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László Szabó (chess player)
Encyclopedia
László Szabó was a prominent Hungarian
Grandmaster of chess
.
Born in Budapest
, he burst onto the international chess scene in 1935, at the unusually young age of 18. Somewhat remarkably, he won the Hungarian Championship
(for the first of nine times), an international tournament in Tatatóváros
, and was selected to represent his country at the 1935 Warsaw Olympiad
. Child prodigies were not a common feature of the period and onlookers at the Olympiad marvelled at the youngster's flair for attacking chess, a style that ran contrary to the dour, positional approach adopted by his countrymen. It is thought that the young Szabó studied under the tutelage of Géza Maróczy
, then a patriarchal figure in Hungarian chess, having previously trained future world champions, Max Euwe
and Vera Menchik
.
Prior to World War II, there were other successes, including outright victory at Hastings
1938/39 (a tournament he was to hold a long association with). He began a career as a banker, dealing in Foreign Exchange.
Then, at the outbreak of war, was attached to a Forced Labour Unit and later captured by Russian troops who held him as a Prisoner of War. After the war, he returned to chess and played many major international events.
He finished fifth at Groningen 1946, an extremely strong tournament which included Botvinnik
, Euwe, Smyslov
, Najdorf
, Boleslavsky
and Kotov
. At the Saltsjöbaden Interzonal
of 1948, he finished second to Bronstein
and took outright first place at Hastings 1947/48, Budapest 1948 and Hastings 1949/50. A share of fifth place at both the Saltsjöbaden 1952 Interzonal
and the Gothenburg Interzonal of 1955, meant that each of his Interzonal finishes had been strong enough to merit him a place in the corresponding Candidates Tournament
. It was at his third and final Candidates, held in Amsterdam in 1956, that Szabó made his most promising bid for a World Championship
title challenge. He tied for third place with Bronstein, Geller
, Petrosian
and Spassky
, behind Smyslov and Keres
.
Into the 1960s and 1970s, he continued to excel in international competition; first at Zagreb 1964, first at Budapest 1965 (with Polugaevsky
and Taimanov
), first at Sarajevo 1972, first at Hilversum 1973 (with Geller) and tied for first at Hastings 1973/74 (with Gennady Kuzmin
, Timman
and Tal
).
In total, he represented Hungary at 11 Olympiads, playing first board on five occasions and delivering many medal-winning performances. In 1937, he took the team silver and individual silver medals, in 1952 an individual bronze, in 1956 a team bronze and in 1966, team bronze and individual silver.
Szabó was the best player in Hungary for nearly 20 years (eventually being succeeded by Lajos Portisch
around 1963/64) and at the peak of his powers, one of the top 12 players in the world.
His family donated Szabó's entire chess library and his papers to the Cleveland Public Library
John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection. The John G. White Collection of Chess and Checkers is the largest chess library in the world (32,568 volumes of books and serials, including 6,359 volumes of bound periodicals.)
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
Grandmaster of 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...
.
Born in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, he burst onto the international chess scene in 1935, at the unusually young age of 18. Somewhat remarkably, he won the Hungarian Championship
Hungarian Chess Championship
The inaugural Hungarian Chess Championship was held in the city of Győr in 1906. Initially, there was no governing body responsible for its organisation, until the formation of the Hungarian Chess Federation. The HCF first appeared in 1911, but failed to establish itself properly until 1923...
(for the first of nine times), an international tournament in Tatatóváros
Tata, Hungary
Tata is a town in north-western Hungary, Komárom-Esztergom county, northwest from county seat Tatabánya.-Location:Tata is located in the valley between the Gerecse and Vértes Mountains, some from the Budapest, the capital. By the virtue of its location, the city is a railway and road junction...
, and was selected to represent his country at the 1935 Warsaw Olympiad
6th Chess Olympiad
The 6th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between August 16 and August 31, 1935, in Warsaw, Poland...
. Child prodigies were not a common feature of the period and onlookers at the Olympiad marvelled at the youngster's flair for attacking chess, a style that ran contrary to the dour, positional approach adopted by his countrymen. It is thought that the young Szabó studied under the tutelage of Géza Maróczy
Géza Maróczy
Géza Maróczy was a leading Hungarian chess Grandmaster, one of the best players in the world in his time. He was also a practicing engineer.-Early career:...
, then a patriarchal figure in Hungarian chess, having previously trained future world champions, Max Euwe
Max Euwe
Machgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...
and Vera Menchik
Vera Menchik
Vera Menchik was a British-Czech chess player who gained renown as the world's first women's chess champion. She also competed in chess tournaments with some of the world's leading male chess masters, defeating many of them, including future World Champion Max Euwe.The daughter of a Czech father...
.
Prior to World War II, there were other successes, including outright victory at Hastings
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
1938/39 (a tournament he was to hold a long association with). He began a career as a banker, dealing in Foreign Exchange.
Then, at the outbreak of war, was attached to a Forced Labour Unit and later captured by Russian troops who held him as a Prisoner of War. After the war, he returned to chess and played many major international events.
He finished fifth at Groningen 1946, an extremely strong tournament which included Botvinnik
Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
, Euwe, Smyslov
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...
, Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf was a Polish-born Argentine chess grandmaster of Jewish origin, famous for his Najdorf Variation....
, Boleslavsky
Isaac Boleslavsky
Isaac Yefremovich Boleslavsky was a Soviet–Jewish chess Grandmaster.-Early career:Boleslavsky taught himself chess at age 9...
and Kotov
Alexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the...
. At the Saltsjöbaden Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
of 1948, he finished second to Bronstein
David Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...
and took outright first place at Hastings 1947/48, Budapest 1948 and Hastings 1949/50. A share of fifth place at both the Saltsjöbaden 1952 Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
and the Gothenburg Interzonal of 1955, meant that each of his Interzonal finishes had been strong enough to merit him a place in the corresponding Candidates Tournament
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
. It was at his third and final Candidates, held in Amsterdam in 1956, that Szabó made his most promising bid for a World Championship
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
title challenge. He tied for third place with Bronstein, Geller
Efim Geller
Efim Petrovich Geller was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions...
, Petrosian
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
and Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
, behind Smyslov and Keres
Paul Keres
Paul Keres , was an Estonian chess grandmaster, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s....
.
Lev Polugaevsky
Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky was an International Grandmaster of chess and frequent contender for the world chess championship, although he never achieved that title...
and Taimanov
Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov is a leading Soviet and Russian chess player and concert pianist.-Chess:He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top...
), first at Sarajevo 1972, first at Hilversum 1973 (with Geller) and tied for first at Hastings 1973/74 (with Gennady Kuzmin
Gennady Kuzmin
Gennady Pavlovich Kuzmin is a Soviet - Ukrainian chess master and trainer. He should not be confused with Russian Grandmaster, Alexey Kuzmin.As a player, he reached his peak strength in the early to mid 1970s and in 1973, was awarded the International Grandmaster title by FIDE, the governing...
, Timman
Jan Timman
Jan Timman is a Dutch chess Grandmaster who was one of the world's leading players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. At the peak of his career he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known as "The Best of the West"...
and Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
).
In total, he represented Hungary at 11 Olympiads, playing first board on five occasions and delivering many medal-winning performances. In 1937, he took the team silver and individual silver medals, in 1952 an individual bronze, in 1956 a team bronze and in 1966, team bronze and individual silver.
Szabó was the best player in Hungary for nearly 20 years (eventually being succeeded by Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik"...
around 1963/64) and at the peak of his powers, one of the top 12 players in the world.
His family donated Szabó's entire chess library and his papers to the Cleveland Public Library
Cleveland Public Library
The Cleveland Public Library was founded in 1869 and is located in Cleveland, Ohio. It operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 28 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and a library for the blind and physically...
John G. White Chess and Checkers Collection. The John G. White Collection of Chess and Checkers is the largest chess library in the world (32,568 volumes of books and serials, including 6,359 volumes of bound periodicals.)
Books
- Meine besten Partien (German, 248 pages, paperback, 1990.) (https://www.schachversand.de/e/listen/autoren/243.html)
- My best games of chess (English, 209 pages, hardback, 1986.) (https://www.schachversand.de/e/listen/autoren/V243.html)