Kan Ilya Abramovich (04.05.1909 – 12.12.1978)

Russian International Master (1950),  International Judge of Chess Composition (1959) and a lawyer who came third in the Soviet Championship in 1929. Second of Mikhail Botvinnik for the 1954 world chess championship final match. He was also a participant in the strong Moscow Tournament 1935, where he came sixth and in 1936, where he came seventh.

Despite wins against Mikhail Botvinnik (3), Viktor Korchnoi (2), Tigran Petrosian, Vasily Smyslov, Alexander Kotov, Mark Taimanov, Viacheslav Ragozin (4), Salo Flohr (3), Igor Bondarevsky and Grigory Levenfish, he was never invited to play abroad.

As a chess theorist, Kan contributed to deep analyses in the Sicilian ( 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6.) and Slav defences.
The author of Chess in the Soviet Army (1953).