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Soltis's book says that the Soviets took his master title away, but I am not sure whether this was permanent - I am not sure at which point individual nations no longer had control over these titles or how that worked. Could somebody clear this up? StaticElectric 05:56, 7 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Unfortunately I don't have Soltis' book, but Golombek calls him a "Soviet master" (which is distinguished from FIDE titles by the explanation on page 6, "How to use this book"), and Gaige'sChess Personalia doesn't list any FIDE titles for Model. This suggests that it was a USSR title, which was completely internal to the Soviet Union and never under FIDE jurisdiction. The Soviet Union had an extensive series of chess titles, with very rigorous requirements. At the bottom were Categories 5 through 1. Category 1 players could be accepted as Master Candidates with the possibility of becoming Masters. The highest title, Grandmaster (of the Soviet Union), was reserved for winners of the USSR Chess Championship or those with high finishes in two or more USSR Championship tournaments. This GM title (probably harder to achieve than the FIDE title) is most likely the reason that the FIDE Grandmaster title was usually called "International Grandmaster" from its introduction in 1950 until fairly recently. Kenneth Harkness wrote in The Official Blue Book and Encyclopedia of Chess (1956) on pages 336-7: "Russian Master titles are not necessarily given for life. For example, if a Master fails to perform as a Master should, he may be called upon to confirm his title by playing a match with another Master, or by competing in a tournament and making the score required of Master Candidates to qualify for the title." It seems likely that Model lost his title in this way, although it would be good to know when this happened. We should create an article that explains this, perhaps part of Chess in the Soviet Union. Quale 07:00, 7 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Also, forgot to ask: if you have Soltis handy, would you add the page number(s) to the reference? Book refs are much better with page numbers listed if appropriate. I just added the page number for Golombek, although since it's an encyclopedia, it isn't hard to figure out that the relevant page is found alphabetically under "M". Quale 07:25, 7 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks for the clarification. Unfortunately, I've since returned the book to the library, but I'll try to stop by and find the page number off the shelf some time in the next week or so. StaticElectric 23:10, 7 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]
