Suwałki Governorate
He was born in Vilkaviškis, in the Suwałki Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Lithuania). In 1905/06 he tied for second/third with Akiba Rubinstein, behind Gersz Salwe, in St. Petersburg (the fourth Russian championship). In 1907 he tied for second/third with Georg Marco, behind Mikhail Chigorin, in Moscow.