Events in

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

in 1903:

News

Siegbert Tarrasch Siegbert Tarrasch (; 5 March 1862 – 17 February 1934) was a German chess player, considered to have been among the strongest players and most influential theoreticians of the late 19th and early 20th century. Life Tarrasch was born in Bresla ...

(Germany) wins the Monte Carlo tournament, ahead of

Géza Maróczy Géza Maróczy (; 3 March 1870 – 29 May 1951) was a Hungarian chess player, one of the leading players in the world in his time. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the Grandmaster (chess), International Grandmaster title from FIDE in 1 ...

(Hungary),

Harry Pillsbury Harry Nelson Pillsbury (December 5, 1872 – June 17, 1906) was a leading American chess player. At the age of 22, he won the Hastings 1895 chess tournament, one of the strongest tournaments of the time, but his illness and early death prevented ...

(United States),

Carl Schlechter Carl Schlechter (2 March 1874 – 27 December 1918) was a leading Austro-Hungarian chess master and theoretician at the turn of the 20th century. He is best known for drawing a controversial World Chess Championship match with Emanuel Lasker. Ea ...

(Austria), and

Richard Teichmann Richard Teichmann (24 December 1868 – 15 June 1925) was a German chess master and a chess composer. He was known as "Richard the Fifth" because he often finished in fifth place in tournaments. But in 1911 he scored a convincing win in Karl ...

(Germany). *

Mikhail Chigorin Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (also ''Tchigorin''; ; – ) was a Russian chess player. He played two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz, losing both times. The last great player of the Romantic chess style, he also served as a ma ...

wins the 3rd All-Russian Championship in Kiev, ahead of

Ossip Bernstein Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein (20 September 1882 – 30 November 1962) was a French chess player and businessman. He was one of the inaugural recipients of the title Grandmaster (chess), International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Biography Born ...

. * Chigorin (Russia) also wins the Vienna tournament, ahead of Frank Marshall (United States),

Georg Marco Georg Marco (29 November 1863 – 29 August 1923) was an Austrian Chess, chess player. He was born in Chernivtsi (Cernăuţi), Bukovina (then part of Austria-Hungary). He later settled in Vienna and was secretary of the Viennese Chess Associatio ...

(Romania), and Pillsbury. All games in this gambit tournament begin with the

King's Gambit The King's Gambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. f4 White offers a pawn to divert the black e-pawn. If Black accepts the gambit, White may play d4 and Bxf4, regaining the gambit pawn with domination, or direc ...

. * The American team wins the Anglo-American cable match by the score 5½–4½. Pillsbury and Marshall are in Europe to play at the Monte Carlo tournament, so they travel to London to play their games in person.

Births

* Tihomil Drezga (1903–1981) born in

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

, Croatia * Henryk Friedman (1903–1942), Polish master * Gisela Harum (1903–1995), Austrian chess master * Menachem Oren (1903–1962) born in Różana, Poland *

Karol Piltz Karol Piltz (1903–1939) was a Polish chess master who played for Poland in the 1st unofficial Chess Olympiad at Paris 1924, tied for 3rd-7th in the 1st Polish Chess Championship at Warsaw 1926 (Dawid Przepiórka won), and tied for 17-18th at Jur ...

(1903–1939), Polish chess master. * Solomon Gotthilf (1903–1967), Russian master * January 1 –

Kola Kwariani Nicholas Nestor "Kola" Kwariani ( ka, კოლა (კოლია) ქვარიანი) (January 16, 1903 – February 27, 1980), known by the ring name Nick the Wrestler, was a Georgian professional wrestler and chess player. Early life ...

(1903–1980) professional wrestler, is born in

Kutaisi Kutaisi ( ; ka, ქუთაისი ) is a city in the Imereti region of the Georgia (country), Republic of Georgia. One of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, it is the List o ...

, Georgia * February 28 – Ozren Nedeljković (1903–1984), Serbian master, is born in

Sremski Karlovci Sremski Karlovci ( sr-Cyrl, Сремски Карловци, ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka Districtautonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the banks of the Danube, from Novi Sad. According to the 202 ...

* March 20 – Vitaly Halberstadt (1903–1967), French

endgame study In the game of chess, an endgame study, or just study, is a type of chess problem that starts with a composed position—i.e. one that has been made up rather than played in an actual game—where the goal is to find the essentially unique way for ...

composer, is born in

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

* March 29 –

Heinrich Reinhardt Enrique Alfredo Kurt (born Heinrich Alfred Kurt) Reinhardt (29 March 1903, Stettin,Zabelsdorf, according tPassengers of the Piriápolis/ref> German Empire – 14 June 1990, Ciudad Jardín Lomas del Palomar, Argentina) was a German–Argentine ch ...

(1903–1990), German–Argentine master, is born in

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

* April 1 –

Salo Landau Salo (Salomon) Landau (1 April 1903, Bochnia, Galicia (Central Europe), Galicia, Austria-Hungary – March 1944,Westerbork Cartotheek NIOD Amsterdam Grodziszcze, Świdnica County, Poland) was a Dutch chess player, who died in a Nazism, Nazi conce ...

(1903–1943), Dutch player, who died in a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

is born in

Bochnia Bochnia is a town on the river Raba in southern Poland, administrative seat of Bochnia County in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. The town lies approximately halfway between Tarnów (east) and the regional capital Kraków (west). Bochnia is most noted ...

, Galicia,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

* April 9 – Morris Schapiro (1903–1996), American investment banker and chess master, is born in Lithuania *

Gregor Piatigorsky Gregor Piatigorsky (, ''Grigoriy Pavlovich Pyatigorskiy''; August 6, 1976) was a Russian-born American cello, cellist. Biography Early life Gregor Piatigorsky was born in Dnipro, Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. As a c ...

(1903–1976), Russian-American cellist and chess patron, is born in

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

* June 14 –

Lajos Steiner Lajos Steiner (14 June 1903, in Nagyvárad ( Oradea) – 22 April 1975, in Sydney) was a Hungarian–born Australian chess master. Steiner was one of four children of Bernat Steiner, a mathematics teacher, and his wife Cecilia (née Schwarz) ...

(1903–1975), Hungarian and Australian

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

(1950), is born in

Nagyvárad Oradea (, , ; ; ) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region. It serves as the administrative county seat, seat of Bihor County and an economic, social, and cultural hub in northwestern Romania. The city lies between rolling hills on ...

* August 4

Karl Ruben Karl Ruben (4 August 1903 – 28 October 1938) was a Danish chess master. He won a match against Johannes Pedersen (1.5–0.5) at Aalborg 1927, tied for 2nd-3rd in Danish Championship at Vordingborg 1927 ( Erik Andersen won), shared 2nd at Copen ...

(date of death unknown), Danish master * August 21 –

William Fairhurst William Albert Fairhurst (21 August 1903 – 13 March 1982) was an English bridge designer and international chess master. He was highly accomplished in both disciplines and for many years successfully divided his time between two careers. He ...

(1903–1982), British and New Zealand International Master (1951), is born in

Alderley Edge Alderley Edge is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cheshire, England, north-west of Macclesfield and south of Manchester. It lies at the base of a wooded sandstone escarpment, ''The Edge'', overlooking the Cheshire Plai ...

* August 25 –

Arpad Elo Arpad Emmerich Elo ( August 25, 1903 – November 5, 1992) was a Hungarian-American physics professor who created the Elo rating system for two-player games such as chess. Born in Egyházaskesző, Kingdom of Hungary, he moved to the Uni ...

(1903–1992), Hungarian-American player and inventor of the

Elo rating system The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess or esports. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American chess master and physics professor. The Elo system wa ...

, is born in

Egyházaskesző Egyházaskesző () is a village in Veszprém county, Hungary.Street map

Notable people

...

* September 17 –

George Koltanowski George Koltanowski (also "Georges"; 17 September 1903 – 5 February 2000) was a Belgian-born American chess player, promoter, and writer. He was informally known as "Kolty". Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937 ...

(1903–2000), Belgian and American chess player, is born in Antwerp * September 27

Boruch Israel Dyner Boruch Israël Dyner (27 September 1903 – 13 February 1979) was a Belgian–Israeli chess master. Born in Poland, he moved to Belgium. Dyner won thrice Belgian Chess Championship in 1932 (jointly with Victor Soultanbeieff), 1933 and 1935. He t ...

(1903–1979) was a Belgian–Israeli chess master * October 8 –

Georgy Geshev Georgy (Georgi) Geshev (Geschew) () (born October 8, 1903, in Sofia – died July 15, 1937) was a Bulgarian chess master. At the beginning of his career, he tied for 6-7th at Varna 1926 (K. Atanasov, G. Slavchev, and A. Telegin won), shared 1st ...

(1903–1937), Bulgarian master, is born in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

* December 20 –

Ramón Rey Ardid Ramón Rey Ardid (20 December 1903, Zaragoza – 21 January 1988) was a Spanish chess master. He was Spanish champion from 1929 to 1942. He was a psychiatrist and professor at the Zaragoza University. In 1924, he played for Spain in first unoffi ...

(1903–1988), Spanish master and Spanish champion from 1929 to 1943.

Deaths

* February 26 –

Samuel Tinsley Samuel Tinsley (13 January 1847 – 26 February 1903) was an English chess player and writer. Tinsley was born in South Mimms, Middlesex to Sarah (née Dover) and William Tinsley. He was the seventh of ten children, and a younger sibling of publ ...

(1847–1903), English player and chess columnist for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', competed at Hastings 1895, dies in London. * June 1 –

Josef Noa Joseph Noa (; 21 October 1856 – 1 June 1903) was a Hungarian chess master. Born in Nagybecskerek, he was a judge by profession. Although an amateur he played in a number of tournaments throughout the 1880s and 1890s and defeated some of the fa ...

(1856–1903), Hungarian master, dies in Budapest at age 46. * August 8 – Gyula Makovetz (1860–1903), Hungarian chess player and editor of the chess magazine ''Budapesti Sakkszemle'', dies in Budapest.

References

{{reflist 20th century in chess Chess by year