Alexandru Segal

Alexandru Sorin Segal (Bucharest, October 4, 1947 - 6 of January 2015) was an economist and chess player Jewish and Romanian naturalized Brazilian. He was Brazilian chess champion in 1974 and 1978. He became internationally known for his participation in five Chess Olympiads.

Biography

Alexandru Segal, with only twelve years old, was already ranked among the world-class chess players in Romania, becoming later European youth champion Sub-26. In 1968 he has won the university champion. Segal participated in national finals and represented Brazil in several international events. He won the German grandmaster Robert Hübner and drew with Hungarian Grand Master Zoltán Ribli, an Interzonal of Las Palmas winner.

In 1970 he completed his BA in Economics and came to live in Brazil in 1971, where he actively attended the São Paulo Chess Club since the 1960s.

In 1972 he became champion of São Paulo and the following year became Brazil's runners-up qualifying for the Chess Olympiad that was held in the French city of Nice and which achieved the highest percentage per team. In 1978 again he represented Brazil in the Chess Olympics in Buenos Aires. He participated in three Olympics (1982, 1984 and 1986).

As Brazilian champion 1974, he participated in the Pan-American in Canada where he obtained an excellent 39th place, thus achieving the first International Master norm. Segal scored his second norm in the Tournament of the City of São Paulo in 1977, and the title of International Master was granted in the same year by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). He participated in the final of the championship several times and qualified as holder of the team that represented Brazil in 1982 in Switzerland.

In his career successes, he was champion of Santa Catarina in 1980 and 1981. He was Sao Paulo champion four times (1972, 1976, 1991 and 1993) and Brazilian twice (1974 and 1978). He was also Brazilian record holder with 155 simultaneous matches. He defended five times Brazil in the Chess Olympiads. He liked to say that was an "Olympic" chess player. He participated in over 900 national and international tournaments.

In 1972 he released his first book on the match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, by Editora Brasiliense. In 1982 he published his second book "Fundamentals of Tactics" by Editora Columbia.

Segal was chess instructor at various clubs. He also lectured throughout Brazil. He worked as a journalist for eight years for the newspaper "Folha de São Paulo" and also wrote the "Jornal da Tarde". He was commentator in the Jornal da Globo, TV Globo's nightly news during the Rio Interzonal in 1979. He was also International Referee since 1984.

He was one of the first chess professionals in Brazil, alongside the chessmasters Hélder Câmara, Antônio Rocha and Herman Claudius. In the 70s they were known as the "Big Four" of Brazilian chess. Segal came to reach 2415 points to FIDE rating. He was a charismatic chess player and had a prodigious memory. Segal always repeated that the Grandmaster Gilberto Milos was the strongest Brazilian chess player he faced.

Segal has created many chess expressions in portuguese language, among them "passadinha segalesca", a kind of tactical blow at the end, where pawns are sacrificed to promote one of queen.

In his repertoire of openings, Segal included the Alekhine Defense, Larsen Opening and the closed Benoni, among others. He had a solid positional style, very steady game and was an excellent tactician.

Segal died on January 6, 2015, at 67 years of age.

Published works

• Campeonato Mundial - Fischer x Spassky. Editora Brasiliense, 1972.
• Fundamentos da Tática. Gráfica Editora Colúmbia, 1982.