Miguel Najdorf
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Miguel Najdorf (born Moishe Mieczysław Najdorf at Warsaw, Poland April 15, 1910 – died at Málaga, Spain July 4, 1997) was a Polish-Argentine chess grandmaster of Jewish origin.
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[edit] Early life
Mieczysław Najdorf was tutored first by David Przepiorka and next by Savielly Tartakower, whom he always referred to as "my teacher".
At the beginning of his chess career, in 1929, Najdorf defeated Glücksberg in a famous game known as "The Polish Immortal". In 1930, he tied for 6th-7th at the Warsaw Championship. The event was won by Paulino Frydman. In 1931, he took 2nd at Warsaw, behind Frydman. In 1932, he tied for 9th-10th at Warsaw. In 1933, he won at Warsaw (Quadrangular). In January 1934, he took 2nd, behind Rudolf Spielmann, at Warsaw. In summer 1934, he lost a match against Ored Karlin (+1 –2 =1). In 1934, he won at the Warsaw Championship. In 1935, he tied for 2nd-4th with P. Frydman and H. Friedmann, behind Savielly Tartakower, at the 3rd Championship of Poland at Warsaw. Afterward, Najdorf sensationally won a match against Savielly Tartakower at Toruń (+2 –1 =2). In 1936, he tied for 1st with Lajos Steiner at the Hungarian Championship. In 1937, he took 3rd at the 4th Championship of Poland at Jurata. In 1937, he won at Rogaška Slatina (Rohitsch-Sauerbrunn). In 1938, he tied for 10th-12th at Łódź. In 1939, he took 6th at Margate.
Najdorf played for team Poland in three Chess Olympiads. In August 1935, he played at third board in 6th Chess Olympiad at Warsaw (+9 –2 =6). In August 1936, he played at second board in unofficial Olympiad at Munich (+14 –2 =4). In June/July 1937, he played at second board in 7th Olympiad at Stockholm (+5 –3 =7). In August/September 1939 the outbreak of World War II caught him in Buenos Aires, where he was playing the 8th Chess Olympiad, representing Poland at second board. Najdorf was a Polish Jew (like two other members of the Polish team, Tartakower and Frydman. The other members, Regedzinski, of German origin, and Sulik, were non-Jews), so he correctly interpreted the world events of the time and decided to stay in Argentina (as did many Jewish and non-Jewish chess players), suffering considerable personal and familial loss as a result, but escaping the holocaust. He achieved brilliant results playing second board at Buenos Aires 1939 (+12 -2 =4).
[edit] Prospers in Argentina
He played eleven times for team Argentina in Chess Olympiads from 1950 to 1976. He played first board at Dubrovnik 1950 (+8 –0 =6), and first board at Helsinki 1952 (+11 –2 =3). Summary, Najdorf took eleven Olympic medals (seven for teams Poland and Argentina –four silver, three bronze, and four individuals – three gold in 1939, 1950, and 1952, one silver in 1962). Argentina's best team finish was silver at Helsinki 1952.
In September 1939, after the 8th Olympiad, Najdorf tied for 1st with Paul Keres at Buenos Aires (Circulo). In 1941, he took 2nd, behind Gideon Stahlberg at Mar del Plata. Also in 1941, he tied for 1st with Stahlberg at Buenos Aires. In both 1942 and 1943, he won at Mar del Plata. In 1943, he won at Rosario. In 1944, he won at La Plata. In 1944, he tied for 1st with Herman Pilnik at Mar del Plata. In both 1945 and 1946, he won at Mar del Plata again. In 1945, he also won at Buenos Aires (Grau Memorial). In 1946, he won at Rio de Janeiro. In 1946, he tied for 4th-5th with Laszlo Szabo at Groningen. The event was won by Mikhail Botvinnik. Further in 1946, he won at Prague and at Barcelona. In 1947, he took 2nd place, behind Stahlberg, at Buenos Aires/La Plata (Sextangular). In 1947, he won at Mar del Plata. In 1947, he took 2nd, behind Erich Eliskases, at São Paulo. In 1948, he tied for 4th-5th with Rossetto at Mar del Plata and won at Venice. In 1949, he tied for 1st with Stahlberg at Buenos Aires. In 1950, he won at Amsterdam and at Bled.
Although not a full-time chess professional (for many years he worked in the insurance business), he was one of the world's leading chess players in the 1950s and 1960s and he excelled in playing blindfold chess. In 1950 he became an International Grandmaster. In the same year he played at Budapest in the Candidates Tournament to select a challenger for the world chess championship and finished fifth. Three years later, in the Zurich Candidates Tournament in 1953, he got the sixth place. He won important tournaments such as Mar del Plata (1961) and Havana (1962 and 1964). Despite advancing age, he participated in the 1970 "USSR vs. Rest of the World" match, achieving an even score against the former World Champion Mikhail Tal.
Najdorf's lively personality made him a great favorite among chess fans, helped no doubt by his aptitude for witty sayings, taking after his mentor Tartakower. An example: commenting on his opponent at the 1970 USSR-vs-World match, he remarked, "When (then-world-champion Boris) Spassky offers you a piece, you might as well resign then and there. But when Tal offers you a piece, you would do well to keep playing, because then he might offer you another, and then another, and then ... who knows?"
[edit] Contributions
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| The Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense begins with moves 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Najdorf Variation in the Sicilian Defense is named after him. This is one of the most popular systems in modern chess. He also made contributions to the theory and praxis of other openings such as the King's Indian Defense. Najdorf was also a well-respected chess journalist, who had a popular column in the Buenos Aires Clarin newspaper.
[edit] Notable chess games
- Glucksberg vs Miguel Najdorf, Warsaw 1929, Dutch Defence (A85), 0-1 "The Polish Immortal" or "Najdorf's Immortal" - one of the most brilliant games of the 20th century.
- Mark Taimanov vs Miguel Najdorf, Zurich 1953, King's Indian, Orthodox, Aronin-Taimanov, 9.Ne1 (E98), 0-1 A brilliancy-prize game from the 1953 Candidates event versus the Soviet grandmaster Mark Taimanov. Najdorf's enthusiasm for, and virtuosity in conducting, the attack against the enemy King is well shown here, in a game praised by David Bronstein in his famous book on the tournament. It is also a good example of learning from one's defeats. Earlier that year, Svetozar Gligorić had beaten Najdorf with the same system he borrowed to such effect with Taimanov. (Miguel Najdorf vs Svetozar Gligoric, Mar del Plata 1953). After the game, Don Miguel delivered his famous line: "Taimanov had better goes and plays his piano"!
- Miguel Najdorf once played a game of chess with communist revolutionary Che Guevara; they drew.
