Ronen Greatest Hits : Salo Flohr

Salo Flohr

Opening: :

Player(s): Salo Flohr

After the latest episode dedicated to the incredibly strong tournament AVRO 1938, Ronen now presents us mini-series on all the participants to that amazing even, which was a milestone in chess history. If you were a smoker in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s, you would have probably smoked the Salo Flohr cigarettes, and used the Salo Flohr eau-de-cologne. This was the importance of Flohr during those years. He was a national hero, and his image was used to sell goods. Flohr was born in 1908 from a Jewish family, in what today is Ukraine, and back then was Galicia (Austria-Hungary). He had a troubled childhood, with both his parents killed in a massacre during WWI. He settled in Prague after the first war, and by the end of the 1920's he had already achieved respect in the chess community. He went on winning a lot of international tournaments, and by 1937, FIDE had nominated him as the official candidate to play Alekhine for the World Championship. But unfortunately WWII was going to explode, and the match never took place. Flohr was one of Czechoslovakia's greatest chess players ever, and proved virtually invincible at the Olympiads of the 1930s. His tournament record was impressive, with his tactical skill and excellent endgame technique securing him many famous victories. FIDE awarded him the International Grandmaster title on its inaugural list in 1950. In this episode of his weekly show, GM Ronen Har-Zvi tells us stories, anecdotes and shows us some of the most important games played by this chess hero.