Qxd3 h6 28.
Nf7+ Bxf7 29. exf7 Qxf7 30. Bxe3 Bxe3+ 31. Kb1 Rd8 32. Qc3 Qd5 33. h4
Qe4 34.
h5 Rd5 35. g5 hxg5 36. h6 Qg6 37. hxg7+ Qxg7 38. Rh1+ Kg8 39. Qc4 Qf7
40. Qb3
Nd8 41. Rh5 Qxh5 42. Qxd5+ Nf7 43. Qe4

At this point Soltis comments "Tolush had whispered his slogan,
'Forward Kazimirich!' as he tightened the net around the black king.
Botvinnik, in severe time pressure, rushed to make the control at move
56."

43...Kf8 44. Rd1 g4 45. Ne1 Nd6 46. Qe6 g3
47. Rd5 Qf7 48. Qh6+ Qg7 49. Qh4 Nf7 50. Ng2 Qg6 51. Rd7 Kg8 52. Qe7
b6 53. Nh4
Qh5 54. Qf6 Bc5 55. Ng6 g2 56. Qxf7# 1-0

"You're mated, Mikhail Moiseyevich!" Tolush announced loudly.
(Soltis)

To play in this event, Tolush had been given a break from front-line
duty fighting the Germans. I guess he had to go back to the front when
the tournament was over. Shows how much the Russians valued chess!

Talking of old-fashioned openings.... Here is the great Botvinnik
losing an Evans Gambit game in 19 moves!
[Event "Odessa ch-SU"]
[Site "Odessa ch-SU"]
[Date "1929.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Ilia Abramovich Kan"]
[Black "Mikhail Botvinnik"]
[ECO "C51"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "37"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bb6 5.a4 a6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Nd5
Nxe4 8.O-O O-O 9.d3 Nf6 10.Bg5 d6 11.Nd2 Bg4 12.Bxf6 Qc8
13.Nxb6 cxb6 14.f3 Be6 15.Bh4 Nxb4 16.Be7 Qc5+ 17.Kh1 Rfe8
18.Ne4 Qc6 19.Bxd6 1-0