Zoltan Sarosy (August 23, 1906 – June 19, 2017) was a Hungarian-Canadian professional

chess master A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pres ...

and supercentenarian. He was born in Budapest and won numerous tournaments in his native country before immigrating to Canada in the early 1950s.

Early life

Sarosy was born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

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 ...

, on August 23, 1906.

Tournaments

Sarosy won chess tournaments in several cities in Hungary including

Nagykanizsa Nagykanizsa (; , or just ''Kaniža/Kanjiža''; ; ; ; ), known colloquially as Kanizsa, is a medium-sized city in Zala County in southwestern Hungary. It is a city with county rights. It lies not far from Lake Balaton at the meeting point of five ...

(1929),

Pécs Pécs ( , ; ; Slovak language, Slovak: ''Päťkostolie''; also known by #Name, alternative names) is List of cities and towns of Hungary#Largest cities in Hungary, the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the c ...

(1932), and Budapest (1934). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he won the Hungarian Master Candidates Tournament in 1943. After the war, following a period in a

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West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, he moved to

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in 1948. He drew a training match (2–2) with

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Champion Henri Sapin in 1950 and then emigrated to Canada, arriving in Halifax and then settling in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. In Toronto he took up

correspondence chess Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less commo ...

and was thrice Canadian Correspondence Champion (1967, 1972, 1981). In 2006 he was inducted into the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame. He was still actively playing chess at the age of 107.

Later life

At the end of World War II after having fled Hungary where he served as a military translator, and divorced his first wife after she refused to move to Canada. After divorcing his first wife, he married Hella Mällo (1930-1998), an Estonian immigrant, in Canada. On August 23, 2016, Sarosy became a

supercentenarian A supercentenarian, sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian, is a person who is 110 or older. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of significant age-related diseases until short ...

, when he reached the age of 110 years, and at the time was the oldest known living man and fourth oldest known living person in Canada. Sarosy died on June 19, 2017 in Toronto.

References

Sources

* * Berry, Jonathan, "Chess", ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', December 30, 2006, pg. R17 * Berry, J. "Chess", ''The Globe and Mail'', September 16, 2006, pg. R25 * Berry, J. "Chess", ''The Globe and Mail'', April 14, 2007, pg. R25 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarosy, Zoltan 1906 births 2017 deaths Hungarian chess players Canadian chess players Canadian supercentenarians Canadian men centenarians Chess players from Budapest People from the Kingdom of Hungary Canadian people of Hungarian descent Hungarian emigrants to Canada Men supercentenarians 20th-century Hungarian chess players Chess players from Toronto 20th-century Canadian chess players