Rossolimo Nicolas (28.02.1910 – 24.07.1975)

US Grandmaster (1953). Born in Kiev to a Greek father and a Russian mother. He emigrated to France in 1929 and to the USA in 1953. French Champion in 1948.

Best results: winner in Hasting in 1948-49, third in Beverwijk and second in Bad Gastein in 1948, in 1949. He drew a match with Savielly Tartakower 5-5, finished second in Heidelberg and won Sousti.

He emigrated then to the US in 1953 and won the US Open Championship in 1955 ahead of Samuel Reshevsky.

With two citizenships, he played in the Olympiads for France in 1950 (9/12) and 1972 and for the USA in 1958, 1960 and 1966.

For many years, he was the owner of a chess café in Greenwich Village, New York. A talented man he spoke five languages and earned a brown belt in judo.
He died of head injuries three days after accidentally falling down two flights of stairs in New York in 1975.

The author of Les Échecs au coin du feu (1947) and Rossolimo’s Brilliancy Prizes (1970).

Historical ELO: 2663.