Player's Name
Born/Death
Cause of Death
Abe Turner
1924 / 1962
Stabbed nine times in the back by a fellow employee at the Chess Review office.
Alexander Alekhine
1892 / 1946
Choked to death on a piece of meat.
Alexander Ilyin-Genevsky
1894 / 1941
Died in the siege of Leningrad
while on a barge.
Alexander McDonnell
1798 / 1835
Died of Bright's disease.
Alexander Zaitsev
1935 / 1971
Died of thrombosis as a consequence
of a leg operation.
Alexi Troitzky
1866 / 1942
Died of starvation during the
siege of Leningrad.
Aron Nimzovich
1886 / 1935
Died of pneumonia.
Carl Schlechter
1874 / 1918
Died from pneumonia and starvation.
Curt von Bardeleben
1861 / 1924
Threw himself out the window
of his boarding home.
David Bronstein
1924 / 2006
Died of a stroke in Minsk, Belarus at age 82.
David Przepiorka
1880 / 1940
Died in a mass execution outside Warsaw.
Ed Edmundson
1920 / 1982
Died of a heart attack while playing
Chess on a beach in Hawaii.
Edgar Colle 1897 / 1932 Died after an operation for a gastric ulcer.
Efim Bogoljubov 1889 / 1952 Suffered a heart attack after a
simultaneous display.
Frank Marshall 1877 / 1944 Died of a heart attack after leaving
a Chess tournament.
Frederick Yates 1884 / 1932 Died in his sleep from a leak in a
faulty gas pipe connection.
George Koltanowski 1903 / 2000 Heart failure at the age of 97.
George Mackenzie 1837 / 1891 Suicide: took an overdose of morphine.
Georgy Agzamov 1954 / 1986 Russian GM fell between some
rocks at a beach and died.
Gideon Stahlberg 1908 / 1967 Died during the 1967 Leningrad
International tournament.
Gyula Breyer 1893 / 1921 Died from heart disease.
Harry Pillsbury 1872 / 1906 Died of syphillis.
Herman Steiner 1905 / 1955 Died after a California State
Championship game.
Howard Staunton 1810 / 1874 Died of a heart attack while
writing a Chess book.
Janos Flesch 1933 / 1983 Died in a car wreck.
Johann Zukertort 1842 / 1888 Died of a stroke while playing Chess
at a London coffee-house.
Johannes Minckwitz 1843 / 1901 Suicide: threw himself under a train.
Jose Capablanca 1888 / 1942 Died of a stroke while watching a skittles game at the Manhattan Chess Club.
Julius Perlis 1880 / 1913 Died in a mountain climb in the Alps.
Karel Treybal 1885 / 1941 Died a victim of the Nazis.
Klaus Junge 1924 / 1945 German army officer killed in action.
Leonid Kubbel 1891 / 1942 Died in the siege of Leningrad.
Louis Paulsen 1833 / 1891 Died of diabetes.
Mikhail Botvinnik 1911 / 1995 Died of cancer.
Mikhail Tal 1936 / 1992 Died of kidney failure in Moscow.
Mikhail Tchigorin 1850 / 1908 Died of diabetes.
Nicholas Rossolimo 1910 / 1975 Fell from flight of stairs and
died of head injuries.
Nikolai Grigoriev 1895 / 1938 Died from appendicitis.
Nikolai Krylenko 1885 / 1938 Executed in Stalin's purges.
Paolo Boi 1528 / 1598 Poisoned (murdered) in Naples.
Paul Keres 1916 / 1975 Died of a heart attack returning
home from a tournament.
Paul Leonhardt 1877 / 1938 Died of a heart attack while playing
Chess at a Chess club.
Paul Morphy 1837 / 1884 Died of a stroke while taking a cold bath.
Pierre Saint-Amant 1800 / 1872 Died after a fall from his carriage.
Richard Reti 1889 / 1929 Died of scarlet fever.
Rudolf Rezso Charousek 1873 / 1900 Died of tuberculosis at age 27.
Salo Landau 1903 / 1944 Killed by Nazis at a German
concentration camp.
Samuel Boden 1826 / 1882 Died of typhoid fever.
Stefan Zweig 1881 / 1942 Committed suicide.
Tigran Petrosian 1929 / 1984 Died of cancer.
Tony Miles 1955 / 2001 Died in his sleep at age 46; he was diabetic.
Vera Menchik 1906 / 1944 Died in the V2 German bombing of London.
Vladimir Petrov 1907 / 1945 Died in a prison camp in Russia.
Vladimir Simagin 1919 / 1968 Died of a heart attack while
playing in a tournament.
Originally posted by chessisvanityAnd what about Spielemann, wasn't it something spectacular there too...?
Player's Name
Born/Death
Cause of Death
Abe Turner
1924 / 1962
Stabbed nine times in the back by a fellow employee at the Chess Review office.
Alexander Alekhine
1892 / 1946
Choked to death on a piece of meat.
Alexander Ilyin-Genevsky
1894 / 1941
Died in the siege of Leningrad
while on a barge.
Alexander McDonnell
17 ...[text shortened]... ussia.
Vladimir Simagin 1919 / 1968 Died of a heart attack while
playing in a tournament.
Originally posted by gaychessplayerI'd want to go after winning my first chess trophy with my name on it, having a heart attack during the prize giving. It sort of says, I've do it, now I'm off.
IM Cecil Purdy had a heart attack during a tournament game. As he was being taken to the hospital, he reportedly said, "I have a win, but it's going to take some time." He died shortly thereafter.
Renegade
Lembit Oll supposedly jumped out a window in 1999. I was surprised his death didn’t get much coverage as he was a very strong player.
Rudolf Swiderski. In his book Frank Marshal said he was a brilliant player, an excellent violinist, ate raw meet and committed suicide.
I was the only one in Rossolimo’s chess club in New York city one day. Met his wife…a very elegant lady. Anyway I had White in an offhand game against him and after about 20 moves in a Nimzo-Indian didn’t have a bad position. All of a sudden he went over to the shelf where he had sets & boards for sale and picked out a board made of blue butterfly wings under glass and set it down next to our board right in the sun. Then he started grabbing pieces off our board and setting up the position on the butterfly board (I think he got it right). When I asked what he was doing he said, “I want to play on this board.” I lost quickly after that and I’m blaming it on that board sitting in the sun!
Originally posted by masscatI was the only one in Rossolimo’s chess club in New York city one day. Met his wife…a very elegant lady. Anyway I had White in an offhand game against him and after about 20 moves in a Nimzo-Indian didn’t have a bad position. All of a sudden he went over to the shelf where he had sets & boards for sale and picked out a board made of blue butterfly wings under gla ...[text shortened]... play on this board.” I lost quickly after that and I’m blaming it on that board sitting in the sun!So what's your point? That seems perfectly normal to me. *twitch*twitch*