Luděk Pachman (German: Ludek Pachmann, May 11, 1924 – March 6, 2003) was a Czechoslovak-German chess grandmaster,

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

writer, and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

. In 1972, after being imprisoned and tortured almost to death by the

Communist regime in Czechoslovakia Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

, he was allowed to emigrate to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. He lived the remainder of his life there, and resumed his chess career with considerable success, including playing in the

Interzonal Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by the World Chess Federation FIDE from the 1950s to the 1990s. They were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle and were held after the Zonal tournaments, and before the C ...

in 1976 and winning the West German Championship in 1978.

Career

Pachman's first chess championship came in 1940, when he became champion of the nearby village of Cista (population 900). The first break in his chess career came in 1943, when he was invited to an international tournament in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. World Champion

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns. By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...

dominated the event, with

Paul Keres Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...

taking second place. Pachman finished ninth in the nineteen-player tournament. Alekhine paid him a compliment in an article in the ''Frankfurter Zeitung'' and from the fifth round on, invited him every evening to analyze games and opening variations. Pachman wrote: "I don't have to tell you how a beginner from a village chess club felt at that time." Pachman went on to become one of the world's leading players. He was awarded the International Master title in 1950 and the Grandmaster title in 1954. He won fifteen international tournaments, but considered sharing second place in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

1963, with

Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...

and

Efim Geller Efim Petrovich Geller (russian: Ефим Петрович Геллер, uk, Юхим Петрович Геллер; 8 March 1925 – 17 November 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Champi ...

, behind

Viktor Korchnoi Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. H ...

, his best tournament result. Pachman won the Czechoslovak championship seven times between 1946 and 1966. He became the champion of West Germany in 1978. He played in six

tournaments between

Saltsjöbaden Saltsjöbaden is a locality in Nacka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,491 inhabitants in 2010. It is on the Baltic Sea coast, deep in the Stockholm Archipelago. History Saltsjöbaden () was developed as a resort by Knut Agathon W ...

1948 and

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

1976. He represented Czechoslovakia in eight consecutive

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in 2020 an ...

s from 1952 through 1966, usually playing . The most successful year of his career was 1959. After winning the Czechoslovakian championship he went on a South American tour, winning tournaments in Mar del Plata (tied with

Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf (born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf) (15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish–Argentinian chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was ...

); Santiago, Chile (tied with

Borislav Ivkov Borislav Ivkov (12 November 1933 – 14 February 2022) was a Serbian chess Grandmaster. He was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal tournaments, in 1967, 1970, 1973, and 1979. Ivkov was a three-time Yugos ...

); and Lima, Peru (again tied with Ivkov). On this tour he beat the 16-year-old

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 1 ...

twice. Pachman made an even lifetime score against Fischer, +2−2=4.

Politics

Pachman was politically active throughout his life, first as a Communist and later as a staunch anti-Communist. In December 1968, he won a tournament in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Upon his return to Prague, the authorities arrested, imprisoned, and tortured him for months. During this time he attempted suicide: On Christmas Eve 1969, doctors called his wife and told her that he probably would not survive the night. In 1972, Pachman was finally allowed to emigrate to West Germany. He soon became known as a strongly anti-Communist political activist, and his eloquence made him a regular guest on political talk shows.

Author

Pachman was also a prolific author, publishing eighty books in five languages. In the 1950s, he became the world's leading opening expert with the publication of his four-volume opus, ''Theory of Modern Chess''. Pachman considered ''Modern Chess Strategy'', published in 1959, to be his best book. His book ''Checkmate in Prague'' recounts his treatment at the hands of the Communist authorities.

Notable games

*Ludek Pachman vs. Oleg Neikirch, Portoroz 1958,

Queen's Gambit Declined The Queen's Gambit Declined (or QGD) is a chess opening in which Black declines a pawn offered by White in the Queen's Gambit: :1. d4 d5 :2. c4 e6 This is known as the ''Orthodox Line'' of the Queen's Gambit Declined. When the "Queen's Gambi ...

, Semi-Tarrasch (D41), . Pachman attacks his opponent's castled king, offering the sacrifice of both bishops. His opponent declines the second bishop, and could have continued the game with 25...Qh7, but it is not easy to find such moves in the limited time. Pachman was a good practical player and knew well where it pays to take a risk in the game.

Books

* * * *

References

External links

Grandmaster Ludek Pachman dies at 78
* * Edward Winter
Pachman, Bohatirchuk and Politics
(2003)
Visa with photo 1959Visa with photo 1962
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pachman, Ludek 1924 births 2003 deaths People from Bělá pod Bezdězem Chess grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors Czech chess players Czech male writers German chess players German chess writers Chess theoreticians Czech anti-communists Czechoslovak emigrants to Germany German male non-fiction writers 20th-century chess players