{{Short description|Soviet chess grandmaster}} {{Infobox chess player |name = Leonid Shamkovich |image = Leonid_Shamkovich_1980_Malta.jpg |caption = Shamkovich at the 1980 Chess Olympiad, Malta |birthname = Leonid Aleksandrovich Shamkovich |country = [[Soviet Union]] (until 1974)<br>[[Israel]] (1975-1978)<br>[[United States]] (after 1979) |birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|6|01|df=y}} |birth_place = [[Rostov-on-Don]], Soviet Union |death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|4|22|1923|6|01|df=y}} |death_place = [[Brooklyn]], New York City |title = [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] (1965) |peakrating = 2540 (July 1973) |peakranking = No. 41 (July 1973) |native_name=Леони́д Шамко́вич|native_name_lang=ru}} '''Leonid Aleksandrovich Shamkovich''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Леони́д Алекса́ндрович Шамко́вич; June 1, 1923 – April 22, 2005)<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9907EED71430F934A35756C0A9639C8B63|title = Leonid Shamkovich, 81, Ex-Soviet Chess Grandmaster, is Dead|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 7 May 2005|last1 = McClain|first1 = Dylan Loeb}}</ref> was a [[chess]] [[International Grandmaster|Grandmaster]] and chess writer.
He was born in a Jewish family in [[Rostov-on-Don]] in [[Russia]].
==Chess career== Shamkovich became a Grandmaster in 1965 and won several tournaments, with his best victory coming at [[Sochi]] in 1967, where he tied for first place with [[Nikolai Krogius]], [[Vladimir Simagin]], [[Boris Spassky]] and [[Alexander Zaitsev (chess player)|Alexander Zaitsev]]. Other notable results included a tie for 3rd at the 1962 [[Moscow]] Championship (behind [[Yuri Averbakh]] and [[Evgeny Vasiukov]]) and finishing third at [[Mariánské Lázně]] 1965 (behind [[Paul Keres]] and [[Vlastimil Hort]]).
Shamkovich left the Soviet Union in 1975, moving first to Israel, then Canada, and finally the United States, where he lived the remainder of his life. He won the 1975 [[Canadian Open Chess Championship]]. He continued to play through the 1990s, and wrote several chess books.
Shamkovich tied for first place in the 1987 [[U.S. Masters Chess Championship]].
His ''Sacrifice in Chess'' begins: "A real sacrifice involves a radical change in the character of a game which cannot be effected without foresight, fantasy, and the willingness to risk."
==Personal life== His aristocratic bearing and manner of speech earned him the nickname "Prince".
Shamkovich died of complications from [[Parkinson's disease]] and [[cancer]] in his [[Brooklyn]] home on April 22, 2005.
==Books== * ''Caro–Kann 4 ...Nd7'', Leonid Shamkovich & [[Eric Schiller]], Chess Enterprises, 1987. {{ISBN|0-931462-26-6}}. * ''Chess Sacrifices'', Leonid Shamkovich & A. Kalajs (Translator), Chess Player, 1976. {{ISBN|978-0900928994}}. * ''The Chess Terrorist's Handbook'', Leonid Shamkovich & Paul Hodges (Editor), American Chess Promotions, 1995. {{ISBN|978-0939298570}}. * ''Fischer–Spassky 1992: World Chess Championship Rematch'', Leonid Shamkovich, Jan R. Cartier & Lou Hays (Editor), Hays Publishing, 1993. {{ISBN|978-1880673904}}. * ''The Gruenfeld Defense'', Leonid Shamkovich & Jan R. Cartier, Hays Publishing, 1997. {{ISBN|978-1880673157}}. * ''Karpov–Kasparov 1990: An Expert Analysis'', Don Maddox, [[Ron Henley (chess player)|Ron Henley]] & Leonid Shamkovich (Contributor), [[Three Rivers Press]], 1991. {{ISBN|978-0812919233}}. * ''Kasparov's Opening Repertoire'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, [[Anova Books|B.T. Batsford]], 1995. {{ISBN|0-7134-5744-9|4871874885|leadout=, and}}. * ''Killer Chess Tactics: World Champion Tactics and Combinations'', [[Raymond Keene]], Eric Schiller & Leonid Shamkovich, [[Avery Cardoza|Cardoza Publishing]], 2003 (2nd Edition). {{ISBN|978-1580421119}}. * ''The Modern Chess Sacrifice'', Leonid Shamkovich, [[David McKay Publications|David McKay Company]], 1978 (2nd Edition). {{ISBN|978-0679130543}}. * ''A New Era'', Michael Khodarkovsky, Leonid Shamkovich & [[Garry Kasparov]] (Foreword by), [[Ballantine Books]], 1997. {{ISBN|978-0345408907}}. * ''Play The Tarrasch'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, [[Pergamon Press]], 1984. {{ISBN|978-0080297484}}. * ''Sacrifice in Chess'', Leonid Shamkovich, Alfred Kalnajs & Son, 1972. {{ASIN|B00070WWB8}}. * ''Saving Lost Positions'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, [[Anova Books|B.T. Batsford]], 1987. {{ISBN|0-02-053770-0}}. * ''Saving Lost Positions'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, [[Ishi Press]], revised in 2011. {{ISBN|978-4871874410}}. * ''Schliemann Defense'', Eric Schiller & Leonid Shamkovich, [[Ishi Press]], 2012. {{ISBN|978-4871874366}}. * ''The Schliemann Defense • Volume 1 Tartakower Variation: 5...Nf6'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, Chess Enterprises, 1993. {{ISBN|0-945470-32-0|4871874362|leadout=, and}}. * ''The Schliemann Defense • Volume 2 Classical Variation'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, Chess Enterprises, 1996. {{ISBN|0-945470-60-6|4871874362|leadout=, and}}. * ''Spanish Gambits'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, B.T. [[Anova Books|B.T. Batsford]], 1986. {{ISBN|978-0713452969}}. * ''Spanish Gambits'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, [[Ishi Press]], updated in 2011. {{ISBN|978-4871874403}}. * ''Spanish: Schliemann (Jaenisch)'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, [[Anova Books|B.T. Batsford]], 1983. {{ISBN|0-7134-4248-4|4871874362|leadout=, and}}. * ''Tactical Chess Training'', Leonid Shamkovich & Jan R. Cartier, Hays Publishing, 1996. {{ISBN|978-1880673102}}. * ''The Tactical World Of Chess'', Leonid Shamkovich, [[Three Rivers Press]], 1981. {{ISBN|978-0679134008}}. * ''World Champion Tactics'', Leonid Shamkovich & Eric Schiller, [[Avery Cardoza|Cardoza Publishing]], 1999. {{ISBN|978-1580420051}}.
==See also== * [[List of Jewish chess players]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{chessgames player|id=14904}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shamkovich, Leonid}} [[Category:1923 births]] [[Category:2005 deaths]] [[Category:Chess Grandmasters]] [[Category:Chess theoreticians]] [[Category:Soviet chess players]] [[Category:Israeli chess players]] [[Category:American chess players]] [[Category:Jewish chess players]] [[Category:Soviet Jews]] [[Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease in New York (state)]] [[Category:Soviet chess writers]] [[Category:Deaths from cancer in New York (state)]] [[Category:Chess players from Rostov-on-Don]] [[Category:Soviet expatriate sportspeople in Israel]] [[Category:Soviet expatriate sportspeople in the United States]] [[Category:Soviet expatriate sportspeople in Canada]] [[Category:Soviet emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:Chess players from New York City]]