Flohr, Salo

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FLOHR, SALO

FLOHR, SALO (Solomon Mikhailovitch ; 1908–1983), Russian chess prodigy. Flohr, who was born in the Ukraine, escaped from a pogrom at an early age and found refuge in Czechoslovakia, which he represented in chess matches. He won several masters' tournaments between 1929 and 1939, went to Moscow during World War ii, and became one of the leading Soviet grand masters and a chess writer of distinction. As he developed his game he changed his style from a brilliant incisive to a cautious one, and became a "drawing-master." Regarded at one time as the likely successor to Alekhine, Flohr was eventually displaced, notably by Botvinnik.

[Gerald Abrahams]