Aleksandras Ziselis Machtas
represented independent Lithuania
in the world chess Olympiad
which took place in Hamburg in July 1930.
It was the first ever chess Olympiad
that Lithuania was a part of.

Machtas was chosen to become
the first ever Lithuanian chess player
to represent independent Lithuania
on first board ( top seeded ).
As such , he faced the top players
from the other nations.

One of those top seeded players
was the Frenchman Alexander Alekhine.
The legendary world chess champion.
Both were born on the same month
( October 1892 )
in the same nation
( The Russian Empire )
and were given the same name , Alexander.
Only one of them though
would become a world chess champion ...

By playing a match against Alekhine
Machtas became the first ever
Lithuanian chess player
who played a formal match
against a reigning world champion.

Although Machtas lost to Alekhine
the sheer fact that a chess player
who represented independent Lithuania
was competing in an Olympiad
against the chess champion of the world
was in itself an historic milestone
for the entire country back then.

The fact that the man in question
was a Jewish player from Kaunas
turned it into a double celebration
for both the Jewish community
all over independent Lithuania
as well as for the people of Kaunas.

You can see now in details
all of the matches
of the Lithuanian team
in that historic Olympiad.

for more on that click here

You can also read a bit more
about the 1930 chess Olympiad.

for more on that click here