Alexander Ilyin-Genevsky

Who was Alexander Ilyin-Genevsky?

Alexander Fyodorovich Ilyin, known with the party name Zhenevsky, "the Genevan" because he joined the Bolshevik group of Russian émigrés while exiled in that city, was a Soviet chess master and organizer, one of founders of the Soviet chess school, an Old-Guard Bolshevik cadre, a writer, a military organizer, a historian and a diplomat. He was born in Saint Petersburg and was the younger brother of Red Navy leader Fedor Raskolnikov.

Ilyin-Zhenevsky promoted the usage of chess as an instrument for developing tactical and strategical comprehension during military training and he was the main responsible for the spreading of chess as a way to teach the basics of scientific and rational thought. The first Soviet Championship in 1920 and the 1933 match Mikhail Botvinnik – Salo Flohr were organized by him. He was three times chess champion of Leningrad in 1925, 1926, and 1929. In 1925, he won one game against José Raúl Capablanca, making him one of a handful of players to have an even score against Capablanca.

A variation of the Dutch Defence, characterized by the moves 1.d4 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 e6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.Nc3 Qe8, is named after him.