Sergei Semyonovich Urusov

Sergei Urusov
Association	Russia
Born	August 3, 1827
Died	November 20, 1897
Best Elo rating	2561 (April 1866) ( historical rating )

Sergei Semjonowitsch Urussow ( Russian Сергей Семёнович Урусов , scientific transliteration Sergej Semenovič Urusov ; born August 3, 1827 , † November 20, 1897 ) was one of the strongest Russian chess players of the 19th century .

Urusov, whose brother Dmitri (* 1829, † 1903) was also a very strong chess player, came from a royal family and was an officer in the tsarist army . Before he took part in the Crimean War in 1854/1855 , he defeated Ilya Shumov in two competitions 8.5: 4.5 (+7 = 3 −3) and 12: 9 (+12, −9) (1854) and lost just short of Alexander Petrov (with 1: 3).

Urusov was involved in the defense of Sevastopol during the war and on this occasion met the writer Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy , with whom he continued a lifelong friendship. The two chess lovers made their acquaintance when Urusov gave a blind simultaneous performance on three boards during an opposing artillery offensive .

After the end of the war, Urusov withdrew from military service in order to devote more time to chess. He lost a match against Alexander Petrow high with 7.5: 13.5 (+7 = 1 −13), but he was now considered the second best player in Russia. In 1859 he defeated Schumow again 6.5: 2.5 (+6 = 1 −2). In 1862 he played in a short competition in Saint Petersburg 2-2 against Ignaz von Kolisch . In 1866 he beat the Prussian Philipp Hirschfeld in Moscow with 3: 2 (+2 = 2 −1).

According to calculations of his historical Elo number , he reached 2561 points, his highest number in April 1866. This made him one of the five best players in the world.

In 1878 he retired from chess. He bequeathed his valuable chess book collection to Ilya Tolstoy, the son of Lev Tolstoy.

The Urusov Gambit is named after him , a variant of the bishop game , which is created by moves 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Bf1 – c4 Ng8 – f6 3. d2 – d4 e5xd4 4. Ng1 – f3.

Web links

• Replayable chess games by Sergei Semjonowitsch Urussow on chessgames.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Data on Urussow's historical Elo rating (English)