Alexander Ilyin-Genevsky

Alexander Fyodorovich Ilyin (November 28, 1894 – September 3, 1941), known with the party name Zhenevsky, "the Genevan" because he joined the Bolshevik group of Russian émigrés while exiled in that city, was a Soviet chess master and organizer, one of founders of the Soviet chess school, an Old-Guard Bolshevik cadre, a writer, a military organizer, a historian and a diplomat. He was born in Saint Petersburg and was the younger brother of Red Navy leader Fedor Raskolnikov.

Ilyin-Zhenevsky promoted the usage of chess as an instrument for developing tactical and strategical comprehension during military training and he was the main responsible for the spreading of chess as a way to teach the basics of scientific and rational thought. The first Soviet Championship in 1920 and the 1933 match Mikhail Botvinnik – Salo Flohr were organized by him. He was three times chess champion of Leningrad (now again Saint Petersburg) in 1925 (jointly), 1926, and 1929. In 1925, he won one game against José Raúl Capablanca, making him one of a handful of players to have an even score (+1 =0 −1) against Capablanca.

Being personally associated with many oppositionists since Civil War times, he suffered persecution in the Stalin era. According to Botvinniki and official sources he died in a Nazi air raid on Lake Ladoga on a ship during the siege of Leningrad, but is believed by some to have fallen victim to the Stalinist repression as the majority of the Old Guard of revolutionists.

Political works

* "From February to the Conquest of Power"
* "The Bolsheviks in Power - Reminiscences of the Year 1918", New Park, ISBN 0861510119

External links

* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=20026 Profile at Chessgames.com]