Vladimir Alatortsev - Coach, Organizer, Author

Coach, Organizer, Author

It was clear that the new generation of Soviet players was taking over the top places in tournaments. Players such as Alexander Kotov, Isaac Boleslavsky, David Bronstein, Efim Geller, Yuri Averbakh, Tigran Petrosian, and Mark Taimanov were all younger and had the benefits of organized Soviet training, so they surpassed the older generation in their achievements. Alatortsev moved into a training role in the late 1940s, assisting the rising star Vasily Smyslov. He also became involved in tournament organization and administration. Alatortsev was awarded the title of International Master by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, in 1950, when this title was introduced officially.

Alatortsev stopped playing major tournaments in the early 1950s, but occasionally took part in lesser events. He served as head of the Soviet Chess Federation from 1954 to 1961, during a time when there were about three million registered Soviet players. From 1943 to 1974, he was the editor of a chess column in the newspaper Vechernaya Moskva. In 1960, he published the book Modern Chess Theory. His final strong tournament was Tbilisi 1965, where at age 56 he made a respectable 8/17.

Alatortsev never got the opportunity to compete outside the Soviet Union. He was awarded an Honorary Emeritus Grandmaster title by FIDE in 1983. This was clearly well deserved, since his win at Leningrad 1938 and his second place in the Soviet Championship 1933 were definitely strong Grandmaster results. Alatortsev died at age 77, on January 13, 1987. There is a photo of him at chessgames.com, which also has a selection of 231 of his games. Alatortsev favoured the Closed Openings with White, and his style could be characterized as solid and positional, resorting to tactics only when necessary.