Lajos Asztalos

Lajos Asztalos
Country Hungary
 Yugoslavia
Born(1889-07-29)July 29, 1889
Pécs, Hungary
DiedNovember 1, 1956(1956-11-01) (aged 67)
Budapest, Hungary
TitleInternational Master (1950)
International Arbiter (1951)

Lajos Asztalos (Serbo-Croatian: Ljudevit Astaloš; 29 July 1889 – 1 November 1956[1]) was a Hungarian-Yugoslavian chess International Master, professor, and teacher of languages.

At the beginning of his career, he tied for sixth-eighth at the 1911 Hungarian Chess Championship; tied for 7-8th at Breslau 1912 (18th DSB–Congress, B tourn); took second, behind Gyula Breyer at the1912 Hungarian Championship; won at the 1913 Hungarian Championship; tied for 8-9th at Budapest 1913,[2] took fifth at Mannheim 1914 (Hauptturnier A);[3] took 4th at Vienna 1917 (Quadrangular), and took 5th at Kaschau 1918.

After World War I, he moved to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as Yugoslavia). In 1923, he tied for sixth-seventh in Trieste. In 1924, he took third at the Hungarian Championship. In 1925, he took 5th in Budapest, and tied for 13-14th in Debrecen. In 1926, he took third, behind Hermanis Matisons and Savielly Tartakower, in Bardejov.[4] In 1927 he took 4th in Kecskemét.[5] In 1931, he took 13th in Bled. In 1934, he took sixth in Maribor. In 1935, he tied for 8-9th in Belgrade. In 1938, he tied for 5-7th in Ljubljana.[6]

He represented Yugoslavia in four Chess Olympiads. In 1926, in 2nd unofficial Chess Olympiad in Budapest – the team won silver medal. In 1927, Asztalos played third board at the 1st Chess Olympiad in London (+4 –3 =8). In 1931, he played second board at the 4th Chess Olympiad in Prague (+7 –3 =6). Finaly, in 1936, he played fourth board in the 3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad in Munich (+5 –3 =8).[7]

During World War II, Asztalos played for Croatia in a match against Slovakia on first board with Ivan Vladimir Rohaček (1:1) in Zagreb in December 1941.[8] He returned to Hungary in 1942. Asztalos became Vice President of the Hungarian Chess Union and Secretary of the FIDE Qualification Committee. He was a professor of philosophy and a languages teacher.[9]

Asztalos was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1950 and the International Arbiter (IA) title in 1951.[citation needed] He was the author of A sakkjáték elemei (Budapest 1951).[10]

He died in Budapest during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.[citation needed] Asztalos Memorial has been held regularly in Hungary since 1958 till 1971.[citation needed]

  1. ^ Date uncertain. Other sources (Golombek, Ajedrez Revista Mensual) say 30 or 31 October.
  2. ^ Anders Thulin (2004-09-01). "Name Index to Jeremy Gaige's Chess Tournament Crosstables, An Electronic Edition" (PDF). Malmö. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-07-04.
  3. ^ "Das unvollendete Turnier: Mannheim 1914". Schach Nachrichten. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  4. ^ "I tornei dal 1920 al 1929". Xoomer.alice.it. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  5. ^ "satiriki.ru". Satiriki.ru. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  6. ^ [1] Archived February 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Wojciech Bartelski. "OlimpBase :: the encyclopaedia of team chess". Olimpbase.org. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  8. ^ "Zagreb 1941 (Czech language)" (PDF). Olimpbase. Olimpbase. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  9. ^ "The chess games of Lajos Asztalos". Chessgames.com. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  10. ^ Litmanowicz, Władysław; Giżycki, Jerzy (1986). Szachy od A do Z. Wydawnictwo Sport i Turystyka Warszawa. ISBN 83-217-2481-7 (1. A-M), ISBN 83-217-2745-X (2. N-Z).