Toma Popa (20 April 1908 — 25 February 1962), was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

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 ...

player,

Romanian Chess Championship The Romanian Chess Championship became a yearly event in 1946, and was held irregularly earlier. A series of national eliminating contests are played to select a 20-player field for the men's final. The women's final consists of 16 players. Men's w ...

winner (1948).

Biography

From the mid-1930s to the end of the 1940s Toma Popa was one of the strongest Romanian chess players. In 1948, in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

he won

. Toma Popa played for Romania in the

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 FIDE Onli ...

: * In 1935, at reserve board in the

6th Chess Olympiad The 6th Chess Olympiad (), organized by the FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and (unofficial) women's tournament, as well as several events ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

(+3, =5, -7). Toma Popa played for Romania in the unofficial Chess Olympiad: * In 1936, at sixth board in the

3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad The 3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad was held by German Chess Federation (''Grossdeutscher Schachbund'') as a counterpart of the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin with reference to 1924 and 1928 events. Many Jewish chess players took part in the event. Si ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

(+7, =5, -7). Toma Popa played for Romania in the Men's Chess Balkaniads: * In 1946, at eighth board in the 1st Men's Chess Balkaniad (+1, =2, -0) and won team silver and individual bronze medals, * In 1947, at seventh board in the 2nd Men's Chess Balkaniad (+1, =0, -1) and won individual silver medal.

References

External links

*
Toma Popa
chess games at 365chess.com 1908 births 1962 deaths Chess Olympiad competitors 20th-century Romanian chess players 20th-century Romanian sportsmen Place of birth missing Romanian chess players {{Romania-chess-bio-stub