Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing

Olaf Ulvestad

Most played openings

C41		Philidor Defense (7 games)
C02		French, Advance (6 games)
E11		Bogo-Indian Defense (6 games)
D02		Queen's Pawn Game (6 games)
A04		Reti Opening (6 games)
E10		Queen's Pawn Game (5 games)
B00		Uncommon King's Pawn Opening (5 games)
A49		King's Indian, Fianchetto without c4 (5 games)
B07		Pirc (5 games)
D37		Queen's Gambit Declined (4 games)

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Olaf Ulvestad
Search Google for Olaf Ulvestad

OLAF ULVESTAD (born Oct-27-1912, died Aug-24-2000, 87 years old) United States of America [what is this?] Olaf Ulvestad was born in Tacoma, Washington on October 27, 1912. He won the Washington State Championship in 1934, 1952 and 1956. Ulvestad played 10th (last) board for the United States in its 1946 match in Moscow against the Soviet Union, scoring a win and a loss in his two games against David Bronstein. Chessmetrics ranks Ulvestad the No. 81 player in the world in July 1946. In the 49th US Open (1948), Ulvestad tied for 2nd-4th with Isaac Kashdan and George Kramer, half a point behind the winner, Weaver Adams. The following month, he tied for 3rd-4th in the United States Championship (1948) with Kramer, behind Herman Steiner and Kashdan. Ulvestad gave frequent exhibition tours around the country, combining lectures with simultaneous exhibitions and blindfold play, playing up to ten blindfold games simultaneously. Ulvestad won West Orange 1954 (All Eastern States Open). He won the Washington Open in 1955 (tied with two others), 1958 (tied with Viktors Pupols), and 1959. He won the Seattle Open in 1955 and 1959 (tied with Pupols). He won the 1958 Heart of America Open in Kansas City. In the 1960s Ulvestad moved to Italy, where he performed as an opera singer. He later moved to Spain, and played first board for Andorra at the 1970 Siegen Chess Olympiad. He died on August 24, 2000 at the Washington Old Soldiers Home in Retsil, Washington. The Ulvestad Variation of the Two Knights Defense (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 b5) is named for him. Last updated: 2022-11-11 06:43:23

Try our new games table.

page 1 of 10; games 1-25 of 234  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. O Ulvestad vs Santasiere 1-0 72 1939 Ventnor City A07 King's Indian Attack 2. J J Leary vs O Ulvestad   0-1 65 1939 Ventnor City B23 Sicilian, Closed 3. O Ulvestad vs H Burdge   1-0 24 1939 Ventnor City D45 Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav 4. H R Morris vs O Ulvestad   1-0 32 1939 Ventnor City D96 Grunfeld, Russian Variation 5. O Ulvestad vs M L Hanauer 0-1 37 1939 Ventnor City A80 Dutch 6. E McCormick vs O Ulvestad   1-0 33 1939 Ventnor City B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange 7. J W Collins vs O Ulvestad   1-0 41 1939 Ventnor City A83 Dutch, Staunton Gambit 8. O Ulvestad vs J Levin   1-0 55 1939 Ventnor City A03 Bird's Opening 9. T Knorr vs O Ulvestad   ½-½ 69 1939 Ventnor City C28 Vienna Game 10. O Ulvestad vs F Reinfeld ½-½ 46 1939 Ventnor City A13 English 11. M Bain vs O Ulvestad ½-½ 28 1939 Ventnor City B02 Alekhine's Defense 12. O Ulvestad vs Reshevsky   0-1 31 1939 ACF-ch prel A09 Reti Opening 13. W Adams vs O Ulvestad   0-1 23 1939 ACF Congress-Final B29 Sicilian, Nimzovich-Rubinstein 14. B Blumin vs O Ulvestad   1-0 19 1939 ACF Congress-Final A52 Budapest Gambit 15. Fine vs O Ulvestad   1-0 42 1939 ACF Congress-Final D11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 16. O Ulvestad vs A Pinkus   0-1 38 1939 ACF Congress-Final D52 Queen's Gambit Declined 17. O Ulvestad vs Reshevsky 0-1 40 1939 ACF Congress-Final A49 King's Indian, Fianchetto without c4 18. O Ulvestad vs Santasiere   0-1 55 1939 ACF Congress-Final E90 King's Indian 19. O Ulvestad vs W Adams   1-0 62 1940 Ventnor City D02 Queen's Pawn Game 20. O Ulvestad vs S Bernstein   ½-½ 64 1940 Ventnor City A46 Queen's Pawn Game 21. Santasiere vs O Ulvestad   0-1 52 1940 Ventnor City A04 Reti Opening 22. H Burdge vs O Ulvestad   ½-½ 53 1940 Ventnor City C62 Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense 23. M L Hanauer vs O Ulvestad 1-0 20 1940 Ventnor City A10 English 24. O Ulvestad vs H R Morris   ½-½ 42 1940 Ventnor City A47 Queen's Indian 25. O Ulvestad vs E McCormick   ½-½ 46 1940 Ventnor City B15 Caro-Kann  page 1 of 10; games 1-25 of 234

REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Ulvestad wins | Ulvestad loses

Aug-01-07    sneaky pete: Olaf Ivan Ulvestad, born October 27, 1912, in Tacoma, Washington, died August 24, 2000, in the Washington Old Soldiers home in Retsil, Washington. Washington State champion 1934, 1952 and 1956. Scored +1 -1 in Moscow, 1946, against Bronstein in the USSR vs USA team match. The only man who could outtalk Viktors Pupols. Originator of the earthshaking novelty 5... b5!! in the Two Knights Defence (after 4.Ng5? d5 5.exd5 ..). Aug-01-07    Rolfo: Off topic, his name indicates Scandinavian heritage.. Aug-02-07    sneaky pete: Son of Norwegian immigrants Martin Johan and Hannah Oss Ulvestad. Olaf's father was a publisher by trade and the author of books on Norwegian immigration to the United States. His work <Nordmaendene i Amerika>, published in 1907, and based on 450,000 questionnaires sent out to Norwegians in America, continues to be an important record of Norwegian settlement in the New World. King Haakon of Norway knighted Martin in 1923 in recognition of his accomplishments. From John Donaldson: <Olaf Ulvestad, An American Original>, Thinker's Press, 2002. Sep-24-10    GrahamClayton: Here is an interesting article about Ulvestad from the Long Beach, CA "Independent": http://www.nwchess.com/articles/his... Dec-30-10    wordfunph: 1970 Siegen Chess Olympiad: According to George Koltanowski, Olaf Ulvestad of Seattle, a well-known theorist in the Two Knights Defense played 1st board for Andorra. Ulvestad told Koltanowski that he expects to play for Singapore next year (1971). May-21-12    GrahamClayton: <wordfunph>1970 Siegen Chess Olympiad: According to George Koltanowski, Olaf Ulvestad of Seattle, a well-known theorist in the Two Knights Defense played 1st board for Andorra. <wordfunph>, Ulvestad was involved in an interesting game against Jonathan Penrose: http://streathambrixtonchess.blogsp... Dec-08-14    zanzibar: Ulvestad vs Bronstein, from 1946 USSR-USA match: http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... (From page 32 of the November 1946 Chess Review by way of Winter's CN 4759) Dec-08-14    zanzibar: For example: Are we sure he died in the US? And isn't a variation in the two-knights named after this player? Dec-08-14    zanzibar: Ah, I see, the image I liked was actually from the 1934 Washington State Chess Championship pamplet: http://www.nwchess.com/articles/his... And here is the best source for his full name being <Olaf Ivan Ulvestad> (But note: the 1934 tournament booklet has his first name as <Olav>!) Dec-08-14    zanzibar: The bio here is really quite lean, especially given that there are several dedicated chess pages devoted to profiling him. He resettled in Andorra, Spain sometime ~1960's. Here's a nice little artistic portrait of him: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G94FMBEIM... http://www.ajedrez365.com/2013/04/o... From 1940-09-15 Brooklyn Daily Eagle: <Olaf I. Ulvestad of Manhattan, formerly of Seattle, Wash.> And, according to Tartajubow: <Ulvestad was champion of the State of Washington in 1934, 1952 and 1956. In the sixties, he went to live in Andorra (a small country between Spain and France), and played first board in the 1970 chess Olympiad in Siegen. He is also famous for the Ulvestad variation of the Two knights defense: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 b5. John Donaldson has published a small (36 page) booklet on Ulvestad, An American Original. > http://tartajubow.blogspot.com/2014... And for the record, Andorra, nestled between Spain and France in the Pyrenees, is actually an independent country. Apr-07-15    Boomie: The highest rating given here is a bit deceiving since it comes from when he was well past his prime. Chessmetrics calculates his highest rating at over 2500 (http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/...), making him grandmaster strength. He had some impressive scalps hanging from his belt including: Bronstein vs O Ulvestad, 1946 Portisch vs O Ulvestad, 1964 May-24-15    TheFocus: <A master sweats and squirms to find the right square for a piece. A grandmaster tosses a piece in the air and it lands on the right square!> - Olaf Ulvestad. Dec-18-15    Howard: He played in the 1948 U.S. championship only because Reshevsky demanded a special appearance fee, or he wouldn't play. The tournament organizers said "nyet" to his request, so Ulvestad got his place....and he ended up doing pretty well. Oct-27-16    TheFocus: Happy birthday, Olaf Ulvestad. Jan-23-21    FSR: We have no bio at all of Ulvestad? What the hell? Jan-25-21    OhioChessFan: I have it on my todo list <FSR> and yes, it's a shame. Jan-25-21    FSR: <OCF> I wrote a little something. Jan-28-21    FSR: I e-mailed John Donaldson. Not surprisingly, he doesn't have any spare copies of his book on Ulvestad. But I bought a CD from him, <Two Masters from Washington>, that he says has a lot of biographical information on Ulvestad.

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers. Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times. See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator. NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific player only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors. All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC