Reuben Fine vs Alexei Shirov
Two chess prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Reuben Fine | Alexei Shirov | |
| Field | Sports | Sports |
| Sub-field | Chess | Chess |
| Born | 1914 | 1972 |
| Died | 1993 | living / not documented |
| Country of birth | United States | Spain |
| Star sign | Libra | Cancer |
Who they are
Reuben Fine
In 1948, FIDE organized a round-robin tournament in The Hague and Moscow to determine who would succeed Alexander Alekhine as World Chess Champion. Five players were invited. The sixth invitation — by many accounts the most interesting one — went to Reuben Fine of New York, ranked by most contemporary observers among the top two or three players in the world. Fine declined. He was in the middle of his psychoanalytic training and felt that his professional obligations took priority over competing for the world title. He was thirty-three years old. He never played serious…
Full biography of Reuben Fine →
Alexei Shirov
There is a move in a 1998 game between Alexei Shirov and Veselin Topalov that chess players call simply "the Shirov move." It is a bishop sacrifice — Bh3!! — made in a complex middlegame position in the Benoni Defense, in a game that Shirov was playing from behind. The move appears, at first and second and third glance, to be simply wrong. Bishops do not belong on h3 in such positions; the move gives material without obvious compensation; no computer engine of the era would have found it. Shirov found it, played it, and…
Full biography of Alexei Shirov →
What they share
- Both are held here under Sports.
- Same sub-field: Chess.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- Born in different countries: United States and Spain.
- 58 years separate their births (1914 and 1972).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Reuben Fine or Alexei Shirov?
- Reuben Fine. Reuben Fine was born in 1914, Alexei Shirov in 1972.
- What field is each of them in?
- Reuben Fine is filed under Sports (Chess). Alexei Shirov is filed under Sports (Chess).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.