Lajos Portisch [SEP] sport
Lajos Portisch


Lajos Portisch (born 4 April 1937) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated in twelve consecutive Interzonals from 1962 through 1993, qualifying for the World Chess Championship Candidates' cycle a total of eight times (1965, 1968, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1985, and 1988). Portisch set several all-time records in Chess Olympiads.
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Lajos Portisch


In Hungarian Chess Championships, he either shared the title or won it outright a total of eight times (1958, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1975, and 1981). He won many strong international tournaments during his career. In 2004, Portisch was awarded the title of 'Nemzet Sportolója' (Sportsman of the Nation), Hungary's highest national sports achievement award. He still competes occasionally. His main hobby is singing operatic arias; he has a fine baritone voice, a quality shared by
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Lajos Portisch


second/third place, on 13.5/21, along with Arturo Pomar; the winner was Svetozar Gligorić, as all three advanced. Portisch was awarded the grandmaster title by FIDE in 1961. Portisch's first Interzonal appearance was Stockholm 1962, where he tied for ninth/tenth places, after losing a late-round game to one of the tail-enders, and did not advance; the winner was Bobby Fischer. Portisch won the Halle Zonal 1963 with 14/19 to advance to the next Interzonal. Portisch qualified from the Amsterdam Interzonal
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Lajos Portisch


at the hands of one of the outsiders; the winner was Fischer. Portisch and Smyslov played a drawn match (3–3) at Portorož 1971 for a reserve place, with Portisch declared the winner, as his tiebreak score from Palma was superior, though this proved unnecessary. Portisch qualified from the Petropolis Interzonal 1973, scoring 11.5/17 for a shared second/fourth place (the winner was Henrique Mecking), then surviving a further three-man playoff for two berths against Lev Polugaevsky and Efim Geller, at Portorož 1973, by
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Lajos Portisch


, Bobby Fischer was telling Portisch that all the games between Karpov and Kasparov were rigged, so Portisch asked, in that case, "What was I doing there?" Portisch was very active on the international tournament scene from the late 1950s through the early 1990s, and was one of the top performers for over thirty years, with many titles against elite fields. He often finished ahead of the top Soviet Grandmasters at important events, was usually near the top of the table, and only rarely finished with minus scores,
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Lajos Portisch


, ahead of Arturo Pomar, Walter Browne, Vlastimil Hort, and Vasily Smyslov. Portisch won Las Palmas 1972 with 12/15, ahead of Bent Larsen, Vasily Smyslov, and David Bronstein. At Teesside 1972, he finished third with 9.5/15, as Bent Larsen won. Portisch shared first/third places at San Antonio 1972 (with eight of the top 25), on 10.5/15, with Anatoly Karpov and Tigran Petrosian. Portisch shared third/fourth places at Palma de Mallorca 1972 on 10/15, with Oscar Panno and Ljubomir Ljubojević
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Lajos Portisch


defeated World Champion Petrosian; the tournament winner was Leonid Stein. Portisch placed fourth at Palma de Mallorca 1967, where seven of the top 30 played, with 11.5/17; Larsen won. At Wijk aan Zee 1968, he shared second/fourth places with 9/15 as Korchnoi won. Portisch shared sixth/eighth places at Monte Carlo 1968, which had five of the top 16 players; Larsen won. One of Portisch's career highlights was his clear first place at Skopje/Ohrid 1968, ahead of Geller, Lev Polugaevsky,
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Lajos Portisch


and won 11 medals. His total Olympiad score is: (+121 =113 -26), for 68.3 per cent. His detailed Olympiad data follows: Portisch has also represented Hungary at eight European Team Championships, winning a total of nine medals. He has scored (+16 =39 -4). His detailed European teams data follows: Portisch played board one for Hungary at the inaugural World Team Championship, Lucerne 1985. He scored 5.5/9 (+2 =7 -0), as Hungary won the team silver medals. Portisch is
2913867
Wolfgang Unzicker


board for the West German team that won the bronze medal on the strength of a 3:1 team victory over the Soviet Union. Unzicker also shared fourth place (+2−1=14) with Lajos Portisch in the 1966 Piatigorsky Cup in Santa Monica, California. Only Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer, and Bent Larsen finished ahead of Unzicker. Unzicker placed ahead of world champion Tigran Petrosian, Samuel Reshevsky, Miguel Najdorf, Borislav Ivkov, and Hein Donner. At Hastings 1969–70, Unzicker finished second (+4−0=5) after Lajos Portisch and ahead of Svetozar
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Lajos Portisch


8/15, with Paul Keres winning. Portisch played board three at Belgrade 1970 in the USSR vs Rest of the World match, defeating Viktor Korchnoi by 2.5–1.5. Portisch won at Hastings 1970–71 with 6/9, ahead of Vlastimil Hort, Svetozar Gligorić, and Wolfgang Uhlmann. At Amsterdam IBM 1971, he shared second/fourth places on 9/15 behind Vasily Smyslov. By 1972, Portisch was a major contender to win any tournament he entered. He won Wijk aan Zee 1972, which had six of the top 25 players, with 10.5/15
2913863
Arturo Pomar


appearing in radio interviews and on film., but as his career progressed, he never quite fulfilled the early promise. Pomar's best results in international competition probably occurred at the Madrid Zonal of 1960, where he shared first place with Svetozar Gligoric, Jan Hein Donner and Lajos Portisch; at Torremolinos 1961 (first with Gligoric); Malaga 1964 (first, ahead of Portisch); Palma de Mallorca 1966 (second, after Mikhail Tal, ahead of Portisch); and at Malaga 1971 (first). His success
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Lajos Portisch


Vasily Smyslov, a chess world champion and grandmaster who also had talent as an operatic singer. His younger brother, Ferenc (born 1939), is an International Master. Portisch represented Hungary at the World Junior Chess Championship, Antwerp 1955. He scored 4.5/7 in the preliminary round to advance to the final, where he scored 5.5/9, to finish fourth; the winner was Boris Spassky. Portisch tied for first through third places in a master event at Budapest 1956, along with Joszef Szily and Bela Sandor, ahead of Pal
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Lajos Portisch


1964, with 14.5/23, in a tied eighth/ninth place (the winners were Mikhail Tal, Spassky, Vasily Smyslov, and Bent Larsen). Portisch defeated Samuel Reshevsky in a playoff match to advance to the Candidates' series for the first time, but he lost his first round match against Mikhail Tal at Bled 1965, by 2.5–5.5. Portisch won the 1967 Halle Zonal with 15.5/19, to advance. He qualified through the Sousse Interzonal 1967, with 13.5/21 for a solo fifth-place finish. The winner was Bent
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Lajos Portisch


winning outright with 5.5/8; however, Portisch lost his first-round Candidates' match to Tigran Petrosian in 1974, by 6–7 at Palma de Mallorca. At the 1976 Biel Interzonal, he tied for second/fourth places on 12/19 with Petrosian and Tal, after Larsen. Then, in a three-way playoff for two spots, held at Varese 1976, Portisch scored 4/8 for second place, with Tal being eliminated. In the Candidates' matches, he first advanced to the semifinals after beating Bent Larsen by 6.5–3.5 at
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Lajos Portisch


the title at Kecskemét 1966 on 6.5/9, along with Vlastimil Hort. At Santa Monica 1966, with seven of the world's top 16 players in the field, he shared fourth/fifth places on 9.5/18, as Spassky won, ahead of Fischer. Portisch was third at Palma de Mallorca 1966 on 10/15, with Tal winning. Portisch won Amsterdam IBM 1967 with 8/11 ahead of Alexander Kotov. At Moscow 1967, which had 12 of the world's top 33 players, he shared sixth/eighth places with 9.5/17, and
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Lajos Portisch


winning. He won at Ljubljana/Portorož 1973 (Vidmar Memorial) with 12.5/17. At Madrid 1973, Portisch shared sixth/seventh places on 9/15, with Anatoly Karpov winning. and Wijk aan Zee 1975 (ahead of Robert Hübner and Efim Geller). He won the second Interpolis Tournament in the Netherlands in 1978, ahead of Timman. He tied with Borislav Ivkov for first/second at the Tigran Petrosian Memorial, Moscow 1999. Portisch represented Hungary four times at Student Olympiads, steadily improving his results, and winning three
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Lajos Portisch


Benko; the three winners scored 7/11. In a second master event at Budapest 1956, Portisch made 7.5/11. He was in the pack at Debrecen 1956 with 5.5/11. Portisch successfully represented Hungary in several team matches in 1956 and 1957, against Poland, Estonia, the Soviet Union, Belarus, and Yugoslavia. He made his first Student Olympiad and full Olympiad appearances for Hungary in 1956; he would eventually represent Hungary at a record twenty Olympiads (see below). He excelled at his first individual international event, winning at
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Lajos Portisch


his first-round match at Saint John, New Brunswick 1988 by 3.5–2.5 over Rafael Vaganian; he then lost to Jan Timman by 2.5–3.5 at Antwerp 1989. At the 1990 Manila Interzonal, he scored +3 -5 =5, after beginning with +3 =2. In his final appearance in the world championship series, Portisch played well at the 1993 Biel Interzonal, scoring 7.5/13 and outperforming his ranking significantly, but did not advance. Portisch was Karpov's second in his last world championship match against Kasparov in 1990. In Hungary
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Lajos Portisch


showing remarkable consistency. Portisch won at least one major international event per year for nearly two decades. His first top-class round-robin event was Moscow 1959, where he was the youngest contestant, and scored 6/11 for a shared fourth/sixth place; the winners were Spassky, Smyslov, and David Bronstein. At Balatonfüred 1959, he shared third/fifth with 7.5/13; the winner was Ratmir Kholmov. Portisch stepped up his activity in 1961. At Budapest 1961, he scored 9/15 for a shared fourth/seventh
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Lajos Portisch


was third with 11/15 behind Paul Keres and Iivo Nei. He shared second/third at Málaga 1964 on 7.5/11 behind Arturo Pomar. He shared the title at Beverwijk 1965 on 10.5/15 with Geller. At Yerevan 1965, he was fifth with 7/13 as Korchnoi won. With six of the world's top 25 in the field at Zagreb 1965, Portisch scored 12/19 for a shared third/fourth place, as Borislav Ivkov and Uhlmann won. He was third at Mar del Plata 1966 on 9.5/15, with Smyslov winning. Portisch shared
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Lajos Portisch


Balatonfüred 1958 with 9/11, ahead of strong Grandmasters László Szabó and Alexander Tolush. He earned the International Master title. He finished second at Hastings 1958–59 with 7/9, behind Wolfgang Uhlmann. Portisch made his first national top-level appearance in 1955 at age 18, at the Hungarian Chess Championship. He would eventually win or share the national title on nine occasions. His complete Hungarian Championship results follow (from chessmetrics.com). Portisch entered the World Championship cycle for the first time with the Madrid 1960 Zonal, where he tied for
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Lajos Portisch


won. Beginning in 1962, Portisch became a consistent tournament winner at the international level. He shared the title at Sarajevo 1962 with Svetozar Gligorić on 8/11. He shared second/third places at Kecskemét 1962 on 10.5/15 behind Ratmir Kholmov. Portisch won Amsterdam IBM 1963 with 6/9 ahead of Jan Hein Donner. He won Sarajevo 1963 with 7/11, ahead of Gligoric, Vladimir Simagin, Wolfgang Uhlmann, and Borislav Ivkov. At Havana 1964, he scored 14/21 for fifth place as Uhlmann and Smyslov won. At Beverwijk 1964, he
2913858
First-move advantage in chess


because it has shaken our assumption that White begins the game with some advantage, and revealed its ideological nature". However, Rowson rejects Adorján's claim that White has essentially no advantage, reasoning that White is better' and 'Black is OK' need not be mutually exclusive claims". In one of Adorján's books, GM Lajos Portisch opined that "at least two-thirds of all 'tested' openings give White an apparent advantage." According to Portisch, for Black, "The root of the problem
11321596
World Chess Championship 1990


but declined to participate. As a result, Ribli had a free day during the last round. To show his displeasure, he refused to take part in a playoff against Tal, which could have been important, if a reserve spot had opened up in the Candidates Tournament. In the Szirák tournament, Valery Salov and Jóhann Hjartarson finished at the top of the table, while Lajos Portisch and John Nunn tied for third. The last place in the Candidates Tournament was decided in a separate playoff in Budapest, with Portisch defeating
18988952
Phillips & Drew Kings


Challenge. It was the final event in the series, as the GLC itself had been abolished that same year. It was held at the Great Eastern Hotel, from 11–17 March. The participants were: Glenn Flear, Murray Chandler, Nigel Short, John Nunn, Zoltán Ribli, Lev Polugaevsky, Lajos Portisch, Boris Spassky, Jon Speelman, Rafael Vaganian, Bent Larsen, James Plaskett, Maxim Dlugy and Jonathan Mestel. Result: Flear 8.5/13, Chandler, Short 8, Nunn, Ribli 7.5, Polugaevsky, Portisch,
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Lajos Portisch


place; the winner was Korchnoi. At Moscow 1961, he made 6/11 for a shared fifth/seventh place; the winners were Smyslov and Evgeni Vasiukov. Two disappointing results followed, but he was gathering top-class experience, which would come in useful. At Torremolinos 1961, he made only 5/11 for eighth place; the winners were Gligoric and Arturo Pomar. Then at Bled 1961, with six of the world's top eleven players in the field, Portisch scored 8/19 for a shared fifteenth/sixteenth place; Tal
2913857
Chess rating system


to their rating . USCF ratings are generally 50 to 100 points higher than the FIDE equivalents . Elo gives an example of calculating the rating of Lajos Portisch, a 2635-rated player who scored 10½ points in an actual tournament of 16 players. First, the difference in rating is calculated for each other player, subtracting the other player's rating from Portisch's rating. Then the expected score against each player is determined from a table, based on this rating difference. For instance, one opponent was Vlastimil Hort, who was rated
70150
Lubomir Kavalek


. Rb4 Kf5 31. Rd4 Bxd4 32. cxd4 Kf4 0–1 An extraordinary final position. Black, a rook down, still has all eight of his pawns, and White is helpless against them. Here is one of Kavalek's most remarkable games, in which he sacrificed a queen for a bishop against the strong Hungarian grandmaster Lajos Portisch: Portisch–Kavalek, Wijk aan Zee, 1975 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 c6 6. Be3 a6 7.
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Lajos Portisch


Larsen. Portisch then lost his first-round Candidates' match to Larsen at Porec 1968, by 4.5–5.5. He qualified from the Raach 1969 Zonal, after tying for second/fifth places, on 13.5/21, then winning a four-way playoff for two berths at Prague 1970 with 4/6, against Borislav Ivkov, Jan Smejkal, and Ulf Andersson. He advanced, but narrowly missed Candidates' qualification at the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal 1970, tying with Vasily Smyslov for seventh/eighth places on 13.5/23, after another late defeat
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Lajos Portisch


Rotterdam 1977, then lost to Boris Spassky by 6.5–8.5 at Geneva 1977. In 1979 he advanced from the Rio de Janeiro Interzonal, sharing first/third places, on 11.5/17, along with Petrosian and Robert Hübner. Portisch got his revenge against Spassky in 1980, when he tied their quarterfinal match 7–7 in Mexico, and advanced to the semifinals since he had more victories with the Black pieces. He then lost the semi-final to Hübner by 4.5–6.5 at Abano Terme 1980. Qualifying from the Toluca Interzonal 1982, where he
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Lajos Portisch


tied for first/second places on 8.5/13 along with Eugenio Torre, he lost his first-round match to Viktor Korchnoi by 3–6 at Bad Kissingen 1983. Qualifying from the Tunis Interzonal 1985, where he scored 10/16, he made 7/15 at the Montpellier Candidates' tournament, and was eliminated. At the 1987 Szirak Interzonal, Portisch scored 12/17 to tie for third/fourth places, along with John Nunn; he then defeated John Nunn by 4–2 in a playoff match at Budapest to advance to the Candidates'. He won
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Lajos Portisch


and Hort, with 14/19. The year 1969 was his most successful to date. He won Amsterdam IBM 1969 by 1.5 points with 11.5/15. At Wijk aan Zee 1969, he shared third/fourth places on 10/15, behind winners Mikhail Botvinnik and Efim Geller. Portisch shared first/second places at Monte Carlo 1969 with Vasily Smyslov on 8/11. Then he took clear first at Hastings 1969–70 with 7/9, ahead of Wolfgang Uhlmann, Vasily Smyslov, and Svetozar Gligorić. At Budapest 1970, he shared fifth/sixth places on
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Wolfgang Uhlmann


ahead of World Champion Petrosian) at Zagreb 1965, tied for first (with Spassky) at Hastings 1965/66, tied for first (with Bronstein) at Szombathely 1966, tied for first (with Liberzon) at Zinnowitz 1967 and tied for first (with Bronstein) at the Berlin 'Lasker Memorial' in 1968. At Raach in 1969, a zonal tournament, he finished two points clear of the field (which included Lajos Portisch). Into the 1970s and 1980s, there was further success. He tied for first (
661401
Manuel Aaron


qualified him for the Interzonals, and in 1962, he played in the Stockholm interzonal and although finishing last (23rd place), his game was notable for the defeats he inflicted on grandmasters Lajos Portisch and Wolfgang Uhlmann. Aaron also played thrice with the Indian team at the Chess Olympiads. He captained the Indian team at Leipzig 1960 (+2 –10 =8), and at Varna 1962 (+7 –6 =4). In 1964, he played at second board in Tel Aviv (+4 –7 =6)
17616737
Anatoly Karpov


, Lajos Portisch, Hübner, Bent Larsen and Lubomir Kavalek. He dominated Las Palmas 1977 with 13½/15. He also won the prestigious Bugojno tournament in 1978 (shared), 1980 and 1986, the Linares tournament in 1981 (shared with Larry Christiansen) and 1994, the Tilburg tournament in 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, and 1983, and the Soviet Championship in 1976, 1983, and 1988. Karpov represented the Soviet Union at six Chess Olympiads, in all of which the USSR won the team gold medal.
441140
1988 in chess


invited. The first three of these tournaments were held in 1988. The 28th Chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki, Greece was held between 12 November and 30 November. It was won by the USSR, ahead of England in second and the Netherlands in third. The gold medal on the first board was won by Kasparov of USSR with 8½/10. Lajos Portisch of Hungary was second, also scoring 8½, but from 11 games. The Women's Chess Olympiad was held alongside the open tournament. The winners were Hungary, ahead of the
4642788
Nimzo-Indian Defence


was able to block White's kingside attack by playing ...Nf6–e8 and ...f7–f5. Now, both White's bishops are reduced to defence, and White's queen is reduced to passivity at the a2-square to defend the pawns on a3 and c4. Without prospects for counterplay, White's game is strategically hopeless, and Black ultimately exchanged queens and won the endgame. The Rubinstein System (named after Akiba Rubinstein) is White's most common method of combating the Nimzo-Indian. Svetozar Gligorić and Lajos Portisch made great contributions to
10453128
Karl Robatsch


career mostly occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was a winner at Madrid in 1961 (with Borislav Milic) and achieved outright or shared second place at Kapfenberg 1955, Varna 1957, Utrecht 1961 and Beverwijk 1962. At Halle in 1963, a zonal qualifying tournament for the world championship, he finished with a creditable tie for third (after Lajos Portisch and Bent Larsen, level with Borislav Ivkov). Later, he took a share of second place at Venice 1969, and placed third at Olot 1972,
11277113
Draw by agreement


other short draws. Boris Spassky wrote: The present game once again demonstrates how grandmasters play when they do not care to win. Of course, it is not an interesting spectacle for the onlookers. However, if chess enthusiasts could find themselves in the positions of the grandmasters they would not judge them so severely. Lajos Portisch wrote: Here Reshevsky offered me a draw, which was accepted. Is this a grandmaster draw? I do not think so. Reshevsky had consumed most of his time, and had only 30 minutes
11720250
Eugenio Torre


set by Hungary's Lajos Portisch. During that 40-year period, he manned the top board for Team Philippines a record 17 times except in the 1970 (Siegen, Germany), 2006 (Turin, Italy) and 2010 (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia) editions. In that stretch, Torre had played in 236 games winning 86, drawing 111 and losing 39 games for a grand total of 141½ points. The high point of his Olympiad career was winning the Bronze Medal thrice in the Individual Standings in Board 1, at
12901732
Bent Larsen


the heat and Fischer was better prepared for such exceptional circumstances... I saw chess pieces through a mist and, thus, my level of playing was not good." In 1973 he failed to advance from the Leningrad Interzonal; he tied for 5th–6th places with 10/17, with Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi winning. In 1976 he won the Biel Interzonal, but lost his 1977 Candidates' match, a rematch of their 1968 encounter, to Lajos Portisch by 3½–6½ at Rotterdam. In the Riga Interzonal of 1979, Larsen scored 10/17 for
14401606
Richárd Rapport


four from his father. In 2006 he won the European Championships U10. Rapport achieved the National Master title in 2008, and became an International Master the next year. In March 2010, at the Gotth'Art Kupa in Szentgotthárd, he fulfilled the final norm and rating requirements for the Grandmaster title. He came in second on the tournament behind his trainer Alexander Beliavsky, and tied with Lajos Portisch (one of the strongest non-Soviet players in the second half of the 20th century). Thus, at the age of 13
14564742
Tilburg chess tournament


game two on day two (both at classic time limits). Day three was a rest day, but for those tied 1-1 it was the day to play two more tie-break games (each with rapid time limit) and in a few cases, another two. The format was described by some commentators as very brutal. Anyone getting off to a slow start would be eliminated and sent home in just two or three days, such as happened to the entire Hungarian squad of Lajos Portisch, Gyula Sax
15626580
Corus 2008 chess tournament


). The Honorary group was won by Ljubomir Ljubojević (4 points) ahead of Viktor Korchnoi, Jan Timman (both 3) and Lajos Portisch (2). In round 8 of group B, Ivan Cheparinov twice refused the handshake offered to him by Nigel Short, the reason for which was later given in a statement by his manager Silvio Danailov as "some time ago in one of his interviews Mr. Short insulted him and our team gravely" - a reference to Short's accusations that the allegations made by Danailov and
15629989
Rook and bishop versus rook endgame


for the defender to observe: The game continued: and the position is back to the basic Cochrane position, rotated 90 degrees, and the fifty-move rule is closer to coming into effect. The Budnikov versus Novik game continued, with the Cochrane position being reached again. Eventually a draw was claimed by the fifty-move rule . The Cochrane Defense was also used in this 1982 game between Ljubomir Ljubojević and Lajos Portisch. The Cochrane position occurred again on move 114, rotated 90 degrees. The game was drawn on
16585875
László Szabó (chess player)


) and tied for first at Hastings 1973/74 (with Gennady Kuzmin, Timman and Tal). In total, he represented Hungary at 11 Olympiads, playing first board on five occasions and delivering many medal-winning performances. In 1937, he took the team silver and individual silver medals, in 1952 an individual bronze, in 1956 a team bronze and in 1966, team bronze and individual silver. Szabó was the best player in Hungary for nearly 20 years (eventually being succeeded by Lajos Portisch around 1963/64) and at the
16852627
Robert Hübner


Candidates Tournaments for the World Championship. Three ended in controversial circumstances: At his strongest in the mid-seventies to mid-eighties, Hübner participated in many of the elite tournaments of the day, and was invited at Montreal 1979 (The Tournament of Stars), playing alongside Anatoly Karpov, Mikhail Tal, and Jan Timman. His most notable tournament victories were at Houston 1974, Munich 1979 (shared with Ulf Andersson and Boris Spassky), Rio de Janeiro Interzonal 1979 (shared with Lajos Portisch and Tigran Petrosian),
17162633
Piatigorsky Cup


included Bobby Fischer and Samuel Reshevsky (U.S.A), Bent Larsen (Denmark), Lajos Portisch (Hungary), Wolfgang Unzicker (West Germany), Miguel Najdorf (Argentina), Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia), and Jan Hein Donner (Netherlands). Interest in the tournament was unusually high for a chess event in the United States, with over 500 spectators attending most sessions. The 17th-round game between tournament leaders Spassky and Fischer drew over 900 spectators, with many turned away. Positions of the games in progress
18193385
Moshe Czerniak


he tied for 1st–3rd with Milan Matulović and Petar Trifunović at Netanya. In 1962, he tied for 1st–2nd with Hiong Liong Tan at Amsterdam (2nd IBM Tournament). In 1963, he tied for 2nd–3rd with Donner, behind Lajos Portisch, at Amsterdam (3rd IBM). In 1963, he took 2nd, behind Nikola Padevsky, at Polanica Zdrój (Rubinstein Memorial). In 1964, he tied for 4th–9th at Polanica Zdrój. In 1965, he won at Netanya. In 1966, he tied for 7th–8th at Tel
18294162
Jan Timman


Interzonal, but won the Taxco 1985 Interzonal convincingly to qualify for the Candidates Matches for the first time. However, he lost in the first round to Artur Yusupov in 1986. In the next cycle, after winning the 1987 Tilburg Interzonal he defeated Valery Salov, Lajos Portisch, and Jonathan Speelman, but lost in the final to Anatoly Karpov in 1990. He reached the final round once again in 1993, having defeated Robert Hübner, Viktor Korchnoi, and Yusupov, but lost this time to Nigel Short. However, after
19519312
Rafael Vaganian


in 1986 and to Lajos Portisch in 1988. It is estimated that he has won in excess of thirty tournaments in all, and as recently as 2004, tied for first place in the Moscow's Aeroflot Open with Sergei Rublevsky and Valerij Filippov. In January 2005, his Elo rating briefly reached a 21st-century high at 2670, putting him back into the world's top 50, despite being in his mid-fifties. Over the years, he has also won many medals in team competition, representing the Soviet Union
22001870
Stojan Puc


7-8th at Ljubljana 1969 (1st Vidmar Memorial, Albin Planinc won) and tied for 17-18th at Ljubljana / Portorož 1973 (2nd Vidmar Memorial, Lajos Portisch won). Puc played for Yugoslavia as second reserve (+1 -1 =0) in the 9th Chess Olympiad at Dubrovnik 1950, as the team won the gold medal. He was awarded the International Master title in 1950, and an Honorary Grandmaster title in 1984. The Puc Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defense (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.
2410802
Russia (USSR) vs Rest of the World


team as they were up against five world champions and a number of other players who had achieved good results in Candidates Tournaments. However, a terrific display of defiance from the World's top four boards almost tipped the balance and in the end, it was only the Soviets' strength in depth that won the day, by the narrowest of margins. Lajos Portisch contributed a plus score for his side, but he incurred the wrath of Fischer when he conceded a draw to Korchnoi in a won position . The game was regarded
2744689
Lajos Portisch


medals. His totals are: (+19 =11 -8), his detailed record follows: He also led the Hungarian chess team to the gold medal in the 23rd Chess Olympiad held in Buenos Aires in 1978 with a personal score of 10/14. This was the only Olympiad not to be won by the Soviet Union between 1952 and 1990 (except in 1976 when Soviet Union boycotted the competition). He participated in a record 20 Olympiads from 1956 until 2000, playing a record 260 games, over a record six decades,
2913866
Viktor Korchnoi


In what was dubbed the "Massacre in Merano", Karpov defeated Korchnoi by six wins to two, with ten draws. Korchnoi, however, still had a vital part to play in the next (1984) Candidates' cycle, although he never reached the highest pinnacle again. In the first match, he defeated GM Lajos Portisch by 6–3 at Bad Kissingen 1983. In the second round, he was to play the young Soviet GM Garry Kasparov, who at the time was battling against a Soviet Chess Federation that was
3363685
Victor Ciocâltea


of four zonal FIDE tournaments (1954–1982). In 1954, he took 14th in Mariánské Lázně–Prague (Luděk Pachman won). In 1967, he took 15th in Halle (Lajos Portisch won). In 1972, he tied for 5–7th in Vrnjačka Banja. In 1982, he tied for 19–20th in Băile Herculane (Zoltán Ribli won). In 1953, he tied for 11–12th in Bucharest (Alexander Tolush won). In 1954, he 16th in Bucharest (Viktor Korchnoi won). In 1956, he took
4083187
Tata Steel Chess Tournament


. Top grandmasters compete in the tournament, but regular club players are welcome to play as well. The Masters group pits fourteen of the world's best against each other in a round-robin tournament, and has sometimes been described as the "Wimbledon of Chess". Since 1938, there has been a long list of famous winners, including: Max Euwe, Bent Larsen, Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres, Lajos Portisch, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Viktor Korchnoi, Jan Timman, Anatoly Karpov,
5227688
World Junior Chess Championship


Spain scored 6.5-2.5. Future grandmasters Lajos Portisch (HUN) (5.5-3.5) and Georgi Tringov (BUL) (5-4) finished fourth and fifth. 1957 - Toronto, Canada - (August) - Only twelve players from eleven countries competed in a round-robin tournament. William Lombardy won all eleven games, becoming the only player ever to achieve a perfect score in this tournament. 1959 - Münchenstein, Switzerland - (July–August) - Twenty-six players from all the populated continents
6003803
Florin Gheorghiu


). Playing for his country, he gathered 461 games in 65 contests (including friendly matches with other nations), summing up to an overall result of 145 wins, 274 draws and 42 losses. Details are given in the table below. Gheorghiu is renowned for his success against the reputedly solid Nimzo-Indian Defence. The variation comprising an early "f3" for White (which is allied to the Sämisch Variation) became his trademark weapon, improving on the games and development work of Lajos Portisch and Gyozo Forintos before
6621990
23rd Chess Olympiad


The 23rd Chess Olympiad, organized by FIDE and comprising an open and a women's tournament, as well as several other events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between October 25 and November 12, 1978, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After the boycott two years earlier, the Eastern Bloc countries were back, including the Soviet team who, as usual, were huge favourites—but in the end they had to settle for the silver medal. Hungary, led by Lajos Portisch, caused quite an upset
7779834
20th Chess Olympiad


1933. Both records at the time (although both have since been beaten by Lajos Portisch). This Olympiad was the first major success for the Benko Gambit, named after Hungarian-American master Pal Benko. In sixteen games, Black players scored ten wins and six draws with the opening. The 5th Women's Chess Olympiad also took place; this was the first time that it took place at the same time and in the same venue as the open event. It was won by the Soviet Union team. A total
7779863
Laszlo Witt


future International Master and noted writer Egon Varnusz, and future world-class Grandmaster Lajos Portisch, who was a bit younger. Grandmaster Laszlo Szabo (chess player) of Budapest was among the world's top ten players for some 20 years during this era. Witt emigrated to Canada following the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1956, which was crushed by the Soviet Union. He was competing in a chess tournament in Vienna, Austria at that time. Witt's wife Viola and young daughter Sylvia fled Hungary, and joined him in an
8163932
Vadim Milov


Vadim Milov (born 1 August 1972) is a Swiss grandmaster of chess. Born in Ufa, following the collapse of the USSR, he moved to Israel in 1992, before finally settling in Switzerland in 1996. He played at the traditional GM Invitation tournament of Biel in 1996, co-winning with then reigning FIDE World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov, ahead of prominent players such as Jaan Ehlvest, who was sole third, Ulf Andersson, Zoltán Almási, Joël Lautier, Lajos Portisch or Tony Miles who was placed last in
9219135
Eugenio Torre


to qualify as a candidate for the world championship after tying for first with Lajos Portisch during the 1982 Toluca Interzonal. Torre has the distinction of being the first Asian player to earn the title of International Grandmaster. He qualified for the Candidates Matches for the 1984 World Championship. In that preliminary stage, the contenders play matches against each other to determine who will challenge the world champion. Torre was eliminated when he lost his match against Zoltán Ribli by a score of 6–4. After losing his quarterfinal candidates match to Ribli in 1983
12901729
Jaime Sunye Neto


time, he delivered one of the best performances of his career, finishing fifth overall and defeating several grandmasters, including the tournament winner Lajos Portisch. He was joint second place at Havana 1985 and first at Zenica 1986 and won the South American Zonal in 1989. From 1978 to 1986 he was a mainstay on the Brazilian team at the Chess Olympiad. In 1996, Sunye Neto ran for president of FIDE. He assembled a powerful team and won the support of almost all of the chess playing countries of Europe. However the
14003882
Phillips & Drew Kings


Nigel Short, Jonathan Speelman, Gyula Sax, Michael Stean, John Nunn. Result: Miles, Korchnoi, Andersson 8.5/13, Sosonko, Speelman 7.5, Gheorghiu, Ljubojevic, Timman 7, Sax 6.5, Browne, Larsen, Stean 5.5, Nunn 4.5, Short 2 (14 players). In 1982, the tournament was held from 15–30 April. The participants were (in rating order): Anatoly Karpov, Jan Timman, Lajos Portisch, Boris Spassky, Ulf Andersson, Ljubomir Ljubojević, John Nunn, Larry Christiansen,
14512277
Boris Spassky


with 11½. He finished fourth at Sochi 1964 with 9½/15, as Nikolai Krogius won. In the 1964 Soviet Zonal at Moscow, a seven-player double round-robin event, Spassky won with 7/12, overcoming a start of one draw and two losses, to advance to the Amsterdam Interzonal the same year. At Amsterdam, he tied for first place, along with Mikhail Tal, Vasily Smyslov and Bent Larsen on 17/23, with all four, along with Borislav Ivkov and Lajos Portisch thus qualifying for the newly created Candidates'
16506393
Boris Spassky


the young prodigy Judit Polgár in a 1993 match at Budapest, losing narrowly by 4½–5½. Spassky continued to play occasional events through much of the 1990s, such as the Veterans vs Women match in Prague, 1995. On October 1, 2006, Spassky suffered a minor stroke during a chess lecture in San Francisco. In his first major post-stroke play, he drew a six-game rapid match with Hungarian Grandmaster Lajos Portisch in April 2007. On 27 March 2010, at 73 years old, he became the oldest surviving
16506420
Chess endgame


long diagonal available . This position was reached in a game from the 1965 Candidates Tournament between Lajos Portisch and former World Champion Mikhail Tal. White must defend accurately and utilize reciprocal zugzwang. Often he has only one or two moves that avoid a losing position. Black was unable to make any progress and the game was drawn on move 83 . Endings with "bishops of opposite color", meaning that one bishop works on the light squares, the other one working on dark squares, are notorious for their character. Many players
17749258
Efim Geller


, equal first with Lajos Portisch at Beverwijk 1965, clear first at Kislovodsk 1966, clear first at Gothenburg 1967, clear first at Kislovodsk 1968, equal first with Mikhail Botvinnik at Wijk aan Zee 1969 (ahead of Keres), equal first at Havana 1971 with Vlastimil Hort, equal first at Hilversum 1973 with Laszlo Szabo, clear first at Budapest 1973 ahead of Anatoly Karpov, clear first at Teesside 1975, clear first at Moscow 1975 (ahead of Boris Spassky, Viktor Korchnoi, and Petrosian), clear first at Las
17887994
Samuel Reshevsky


In 1956, he defeated William Lombardy by (+1−0=5). In 1957, he defeated Arthur Bisguier by (+4−2=4). In 1957, he defeated Donald Byrne by (+7−3=0). In 1960, he defeated Pal Benko by (+3−2=5). Reshevsky lost his first match in 1964 but it was a four-game play-off match following the Amsterdam 1964 Interzonal, where he had tied for 8th–9th with the Hungarian Champion Lajos Portisch. The final spot for advancement to the Candidates Match was at stake and there was
19234000
1981 in chess


Champion. The finalists were Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland) and Robert Hübner (West Germany), who had qualified for the final through an 8-player match knockout tournament. The other players of the tournament were András Adorján, Tigran Petrosian, Lev Polugaevsky (Soviet Union), Lajos Portisch (Hungary), Boris Spassky (France) and Mikhail Tal (Soviet Union). Tal, Petrosian and Spassky were former World Champions. The format of the final was a 16-game match. Hübner abandoned the match after completing games 1 to 8
2465831
Zugzwang


Be3?! Nxe5! 19. dxe5 Rc6! Black seized the initiative and went on to win in 14 more moves. Another instance of "Zugzwang Lite" occurred in Lajos Portisch versus Mikhail Tal, Candidates Match 1965, again from the Symmetrical Variation of the English Opening, after 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. 0-0 0-0 7. d3 a6 8. a3 Rb8 9. Rb1 b5 10. cxb5 axb5 11.
5926638
András Adorján


twelve consecutive times from 1952 through 1974. His further participation in 1984, 1986 and 1988 contributed to a top five finish on each occasion. Compatriots Lajos Portisch, Ribli and Gyula Sax were also at the peak of their playing strength during this period. Adorján has also worked over the years, sometimes secretly, as a second to Garry Kasparov and to Peter Leko, helping them to prepare for important World Championship matches. He is known as a leading expert on the Grünfeld Defence, which has been favored by both Kasparov and
781867
John Nunn


He gained the Grandmaster title in 1978 and was British champion in 1980. Nunn has twice won individual gold medals at Chess Olympiads. In 1989, he finished sixth in the inaugural 'World Cup', a series of tournaments in which the top 25 players in the world competed. His best performance in the World Chess Championship cycle came in 1987, when he lost a playoff match against Lajos Portisch for a place in the Candidates Tournament. He won the prestigious Hoogovens tournament (held annually in Wijk aan Zee) in 1982
9753752
Eugenio Torre


Philippines and played 7 games where he scored 4½ points with 3 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss with a performance rating of 2460 which was a shade below his Elo rating of 2489. In 2012, Torre participated in his record 21st Olympiad appearance at the 40th Chess Olympiad breaking his tie with Lajos Portisch held at Istanbul, Turkey. He manned Board 3 in this edition of the Olympiad. He scored 3½ points in 7 games on the strength of 2 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses. He recorded a very high
12901736
Mikhail Tal


the final match against Boris Spassky, after defeating Lajos Portisch and Bent Larsen in matches. Exempt from the 1967 Interzonal, he lost a 1968 semifinal match against Viktor Korchnoi, after defeating Gligoric. Poor health caused a slump in his play from late 1968 to late 1969, but he recovered his form after having a kidney removed. He won the 1979 Riga Interzonal with an undefeated score of 14/17, but the next year lost a quarter-final match to Lev Polugaevsky, one of the players to hold a positive score against
13910920
Ratmir Kholmov


the Spartak Championship at Minsk 1962 with 11/17, behind Anatoly Bannik. Kholmov won at Kecskemét 1962 with 11/15, ahead of Lajos Portisch and László Szabó, who tied for 2nd–3rd places. He placed 4th in the URS-ch30 at Yerevan 1962 with 13/19, a point behind champion Korchnoi. In 1963 he shared 1st–3rd, with Boris Spassky and Leonid Stein, at Leningrad at the 31st Soviet Chess Championships. Stein prevailed in the three man playoff. Consequently, Kholmov is arguably the strongest player of the era ranging from the 1940s
14179067
Bent Larsen


style, switching over to risky and unusual openings in some of his games, to try to throw his opponents off balance; this led to the recovery of his form and further development of his chess. He finished 2nd at the 1963 Halle Zonal with 13/19, behind winner Lajos Portisch, to advance to the Interzonal the next year. At Belgrade 1964, he shared 5th–6th places with 10/17 (Boris Spassky won). He tied for 5th–7th places at Beverwijk 1964 on 9½/15; Keres and Nei won. Larsen's unusual openings
14401602
Bent Larsen


against Efim Geller by 5–4 at Copenhagen 1966. In 1967 he won the Sousse Interzonal with the score of 15½/21 after Fischer withdrew; this placed him 1½ points ahead of the field. He then won his first-round match against Lajos Portisch by 5½–4½ at Porec 1968. In Malmö, however, he lost the semifinal by 2½–5½ to Boris Spassky, who went on to win the title. In 1970 he shared 2nd in the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal, on 15/23, behind Bobby Fischer. He reached his top rank in
14401604
World Chess Championship 1984


Smyslov. Kasparov, aged 19 years old at the time, won the Moscow Interzonal by a convincing 1½ point margin ahead of Alexander Beliavsky. The Toluca Interzonal was won jointly by Lajos Portisch and Eugenio Torre. Tal and Andersson contested a playoff in Malmö for a reserve spot for the Candidates Tournament. The match ended 3–3; Tal became first reserve because of his better tie break score in the main event, but eventually no reserves were needed. The six Interzonal qualifiers were joined by Viktor Korchnoi and Robert Hübner, the Candidates
15176512
Jean Hébert


won by Robert Hübner, Lajos Portisch, and Tigran Petrosian. In his Canadian Zonal title defence at Montreal 1981, Hébert scored 10.5/15, but could only tie for 2nd-3rd, behind winner Igor V. Ivanov. Hébert has represented Canada a total of seven times at Chess Olympiads from 1978–2002. His first two appearances, in 1978 and 1980, saw Canada score its highest team placings ever, with eleventh and ninth-place finishes, respectively. In 72 games, he has scored (+25 =25 -22), for 52.1 per
15728584
Andor Lilienthal


Bobby Fischer approved only three chess players who could carry his coffin at his funeral: Andor Lilienthal, Lajos Portisch, and Boris Spassky. Lilienthal was one of the few players with an even record against Capablanca. Lilienthal's "most celebrated victory" is his win commanding the white pieces against Capablanca at Hastings 1934–1935: The game is famed, and Lilienthal relates, "wherever I went on an exhibition tour, both in the Soviet Union and elsewhere, chess players and fans always asked me to show them how I sacrificed the
16160296
Efim Geller


, losing his first match to Korchnoi at Moscow by 5½–2½. In 1973, he tied with Lajos Portisch and Lev Polugaevsky for second place at the Petropolis Interzonal, but lost out in the three-way playoff match tournament at Portorož, with two qualifying spots at stake, so he did not advance. Geller represented the USSR seven times in Chess Olympiads, over a 28-year span from 1952 to 1980, and contributed well each time to the team gold medal victories. He won three gold medals and three silver medals on his board
17887999
Renato Naranja


Interzonal on tiebreaks, after drawing his two-game play-off match with co-winner Walter Browne. While Naranja finished 21st in the 24-player field at Palma, he drew against runaway victor Bobby Fischer, as well as Lajos Portisch and Vasily Smyslov (both of whom failed to qualify for the world championship Candidates Matches by one half-point). One of Naranja's five wins at Palma was against Samuel Reshevsky. Naranja migrated in U.S. where he works as a computer programmer and where he frequents the Marshall Chess Club
19921674
San Antonio 1972 chess tournament


Marshall and Richard Réti, among many others). Newly crowned world champion Fischer and deposed champion Spassky were also invited, but declined entry. The competition was held at the Hilton Palacio del Rio, where all the players also stayed. An open tournament was held alongside the main event, attracting 113 players. British player, arbiter and chess author Harry Golombek was charged with tournament direction. A three-way tie between Tigran Petrosian, Lajos Portisch and Anatoly Karpov (all 10½ / 15), the tournament result confirmed both
20171499
Borislav Ivkov


Titograd 1965 with 11½/18 as Gligoric won. Then at Zagreb 1965, Ivkov scored perhaps his most impressive career victory, sharing the title with Wolfgang Uhlmann on 13½/19, ahead of World Champion Tigran Petrosian, Lajos Portisch, Larsen, and Bronstein. Ivkov won at Venice 1966 with 5/7. He ended 4th at Beverwijk 1966 on 10/15 as Polugaevsky won. Ivkov won at Eersel 1966 with 4/5. He had a disappointing result at the elite Piatigorsky Cup tournament at Santa Monica, California, finishing with a minus score, as Spassky won
2883703
Viktor Korchnoi


final. Spassky prevailed at Kiev 1968, winning (+4−1=5). Korchnoi represented the USSR on board three in the first Russia (USSR) vs Rest of the World team match, Belgrade 1970, which took place across ten boards. He played four games with Hungarian GM Lajos Portisch, drawing three and losing one. In 1984, eight years after his defection, Korchnoi played board three in the second Rest of the World vs USSR match in London, with the match again held across ten boards. He faced Soviet GM
3363664
Fortress (chess)


positional advantage. Fortresses and perpetual check are examples of positional draws . Sometimes they salvage a draw from a position that seems hopeless because of a material deficit . Grandmaster John Nunn describes a positional draw as a position in which one side has enough material to normally win and he is not under direct attack, but some special feature of the position (often a blockade) prevents him from winning . A simple example is shown in the game between Lajos Portisch and Lubomir Kavalek. White could have won easily with 1.Be1 Kc6 2.b4.
8533784
First-move advantage in chess


b6? Overlooking Black's threat. 25... Nxf2! 26. Qe1 If 26.Rxf2, Bc2 forks White's queen and rook. 26... Ne4 27. b7 Rb8 28. g4 hxg4 29. hxg4 Be6 30. Rb5 Nf6! 31. Rxf6 Qxf6 32. Qg3 Bc4 33. g5 Qh8+ 0–1 The opening of the following game between two world-class players, another Symmetrical English, took a similar course: Lajos Portisch–Mikhail Tal, Candidates Match 1965: 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3
11321631
Thomas Luther


the final against Thomas Pähtz he became Grandmaster in 1994. 1997 Thomas Luther qualified for the world championships in Groningen. In this KO-tournament he won the first round 3.5–2.5 against Lajos Portisch but lost (0.5–1.5) against Vladimir Akopian in round 2. 2001 he qualified again and won the first round in Moscow 3–1 against Sergey Volkov but lost against Ilya Smirin (0.5–1.5). In 2002 he won the German championship in Saarbrücken again, outdistancing Alexander Graf and Florian Handke. He won his third German national championship in 2006 in
12692178
Nikolai Krogius


Hastings 1969-70 with 5/9, behind winner Lajos Portisch. He placed 2nd in the Russian Championship at Kuibyshev 1970, behind winner Anatoly Karpov. At Leningrad for URS-ch39, his last Soviet final, he scored 10.5/21 for a tied 10th-11th place, as Vladimir Savon won. Krogius placed tied 3rd-4th at Sochi 1973 with 9/15 as Mikhail Tal won. Overall, he tallied 67/135 in his seven Soviet finals, from 1958 to 1971, for just under 50 percent, and had six solid appearances out of seven, with
18424614
Paul Keres


. He shared 3rd–5th places at Sarajevo 1972 on 9½/15, as Szabo won. He placed 5th at San Antonio 1972 on 9½/15, as Petrosian, Lajos Portisch, and Anatoly Karpov won. At Tallinn 1973, he shared 3rd–6th places on 9/15, as Mikhail Tal won. His last Interzonal was Petropolis 1973, where he scored 8/17 for a shared 12–13th place, as Henrique Mecking won. That same year, he made his last Soviet Championship appearance, at Moscow for URS-ch41, scoring 8/17 for a shared 9–12th place
6307044
Threefold repetition


10.Bg5 Be6 11.Qf3 Be7 12.Rfe1 h6 13.Bxh6 gxh6 14.Rxe6 fxe6 15.Qg3+ Kh8 16.Qg6 and the players agreed to a draw because Black cannot avoid the repetition of position: 16...Qe8 17.Qxh6+ Kg8 18.Qg5+ Kh8 19.Qh6+ (under "repetition of position"). These two players had another game in 1914 in which Alekhine (this time with the black pieces) again achieved a draw by a similar process . A famous draw by threefold repetition occurred in a game between Viktor Korchnoi and Lajos Portisch in 1970 in the Russia
9726941
World Chess Championship 1963


1963. FIDE now had more than fifty member Federations that were divided into nine zones: 1–Western Europe, 2–Central Europe, 3–Eastern Europe, 4–USSR, 5–USA, 6–Canada, 7–Central America, 8–South America, and 9–Asia. Previous championship cycles had used only eight zones. Each zone was allocated from one to four qualifiers based on the relative strengths of its leading players. The Zonal was held at Madrid, with Jan Hein Donner (Netherlands), Svetozar Gligorić (Yugoslavia), Arturo Pomar (Spain), and Lajos Portisch (
15348550
Lajos Vákár Ice Hall


Lajos Vákár Ice Hall (, ) is a multi-purpose hall in Miercurea Ciuc, Romania. The arena is frequently used for concerts, indoor sports such as ice hockey, exhibitions and shows and it was also the host stadium of the 2007 IIHF World U20 Championship. Next door to the arena is the Lajos Vákár artificial skate rink an outdoor speed skating oval constructed in 1952. Since 1999 the arena bears the name of Lajos Vákár, a former ice hockey player and coach, one of the founding members of the hall
1223677
Lajos Kisgyörgy


Lajos Kisgyörgy (; 11 January 1909 – 6 February 1976) was a Hungarian sport shooter and shooting coach. Born in Beszterce, Kingdom of Hungary (now Bistrița, Romania), he graduated from the Ludovica Military Academy in 1931, subsequently he was assigned to the Hungarian Air Force. He left the army in 1947 in captain rank. A renowned sports shooter, he was member of the team that won the Hungarian championship of the sport pistol event in 1942. After World War II, starting from 1951, he became the
21439609
Lajos Balogh


Lajos Balogh (; 10 May 1903 – 9 October 1986) was a Hungarian athlete and later coach, architect, engineer, politician and sports official. Achieving his best results in the long jump, Balogh was a multiple Hungarian Athletics Championships winner, Universiade medalist and Olympic participant. Beside his competitive sports career Balogh worked as engineer and architect, focusing on sports and training constructions. He was a member of the Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party and was arrested together with a number of other party members with fabricated charges in
5077019
Lajos Kassai


Lajos Kassai (born 16 September 1960), is a Hungarian bowyer, archer and equestrian. He is primarily known for his work reviving the traditional art of horse archery, including adapting it into a modern sport. For his work he received the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary. Lajos Kassai originally worked as a mechanic, and only made bows as a hobby until the mid 1980s. During this time he reconstructed the Hungarian composite bow from the time of the Hungarian Conquest. Eventually bow
18504555
Lajos Berán


Lajos Berán (1882–1943 in Budapest) was a Hungarian sculptor and artist noted for his medal work. Along with Fülöp Ö. Beck and Ede Telcs Lajos Berán was one of the Hungarian artists who popularized medal art. He was noted for his characteristic engravings on the reverse of many medals, particularly related to sports medals. In 1932 he became the art director of the State Mint, and thus designed numerous coins of Hungary. Notable coins include his 1915 96-mm cast bronze War Medal and 1925 reverse depiction on Ignác Alpár (81mm
18668592