Rashid Gibyatovich Nezhmetdinov (Russian: Раши́д Гибя́тович Нежметди́нов, Tatar: Рәшит Һибәт улы Нәҗметдинов, Räşit Hibät ulı Näcmetdinov; IPA: [ræˈʃit næʑmetˈdinof]; 15 December 1912 – 3 June 1974) was a Soviet chess player, chess writer, International Master and checkers player.

From 1918-1923, the Russian Civil War devastated the region, particularly with the introduction of the Prodrazvyorstka policy, a system whereby peasants' foodgrain was confiscated at nominal prices, as per fixed quotas.

But Nezhmetdinov endured, thanks in large part to his poet brother – Kavi Nadzhmi [ru] – who secured him a place at a Kazan orphanage.

Nezhmetdinov later regarded this orphanage as paradise, his only prior happy memory being "the time he got to eat fish soup on the banks of the Volga."

In Odessa, his Communist Party membership gave him good standing, and he worked as a stoker in a steel mill.

He secured employment with the Standards Bureau, taught at the local Pedagogical Institute and ran an informal chess circle.

However, in his characteristically optimistic fashion, Nezhmetdinov seized this opportunity to study endgames; typically by solving puzzles without a board.

While Nezhmetdinov still competed in district level tournaments, even securing wins against players like Victor Baturinsky and Konstantin Klaman, his appearances were rare.

Nezhmetdinov successfully avoided all major combat zones in a war that killed over 11 million Soviet soldiers.

In 1946, he won Championship of the Berlin Military District, winning 14 out of 15 games, and finishing ahead of future Ukrainian Champion, Isaac Lipnitsky.

This marked the beginning of a tumultuous friendship between Nezhmetdinov, Vitaly Tarasov (the winner), and Ratmir Kholmov (shared second).

However, after studying Lisitsin's games for many months, Nezhmetdinov received a telegram from the Soviet Chess Federation, merely days before his match, stating that his examiner would be Vladas Mikenas.

In his renewed preparations, Nezhmetdinov came across an article written by Mikenas on the Alekhine's Defense, in Shakhmaty v SSSR, a popular chess magazine of the day.

This must have been particularly intimidating considering Mikenas had only recently beaten the legendary Alexander Alekhine at the 1937 tournament in Ķemeri, Latvia, with the black pieces no less.

Nevertheless, the fearless Nezhmetdinov still played 1. e4 in their first game and even entered the "Hunt Variation" of the Alekhine Defense; Mikenas’ favorite.

For instance, at the Baku International in 1964, Nezhmetdinov could only secure 4 points in 12 rounds; a performance he said owed to his underestimation of his opponents.

By this time, the commotion had caught the attention of GM Alexander Kotov, an observer on behalf of the Soviet Sports Committee.

He gave up the "party all night" lifestyle, and married Tamara Ivanovna (little is known about her apart from the fact that she is the mother of Nezhmetdinov's children).

And in 1954, Nezhmetdinov finally managed to play on the grand stage, the 21st USSR Championship at Kiev—the holy grail of Soviet Chess.

This proved to be Nezhmetdinov's toughest competition so far, as it included other masters like Tigran Petrosian and Efim Geller, who were already ranked amongst the best players in the world.

It was also around this time that the Russian Sports Committee came under fire from the international press for only ever sending their "strongest Grandmasters" abroad.

Prior to leaving for the tournament, the four masters were summoned to Moscow, where they underwent rigorous training under Isaac Bolevslavsky and David Bronstein.

FIDE awarded him the International Master title for his second-place finish behind Viktor Korchnoi at Bucharest 1954, the only time he was able to compete outside of the Soviet Union.

Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh, a strong positional and endgame player, suggested this in his interview by Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam in The Day Kasparov Quit: Nezhmetdinov, ... if he had the attack, could kill anybody, including Tal.

In such cases he would immediately start to spoil his position because he was looking for complications.Others believe he was discriminated against because he was a Muslim (tatar) and therefore given fewer chances to go abroad.

For some reason, he was very rarely allowed to go abroad, and obviously, he never became a grandmaster because of that.As a consequence of living behind the "iron curtain" for many decades, he only left the USSR a total of three times.

Another popular explanation was the one advanced by Marat Khasanov: Let us also consider the other Soviet Players who became GMs around the time Rashid should have (emphasis added) become one.

But, perhaps the most humbling explanation is the one we got from Nezhmetdinov himself: I came to chess too late, as a 17-year-old man with no theoretical knowledge, whereas all the champions — Botvinnik, Smyslov, Spassky, Petrosian and Tal received training from the age of seven or eight….Yes, I could play some games with brilliance, and win prizes for beauty, but I was never able to achieve the holistic skills necessary for Grandmaster level” [3]Nezhmetdinov won a number of games against world champions such as Mikhail Tal, against whom he had a lifetime positive score, and Boris Spassky.

[8] Just one year after his opponent had become the world champion, Nezhmetdinov recorded his most brilliant victory against Tal, completely dominating him with his own sacrificial style, giving up multiple pieces, including both his rooks to force resignation on the 29th move.

From an Old Indian opening, Rashid quickly introduces imbalances and complications before locking the center and attacking his opponent in a rare example of a same-side castling attack, detonating multiple sacrifices, including one of the most celebrated Queen sacrifices in all of chess before walking his opponent's king to the other side of the board and forcing resignation.