Vladimirs Petrovs (Russian:Влади́мир Миха́йлович Петро́в,romanized: Vladimir Mikhailovich Petrov; 27 September 1908^[1] – 26 August 1943) was aLatvian Russian chess player.

He was born inRiga, in theGovernorate of Livonia of theRussian Empire (present-dayLatvia). Though he learned the game ofchess relatively late, at age thirteen, Petrovs made rapid progress. By 1926, at age 19, he won the championship of Riga and finished third in the national championship. He placed 2nd–5th, behindIsakas Vistaneckis, in the firstBaltic Championship atKlaipėda in 1931. Petrovs won a match withMovsas Feigins (+4 –1 =3) in 1931, won a match againstVladas Mikėnas (+2 –0 =1) in 1932, and narrowly lost a match toRudolf Spielmann (+1 –2 =5) in 1934.

Petrovs tied for first withFricis Apšenieks in 1934, and won theLatvian Championship in 1935 and 1937. He won at Helsinki in 1936, and tied for first withSamuel Reshevsky andSalo Flohr at Kemeri in 1937, ahead ofAlexander Alekhine,Paul Keres,Endre Steiner,Savielly Tartakower,Reuben Fine,Gideon Ståhlberg and others. This was Petrovs’ finest tournament achievement. Later the same year, he finished last at Semmering. Petrovs placed 3rd-5th at Łódź in 1938, behindVasja Pirc and Tartakower, and third at Margate in 1938, behind Alekhine andRudolf Spielmann, defeating Alekhine in their individual game. In 1939, Petrovs placed 8th of 16 at Kemeri–Riga, and won at Rosario, ahead ofErich Eliskases and Mikėnas.^[2]

Petrovs played for Latvia in all seven officialChess Olympiads from 1928 to 1939. He also played at the unofficial Olympiad at Munich 1936.

• In July/August 1928, he played at third board at the2nd Chess Olympiad inThe Hague (+5 –4 =7).
• In July 1930, he played at second board at the3rd Chess Olympiad inHamburg (+8 –3 =6).
• In July 1931, he played at third board at the4th Chess Olympiad inPrague (+9 –2 =5).
• In July 1933, he played at second board at the5th Chess Olympiad inFolkestone (+6 –5 =3).
• In August 1935, he played at first board at the6th Chess Olympiad inWarsaw (+7 –5 =7).
• In August–September 1936, he played at first board at the3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad inMunich (+10 –3 =7).
• In July–August 1937, he played at first board at the7th Chess Olympiad inStockholm (+5 –3 =10).
• In August–September 1939, he played at first board at the8th Chess Olympiad inBuenos Aires (+8 –0 =11).^[3]

He won two individual medals: gold in 1931 and bronze in 1939. He achieved a particularly brilliant result playing on top board at Buenos Aires: he was undefeated, drawing with world champion Alekhine, former world championJosé Raúl Capablanca, and the young superstar Keres, and won againstVladas Mikėnas,Roberto Grau, Tartakower, andMoshe Czerniak.

In 1940 the Soviet Unionannexed Latvia. Petrovs finished 10th out of 20 in the 1940USSR Championship, taking equal third at Riga in 1941, and second in several strong tournaments: Moscow in 1941, behindIsaak Mazel; Moscow in 1942, behindIgor Bondarevsky,^[4] and Sverdlovsk in 1942, behindViacheslav Ragozin.

WhenNazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, Petrovs was unable to return to his wife and daughter at home in Latvia. He remained in Russia and was arrested on 31 August 1942 underArticle 58 for criticising decreased living standards in Latvia after the Soviet annexation of 1940. Petrovs was sentenced to ten years in a corrective labor camp. In 1947 his death was announced, but only in 1989 it became known that he had died atKotlas in 1943 from pneumonia.

Arapid chess tournament, the Vladimir Petrov Memorial, was held in his memory inJūrmala in 2012,^[5] 2013,^[6] 2014,^[7] 2015^[8] and 2016.^[9]

• Fride, Andris (2004).Vladimirs Petrovs: A Chessplayer's Story from Greatness to the Gulags. Yorklyn, DE: Caissa Editions. ISBN 0-939433-61-3.
• Kryakvin, Dmitry and Galina Petrova-Matisa (2022).Hero of the Pre-War Olympiads: Grandmaster Vladimirs Petrovs. Elk and Ruby. ISBN 978-5-6047849-0-7.

• Vladimirs Petrovs vs Kazimierz Makarczyk, The Hague 1928, 2nd Olympiad, Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack, D64, 1-0
• Saviely Tartakower vs Vladimirs Petrovs, Hamburg 1930, 3rd Olympiad, Queen’s Pawn Game, A45, 0-1
• Karel Treybal vs Vladimirs Petrovs, Folkestone 1933, 5th Olympiad, Sicilian Defense, Classical Variation, B58, 0-1
• Vera Menchik vs Vladimirs Petrovs, Podebrady 1936, Czechoslovakia championship, Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Exchange Variation, D13, 0-1
• Vladimirs Petrovs vs Reuben Fine, Kemeri 1937, Alekhine's Defense, B03, 1-0
• Gideon Stahlberg vs Vladimirs Petrovs, Łódź 1938, Nimzo-Indian Defense, Spielmann Variation, E22, 0-1
• Vladimirs Petrovs vs Alexander Alekhine, Margate 1938, Catalan, Open, E02, 1-0
• Vladimirs Petrovs vs Roberto Grau, Buenos Aires 1939, 8th Olympiad, Queen's Gambit Declined, D06, 1-0 Described as "An instructive and convincing game in its very simplicity"
• Vladimirs Petrovs vs Vladas Mikėnas, Rosario 1939, Catalan, Open, E02 1-0
• Vladimirs Petrovs vs Grigory Levenfish, Moscow 1940, 12th USSR ch, Old Indian, A53, 1-0

• 1908 births
• 1943 deaths
• Chess players from Riga
• People from Riga county
• Latvian chess players
• Soviet chess players
• Russian chess players
• Chess Olympiad competitors
• Deaths from pneumonia in the Soviet Union
• Latvian people who died in Soviet detention

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Russian-language text