Currency
Language
Toggle Nav
Call +49 2501 9288 320

We are pleased to assist you!

Free Shipping

From within Germany from 50 €

My Cart My Cart
Article Number
LXKRYGVPG

Hero of the Pre-War Olympiads (hc)

157 pages, hardback, Elk and Ruby, 1. edition 2022

€25.50
Incl. Tax, excl. Shipping Cost
Out of stock
Dur short life together was fun, fascinating and happy. I accompanied my husband to chess tournaments. We traveled a lot, saw a lot, met the most interesting people. Meeting Alekhine, Euwe, Flohr, Capablanca, Keres was unforgettable. We became friends with many of them. Now, when I turn the pages of my life and remember my family, which was obliterated so ruthlessly, the old wounds open again and start bleeding.

This book tells the story of one of the most enigmatic and tragic figures in chess history - the Latvian grandmaster Vladimirs Petrovs (1908 - 1943). His name was struck out of chess literature for decades. His games and biography are largely unknown to the public - even though Petrovs defeated Alekhine, Fine, Reshevsky, Boleslavsky and many other great players of the past, gained prizes at supertournaments including joint first at the famous Kemeri 1937 tournament, and performed strongly for Latvia at chess Olympiads. According to the Chessmetries website, Petrovs was ranked no. 14 in the world in November 1938, and his performance at Kemeri 1937 was 2709. He had a 2.5-2.5 lifetime score against Alekhine.

In the first part of this book, grandmaster and chess historian Drnitry Kryakvin instructively analyzes Petrovs' career through 52 games and fragments. As well as the above players, opponents include Smyslov, Euwe, Bogoljubov, Keres, Stahlberg, Flohr, Spielmann, and many other global stars of pre-war chess. In the second part, Petrovs' widow Galina Petrova-Matisa recounts the tragic fate of her husband and family members and her search for the truth of what happened to Petrovs. She further provides biographical details of their short, blissful family life for four-and-a-half years, including unforgettable meetings with the world's strongest chess players and their families. The work contains a large number of rare farnily and tournament photos.

About the Authors
Dmitry Kryakvin (born in 1984) is a grandmaster (2009), journalist, chess historian and coach. His pupils have included many grandmasters, of which the strongest is Andrei Esipenko. Drnitry has written a number of chess books on a wide variety of subjeets. This is his second book for Elk and Ruby.
Galina Petrova-Matisa (1914 - 2000) was a Latvian human rights activist and the wife of Vladirnirs Petrovs. She was the head of the Latvian chapter of the Memorial Society.
More Information
EAN 9785604784914
Weight 396 g
Manufacturer Elk and Ruby
Width 15.9 cm
Height 24.1 cm
Medium Book
Year of Publication 2022
Author Dimitry KryakvinGalina Petrova-Matisa
Edition 1
ISBN-13 9785604784914
Pages 157
Binding hardback
004 Index of Games
006 Preface by Vladimir Dedkov

009 Part I: Selected Games and Career, by Dmitry Kryakvin (2013)
009 The Leading Scorer of the Latvian Team
039 On an Equal Footing with Alekhine and Capablanca
062 The Last Olympiad
069 A Victim of Circumstances

091 Part II: A Star Prematurely Extinguished, by Galina Petrova-Matisa (2008)
091 "Shine, Shine, My Star..."
091 A New Passion That Became the Main One
097 Lucky as Petka!
100 The Greatest Attack
105 A Conflicted Person
107 My First Encounter with Chess Players - Paul Keres
110 The Lady with the Dog - Raisa Flohr
115 A Hero for All Life - Alexander Alekhine
119 Finally, Traveling Around Europe Togetherl
127 Who Needs Cotton?
131 A Century-Long Show
138 The Wartime Tournaments
140 The Maestro's Last Game
146 Not Subject to Rehabilitation
149 The "Conquest" of Siberia
153 "God Bless Us For a Free Lifel"

155 Afterword by Vladimir Dedkov and Olga Sorokina
More from Elk and Ruby
  1. More from Elk and Ruby