Smart but Ugly Jews

 

Richard Réti. Credit: wikipedia.

Edward Winter just noted, in CN #12212, that Réti’s obituary in the Evening Standard (all exact details in the link to Chess Notes) included describing him as "a very ugly man, but with very luminous eyes." Winter rightly describes decrying a player's looks as "bad form." 

I add that Winter's own article about Olga Capablanca Clark has her noting her husband's relationship with a Jewish friend in the following words: "Mr Fliegelman, we called him Fligu, was perhaps Capa’s most intimate friend, and probably Capa’s favorite one, for he was indeed completely devoted to Capa. Fligu was a typical Russian Jew, rather ungoodlooking but possessing tremendous charm, and it was impossible not to like him."

I suggest that in the case of both Réti and of Fliegelman, the authors were influenced, perhaps unconsciously, by the old stereotype about Jews being ugly and cunning, a stereotype that goes back to the Middle Ages. In both these cases, the stereotype appears in a mild form: the intelligence or charm of the Jewish person is seen, not as a sign of dishonestly, but rather as a compensation for their outward looks! 

This goes to show how deeply stereotypes can be embedded in society. Even when the intention is simply to describe or even compliment the Jewish person, and, if anything, to caution against judging a person by their outward looks, the stereotype of the "smart but ugly" Jews is to be found. 

Avraham Labounsky and Yosef Hermann

 

Credit: see below

In the above photo, given to us by Ami Barav (Israel Rabinovich-Barav's son) we see Avraham Labounsky (left) playing with Yosef Hermann, probably in a cafe in Tel Aviv in the 1940s. Hermann came to Palestine in 1937 and played in Tel Aviv's Lasker and Reti clubs. Barav, in turn, received the photo from Hermann's daughter, Aliza Distnik (ph. spelling). 

A Triple Party

The previous post does not, however, mean that the "Reti" club ignored the young players. Here is one example: a frequent correspondent notes that Ha'tzophe reports (June 19, 1959, p. 6) on "a triple party" in the "Reti" club, whose secretary at the time was Eliezer Pe'er. 

These were the sending of the Israeli Students Organization's team to a Budapest tournament (the 6th World Student Team Chess championship); the prize ceremony of the 1959 Tel Aviv championship (won by Persitz), and presenting the "Reti cup" to the winner of the "Reti" club championship, Meir Rauch. 

But while "Reti" knew well to honor young players and their achievement in the Reti club, the actual players in the "Reti" club tended to be old-timers, like Rauch. This was not, of course, 100% so: some young players played for the club at the time, in particular Raafi Persitz, as can be seen, e.g., in Ma'ariv's report of league play on 10 June 1960, p. 12. (This too was pointed out to us by a frequent correspondent.)

In that report, it is noted that "Reti" and "Lasker" are fighting for the league championship, which was often the case in those years. "Lasker," in the early years of the state, was by far the strongest club in the country, even as chess activity began to flourish again. So when some of its top players left to form "Reti" in the mid-1950s, for the next period these two clubs were at the top. 

 

Chess in Israel, 1960

 

A frequent correspondent points out to us the following note about the "Lasker" (top) and "Reti" (bottom) tournaments in winter 1960 (the source is Ha'boker, 30 March 1960, p. 3.) The interesting point is that in Lasker's "training tournament," the leader is Stepak, then a soldier, who just drew Pilshchik, another young player. Another soldier, Bernstein, is also mentioned. 

On the other hand, Reti's "winter tournament" is still old guard: the winners were Wolfinger and Gruengard, both of whom were already active in the 1940s and earlier. 

Three Games with Smiltiner, Three Draws

 

Israel Rabinovich-Barav (above, picture from his memorial page) had often been featured in this blog. His son, Ami Barav, had constantly provided us with much information about his life and games. Lately, he provided us with three games played in the "Reti" club championships in the 1950s. The club, created by some players who left the "Lasker" club during that time, had many of Israel's strongest players. 

The new games (nos. 31-33 in the games section of the memorial page) are all draws, but not the less interesting for all that. They show Barav's usual tactical, attacking style. 

Mona Karff in Israel, 1953

Source: Al Ha'Mishmar, 22/5/53 , p. 4

Our frequent correspondent adds that there is a 'very surprising' note about Mona Karff in Israel, 1953. 

Indeed so. Al Ha'Mishmar reports in its regular chess column a match between  that the chess club in the town of Herzliya against the Reti club from Tel Aviv. It was a 10-board match, Herzliya winning 'for the first time' in a match between the two clubs, 5.5:4.5. (The Herzliya town chess club should not to be confused with the 'Herzliya' chess club from Haifa, which was based in Herzliya street in Haifa.) 

Of particular interest is that 'Karff, the women's champion of Israel' played on the third board for the Reti club, drawing with Dr. Ritterband (ph. translation of ד"ר ריטרבנד). 

Reti's Cancelled visit

Source: Ha'aretz 20/12/1923 page number missing

In 1923, there was much excitement in Palestinian chess circles due to the expected Jan. 1924 visit of 'Ha'Koach Vienna', and especially of the Jewish star of the team, Richard Reti.As Ha'aretz notes, the plan included for him to play a 60-man simul and a blindfold 15-game one. Many people - 'Jews and non-Jews' - are asking the Lasker club in Jerusalem to register as players. The paper adds these include 'high government officials' (of the British Mandate of Palestine's government).

Rabinobvich-Barav - Tziner, 1956

In our update of Israel Rabinovich-Barav's web page, we have been generously given another game score by his son, Ami Barav. It is of a game between him and Tziner.

Correction: Ami Barav informs us that the player was Tziner, not Israel Dyner as we previously reported. The two names appear quite similar in Hebrew script!

Rabinovich-Barav, Israel -- Tziner

"Reti" club, 18/4/1956

Queen's Gambit Declined (D36)

Annotations: Fritz 13 and Avital Pilpel

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 Be7 6.Qc2 c6 7.Nf3 0–0 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bd3 Re8 10.0–0 Ne4 11.Bf4 f5? 

A tactical error which Barav exploits immediately. 

12.Nxd5! Bd6 12...cxd5? 13.Bc7 wins the queen.

13.Bxd6 Nxd6 14.Nf4 Nf6 15.Qb3+ Kh8 16.Rfd1 Qe7 17.Ne5 Be6 18.Qa3 Bf7? the final mistake in a lost position.

19.Qxd6! and Black resigned (1-0) due to 19...Qxd6 20.Nxf7+.

Under Construction

Image credit: Vector Stock

In the post about the Lasker club's sad demise from a few days ago, we should note that Israel Barav was one of the most active players and activists in the club until he left for the Reti club in the mid-1950s. 

We do not link this time to our memorial site for Barav, because we are now in the process of a major update: adding a new game, arranging all games in chronological order, and so on. 

The site is online and functioning, but the updates are not viewable yet, as the changes are not quite finished. Expect a major update on Barav's site in a few days. 

A Snapshot

Source: La'Merhav Feb. 12, 1960, page 8 

A frequent correspondent notifies us of the interesting "snapshot" of the Israeli first league in 1960. We see the "old guard" in Jerusalem's Rubinstein club: Czerniak, Dobkin, Mohilever and others. We see a "mixture" in Tel Aviv's Lasker club: Aloni and Oren, but also the young Domnitz. The IDF's and the students' teams naturally feature young players: Kraidman, Guti, Stepak, and others. Tel Aviv's Reti has the "old timers" Smiltiner and Barav but also the young Persitz in the first board. 

Of particular interest is the Bat Yam club, which has Gereben in the first board, but the article (by La'Merhav's chess columnist, Fasher) notes that he already left the country -- and that Bat Yam also lost Ya'akov Mashian, the Iranian-Jewish master, 'who also left the country'.

Mashian returned to Israel in the mid-70s (at least according to Wikipedia), and -- incidentally -- played with Stepak a 193-move game in the Israeli championship semifinals (Stepak won, 1:0). This game, according to Tim Krabbe, was the longest recorded game ever played for seven years (1980-1987), and is still the longest game in time -- 24.5 hours -- 'a record it will forever hold'.

As for Gereben, he had emigrated to Israel in 1959 and played in the 1959 Israeli championship (coming in second), but left the country soon afterwards, as Fasher already notes. Ha'Tzophe of Oct. 9th, 1959, p. 4, notes our correspondent, says the 'Erno Gereben (Grünfeld)' had come to the country shortly before the championship began. Can any reader explain why 'Grünfeld'?

Edited to add: a frequent correspondent noted that the English-language Wikipedia entry for Gereben has his birth name as "Ernest [or Ernst] Grünfeld' and adds:

This name change, with other survival skills, probably helped him survive the holocaust. It was printed in the Israeli press that during one of the Olympiads, a Hungarian player, in a worse position, whispered to the Israeli player (in Yiddish) 'I am a Jew', and the game was drawn. 

It turned out to be Gereben. Based on the details given by our correspondent, an Olimpbase and Chessbase search reveals the game is probably Gereben - Kniazer, Amsterdam 1954, ending in a draw in the following position:

Chess on the Radio (again)

Source: Davar, April 14th, 1950, p. 30

Our frequent correspondent noted that in 1950, there was an active chess column in Israeli radio -- noting for example that on 12/4/1950 (source: Davar, April 12th, p.5) a 'chess corner' broadcast by Marcuse and Ben-Menachem. Here is another example -- this time, about the 'Reti [opening] system' -- by Y. Ron, to be broadcast the week after, on the 19th of April.  

Chess and Music -- Chava Alberstein

The above video, or rather audio, was brought to our attention by Yochanan Afek. It is also available on his Facebook page. It is is Chava Alberstein's version of Shachmat [Chess] by Hanoch Levin. Alberstein is a famous Israeli singer with a long and distinguished career. Afek's web site also links to videos of the same song by Yehuda Poliker and others.

Many chess players were related to music. Philidor, of course, was a professional musician. Richard Reti's brother, Rudolf Reti, was a professional pianist and composer; Smyslov was an excellent singer; and so on. Conversely, many musicians (such as Prokofiev) were strong players. As usual, Edward Winter has the "goods" on lesser-known examples, in his article Chess and Music.

Richard Selig Reti

Richard Reti. Credit: Wikipedia.

In a serendipitous find, an acquaintance, Alon Schab, researching his own ancestry, had stumbled upon Reti's birth record. The exact details are found in Edward Winter's Chess Notes no. 8629, with a complete photograph of the birth certificate and credits.

As noted there, it turns out that while his "gentile" name was Richard, his "Jewish" name was Selig (זעליק), as the birth certificate clearly shows. Incidentally, Schab, a musicologist, reminds us that Richard Reti's older brother, Rudolf Reti, was as talented in his field, music, as Richard was in chess.

P.S.

Yes, Richard Reti's name (though not his brother's, according to Wikipedia at least) is spelled with an accent on the "e", but I have no idea how to make "Blogger" type such a character... or rather it requires, apparently, all kinds of html code tinkering which, from experience, I never manage to get quite right.

75 years of Documented Chess Activity -- a World Record? [Edited: Probably not, but...]

Credit: Pixar

What is the longest time a Jewish, or Israeli, or Palestinian chess personality was active? We already saw the case of A. L. Mohilever, who published a letter in a chess magazine as late as 1994 -- 73 years after his first chess publication, in 1921.

A reader notes two more cases.

Shmuel Friedmann, known as "Dugo", who started his activity in the Rishon Letziyon chess club in 1940, and was still active upon his death last year -- 72 years of activity, including 50 [1947-97] as the club's president.

Beating both, however, is Eliezer Pe'er [nee Perelberger], who appears as a solver in Davar on Dec. 10th, 1937 [link in Hebrew] and is still active today, 2013, in the Reti chess club in Tel Aviv. This would make it 75 -- going on 76 -- years of chess activity.

Is this a world record?

Edited to add: various web sites, such as this one, claim the record is held by Walter Ivans, who "started to play chess at age 10" and "died at 98" having "played for 85 years" [i.e., to age 95].

However:

1. It is not clear what the source of this record is. Does any reader have information about Ivans?

2. Pe'er, too, is to be 98 this year [b. 1915], and probably "started to play" chess as a child [most players do]. If we accept that he learned chess before his 13th birthday -- which would be unusually late -- then he already beat Ivans' record.

3. It is not clear of what Ivans' chess activity had been [can some reader enlighten me?], while Pe'er constant activity in Palestinian / Israeli chess is well known. He was, for example, the captain of the Israeli team to the 1962 Olympiad; he was active in the Reti club since its founding in 1952, the reader noted above informs me; etc.

Many people learn the game as children and play occasionally all their lives; any centenarian who plays an occasional game could thus claim 90+ years of "chess activity", beating both Pe'er and Ivans.This is why I attempt to find documented evidence of "chess activity": actually joining a chess club, publishing or solving a problem, etc. Hence I am not claiming that Pe'er has nearly 90 years of "chess activity", nor make similar claims about "Dugo" or Mohilever.

4. Finally, "learning the game at age X" is too vague. For one thing it would add -- as we saw -- quite a few years to the records of Mohilever, Pe'er and "Dugo" as well. For another, it's usually impossible to verify -- how can one tell, nearly a century later, if a player learned to play at age 6, 10, or 14?

More editing: The same reader noted that, for example, Andor Lilienthal and Aron Schvarzman probably had longer documented careers. True, true -- but it is still surely an Israeli record, at least...

Did Rauch Teach Najdorf to Play Blindfold?

Alekhine giving a blindfold display, Paris, 1925. Credit: www.blindfoldchess.net 

Miguel Najdorf (1910-1997) was, as is well known, extremely talented in blindfold chess, setting the world record twice (1943 -- 40 opponents, 1947 -- 45 opponents) in Argentina.

Surprisingly, it might be that he learned the "trick" from Meir Rauch (1909--?), a Palestinian (later Israeli) player who, like Najdorf, had been stranded in Argentina in 1939 when WWII broke out in Europe, being part of the Palestinian team (1st reserve board). Our frequent correspondent Moshe Roytman brings to our attention two articles in the Israeli press:

Ma'ariv, Sept. 28th 1956, p. 7:

"Blind" Fate

In the "Fil" shoe store in Allenby St. in Tel Aviv, works a short, thin clerk -- Meir Rauch. This modest man is the father of a world record, achieve through fun and entertainment. 

In 1939 our chess team travelled to the chess Olympiad in Argentina. In the meantime the war broke out and many players were stranded there after the Nazis overran their countries. Among those was the Warsaw player Mendel Najdorf, who played for Poland. He won the "second homeland"'s championship a few times and, in gratitude, changed his name to "Miguel". This ambitious Jew decided to make a name for himself in chess, and if he can't be world champion -- to at least be a champion in blindfold chess. He did not then know the technique of this game, where the player competes with his opponents without looking at the board. He learned it from the Israeli player Rauch, our champion in this field, who long ago played against 18 opponents blindfold in Germany.

Najdorf learned quickly and, between tournaments, would train himself in blindfold chess, Soon the pupil overtook his Israeli master and set a world record playing against 45 opponents at one time, considering 45 different plans without looking at the board.

Rauch never imagined the fun he had with Najdorf would give birth to a world champion in this field. Now there are two world champions. Now there are, in the two poles, two Jews: a communist Jew -- Dr. Mikhail Botvinnik, the world chess champion, and a Jewish "capitalist", the world champion in blindfold chess, Mendel, Miguel Najdorf.

In Ma'ariv, Dec. 30th, 1960, p. 12, Shaul Hon summarizes this story in one paragraph in an article about Najdorf (on the occasion of his visit to Israel), adding that Rauch is a member of the Reti chess club in Tel Aviv, and also holds the Israeli record for a blindfold simultaneous game (8 players, at the time).

The 1956 story, notes Roytman, seems somewhat "puffed", giving to Rauch as much credit as possible, i.e., in claiming that Najdorf didn't know how to play blindfold chess at all before training with Rauch, which seems unlikely. I add it is has some obvious inaccuracies:

1). It is unlikely Najdorf changed his name to Miguel out of gratitude to Argentina, as opposed to the immigrants' age-old custom of changing a name to one that fits with the new country's culture.

2). There is, of course, no such thing as the "world blindfold champion". If the phrase is used loosely to mean holding the world record in the number of opponents played simultaneously, Najdorf's motivation was (as noted here for example) to notify his family in Europe of his whereabouts.

Is anything more known, however, about the Najdorf / Rauch connection in relation to blindfold chess?

Where Rubinstein Learned Chess -- Updated

My colleague Moshe Roytman, remarking on this post, noted that it is based on a much longer and detailed letter to the editors of Doar Ha'Yom from 20/2/1923 (p. 4), by Mr. Wilson, who was an eyewitness to the events in Bialystok, ca. 1900. As one can see by comparing the two, the 1931 article seems to be a recollection of the 1924 one, with minor changes, i.e., the name of the cafe owner in Bialystok changing between the two versions, from Troisky to Stein.

Source: Doar Ha'Yom, 20/2/1923,  p. 4 (click for larger image)

Translation:

About Rubinstein's Personality (A letter to the editors).

To the editors of "Doar Hayom".

Dear Sirs! 

On 31/1/1923 the Emmanuel Lasker chess club published an article about Rubinstein. I wish to shed some light on some of Rubinstein's biography, which seem like a legend according to that article. To Mrs. Troisky's [ph. spelling] cafe, in Wishilkover St., Bialystok, where our chess club was at the time, a swarthy, sickly young man began to come in 1900. This was Rubinstein, about 18, coming in to drink yogurt to help his health. 

He would sit for hours, looking at the game, but not participating. One evening he came to me to help him learn the rules of the game, and I obliged. After the first games I recognized he has an exceptional talent. When he asked me to come to my house (Vishinsky house on Neulet [ph. sp.] street -- Rubinstein will surely remember these names) I gladly agreed. 

Ever since he stole from me Saturday mornings, since he would come to my house at sunrise to play. After three months I could not win a single game from him. He would play with me blindfold, without looking at the board, and always win. He played a few times with Kna'al [ph. spelling], our top player, and after defeating him consistently, Kna'al stopped playing him. He apparently was ashamed to be defeated by a youth.  At the time there was in Bialystok the (Russian) chief railway engineer, who played with Steinitz in his day, and who would have their games published in the press. He, too, was defeated by the the Jewish youth. Also, the head of the city's business school was probably quite ashamed to be defeated by the swarthy youth, and in our club there was great joy, that such a talent was discovered among us. 

We must admit, that even then we expected great things from Akiba Rubinstein. But he surpassed our wildest expectations. Greetings to you, the winner!

The chess historian, Mr. Tomasz Lissowski, informs me that the railway engineer mentioned was probably Ing. G. G. Bartoszkiewicz. Wilson's letter was itself a reply to an article in Doar Ha'Yom from 31/1/1923, about the Vienna tournament at the time, which gave a pen portrait of various contestants, and that week chose Rubinstein:

Soruce: Doar Ha'Yom, 31/1/1923. Click for larger image.

Translation:

The Chess Department 

(Managed by the chess club "Immanuel Lasker")
A review of the Vienna tournament
(continued)

C). Rubinstein

Akiba Rubinstein was born in 1882 in Stawiski (Lodz Lomza -- an alert reader's correction county, Russian Poland). He came to Lodz as a young yeshiva student, and started visiting the well-known chess cafe, where Salwe ruled supreme. Rubinstein would choose opponents among the rook players, and even among them he was one of the weakest. This way he continued his visits for a long time, playing with much passion but without improving noticeably.

One time, he was absent from the cafe for a few weeks. When he returned, he went directly to Salwe and asked him for a match. Something happened that nobody imagined: Rubinstein won, and from that time was one of the two strongest players in the club (Reti, from his book Modern Ideas in Chess). 

Now, the story about Rubinstein being absent from the Lodz club for a few months, and then coming back and beating Salwe would seem to suggest that he went back to Bialystok and got better there, plotting his "revenge". However, other evidence seems to contradict this. 

For one thing, if Rubinstein came back from Lodz to Bialystok after having played chess there, if badly, it would make no sense for him to ask Wilson to "help him learn the rules of the game", although perhaps Wilson was speaking metaphorically. What's more, a detailed note from Mr. Tomasz Lissowski, relying on many other sources, informs me Rubinstein probably moved to Bialystok ca. 1900, did not participate in many games due to lack of funds, but got better, defeating Bartoskiewicz (one of the best players in the city), and then moving to Lodz. 

But in that case, it is not clear why he would be considered a "weak rook player" upon arrival at Lodz, as Reti (or at least Doar Ha'Yom's quote) says. So a mystery remains, and clearly neither story could be 100% true -- it might well be that Rubinstein's alleged weakness upon moving to Lodz is an exagerration. But at least now we have more information on Rubinstein's early career. 

Hon's "Chess Openings"

Image Credit: A.P.

Shaul Hon's book Ptichot be'Sachmat (1957) [Chess Openings] was a very popular book in Israel -- it reached a fourth edition in 1968, unprecedented for a Hebrew-language chess book. It is notable for a few things:

1). Its first section (pp. 3-40 in the 1968 edition) give a very interesting, if by today's standards somewhat inaccurate, history of chess in the world in general and among Jews (whether in Israel, Palestine, or elsewhere) in particular. Specifically, Hon actually asked and received a reply from Israel's chief rabbi in 1957, 'The honorable Rabbi Dr. Itzhak (Isaac) Ha'Levi Herzog', as Hon calls him, about chess in Judaism. The Rabbi's reply was that despite certain rabbis who forbade chess, most authorities in Judaism do not forbid (and often even encourage) chess playing, so long as it satisfies certain conditions -- e.g., not playing for money, not on the Shabbath, it does not become an obsession that stops one from studying the Torah, etc.

2). He has an interesting theory (pp. 49-55, ibid) about why the chess pieces are placed or move as they are -- e.g., that rooks are in the corners since that's where the heavy forces would be in the battle, etc. He thinks that pawns capture diagonally because archers would try to hit armored men from the side!

3). The cover for the 1968 edition was by the well-known Israeli caricaturist "Dosh" (Kariel Gardosh).

4). The book, like many books at the time printed in Israel, tried to "Judaise" chess a little bit -- emphasizing the importance of Jewish masters over that of non-Jewish ones, especially those like the anti-semitic Alekhine. E.g., about 1. e4 Nf6 Hon writes (my translation, p. 113 ibid):

This defense is mistakenly named after Alekhine... in reality it was already practiced in the 1880s, but achieved no success. Only after the Jewish Aron Nimzowitsch published a series of articles before WWI calling for the development of pieces over pawns in the opening [i.e., the hypermodern school -- A.P.] -- only then did this defense's time arrive. Alekhine used it successfully in the international tournament in Budapest 1921 and it received his name, but in reality Alekhine mixed the tactical form of this defense with Nimzowitch's strategic ideas. 

Whenever any Jewish player is mentioned, their Judaism is emphasized. E.g., when Tarrasch is mentioned, his Judaism is emphasized, but not, of course, his conversion to Christianity in 1909 (as when discussing 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2, p. 104); and Hon even divided chess history as a whole into the 'romantic stage', the 'strategic stage' -- 'starting with the appearance of the Jewish Steinitz' -- and the 'modern stage' -- developed 'mostly by Jews: Nimzowitch, Reti, Breyer, Dr. Tartakover -- joined later by non-Jews' (p. 24).  

Jews contributed a lot to chess, true, but saying chess would, in effect, be still in the 19th-century romantic school if it weren't for them (as Hon is implying) is hardly established fact.