Tartakower Dr. Savielly (21.02.1887 – 05.02.1956)

French Grandmaster (1950) born in Russia. In 1889 he left Russia following the death of his parents in a pogrom. He studied in Geneva and Vienna and became a lawyer and then a doctor in law in 1909. His had his first chess success when he was 19 years old when he won the International Tournament in Nurnberg. He also had some good results in Karlsbad in 1907, Vienna 1908, St. Petersburg 1909 and Budapest 1913. After the war, he had a very quiet period until 1923 in Vienna, where he finished the tournaments ahead of Alekhine, Tarrasch, Maroczy. He repeated this performance in 1930 in Liege in front of Nimzovitch, Rubinstein and Marshall. In 1924, he decided to move to Paris and applied for French citizenship. A hard worker, he wrote in many chess magazines, articles which were very much appreciated at that time. Also he wrote three major books, which today are a very good reference for chess amateurs. He could not repeat a very high chess performance; however, he managed to win in Barcelona in 1934, Lodz in 1935, Hastings in 1946 and Venice in 1947. During the Second World War, he decided to join the French army and fought with General de Gaulle to liberate the French territory. During this period, he had the occasion to play several games under the name Lieutenant Cartier. He was awarded the title of Grandmaster in 1950. He finished his chess career by winning the French Championship in 1953. He wrote a series of evaluated books including A Breviary of Chess (1934), Modern Schachstrategie (1930), Die Hypermoderne Schachpartie and500 Master Games of Modern Chess. His other occupations included work as a scriptwriter and as a translator of Russian poetry into French and German.