Aleksandr Vasiljevic Galitzky (Russia, 05.03.1863 - 18.11.1921)

Great chess composer

Life 

Born on February 21, 1863 in the village of Russkie Krai, Yaransky District  in the family of the hereditary village priest Vasily Petrovich Galitsky. From 1884 to 1889 he studied at the medical faculty of Kazan University and then worked as a doctor for more than thirty years:

1889-1899, Kazan province, Sikhterma village, Spassky district,
1899-1903, Vyatka Province, Suna Village, Nolinsky District,
1904-1918, Saratov province, Sinenkiye village, Saratov district,
1918–1921, Saratov.

Chess composition

In 1886 he began writing assignments and entered Rainbow magazine's competition for the first time. Over the course of his busy creative life, he published 1860 problems,

of which over a thousand remained unpublished.

Galitsky never tried to compete. He considered the popularization of his favorite art as the most important thing

A total of 30 of the master's works were honored, of which 10 received first prizes.

The author

Alexander Galitsky
Galitsky saw his main task as the popularization of his beloved art, the search for truth in the chess composition that was just beginning to develop.

Alexander Galitsky's theoretical work on chess composition is still relevant today. In the article Fundamentals of the Art of Chess Problems, Alexander Galitsky wrote:

“The first prerequisite for a task is the existence of a clever idea, which can consist either of the mating picture or of the moves of the white and black pieces. As for works of art, for tasks the presence of a good idea is insufficient; rich content is necessary to embody this content in an artistic form, that is, it should be expressed clearly and concisely to a sufficient extent so that the underlying task The idea takes on a dominant meaning in it.”

His endgame studies

Alexander Galitzky is considered a genius of chess composition. His light and natural positions will always attract new solvers.

Source: Website ARVES (editor Peter Boll)

Germain Wikipedia writes:

Alexander Wassiljewitsch Galitsky (formerly written Galitsky) (Russian Александр Васильевич Галицкий; born February 21, 1863, Russkije krai (Vyatka Governorate);† November 18, 1921 in Saratov) was a Russian country doctor and chess composer.

Chess composition
Galitsky is one of the classics of Russian chess composition. In 1886 he began composing chess problems and took part in a composition competition organized by the Raduga magazine for the first time. During his career he published more than 1,900 tasks, over 1,000 remained unpublished. He mainly composed three-move and multi-move pieces.

- Galizki appreciated the beauty of the pure checkmate picture and also recognized the importance of an interesting game on both sides, the key move and the natural arrangement of the pieces on the chessboard. He didn't strive for tournament success. A total of 30 of the master's works received awards, 10 of them first prizes.

His tasks with a few figures were particularly popular