14 Facts About Ossip Bernstein

Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein was a French chess player and businessman.

Ossip Bernstein was one of the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950.

Ossip Bernstein earned a doctorate in law at Heidelberg University in 1906, and became a financial lawyer.

Ossip Bernstein earned a second fortune that was lost in the Great Depression, and a third that was lost when France was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1940.

Ossip Bernstein was to be shot by a firing squad for serving as a legal advisor to the banking industry.

At the last minute, a commanding officer asked to see the list of prisoner names and recognized Ossip Bernstein's name as he was a chess enthusiast.

Ossip Bernstein escaped on a British ship and settled in Paris.

Ossip Bernstein died in a sanatorium in the French Pyrenees in 1962.

Najdorf protested that it was unfair to play such an aged opponent, and then became so confident of victory that he convinced the tournament organizers to double the First Prize money at the expense of reducing the payouts for the lesser prizes, a gamble that backfired in spectacular fashion as the septuagenarian Ossip Bernstein routed him in a 37-move Old Indian Defense that won Ossip Bernstein the Brilliancy Prize.

Ossip Bernstein played at first board for France at the 11th Chess Olympiad in Amsterdam 1954.

Ossip Bernstein was a member of the French team, at the 12th Olympiad in Moscow 1956, but he did not play because of illness.

When FIDE introduced official titles in 1950, Ossip Bernstein was awarded the International Grandmaster title.

Ossip Bernstein had level or nearly level lifetime scores against such outstanding players as the second World Champion Emanuel Lasker, Akiba Rubinstein, Aron Nimzowitsch, Mikhail Chigorin and Salo Flohr.

Ossip Bernstein had poor records against the third World Champion Jose Raul Capablanca ; and the fourth World Champion Alexander Alekhine.