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Aleksander Wojtkiewicz

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ALEKSANDER WOJTKIEWICZ (born Jan-15-1963, died Jul-14-2006, 43 years old) Poland (federation/nationality United States of America) [what is this?] Aleksander Wojtkiewicz (pronounced Voit-kyev-ich) was born in Riga, Latvia to a Polish father (Pavel Voitkevich) and Russian mother. He was Polish by nationality. He became a Soviet master at the age of 15. He was a member of a human rights organization in Latvia. In 1986, Wojtkiewicz was imprisoned for refusing to join the Soviet Army and was imprisoned for 1½ years. In 1986, he immigrated to Warsaw, Poland. He won two Polish championships (1989, 1995). In 1989, he became a Grandmaster. He represented Poland on first board in several chess Olympiads and European teams championships. In the late nineties, he was banned from representing Poland in international tournaments after arguments between him and former communists heading the Polish Chess Federation. In 1998, he moved to the United States. In 1999, he was on the team of Alexander Khalifman, and help him win the 1999 World Championship in Las Vegas. He won the US Grand Prix 6 times in a row (1999-2004). In 2001, he won the US Open. At the time of his death, he was leading the Grand Prix for 2006. In 2006, he won or tied for first in the Columbus Open, the National Open, the Kentucky Open, the DC Action Championship, and the World Open. He played chess in 48 states and 6 continents. He died in Baltimore on July 14, 2006 of internal bleeding (perforated intestine) at the age of 43. He never married, but in 1993 he had a son, Yosef, with Laima Domarkaite, a Lithuanian chess player. His last FIDE rating was 2562. Wikipedia article: Aleksander Wojtkiewicz Last updated: 2022-05-31 16:47:05

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page 1 of 76; games 1-25 of 1,897  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Shleifman vs A Wojtkiewicz   0-1 45 1977 Latvian Junior Championship B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation 2. A Wojtkiewicz vs A Sokolov   0-1 40 1978 USSR Junior Team Championship B83 Sicilian 3. A Wojtkiewicz vs T Khasanov   1-0 22 1978 USSR Junior Team Championship C10 French 4. V Terentiev vs A Wojtkiewicz 1-0 27 1979 URS B80 Sicilian, Scheveningen 5. R Freimanis vs A Wojtkiewicz 0-1 39 1979 LAT A65 Benoni, 6.e4 6. A Wojtkiewicz vs Salov   0-1 47 1979 USSR Junior Championship B45 Sicilian, Taimanov 7. A Wojtkiewicz vs E Rajskij   1-0 26 1979 USSR Junior Championship B47 Sicilian, Taimanov (Bastrikov) Variation 8. Salov vs A Wojtkiewicz   ½-½ 69 1979 Junior Selection Tournament B84 Sicilian, Scheveningen 9. V Sergeev vs A Wojtkiewicz   0-1 30 1979 Junior Selection Tournament A39 English, Symmetrical, Main line with d4 10. A Wojtkiewicz vs Ehlvest   0-1 73 1979 Junior Selection Tournament C15 French, Winawer 11. V Zhuravliov vs A Wojtkiewicz   1-0 46 1980 Latvian Championship A48 King's Indian 12. Klovans vs A Wojtkiewicz   0-1 64 1980 Latvian Championship B83 Sicilian 13. A Wojtkiewicz vs I Kivlan 1-0 49 1980 Latvian Championship B32 Sicilian 14. J Saksis vs A Wojtkiewicz 0-1 37 1980 Latvian Championship B81 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Keres Attack 15. A Wojtkiewicz vs E Priednieks   1-0 26 1980 Latvian Championship C64 Ruy Lopez, Classical 16. A Wojtkiewicz vs Y Agafonov   1-0 39 1980 Latvian Championship B05 Alekhine's Defense, Modern 17. A Wojtkiewicz vs Z Lanka   ½-½ 64 1980 Latvian Championship B62 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer 18. A Vitolinsh vs A Wojtkiewicz 1-0 37 1980 Riga B80 Sicilian, Scheveningen 19. A Wojtkiewicz vs V Levchenkov   1-0 47 1980 Latvian Championship C93 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Smyslov Defense 20. A Kveinys vs A Wojtkiewicz   0-1 32 1980 USSR Junior Championship B81 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Keres Attack 21. A Wojtkiewicz vs Ehlvest   0-1 25 1980 USSR Junior Championship B83 Sicilian 22. A Wojtkiewicz vs I Lutsko   1-0 33 1980 USSR Junior Championship B67 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack, 7...a6 Defense, 8...Bd7 23. A Wojtkiewicz vs A Sokolov   1-0 30 1980 Junior Selection Tournament B80 Sicilian, Scheveningen 24. A Wojtkiewicz vs I Efimov   0-1 41 1980 Junior Selection Tournament B33 Sicilian 25. Salov vs A Wojtkiewicz   1-0 46 1980 Junior Selection Tournament B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack  page 1 of 76; games 1-25 of 1,897

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 8 OF 8 ·  Later Kibitzing> Oct-26-06    thesonicvision: the key to the combination is that white has to make sure he can stop the f3 push. 1.Qf6, for example, would lose to: 1..Qd1+ 2.Kg2 f3+ 3.Qxf3 Qxf3+ 4.Kg2 Bh3 and black wins Instead, white should play 1.Nf6+, which leads to... 1..Rxf6 2.Qxf6 and if 2..Qd1+ and Kg2, the white queen can capture the f-pawn if pushed to f3. Nov-22-06    Reorder: It's been 4 months and 8 days since Alex left. In some ways it seems like a couple of years, so much has happened. In other ways it feels like it was just a few days ago. Jan-15-07    WannaBe: Happy Birthday, Wojo. Again, it was an absolute pleasure to have met you and chat with you. Mar-07-07    spasskey69: Wojo is the reason why I am studying the Catalan opening. Yes, he seems to have had a drinking problem. I was playing in a chess tournament in Arlington, Virginia, and in the midst of a game, heard a lot of noise out in the hall. Wojo had showed up, drunk. He wasn't playing, just stopping by. I do not pass judgement on his drinking -- I have enjoyed many a Jack Daniels and water on the rocks myself and certainly understand the appeal that that sort of lifestyle has. I relate this story for the record. Chessplayers like Wojo and Tal and Alekhine had lives filled to the brim with chess. None of these guys left a boring legacy. What most interests me about Wojo, though, is his steadfast resistance to violations of human rights throughout the world. When all is said and done, and the sadness of his early passing has faded into soft memories of a bright spirit, it is this commitment, not just to chess, but to humanity, that will be Wojo's final legacy. He was a man, taken for all that is; and he lived his life to the full. Mar-08-07    Gypsy: <spasskey69: ... When all is said and done, and the sadness of his early passing has faded into soft memories of a bright spirit, it is this commitment, not just to chess, but to humanity, that will be Wojo's final legacy. He was a man, taken for all that is; and he lived his life to the full.> What a testimonial you give! I never met Wojo, but now I know that he was a grand, grand man. Mar-08-07    WannaBe: <Gypsy> I had the pleasure of meeting Wojo, and it was shortly after the 2006 National Open (in Las Vegas) that Wojo left us. In Las Vegas, it was my second time meeting him, and since I kinda 'knew' him, I politely asked him to use his matches for my cigarette. He passed his matches to me and I said thanks. That was all the conversation I had with Wojo, besides looking at his board and snapping a picture or two... http://mysite.verizon.net/jyu1/Wojt... Mar-08-07    Gypsy: <WannaBe> He does look like a man who put in some hard miles. Apr-20-07    SteveO1: ChessLifeOnline has some good articles about how Wojo won with the Catalan. http://beta.uschess.org/frontend/ne... http://beta.uschess.org/frontend/ne... http://beta.uschess.org/frontend/ne... Jul-14-07    Reorder: It was a year ago today that we lost Alex. He lived such an intense life and it was all too soon over. I'm glad he was in this world for the years he was here. Mar-22-08    Granny O Doul: I'm a fan of Qg7+ from that diagram. Jul-14-08    Reorder: It was two years ago today that we lost Alex. Life has gone on, but I think it's likely that everyone who knew him and loved him feels the void he left when he left this world. Jul-20-08    Everett: <Granny O Doul> I am a fan of your choice as well. Mate is forced after 1.Qg7! Rxg7 2.Nf6+ Kh8 3.Rxf8+ Qg8 4.Rxg8+ Rxg8 5.Rh7# Wow. Thanks for posting the position <TGF>! Jan-04-09    Reorder: On the 14th of January, 2009, it'll be 2 1/2 years since Alex departed this vale of tears. I think his intensity is still resounding in some lives. I'm not likely going to count any further than this. I'm still sad often about his passing. This is past though. Alex is someplace else, and he's not suffering. Jan-19-09    ztwebb: What about the mate starting with Qh8? 1.Qh8 KxQ 2.RxR Rg8 3.Nf6 RxR 4.Rh7# Jan-22-09    ztwebb: Never mind. Kf8 wastes the mate. Jan-15-10    Knight13: This guy's eating embrosia with Zeus right now. --- Happy Birthday. May-04-10    danielpi: New book out, titled "Wojo's Weapons", which looks interesting. Has anyone taken a look, and if so, is it worth buying? I'm always interested in 1. Nf3 stuff, although I think Wojo would play the King's Indian if Black wanted to go into it, whereas I really prefer going in to the English instead. From what I understand, though, the new book is mainly about his response to 1...d5, which are Catalan and Slav lines. May-30-10    ronmc21: Great Interview on ICC. With Watson.. Both authors on.. Jun-18-10    wordfunph: "The longer you play chess, the more self-centered you become." - GM Aleksander Wojtkiewicz Mar-24-15    thegoodanarchist: I met Wojo at a tournament in Dayton, OH in 1999 or 2000, forget which year. I was outside smoking and he asked me for a cigarette, which I gave him. We shared a smoke but he was not very talkative. As Amber said on page 1, he was in his "zone" and I didn't take any offense. Last round he was rolling his opponent, who would not resign, but Wojo obviously knew just how to win the position, because he was over at the hotel bar having a drink and talking with another player while his opponent struggled over his move! This was the first tournament where a player lower rated than me got a draw from me. I had decided to start playing the Dragon Sicilian and I got the move order screwed up, so I had to force a repetition of position to keep from getting an inferior game. May-24-15    TheFocus: <In a memorial speech in Curacao, Jaan Ehlvest called Wojt the James Bond of chess. I don't know if I would go that far; maybe Don Quixote is a better comparison. Either way, he was of a generation that is slowly dying out: the devil-may-care, living-for-the-moment professional chess bum. He traveled from tournament to tournament, thinking little about money or a conventional lifestyle, only about playing chess and enjoying himself. He really lived his life as if there was no tomorrow> - Alex Shabalov writing about his friend the late Alex Wojtkiewicz. May-24-15    TheFocus: <I was wondering why these guys keep calling me up for lessons. Then I realized what I am to them — I am their priest. They are going to confession, to confess their chess sins!> - Alex Wojtkiewicz. Jan-15-16    TheFocus: Happy birthday, Aleksander. Jul-19-16    ketchuplover: Solemn tenth commemoration of his passing five days ago. May he and his pieces rest in peace. Jan-15-22    virginmind: I never knew about this guy. Thanks, cg.com, and those who wrote here, for letting me know about his life. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 8) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 8 OF 8 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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