Background
He was born in Odessa, Ukraine (then Russian Empire).
He was born in Odessa, Ukraine (then Russian Empire).
was a Russian Jewish chess player, who emigrated to Britain in 1937 but never took British citizenship. He had a separate chess career in each of the 3 countries he lived in – Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom. In the 1920s he went to Germany and whilst living there he tied for 7th at Berlin 1926, tied for 6th at Berlin 1927, tied for third at Magdeburg 1927, tied for 5th at Berlin 1928 (Café Koenig), tied for 3rd at Frankfurt 1930, tied for 8th at Swinemünde 1932, and tied for 4th at Ostend 1937.
In 1937 he settled in Britain where he tied for 3rd at Plymouth 1938, tied for 2nd at Birmingham 1939, was 4th at Hampstead 1939, and tied for 1st place with Harry Golombek at London (Easter) 1940.
The year before his death he was mentioned in Baruch H. Wood"s "Chess Notes" column in The Illustrated London News as follows:
"Sixty-five-year-old Doctor (not of medicine) Paul List, the oldest competitor, who settled in Britain about 1937 and has been thinking of becoming naturalised ever since, finished with a marvellous fifteen-and-a-half points out of a possible eighteen.