Anatoly Andreevich Osipov (2 January 1928, Vladimir — 30 October 1990, Nizhny Novgorod) was a Gorky-era metallurgist and sports organizer. Head of Foundry Shop No. 5 at the Gorky Automobile Plant, chairman of the city chess federation, and long-serving head of the plant's "Torpedo" sports club. He wrote for the plant newspaper "Avtozavodets." He lived in the Avtozavodsky District. Since 1992 the plant's foundry production has held a chess tournament in his memory — the Anatoly Andreyevich Osipov Cup))."[1][2][3]
Family and years
He was born on 2 January 1928 in Vladimir. His father was Andrei Ivanovich Osipov (1886–1939), his mother Valentina Alekseevna Egorova (1896–1984). His wife was Valentina Alekseevna Perova (1927–2006). Children: Viktor (b. 1950) and Elena (b. 1952).[4]
He died on 30 October 1990 — a week after the city regained its historic name: Gorky became Nizhny Novgorod on 22 October 1990.[4]
Foundry Shop No. 5
Foundry Shop No. 5 was one of the plant's key production units: it cast the blanks from which a car began. Osipov rose there from section foreman to shop head.[1][2]
What is known about the shop's leadership in 1963 comes from the recollections of Vladimir Mikhailovich Churaev, later the plant's technical director, who joined the shop that year as a young specialist: the shop was headed by Alexei Fyodorovich Petrushkin, the melting section by State Prize laureate Mikhail Pavlovich Lukovnikov, and the molding section by Anatoly Andreevich Osipov. The plant newspaper wrote that these men's names were "inseparably linked with the history of the plant's development" and known "not only to veterans but to many of the younger generation."[1]
Sport and chess
The second thread of his life was sport. For many years Osipov headed the plant's "Torpedo" sports club[3] and served as chairman of the city chess federation.[2] After retiring, he worked as an arbiter at the Avtozavod chess club and wrote for "Avtozavodets" for many years.[4]
The family archive holds photographs of the city's chess life from the 1960s–1980s: simultaneous exhibitions, tournament halls, team matches. One shot was taken at the award ceremony of the Pyotr Dubinin Memorial) — a tournament in memory of Pyotr Vasilyevich Dubinin (1909–1983), an International Master, an ICCF grandmaster, and a multiple champion of the city and region. The memorial began being held after Dubinin's death in 1983,[5] so the photograph dates to the last years of Osipov's life.
The "Anatoly Andreevich Osipov Cup"
The tournament in Osipov's memory became a tradition for the foundry workers. On 23 November 2008, the GAZ foundry production held the seventeenth playing of the cup — meaning it was first played in 1992, a year and a half after Osipov's death. The tournament was organized by the trade union committee and the foundry production's sports council, with the support of Osipov's son, Viktor Anatolyevich; the Osipov family team was played by his children, Viktor and Elena, and family friends.[2]
In 2008 the chess tournament featured seven shop teams of three men and one woman each. The cup was won by the team of Foundry Shop No. 8 — Yu. I. Krymov, P. A. Tochilov, P. A. Gudkov, and A. V. Novikova; second place went to Foundry Shop No. 4, third to the Pattern Shop. The tournament's best player was named as Vladimir Ivanovich Baidakov, a painter from Foundry Shop No. 1. Checkers was also played at the same time — six teams, with the same Foundry Shop No. 8 winning. A total of 75 people took part in the competitions; prizes were provided by the trade union committee and the Osipov family.[2]
What remains to be clarified
Not documented: the years he served as shop head, the years he headed the "Torpedo" sports club and the city chess federation, awards, wartime service, and the fate of the tournament after 2008. Directions for further research include the archives of "Avtozavodets" (including copies digitized by the National Electronic Library), which should also contain his own articles; the holdings of the GAZ History Museum; the plant's award records; the GAZ trade union committee's archive; and materials of the Avtozavodsky District Veterans' House and the Chess Federation of Nizhny Novgorod Region.
Sources
- lib-avt.ru — Avtozavodsky District Library System — Irina Kulkova. The Metallurgist's Warm Heart // Avtozavodets, 25 August 2009 (archive)
- profkom.gaz.ru — GAZ Trade Union Committee — On 23 November 2008, the Foundry Production held a chess tournament for the "Anatoly Andreevich Osipov Cup"
- profkom.gaz.ru — GAZ Trade Union Committee — Faces of the Union: Andrei Nikolaevich Kuchin, 5 January 2024 (archive)
- Osipov family archive: genealogical record and photo collection of A. A. Osipov (725 photographs in nine albums), family information
- ruchess.ru — Russian Chess Federation — XXVII Pyotr Dubinin Memorial Held in Nizhny Novgorod