Chess Trivia

IFSB
Internationalen Fernschachbund. Founded in 1928 for the purpose of promoting correspondence chess.

Iceland
Has the highest per capita chess population in the world. A government-run lottery helps finance chess and handball tournaments. Iceland had 6 Grandmasters in a country of only 250,000 inhabitants. It is the only country with more Grandmasters than International Masters (the United States in the 1960s also had more GMs than IMs).

Ilyin-Genevsky, Alexander (1894-1941)
The Russian master who had to learn the game twice. He was gassed, then shell-shocked in World War I, which took awy his memory. He had previously been champion of Geneva where he added the city's name to his own. He had to learn the game all over again, starting from how each piece moved. He was a member of an underground Bolshevik organization in high school, which led to his expusion. Forbidden to re-enter any Russian school, he went to Geneva where he performed party work for Lenin. During the October Revolution and Russian Civil War he was the head of the Moscow Reservists. He organized the first USSR chess championship in 1920. He won the first Trade Unions Championship of the USSR in 1927. In 1941, while trying to escape from Leningrad on a barge with dozens of other passengers, the Germans bombed the barge. Alexander was the only one killed.

Immortal Draw
Game between Carl Hamppe and Philipp Meitner

Immortal Game
A name given by Falkbeer to the Anderssen-Kieseritzky game, London, 1851.

India
Chessplayers in the 10th century wagered their fingers in a game of chess. The loser had to cut off his finger with a dagger and plunge his hand in a boiling ointment that cauterized the wound. The 1982 Ladies Championship of India 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place were all won by three sisters, the Khadilkars.

Indonesia
The 1984 Olympiad was supposed to be held in Indonesia, but they withdrew their support due to reduced oil revenues.

Ingo system
The first rating system. It was introduced by Anton Hosslinger in 1948 and named after his birthplace of Inglostadt, Bavaria.

Innocent Morality
An allegory written in the 13th century which appeared in a manuscript collection of sermons of Pope Innocent III. It is the earliest known printed reference to chess. The morality compares chess with life, the pieces representing different positions of men in society.

International Woman Grandmaster
Title created by FIDE in 1976. The first players to recieve this title were Nana Alexandria, Nona Gaprindashvili, Alla Kushnir, Irena Levitina, and Milunka Lazarevic.

Iran
The only country in the world that bans chess. Ayatollah Khomeini banned the game because "it hurts memory and may cause brain damage." He also said chess contributes to a war-mongering mentality. Prior to that Iran, under the Shah, was the only Arab country at the 22nd Olympiad in Israel.

Ireland
In 1958 the reigning Irish Champion won his game at the Munich Olympiad, yet Ireland lost the match 0-4! That's because the Irish Champion, Wolfgang Heidenfeld, played for South Africa, where they defeated Ireland 4-0.

Israel
In 1982 the Israel Chess Championship was stopped as several of its participants were called up for Army service in Lebanon.

Italy
The Italian Chess Federation refused to allow one of its best players, Stefano Tatai, to play on the Italian Olympiad team. Tatai was 44 and seven time national champion. The Italian Chess Federation only wanted members that were age 30 or younger to represent Italy. The result was a very poor showing at the olympiad. The 1980 Italian championship was delayed until 1981 because of an earthquake.

Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584)
Keen chessplayer who died while playing chess.

Ivanov, Igor (1947- )
Defected from the Soviet Union. His first game in the West was drawn after 14 moves, thinking his opponent was a stong master. His opponent's rating was later found out to be 1651. In 1982, while representing Canada in the Toluca Interzonal, Ivanov missed the Grandmaster title and qualifying for the Candidates by a half-point.

Ivans, Walter (1870-1966)
Master Emeritus who died at age 98, with a chess-playing span of 85 years.