Biography of Semyon Alapin

Semyon Alapin (1856-1923), was a Latvian-Jewish chess player, openings analyst and puzzle setter. He was one of the strongest players in Russia in the late 19th Century. He is best remembered for the Alapin Opening, a king’s pawn opening. It was at one time jokingly called “The Hippopotamus Game”. He also developed variants of the French Defence and Sicilian Defence.