Weekly Endgame Study (21)

5 Responses to “Weekly Endgame Study (21)”

1. JMR on 30 May 2007 18:20 PM

   Would it be possible to Yochanan Afek to give us some details of the life of this great russian composer ?
   On the net I just learned that he was born in 1910 and died in 1953 (43 years old).
   And why not a small picure of him ?

2. Yochanan Afek on 31 May 2007 23:02 PM

   Mark Savielevich Liburkin,”the chess poet” was born on 31 August 1910 in Vitebsk and was by profession a book keeper who was later the chief accountant of a large Moscow enterprise.He was even awarded a medal for “socialist labour” and honoured citizenship. He showed first interest in chess during the first Moscow international tournament (1925)and GM Yuri Avebakh told me that he had known him as a regular first category participant in tournaments held in the central chess club of Moscow.
   His output was some 110 studies with many prizes and distinctions but no doubt the highlight of his artistic career was twice winning the third and second Soviet championship for composing endgame studies (of which one was shared with Vladimir Korolkov). He was the editor of the studies section of the leading monthly “Shakhmaty v SSSR” untill his premature death on 5th March 1953 due to severe illness.He was a co-author of my youth favorite book “The Soviet Endgame Study” (where his photo can be found)which was only published two years after his death. He was also regrettably unable to see 23 of his compositions selected for the first two Fide Albums (1914-44 and 1945-55) that would have secured him the IM title for chess composition. His studies were compiled by Rafael Kofman in a book that was published in 1981 in Moscow titled “Selected studies of Mark Liburkin and Sergey Kaminer” (another Russian-Jewish fine composer who disappeared in Stalin era but fortunately managed to deposit his own lifetime production at the hands of his good friend Mikhail Botwinnik beforehand. In 2003 (50th jubilee of Liburkin’s death)I initiated and judged in the Dutch quarterly EBUR the first and only Liburkin Memorial Tourney dedicated to one of his magic favorite themes: the echo chameleon.
   He certainly deserves being included in the hall of fame of the greatest study composers.

3. JMR on 1 June 2007 10:28 AM

   Thanks a lot for all thesse informations.
   If I can get the photo of Liburkin, I will present some selected studies of him and so there will be a photo of him on the net.
   But the old russian books of studies are very difficult to get, so If somebody could scan this picture. …

4. peter nitschke on 1 June 2007 22:16 PM

   If you are looking for some books by Liburkin in russian, go to the following site: http://www.addall.com
   Click used & out of print books at the top of the page, and then type liburkin as keyword. This is by the way probably the best search engine in the world to find out of print books.

   Peter Nitschke

5. JMR on 7 June 2007 11:51 AM

   Thanks to Yochanan Afek I discovered Mark Savielevich Liburkin.
   His studies are among the finest ever made.
   Clicing on my name JMR you will reach a page with 55 studie of Mark Liburkin illustrated with paintings of Gustave Moreau.