An engineer by profession, Blonarovych was a well-known New Jersey master and many-time champion in Ukrainian tournaments sponsored by the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S. and Canada. He was New Jersey Champion in 1956 and 1963.
During WW2 he was a soldier in the Galicia Division, a Ukrainian military formation within the German armed forces. He was born in Radymno, western Ukraine and emigrated to the U.S. and after WW2 and he served time as a parachutist in the U.S. Army.
Outside of chess, he was an activist in the Ukrainian community. He was employed by the Veterans Administration in the engineering
department and after a brief transfer to the West Coast, he ended up in Richmond, Virginia where he retired as chief in the engineering service. It was through his initiative that an active Ukrainian community was formed in Richmond.
In the following game he defeated California Master Gilbert Ramirez who eventually quit chess and became a professional bridge player.
[Event "1957 US Open, Cleveland Ohio"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1957.08.13"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lev Blonarovych"]
[Black "Gilbert Ramirez"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A07"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15.1"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "1957.08.05"]
{A08: King's Indian Attack} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O O-O 5. d3 {
The K-Indian Attack is sometimes presented as a system where white can play
the same moves against any black setup and thereby eliminate the memorization
of opening lines. However, as with all these so cal;led system openings, the
proper strategy and therefore moves should be determined by what black plays
because you simply cannot use the same strategy no matter what moves black
plays.} d5 6. Nbd2 c5 7. e4 e6 8. Nh4 {There is nothing subtle about white's
play; he's going for a K-side attack.} (8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Ne4 b6 10. Nfd2 Nc6 11.
Nc4 Ba6 12. c3 {is about equal. Haddouche,M (2515)-Sarwat,W (2313) Monastir
TUN 2014}) (8. Qe2 Nc6 9. c3 b6 10. Rd1 Ba6 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Ne4 {Black has
the more active position. Britton,R (2238)-Andersen,M (2474) London ENG 2006})
8... Nc6 9. f4 Qb6 (9... Qc7 10. e5 Nd7 11. c3 b5 12. g4 Bb7 {with equal
chances. Ortmann,D-Solinski,M (2220) Berlin 1996}) 10. c3 Qa6 {The Q is not
especially well placed here, so 10...c4+ was more exact.} (10... c4+ 11. d4
Nxe4 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Bxe4 e5) 11. e5 Ne8 {After this passive retreat white
gets active play.} (11... Nd7 {was better.} 12. Ndf3 b5 {with equal play.}) 12.
Re1 f6 13. Ndf3 fxe5 {Opening up the position on the K-side is a nad decision.
It would have been better to improve the position of his Q with 13...Qb6} 14.
fxe5 {Now comes a series of moves where both sides are jockeying for position.
Blonarovych skillfully neutralizes black's play on the Q-side and at the same
time builds up dangerous threats on the K-side.} Bd7 15. Bg5 Rc8 16. Qd2 Rf7
17. Bf4 Ne7 18. Ng5 Rf8 19. Nh3 Bb5 20. Nf2 Rc7 21. Nf3 Kh8 22. h4 Ng8 23. Bh3
Rcf7 24. a4 Bd7 25. b3 h6 26. d4 cxd4 27. cxd4 {Black's pieces are huddled
around the K, but that's not where the danger lies! The decisive action will
take place on the Q-side.} Qb6 28. Nd3 Qxb3 {Trapping his own Q. In reality
about all black can do is make harmless waitling moves like 28...Ne7} 29. Reb1
Qc4 {The Q has no escape.} 30. Nc5 g5 (30... b6 31. Bf1 bxc5 32. Bxc4) 31. Bf1
gxf4 32. Bxc4 dxc4 33. Nxd7 Rxd7 34. g4 Ne7 35. Rb4 Nc6 36. Rxc4 {White is
clearly winning.} Nxe5 37. Nxe5 Bxe5 38. Re1 Nd6 (38... Bg7 {and white
simplifies to a won ending.} 39. Rxe6 Nc7 40. Rxc7 Rxc7 41. d5 Rd8 42. d6 Rcd7
43. Qd3 Bf8 44. Qf5 Bxd6 45. Rxh6+ Kg8 46. Rg6+ Rg7 47. Qe6+ Kh8 48. Rh6+ Rh7
49. Qf6+ Kg8 50. Rg6+ Rg7 51. Qxg7#) 39. dxe5 {Black resigned. An impressive
performance by Blonarovych.} 1-0
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