Efim Bogoljubov


Efim Dmitriyevich Bogoljubov was a Russian-born German chess grandmaster who won numerous events and played two matches against Alexander Alekhine for the world championship.

Early career

In 1911, he tied for first place in the Kiev championships, and for 9–10th in the Saint Petersburg Tournament, won by Stepan Levitsky. In 1912, he took second place, behind Karel Hromádka, in Vilna . In 1913/14, he finished eighth in Saint Petersburg.

World War I: Interned in Germany

In July/August 1914, he played in the Mannheim tournament, and tied for 8–9th in that event, which was interrupted by World War I. After the declaration of war against Russia, eleven "Russian players" from the Mannheim tournament were interned by Germany. In September 1914, four of the internees were allowed to return home via Switzerland. The remaining Russian internees played eight tournaments, the first held in Baden-Baden and all the others in Triberg. Bogoljubov took second place, behind Alexander Flamberg, in Baden-Baden, and won five times in the Triberg chess tournament. Durıng World War I, he stayed in Triberg im Schwarzwald, married a local woman and spent the rest of his life in Germany.

Successes and world championship matches

After the war, he won many international tournaments; at Berlin 1919, Stockholm 1919, Kiel 1921, and Pistyan 1922. He tied for 1st–3rd at Karlsbad 1923.
In 1924, Bogoljubov briefly returned to Russia, which had since become the Soviet Union, and won consecutive Soviet championships in 1924 and 1925. He also won at Breslau 1925, and in the Moscow 1925 chess tournament, ahead of a field which included Emanuel Lasker and José Raúl Capablanca.
In 1926, he emigrated to Germany. He won, ahead of Akiba Rubinstein that year at Berlin. At Kissingen 1928, he triumphed over a field which included Capablanca, Nimzowitsch and Savielly Tartakower, et al. Bogoljubov won two matches against Max Euwe in 1928 and 1928/29 in the Netherlands. He played matches for the World Chess Championship twice against Alekhine, losing 15½–9½ in 1929, and 15½–10½ in 1934.
He represented Germany at first board in the 4th Chess Olympiad at Prague 1931, winning the individual silver medal.
In 1930, he twice tied for 2nd–3rd with Nimzowitsch, after Alekhine, in Sanremo; then with Gösta Stoltz, behind Isaac Kashdan, in Stockholm. In 1931, he tied for 1st–2nd in Swinemünde. In 1933, he won in Bad Pyrmont. In 1935, he won at Bad Nauheim, and Bad Saarow. He tied for 1st–2nd at Berlin 1935, Bad Elster 1936, Bad Elster 1937. Bogoljubov won at Bremen 1937, Bad Elster 1938, and Stuttgart 1939.

World War II and after

During World War II, he lost a match to Euwe at Krefeld 1941, and drew a mini-match with Alekhine at Warsaw 1943. He also played in numerous tournaments held in Germany and the General Government throughout the war. In 1940, he won in Berlin, and tied for 1st–2nd with Anton Kohler in Kraków/Krynica/ Warsaw. In 1941, he took 4th in Munich, and took 3rd, behind Alekhine and Paul Felix Schmidt, in Kraków/Warsaw. In 1942, he took 5th in Salzburg Grandmasters' tournament, tied for 3rd–5th in Munich, took 3rd in Warsaw /Lublin/ Kraków. In 1943, he took 4th in Salzburg, and tied for 2nd–3rd in Krynica. In 1944, he won, ahead of Fedor Bogatyrchuk, in Radom.
After the war, he lived in West Germany. While his level of play declined significantly by the time, nevertheless, in 1947, he won in Lüneburg, and Kassel. In 1949 he won in Bad Pyrmont, and tied for 1st–2nd with Elmārs Zemgalis in Oldenburg. In 1951, he won in Augsburg, and Saarbrücken.
He was awarded the title International Grandmaster by the World Chess Federation in 1951.
Bogoljubov died in June 1952, aged 63.

Legacy

The opening known as the Bogo-Indian Defence is named after Bogoljubov.

Quotations