Klaus Darga was one of the best German players in the 1960s and 1970s. Darga represented Germany in team events multiple times and belonged to the extended world elite before he gave up his career for professional reasons around 1970. He later worked as a national coach for the German Chess Federation. Today he is celebrating his 90th birthday, making him the oldest chess grandmaster in the world.
Today, legendary Grandmaster Vlastimil Hort celebrates his 80th birthday. A long stay of several weeks in the hospital when he was five years old and a caring doctor who played correspondence chess and explained the chess rules to him gave way to his great passion. Eduard Frey celebrates the legend’s anniversary!
The name "Hastings" has a very special ring to it in the chess world. In 1895 one of the most important tournaments in chess history took place in the seaside resort on the south-east coast of England, and chess tournaments are still regularly held there today - no tournament in chess history has a longer tradition. The Berlin FM Jürgen Brustkern is a great expert on Hastings and has written a book on the history of this tradition together with Norbert Wallet. In an interview with ChessBase he reveals what fascinates him so much about Hastings.
At the world-class tournament in Buenos Aires in 1960, the then 17-year-old Bobby Fischer one of the tournament favourites delivered one of his worst tournament results. Facing Wolfgang Unzicker, an unfortunate touch of the h-pawn led to a quick loss. It was not until many years later that the reason for Fischer’s poor form was revealed.
Today, chess legend Svetozar Gligoric, who passed away in 2012, would have turned 100 years old. In World War II he fought as a partisan against the Germans, and after the war he became one of the world's best chess players. He was very popular among his peers and even managed to be friends with Bobby Fischer. Dagobert Kohlmeyer remembers the King's Indian expert. | Photos: Dagobert Kohlmeyer