Ilya Kan, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetIlya Kan
Russian chess player
Date of Birth: 04-May-1909
Place of Birth: Samara, Samara Oblast, Russia
Date of Death: 12-Dec-1978
Profession: chess player
Zodiac Sign: Taurus 
About Ilya Kan
- Ilya Abramovich Kan (Russian: ???? ????????? ???; 4 May 1909, Samara – 12 December 1978), was a Russian / Soviet International Master (IM) of Chess. He played ten times in Soviet Championships.
- In 1929, he took 3rd in Odessa (6th URS-ch; Boris Verlinsky won).
- In 1931, he took 7th in Moscow (7th URS-ch; Mikhail Botvinnik won).
- In 1933, he took 9th in Leningrad (8th URS-ch; Botvinnik won).
- In 1934/35, he tied for 9-12th in Leningrad (9th URS-ch; Grigory Levenfish and Ilya Rabinovich won).
- In 1937, he took 13th in Tbilisi (10th URS-ch; Levenfish won).
- In 1939, he tied for 13-14th in Leningrad (11th URS-ch; Botvinnik won).
- In 1945, he took 17th in Moscow (14th URS-ch; Botvinnik won).
- In 1947, he tied for 13-15th in Leningrad (15th URS-ch; Paul Keres won).
- In 1952, he took 18th in Moscow (20th URS-ch; Botvinnik and Mark Taimanov won).
- In 1955, he took 17th in Moscow (22nd URS-ch; Vasily Smyslov and Efim Geller won). In the 1931 Moscow City Championship, he took 2nd, behind Nikolai Riumin.
- In the 1932 Moscow City Championship, he took 3rd, behind Nikolai Riumin and Duz-Hotimirsky.
- [1] In 1933/34, he took 5th in Moscow–ch (Riumin won).
- In 1934, he took 5th in Leningrad (Botvinnik won).
- He tied for 6-7th at Moscow 1935 (2nd it; Botvinnik and Salo Flohr won).
- In 1936, he tied for 7-10th in Moscow (3rd it; José Raúl Capablanca won).
- In 1936, he tied for 1st-2nd with Vladimir Alatortsev in Moscow–ch.
- In 1937, he took 4th in Moscow–ch (Alatortsev and Sergey Belavenets won).
- In 1937, he took 2nd, behind Reuben Fine, in Moscow.
- The website Chessmetrics.com, which retroactively rates older players, ranks Kan as 13th in the world in 1944. He was awarded the IM title in 1950.
- His opening theory contributions were mainly in the Sicilian Defence variation which bears his name: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6.
- [2] This flexible line has been adopted frequently by top players since 1950, including Anatoly Karpov, World Champion 1975-85, and English Grandmaster Tony Miles.
- The line is sometimes called the Paulsen Variation in the West, for German Master Wilfried Paulsen, who played it earlier in the 19th century.
- Kan scored several victories over Botvinnik early in his career; Botvinnik became World Champion 1948–1957, 1958–1960, and 1961–1963. He is named as the editor of the Shakhmatny Bulletin issue 6.
- [3]
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