Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin (Russian: Вячесла́в Васи́льевич Раго́зин; 8 October 1908 – 11 March 1962) was a Soviet chess player, writer and editor. He was world champion in correspondence chess and held the title of Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess.
Success continued into the 1940s with first prize at Sverdlovsk in 1942 and a repeat triumph at the Leningrad Championship of 1945. In 1946, he finished outright first at Helsinki and beat Igor Bondarevsky in a match. His greatest achievement in over-the-board chess then followed at the Mikhail Chigorin Memorial tournament of 1947, held in Moscow, where he placed second, half a point behind Mikhail Botvinnik and ahead of Vasily Smyslov, Isaac Boleslavsky and Keres.
By the 1950s, he and most of his generation had been overtaken by the new wave of players emerging from the Soviet chess schools, but Ragozin continued his patronage of the Soviet Championship, competing a total of eleven times, from 1934 to 1956. Of his rare post-1950 international tournament appearances, his best result came at the 1956 Wilhelm Steinitz Memorial tournament in Mariánské Lázně, where he finished second behind Miroslav Filip, ahead of Flohr, Ludek Pachman, Gideon Ståhlberg and a young Wolfgang Uhlmann.
Throughout his life, he displayed an interest and talent for almost every aspect of the game of chess. For his over-the-board play, he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950 and in 1951 he obtained that of International Arbiter. From 1956–1958, his main focus switched to correspondence chess, where he showed that he was also an expert analyst and theoretician by becoming the second ICCFWorld Correspondence Chess Champion in 1959 (winning 9 games, drawing 4 games, and losing 1 game). His correspondence chess grandmaster title was awarded the same year.[2]
Second to BotvinnikEdit
Ragozin's achievements and creative playing style attracted the attention of then world champion Mikhail Botvinnik. He recognized that Ragozin would make an ideal sparring partner and they played many secret training matches, as Botvinnik prepared for important world championship encounters. Ragozin's style had always been experimental and risky, particularly with regard to the sacrifice of pawns for the initiative. As Botvinnik was attempting to put together a repertoire of solid, reliable openings, it was vital that they were rigorously tested against any latent sacrificial play. Accordingly, many historians attribute Ragozin's contribution as a significant factor in Botvinnik's success.
Ragozin and Botvinnik also teamed up to train for the 1944 Soviet championship. To simulate the noise that would be present in the tournament hall, they practiced with the radio blasting at high volume. Botvinnik won the tournament, whilst Ragozin, placing 13th out of 17, blamed his defeats on the unusual quietness of his surroundings.
Later careerEdit
From 1946 to 1955, Ragozin edited the magazine publication Shakhmaty v SSSR as well as maintaining a career as a civil engineer. He was vice-president of FIDE from 1950 through 1961.
He died in Moscow while putting together a collection of his best games, which his friends completed for publication in 1964, under the title Izbrannye Partii Ragozina (Ragozin's Selected Games). It contains 74 games spanning his career.
His contributions to opening theory mainly concerned the development of systems by which Black could achieve equality in the Queen's Gambit and Nimzo-Indian complexes.
The Queen's Gambit DeclinedRagozin Defence, typically arrived at via the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 (or by transposition) offering Black active play from the start, has enjoyed a resurgence in recent times.
Notable chess gamesEdit
Viacheslav Ragozin vs P Noskov, Moscow-Leningrad Match 1930, Sicilian Defense: French Variation. Normal (B40), 1-0 An exchange sacrifice for the sake of attack
Andre Lilienthal vs Viacheslav Ragozin, 1935, Nimzo-Indian, Samisch (E24), 0-1 The power of advanced pawns
Emanuel Lasker vs Viacheslav Ragozin, It 1936, Sicilian, Dragon, Classical (B73), 0-1 Lasker is lost in tactical complications
Petar Trifunovic vs Vacheslav Ragozin, Moscow 1947, Dutch Defence, 0-1 White's obsession with achieving the e4 break makes him susceptible to a neat tactic.
Volf Bergraser vs Viacheslav Ragozin, corr-2 1956, King's Indian, Fianchetto, Yugoslav Panno (E66), 0-1 A very complicated game ending with a queen sacrifice – and white is not able to keep an advanced pawn
Ragozin vs Tal, Riga 1951, Semi Slav Noteboom (D31), 0-1 40 year old Ragozin loses to 15 year old Tal who displays characteristic panache and ability to grab and hold the initiative.
NotesEdit
^"Viacheslav Ragozin vs Jose Raul Capablanca (1936)". www.chessgames.com.
^"2nd ICCF Correspondence Finals : World Chess Championship". www.mark-weeks.com.
viacheslav, ragozin, this, name, that, follows, eastern, slavic, naming, conventions, patronymic, vasilyevich, family, name, ragozin, viacheslav, vasilyevich, ragozin, russian, Вячесла, Васи, льевич, Раго, зин, october, 1908, march, 1962, soviet, chess, player. In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming conventions the patronymic is Vasilyevich and the family name is Ragozin Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin Russian Vyachesla v Vasi levich Rago zin 8 October 1908 11 March 1962 was a Soviet chess player writer and editor He was world champion in correspondence chess and held the title of Grandmaster in both over the board and correspondence chess Viacheslav RagozinFull nameViacheslav Vasilyevich RagozinCountrySoviet UnionBorn 1908 10 08 8 October 1908St Petersburg Imperial RussiaDied11 March 1962 1962 03 11 aged 53 Moscow Russian SFSRTitleGrandmaster 1950 ICCF Grandmaster 1959 ICCF World Champion1956 59 Contents 1 Chess career 2 Second to Botvinnik 3 Later career 4 Contributions to opening theory 5 Notable chess games 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksChess career EditBorn in St Petersburg Ragozin s chess career first came to the fore with a series of excellent results in the 1930s In the earliest of these he defeated the respected master Alexander Ilyin Zhenevsky in a 1930 match and was himself awarded the title of Soviet master At Moscow 1935 he won the best game prize for his victory against Andor Lilienthal At the very strong Moscow tournament of 1936 he beat Salo Flohr and Emanuel Lasker and came very close to defeating Jose Raul Capablanca the ever resourceful ex world champion scrambling to find a draw by perpetual check at the game s frantic conclusion 1 There followed a victory at the Leningrad championship of 1936 and second place shared with Alexander Konstantinopolsky behind Grigory Levenfish at the Soviet Championship of 1937 At the 1939 Leningrad Moscow tournament he finished third equal behind Flohr and Samuel Reshevsky but ahead of Paul Keres Success continued into the 1940s with first prize at Sverdlovsk in 1942 and a repeat triumph at the Leningrad Championship of 1945 In 1946 he finished outright first at Helsinki and beat Igor Bondarevsky in a match His greatest achievement in over the board chess then followed at the Mikhail Chigorin Memorial tournament of 1947 held in Moscow where he placed second half a point behind Mikhail Botvinnik and ahead of Vasily Smyslov Isaac Boleslavsky and Keres By the 1950s he and most of his generation had been overtaken by the new wave of players emerging from the Soviet chess schools but Ragozin continued his patronage of the Soviet Championship competing a total of eleven times from 1934 to 1956 Of his rare post 1950 international tournament appearances his best result came at the 1956 Wilhelm Steinitz Memorial tournament in Marianske Lazne where he finished second behind Miroslav Filip ahead of Flohr Ludek Pachman Gideon Stahlberg and a young Wolfgang Uhlmann Throughout his life he displayed an interest and talent for almost every aspect of the game of chess For his over the board play he was awarded the title of Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950 and in 1951 he obtained that of International Arbiter From 1956 1958 his main focus switched to correspondence chess where he showed that he was also an expert analyst and theoretician by becoming the second ICCF World Correspondence Chess Champion in 1959 winning 9 games drawing 4 games and losing 1 game His correspondence chess grandmaster title was awarded the same year 2 Second to Botvinnik EditRagozin s achievements and creative playing style attracted the attention of then world champion Mikhail Botvinnik He recognized that Ragozin would make an ideal sparring partner and they played many secret training matches as Botvinnik prepared for important world championship encounters Ragozin s style had always been experimental and risky particularly with regard to the sacrifice of pawns for the initiative As Botvinnik was attempting to put together a repertoire of solid reliable openings it was vital that they were rigorously tested against any latent sacrificial play Accordingly many historians attribute Ragozin s contribution as a significant factor in Botvinnik s success Ragozin and Botvinnik also teamed up to train for the 1944 Soviet championship To simulate the noise that would be present in the tournament hall they practiced with the radio blasting at high volume Botvinnik won the tournament whilst Ragozin placing 13th out of 17 blamed his defeats on the unusual quietness of his surroundings Later career EditFrom 1946 to 1955 Ragozin edited the magazine publication Shakhmaty v SSSR as well as maintaining a career as a civil engineer He was vice president of FIDE from 1950 through 1961 He died in Moscow while putting together a collection of his best games which his friends completed for publication in 1964 under the title Izbrannye Partii Ragozina Ragozin s Selected Games It contains 74 games spanning his career Contributions to opening theory EditThis section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves His contributions to opening theory mainly concerned the development of systems by which Black could achieve equality in the Queen s Gambit and Nimzo Indian complexes The Queen s Gambit Declined Ragozin Defence typically arrived at via the moves 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 Bb4 or by transposition offering Black active play from the start has enjoyed a resurgence in recent times Notable chess games EditViacheslav Ragozin vs P Noskov Moscow Leningrad Match 1930 Sicilian Defense French Variation Normal B40 1 0 An exchange sacrifice for the sake of attack Andre Lilienthal vs Viacheslav Ragozin 1935 Nimzo Indian Samisch E24 0 1 The power of advanced pawns Emanuel Lasker vs Viacheslav Ragozin It 1936 Sicilian Dragon Classical B73 0 1 Lasker is lost in tactical complications Petar Trifunovic vs Vacheslav Ragozin Moscow 1947 Dutch Defence 0 1 White s obsession with achieving the e4 break makes him susceptible to a neat tactic Volf Bergraser vs Viacheslav Ragozin corr 2 1956 King s Indian Fianchetto Yugoslav Panno E66 0 1 A very complicated game ending with a queen sacrifice and white is not able to keep an advanced pawn Ragozin vs Tal Riga 1951 Semi Slav Noteboom D31 0 1 40 year old Ragozin loses to 15 year old Tal who displays characteristic panache and ability to grab and hold the initiative Notes Edit Viacheslav Ragozin vs Jose Raul Capablanca 1936 www chessgames com 2nd ICCF Correspondence Finals World Chess Championship www mark weeks com References EditHooper David and Whyld Kenneth 1984 The Oxford Companion to Chess Oxford University ISBN 0 19 217540 8 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Cafferty Bernard and Mark Taimanov 1998 The Soviet Championships Cadogan Chess ISBN 1 85744 201 6 External links EditVyacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin player details at ICCF Viacheslav Ragozin player profile and games at Chessgames com Viacheslav Ragozin at Find a Grave nbsp Preceded by nbsp Cecil Purdy World Correspondence Chess Champion1956 1959 Succeeded by nbsp Alberic O Kelly de Galway Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Viacheslav Ragozin amp oldid 1133453705, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
