Although he played in the international tournament in Moscow in 1925 Verlinsky never got a chance to compete outside the Soviet Union. Chessmetrics estimates his highest rating to have been 2627 on the May, 1926 rating list ranking him number 16 in the world. Lasker, Alekhine, Bogoljubow, Capablanca and Nimzovich were at the top with ratings in the 2700s.
Born in Bakhmut, Ukraine. Wikipedia says he was deaf as a result of meningitis as a youngster, but an article on him entitled First Russian Grandmaster of Chess in the August 1998 issue of Deaf History Journal (published by the British Deaf History Society says that he was deaf from birth and learned to speak in his teens.
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| Verlinsky |
After World War I, Verlinsky moved from Ukraine to Russia. His best result was,no doubt, in 1925, when he tied for 12th-14th in Moscow. Although his finish was not so high, he scored several beautiful wins, including one over Capablanca.
In 1929, Verlinsky won the 6th Soviet Championship in Odessa, at the time earning the title of grandmaster. The title was rescinded
in 1931, supposedly in order to make Mikhail Botvinnik the first Soviet grandmaster. Verlinsky's last major tournament was the 1945 Moscow Championship, where he scored 5-11.
The Moscow tournament was organized by Nikolai Krylenko, head of the Soviet Chess Association, in an effort to popularize chess in the Soviet Union. Before the start of the tournament it was expected that it would be a race between Capablanca and Lasker, but the surprise winner turned out to be Bogoljubow. He left the Soviet Union permanently a year later and eventually became a German citizen.
The following Verlinsky game is from the USSR Championship in 1925. This tournament offered some extra incentive because a good finish would procure an invitation to Moscow.
Bogoljubow started well with a 12-2 score to take a two-point lead over Levenfish, who had started with losses in the first two rounds. However, Bogoljubov then lost to Vilner and Verlinsky in successive rounds which allowed Levenfish to draw within a half-point. In the critical round 17 Levenfish lost to A. Rabinovich which left Bogoljubow leading by a full point and he then won his remaining games.
The following game would never make it into a best played game collection, but the seesaw ending was entertaining. And, as C.J.S. Purdy was always pointing out in his writings, you simply MUST look for tactical possibilities at EVERY move. In this game both players took turns at missing them and as a result, the outcome of the game swung back and forth and, as Tartakower observed, the game was won by the player making the next to the last mistake.
Boris Verlinsky–Ilya Rabinovich1–0B02USSR Championship, Leningrad1925Stockfish 15
Alekhine's Defense 1.e4 f6 2.e5 d5 3.c3 e6 4.d4 d6 5.f3 xc3 6.bxc3 d7 7.f4 dxe5 8.xe5 d6 8...c5 A mistake that went
unpunished in Sluka,R (2363)-Palkovi,J (2451) CZE 1999 9.b5 9.c4
The move played by Sluka. cxd4 10.cxd4 xe5 11.xe5 b4+ 12.f1 black is
slightly better. 9...cxd4 9...d6 is met by 10.xf7 xf7 11.xd6
with a substantial advantage. 10.b1 e7 11.xd4 f6 12.xd7+ xd7 13.xd7+ xd7 14.xd7 xd7 15.xb7+ with a decisive advantage. 9.g3 xe5 10.dxe5 e7 11.d2 c5 12.b1 a6 13.f4 b6 14.d1 c6 15.d3 b7 16.0-0
Better would have been 16.Bh4 to hinder ...O-O-O 0-0-0 The threat is ...Nc5. 17.h4 f6 18.e2 Preferable was 18.exf6 g5 Opening lines against white's
K. While difficult, white's position is not yet lost. 19.g3 gxf4 20.xf4 20.xf4 was correct. f5 20...fxe5 21.c4 equalizes. 21.xa6 c5 22.xd8+ xd8 23.b5 and white is still in the game. 20...fxe5 21.g3 b5 21...xc3 allows black to equalize after 22.xa6 c5 23.xe5 22.de1 xc3 23.a4 This attempt at loosening up the position of black's K is
reasonable, but it allows black to gain a decisve advantage. He could have
made black's task much harder with 23.Bxe5! 23.xe5 c5+ 24.f2 xf2+ 25.xf2 xe5 26.xe5 d5 27.a4 c6 28.axb5 axb5 Black has the better chances. 23...d4+ This is much better than 23...bxa4 because black picks off the
a-Pawn while keeping his own Q-side Ps together. 24.h1 xa4 Black now has
a decisive advantage, but ruins it on his next move! 25.c4 c5
This unfortunate move leaving the e-Pawn undefended allows white a decisive
attack. 25...b4 and black's Q-side Ps will prove decisive. 26.e4 hf8 27.h3 27.xb7+ xb7 28.xe5 xe5 29.xe5 xf1+ 30.xf1 d1 27...a5 28.a1 xf1+ 29.xf1 b3 30.xb7+ xb7 and wins 26.xe5 a5 27.xc5 27.f7 was even stronger. d7 28.xd7 xd7 29.xh8+ d8 30.xh7 b4 31.e5
Black con up up only token resistance. 27...xd3 28.cxb5 With
this move white let the advantage get away. 28.f7 was a must xg3
After this in order to keep the advantage white must play accurately. 29.f8+ xf8 30.xf8+ d7 31.f7+ d8 Best 32.d1+ d3 33.g8+ 33.xd3+ d5
White cannot win and could possibly lose. 33...d7 34.xh7+ c8 35.xd3
in this difficult position white has winning chances because of his K-side Ps.
Shootouts resulted in five wins for white, but the games were long and the
endingx extremely complicated. 28...hd8 In his turn black
fails to take advantage of white's slip. 28...axb5 and Black stays safe. 29.f7 xg3 30.f8+ xf8 31.xf8+ d7 32.f7+ d8 Here white probably
should take the draw. 29.c1 3d7 30.fe1 After this the position is
again (!) back to offering equal chances. 30.f8 xf8 31.xf8+ d8 32.e7 d7 33.e8+ d8 34.xe6+ b8 35.b6 d2 36.bxc7+ a7 Mate on g2 is
threatened. 37.g1 f8 38.h3 f1 Obviously the R cannot be takes and 39.
Kh2 would result in a draw, but white has a clever win by underpromotion... 39.c8+ a8 40.b6+ a7 41.b8+ xb8 42.g8+ a7 43.xf1 xb6 and white
should (theoretically, at least, win. 30...axb5 31.xe6 d2
Again, missing the best move and leaving himself with a lost game. 31...a2 is a self mate...in 13 moves! 32.xc7+ xc7 33.xc7+ b8 34.c2+ a8 35.xa2+ a6 36.axa6+ b7 37.eb6+ mates in 7. 31...xg2+
This holds the game. 32.xg2 a2+ 33.c2 xe6 Here white must play the
stunning... 34.xc7+ xc7 35.xc7+ b8 36.e7+ d6 37.xd6+ xd6 38.xh7 with a draw. 32.xc7+ Unlike in the variation where black
played 31...Bxg2+ this move is now the haymaker. xc7 33.xc7+ b8 34.c1+ a7 35.a1+ a6 36.axa6+ b7 37.eb6+ c8 38.a8+ d7 39.xd8+ Black
resigned. A gripping finish! 1–0
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