Nicolas Rossolimo

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Rossolimo Variation of the Sicilian Defense. Now, Black can play 3. ... g6, 3. ... d6 or 3. ... e6.

Nicolas Rossolimo (February 28, 1910, Kiev - July 24, 1975, New York) was an American-French-Russian-Greek chess Grandmaster. He was awarded the International Master title in 1950 and the International Grandmaster title in 1953.

Nikolai Spiridonovich Rossolimo (Russian: Николай Спиридонович Россолимо) was born in Ukraine when it was part of the Russian Empire, to Spiridon Rossolimo and his wife, née Ksenia Nikolaevna Skugarevskaya. 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 José Raúl Capablanca in 1938 in a tournament in Paris, he won the French Chess Championship in 1948.^[1] Moreover he was Paris Champion eight times and drew two matches in 1948 and 1949 with Savielly Tartakower. In 1955 he won the U.S. Open Chess Championship held in Long Beach, California.

Rossolimo played for France in the Chess Olympiads of 1950 and 1972, and for the USA in 1958, 1960 and 1966.^[2]

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 Rossolimo's move 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 as well as running a chess studio 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 – and 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). He died of head injuries following a fall down a flight of stairs, just after sharing first place in his final event, the 1975 World Open.

One of Rossolimo's more enduring innovations is the variation of the Sicilian Defence which bears his name, 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, as well as allowing the first player to avoid the massive quantities of theory associated with the open Sicilian.

Here is one of Rossolimo's most celebrated brilliancies:

Rossolimo-Paul Reissman, Puerto Rico 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.O-O c6 12.Rfe1 O-O 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

Nicolas Rossolimo wrote two books: "Les échecs 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.

References

1. ^ Championnats de France (French)
2. ^ OlimpBase Men's Chess Olympiads Nicolas Rossolimo

External links

• Nicolas Rossolimo player profile at ChessGames.com