Efim Bogoljubov

Efim Dmitriyevich Bogolyubov (Russian: Ефим Дмитриевич Боголю́бов; also Romanized Bogoljubov, Bogoljubow; April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952) was a Russian-born German chess grandmaster who won numerous events and played two matches against Alexander Alekhine for the world championship.

Early career

In 1911, he tied for first place in the Kiev championships, and for 9–10th in the Saint Petersburg (All-Russian Amateur) Tournament, won by Stepan Levitsky. In 1912, he took second place, behind Karel Hromádka, in Vilna (Vilnius) (Hauptturnier). In 1913/14, he finished eighth in Saint Petersburg (All Russian Masters' Tournament – eighth Russian championship; Alekhine and Aron Nimzowitsch came joint first).

World War I: Interned in Germany

In July/August 1914, he played in the Mannheim tournament (the 19th DSB Congress), and tied for 8–9th in that event, which was interrupted by World War I. After the declaration of war against Russia, eleven "Russian players" (Alekhine, Bogoljubow, Fedor Bogatyrchuk, Alexander Flamberg, N. Koppelman, Boris Maliutin, Ilya Rabinovich, Peter Romanovsky, Peter Petrovich Saburov, Alexey Selezniev, Samuil Weinstein) from the Mannheim tournament were interned by Germany. In September 1914, four of the internees (Alekhine, Bogatyrchuk, Saburov, and Koppelman) were allowed to return home via Switzerland. The remaining Russian internees played eight tournaments, the first held in Baden-Baden (1914) and all the others in Triberg (1914–17). Bogoljubow took second place, behind Alexander Flamberg, in Baden-Baden, and won five times in the Triberg chess tournament (1914–16). Durıng World War I, he stayed in Triberg im Schwarzwald, married a local woman and spent the rest of his life in Germany.