Yakov Borisovich Estrin was a Russian chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 International Master, theoretician, and writer.

After a brief foray into "over-the-board" play, he turned to correspondence chess

Correspondence chess

Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon...

 in the early 1960s with immediate success (joint first place in the U.S.S.R. Correspondence Championship in 1962.) He became an ICCGM (International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster

International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster

International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster is a title created by the FIDE in 1953, second only to that of world correspondence champion. Now awarded by the International Correspondence Chess Federation.-American ICCGMs:* Hans Jack Berliner, GM 1968...

) in 1966, and would go on to compete in the final of the World Correspondence Championship five times. He is best known for being the seventh International Correspondence Chess Federation

International Correspondence Chess Federation

International Correspondence Chess Federation was founded in 1951 as a new appearance of the ICCA , which was founded in 1945, as successor of the IFSB , founded in 1928....

 world champion between 1972 and 1976.

For over-the-board play, he was awarded the International Master title in 1975.

Estrin wrote several chess books and was an authority on the Two Knights Defense

Two Knights Defense

The Two Knights Defense is a chess opening that begins with the moves: in the late 16th century, this line of the Italian Game was extensively developed in the 19th century....

. His game with Hans Berliner

Hans Berliner

Hans Jack Berliner , a Professor of , is a former World Correspondence Chess Champion, from 1965–68. He is a Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess, and an International Master for over-the-board chess. He directed the construction of the chess computer HiTech. Berliner is also a chess writer.-Life...

 in which Berliner played the Two Knights Defense and defeated Estrin is one of the most famous and important games in correspondence chess.

Books

• The Two Knights Defence, by Yakov Estrin, Chess Ltd., 1970. (no ISBN or LOC number)
• The Two Knights Defence (1983) by Yakov Estrin, B.T.Batsford Ltd. ISBN 0-7134-3991-2.
• Three Double King Pawn Openings by Yakov Estrin, Chess Enterprises; first edition (June 1982). ISBN 0-9314-6219-3
• Gambits by Yakov B. Estrin, Chess Enterprises (June 1983). ISBN 0-9314-6220-7
• The United States Correspondence Chess Championship by Yakov Estrin, Correspondence Chess League of America (1978)
• Wilkes-Barre Variation, Two Knights Defense by Yakov Estrin, Chess Enterprises (June 1978). ISBN 0-9314-6200-2
• Comprehensive Chess Openings, by Yakov Estrin and Vasily Panov
  Vasily Panov
  Vasily Nikolayevich Panov was a Soviet chess player, author, and journalist. Winner of the Moscow City Championship in 1929, he also played in five USSR Chess Championships from 1935 to 1948. His greatest tournament victory was Kiev, 1938...
  
  , in three volumes, Pergamon, 1980. ISBN 0-08-024113-1 (for set of three volumes in flexicover)
• малая дебютная знциклопедия (Translation = Concise Opening Encyclopedia), by Yakov Estrin, иэдательство физкультура и спорт (Translation = Physical Culture and Sports), 1985. (no ISBN or LOC number)

External links