Source: Robert Leonard, Von Neumann, Morgenstern and the Creation of Game Theory, p. 9

Often, chess is credited with rather interesting developments in other fields. This is sometimes done by people who are not particularly good at chess, but it is interesting to note that it is also done by serious researchers, as in this case, about the history of von Neumann, the well-known mathematician. The author dedicates an entire chapter to the effect of chess on the intellectual scene of von Neumann's youth - 1920s Hungary - and credits it with much intellectual stimulation of Jews in Hungary in general and von Neumann in particular. 

It is claimed that Emmanuel Lasker's Kampf (Struggle) - his philosophical thesis - was highly influential, indirectly, in developing game theory. Lasker attempted to generalize the struggles in the game of chess to decision-making in life, and used terms later used by game theorists - "domination" and "equilibrium" for example - to argue that, like chess, in life too the seemingly near-infinite number of possible strategies does not preclude finding out, by logical thinking, the best or at least the few reasonable strategies (Leonard, p. 13).

This, claims Leonard, raising the possibility - later examined by Zermelo, who knew Lasker - of a completely objective analysis of chess, for example, mathematically defining a "winning position" by looking at the existence of a set of future moves that allow the player to mate no matter what the opponent does (Leonard, p. 17). Zermelo's paper was the first time (1912) that winning in chess was defined purely formally. From there, claims Leonard, it is not surprising that the idea of a general game theory along similar formal, purely mathematical principles for life, not just for chess, would occur to von Neumann.

I am somewhat skeptical, not of Zermelo's pioneering work, which very likely influenced von Neumann, but whether Lasker's Kampf was of such great influence on Zermelo. After all, one need not read Lasker's philosophical works to know Lasker, be interested in chess, and attempt to describe it mathematically. I am not convinced that it was Lasker's Kampf that gave to Zermelo, or von Neumann, the idea of the possible analogy between chess and life that led to game theory.

H. Wolf and S. R. Wolf - Cable Match, Vienna - Berlin

 

Source: Neue Wiener Schach-Zeitung, June 1911, p. 167

Mr. Herbert Halsegger notifies us of a large photograph (above) of a cable chess match between Vienna and Berlin, 1911. Of special interest are two of the "wolves" just mentioned in the previous posts: H. Wolf (no. 2) and S. R. Wolf (no. 14), as the captions on the next page in the magazine make clear. One can click on the image for a larger one. 

The Five Wolves of Vienna

Source: Herbert Halsegger's collections, from the Neue Wiener Schach-Zeitung, ca. 1923.

Thanks to our correspondent Herbert Halsegger, we have noted in this blog before that there were two Jewish "Wolfs" in Vienna in the early part of this century: Alfred Emil Wolf and his father, Siegfried Reginald Wolf. 

A while ago, Mr. Halegger notified us that S. R. Wolf was one of the "three wolves" of Vienna at the time. The WSZ (probably) noted, according to a German chess message board given to us by Mr. Halsegger, that the other two were Heinrich Wolf and the third was Siegfried August Wolf. They added (link in German) that, as Mr. Halsegger translated: 

HEINRICH WOLF …..der „reißende“ Wolf……the „killing“ Wolf

SIEGFRIED REGINALD WOLF…..der „reisende“ Wolf….the „travelling“ Wolf

SIEGFRIED AUGUST WOLF…….der „reizende“ Wolf……the „lovely“ Wolf

Can anyone find the exact source of this quote? 

Of the three, Heinrich Wolf was probably the strongest; among other achievements there is this very nice game, defeating Bardeleben. Tragically, Heinrich Wolf was a victim of the Holocaust, deported from Vienna in 1941 (if the link does not work, go to the main web page search and enter his name). 

Mr. Halsegger now notifies us of another Jewish player with the same name: Mrs. Paula Kalmar-Wolf (link in German) who was one of the forgotten chess masters of the time, and Heinrich Wolf, her teacher (along with Reti!) and later, her second husband.

The three Wolfs, with S. R. Wolf's son and H. Wolf's wife, make five "Wolves", all strong Jewish players in Vienna at the same period. 

Titles

 

Source: Shahmat, vol. 3 no. 5, back cover

It is odd, but it turns out that the English-language title of the ICF journal was actually badly chosen. Instead of the Shachmat or Ha'sachmat, which would fit well with the Hebrew term שחמט, the title in English is Shahmat - which in Hebrew would be something like שה-מט...

Why? The problem is that the Hebrew chet (ח) in שחמט has no exact equivalent in English (or other European languages). English h is less close than ch but is still reasonable. The editors, presumably, therefore preferred a literal translation. שחמט means "the shah [שח] is defeated [מט]." So they preferred to use the English shah, the name of the Persian ruler, rather than the phonetically closer shach. 

Herzel Sigalov, 1927-2025

 

Viktor Korchnoi giving a simul in Jerusalem, 1986(?)

Teddy Kollek (in fur hat), in a street chess event, 1980s

Moshe Czerniak giving a simul in Jerusalem, 1980s

The recent death of the well-known Jerusalem player and organizer Herzel Sigalov lets us note a few points about his life. He was well known as an organizer and player. He was constantly involved in organizing tournaments, events, and more. Above, from his personal collection, are a few photos from Jerusalem chess events; undated, but the ages of the persons in the photos, as well as the background(s), suggest the period. Korchnoi, in particular, participated in a 1986 tournament in Jerusalem, and it is likely that this is when the photo was taken. 

Graphic Design

 

Persitz and Keniazer's Ha'derech Le'nizachon Be'sachmat [The Way to Chess Victory]. Credit: Yakov Zusmanovich.

Van Amerongen's 133 Malcodot Ba'ptichot [133 Opening Traps]. A. P.'s photo.

 

Van Amerongen's 222 Tachbulot [222 Combinations]. A. P.'s photo.

Above are covers of three chess books printed in Israel, respectively, in 1959 (Ha'derech Le'nizahor Be'sachmat), 1973 (133 Malcodot Ba'ptichot, 2nd edition) and 1963 (222 Tachbulot, 1st edition.) The publication dates and more information are found in the links above. 

It is obvious that the same graphic design cover was used in all three books, and indeed, a similar shade of green was used in the 1959 and 1974 books. Are there other similar cases of unrelated chess books - not even, in this case, all from the same author - using the exact same graphic design? 

Israel Zilber

Roman Dzindzichashvili as Israel's champion, 1978. Source: Shachmat vol. 17 nos. 6-7 (June-July 1978), front cover. 

We already mentioned in this blog the case of Soviet Bloc Jews who came to Israel and, from there, moved to the USA. We mentioned in particular Jacob Yuchtman. Another, more famous, player who did the same was Roman Dzindzichashvili. A third, tragic, case is that of Israel Zilber. 

In Fred Waitzkin's Searching for Bobby Fischer, Zilber (pp. 21-22 of the 1993 Penguin edition) was known as the "sheriff" (due to his odd clothes) and lived as a homeless man in Washington Square Park. Waitzkin notes Zilber had beaten Tal "who would soon become world champion" in a famous game - probably in the Latvian championship, 1958. (Tal became world champion in 1960.) Zilber also beat Tal in the 1952 Latvian championship and lost to him in the 1953 one. 

Presumably, these are the games that Zilber meant when he said that he had beaten Tal "two out of three times" (Waitzkin, ibid, p. 22.) Zilber and Tal played other games. Two are given by Hanon Russell in "The World's Chess Archives" (Chess Life, August 1998, pp. 48-52, 55-56). Russell presents a win by Zilber in 1949, and a loss in 1950, both in youth events. Tal was 13 in 1949, Zilber 16. 

An international master, Zilber was the strongest player in the park - until Dzindzichashvili arrived, when, no longer being to be the strongest player in the park, he moved to a smaller one (Waitzkin, ibid, pp. 173-174). In Israel, Zilber had played in the 1978 Israel championship, ending in 4th place - a tournament his later "nemesis," Dzindzichashvili, had won. 

Zilber, from Waitzkin's commentary, was mentally ill, suffering from hallucinations and showing odd behavior. Perhaps he even froze to death as a homeless man in New York in the 1980s - although this is an "unconfirmed report," like other stories about Zilber. Unsurprisingly, it is difficult to find reliable information concerning Zilber's life since the 1980s. 

Austrian Refugees in Switzerland

Source: see link below.

Mr. Herbert Halsegger notified us of a 1938 video of presumably Jewish Austrian refugees in Switzerland, where they are seen, among other things (at the 06:30 mark) playing chess.

Postcard from Oren to Barav

 
Credit: Prof. Ami Barav

Prof. Barav presented us with the following postcard, to his father (Israel Rabinovich-Barav) from Menachem Oren, with the signatures of the Soviet team in the Amsterdam Olympiad. 

The signatures, as identified by Mr. Kosimov, are:

1. Botvinnik

2. Smyslov

3. Bronstein

4. Kotov

5. Keres

One of the signatures in black, just below Smyslov's, is that of Igor Bondarevsky. The other member of the Soviet team not represented here is Geller.