Description:

Russia - Cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolayev plays chess in outer space aboard the Soyuz 9.

1pp cream page note inscribed in Russian Cyrillic letters, signed "A. Nikolaev", and dated September 15, 1994 in blue ball point pen at center. Paper with deckled edge suggesting it was torn out of a notebook. In extra fine condition, measuring 4.5" x 7.375".

Russian cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolayev wrote: "These autographs were made after solving these three [chess] problems during the 18-day flight in the space ship Soyuz 9".

Andriyan Nikolayev (1929-2004), an ethnic Chuvash from Siberia, enlisted in the Soviet Army before joining the state's elite cosmonaut training program in 1960. Nikolayev would serve in the space program for the next twenty-two years, participating in two flights aboard Vostok 3 and Soyuz 9. Early Soviet missions conducted endurance testing in orbit and in isolation; Nikolayev gained the moniker "Iron Man" after he lasted four days confined in a chamber. He served as the commander of the two-person Soyuz 9 mission in June 1970, which broke the previously held American record set by Gemini VII. During the 18-day-long flight, Nikolayev solved chess puzzles and played chess against Soviet ground control. Since Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union was symbolically waged in space and at the chess board, Nikolayev was a formidable opponent.

Neil Armstrong might have been the first golfer in space, but Nikolayev was the first chess player!

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