- Leonid Shamkovich
Leonid Aleksandrovich Shamkovich (Russian: Леони́д Алекса́ндрович Шамко́вич,
June 1 ,1923 –April 22 ,2005 ) was achess Grandmaster, and a chess writer.He was born in a Jewish family in
Rostov-on-Don inRussia . He became a Grandmaster in 1965 and won several tournaments, with his best victory coming atSochi in 1967, where he tied for first place withNikolai Krogius ,Vladimir Simagin ,Boris Spassky and Alexander Zaitsev. Other notable results included a tie for 3rd at the 1962Moscow Championship (behindYuri Averbakh andEvgeny Vasiukov ) and finishing third atMariánské Lázně 1965 (behindPaul Keres andVlastimil Hort ).Shamkovich left the Soviet Union in 1975, moving first to
Israel , thenCanada , and finally theUnited States , where he settled. He won the 1975Canadian Open Chess Championship . He continued to play through the 1990s, and wrote several chess books.His "Sacrifice in Chess" begins, "A real sacrifice involves a radical change in the character of a game which cannot be effected without foresight, fantasy, and the willingness to risk."
His aristocratic bearing and manner of speech earned him the nickname "Prince".
Shamkovich died of complications from
Parkinson's disease andcancer in his Brooklyn home onApril 22 ,2005 .External links
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