Ilya Leontievich Rabinovich was a Russian / Soviet chess master, among the best Russian and Soviet players for three decades, from 1910 to 1940. His best result was a shared first place in the 9th Soviet Championship of 1934-35. He was also a chesswriter.
Biography
In 1911 Ilya Rabinovich tied for first place with Platz in Saint Petersburg. In 1912 he tied for 4th-5th in Vilnius.
In July/August 1914 he played in Mannheim, Germany, and tied for 2nd-3rd in interrupted Hauptturnier A. After the declaration of war for World War I against Russia, eleven 'Russian' players from the Mannheim tournament were interned by Germany. In September 1914, four of them were freed and allowed, through Switzerland, to return home. The Russian internees played eight tournaments, the first in Baden-Baden and all the others in Triberg im Schwarzwald. Rabinovich was 3rd in Baden-Baden, took 2nd at Triberg 1914/15, took 2nd at Triberg 1915, took 3rd at Triberg 1915, tied for 2nd-3rd at Triberg 1915, took 2nd at Triberg 1915/16. In 1916 Rabinovich won the Triberg chess tournament, and he tied for first with Selezniev at Triberg 1917.
Returns to Russia
After World War I, Rabinovich returned to St Petersburg. In 1920 he won the Petrograd chess championship. In 1920 he took fourth in Moscow. The event was won by Alexander Alekhine. In 1922 he took second, behind Levenfish, in the Petrograd championship. In 1923 he tied for 7th-8th at Leningrad. In 1923 he won at Novgorod. In 1924 he took 2nd, behind Grigory Levenfish, in the Leningrad championship. In 1924 he took 5th in Moscow. In 1925 Ilya Rabinovich became the first Soviet player to compete outside the USSR. He played at Baden-Baden, Germany and took 7th place. The event was won by Alekhine. In 1925 he tied for 1st-4th in the Leningrad championship. In 1925 he took 3rd at Leningrad. In 1925 he took 16th in Moscow. In 1926, he won at Leningrad. In 1926 he tied for 2nd-3rd at Leningrad.
Writer
In 1927 Rabinovich wrote the first original book in the Russian language devoted to the endgame.
Soviet champion
In 1927 he tied for 10-12th in Moscow. The event was won by Fedor Bohatirchuk and Peter Romanovsky. In 1928, he won the Leningrad championship. In 1933 he tied for 3rd-5th in Leningrad. In 1934/35 Rabinovich shared first place with Grigory Levenfish in Leningrad. At Moscow 1935, the second International Tournament, he tied for 11-14th. The event was won by Botvinnik and Salo Flohr. In 1937 he tied for 10-12th in Tbilisi. In 1938, he tied for 3rd-4th in Leningrad. In January 1939 he tied for 7-8th in Leningrad–Moscow. In 1939 he tied for 11-12th in Leningrad. In 1939 he took 7th in the Leningrad championship. In 1940 he won the Leningrad championship. In June 1941 he played in interrupted semifinal of the USSR Chess Championship in Rostov-on-Don.
