Max Blau (19 December 1918,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

– 1984,

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

) was a Swiss

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 disti ...

master. He won the

Swiss Chess Championship The Swiss Chess Championship is held annually during two weeks of July. It is organised by the Swiss Chess Federation (the SSB), which has been a member of the overall governing body, Swiss Olympic, since 2000. The SSB is itself a relatively new org ...

four times (1953, 1955, 1956, and 1967), and was awarded the

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 ...

title in 1953. Blau represented Switzerland in

Chess Olympiads 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 and ...

(seven times, from 1954 to 1968), in Clare Benedict Chess Cup (fourteen times, from 1953 to 1972, and won three individual and one team gold medals), and in friendly matches against France (1946, 1965), Yugoslavia (1949, 1950), West Germany (1951, 1952), Spain (1953, 1954), Austria (1953, 1955), and Italy (1951, 1952, 1958, 1969). In tournaments, he tied for 7–8th at Hilversum 1947 (zonal), won at Lucerne 1949/50, took 4th at Zurich 1952, tied for 15–16th at Zurich 1959, and won at Birseck 1961.Litmanowicz, Władysław & Giżycki, Jerzy (1986, 1987). ''Szachy od A do Z''. Wydawnictwo Sport i Turystyka. Warszawa. (1. A-M), (2. N-Z)

References

1918 births 1984 deaths Swiss chess players Chess International Masters 20th-century chess players {{Switzerland-chess-bio-stub