The Optimist. Twice challenged Alekhine for the World Championship. Famous for his optimistic quote: 'When I am White, I win because I am White. When I am Black, I win because I am Bogoljubow.'
Efim Bogoljubow twice challenged Alekhine for the World Championship, losing both times, yet he remained one of the world's strongest players for two decades. Captured by Germany during World War I, he settled there and became a naturalized citizen, which led to political complications and estrangement from the Soviet chess world. His infectious optimism at the board was legendary. He attacked boldly, played for the initiative, and rarely backed down. Famous for his quote: 'When I am White I win because I am White; when I am Black I win because I am Bogoljubow.'
Notable: Won the German Chess Championship multiple times. His opening contributions include the Bogoljubow-Indian Defense (1...d6 against 1.d4).
| Era | Classical |
| Years | 1889–1952 |
| Peak rating | 2650 |
| Born | Monastyryshche, Ukraine, 1889 |
| Title | World Championship Challenger (1929, 1934) |
| Style | Aggressive attacking play, optimistic piece activity, bold openings |
Bogoljubow, reconstructed from the player's own games and measured against a modern engine, as a UCI engine for your machine: it runs locally and offline, loads into CZUBATRONIC 2400 as an external engine, and into any compatible UCI chess interface. Strong chess from the engine; the choices, recognisably Bogoljubow's.
| File | ChessGate_Bogoljubow.exe · 30 MB |
| Runs in | CZUBATRONIC 2400 (as an external engine) and any UCI chess interface |
| Requirements | Windows 10 / 11, 64-bit; any UCI chess interface; CZUBATRONIC 2400 lists it as an external engine |
| Works offline | Yes. No account, no server. |
| Packs | — |
| Collection | Complete Personality Collection |
| In the browser | A lighter version of Bogoljubow plays on ChessGate. |
Prices marked “Planned price” are provisional and may change before launch. These products are in preparation and cannot be ordered yet.