Events in

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 ...

in 1903:

News

* Siegbert Tarrasch (Germany) wins the Monte Carlo tournament, ahead of Géza Maróczy (Hungary),

Harry Pillsbury Harry Nelson Pillsbury (December 5, 1872 – June 17, 1906) was an American chess player. At the age of 22, he won one of the strongest tournaments of the time (winning the Hastings 1895 chess tournament), but his illness and early death prevente ...

(United States), Carl Schlechter (Austria), and

Richard Teichmann Richard Teichmann (24 December 1868 – 15 June 1925) was a German chess master. He was known as "Richard the Fifth" because he often finished in fifth place in tournaments. But in Karlsbad 1911, he scored a convincing win, crushing Akiba Rub ...

(Germany). *

Mikhail Chigorin Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin (also ''Tchigorin''; russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Чиго́рин; – ) was a Russian chess player. He played two World Championship matches against Wilhelm Steinitz, losing both times. The last great ...

wins the 3rd All-Russian Championship in Kiev, ahead of Ossip Bernstein. * Chigorin (Russia) also wins the Vienna tournament, ahead of Frank Marshall (United States),

Georg Marco Georg Marco (29 November 1863 – 29 August 1923) was an Austrian chess player. He was born in Chernivtsi (Cernăuţi), Bukovina (then part of Austria-Hungary). He later settled in Vienna and was secretary of the Viennese Chess Association. I ...

(Romania), and Pillsbury. All games in this gambit tournament begin with the

King's Gambit The King's Gambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves: :1. e4 e5 :2. f4 White offers a pawn to divert the black e-pawn. If Black accepts the gambit, White has two main plans. The first is to play d4 and Bxf4, regaining the gambit p ...

. * The American team wins the Anglo-American cable match by the score 5½–4½. Pillsbury and Marshall are in Europe to play at the Monte Carlo tournament, so they travel to London to play their games in person.

Births

Tihomil Drezga Tihomil Drezga (Dresga, Drezza) (December 10, 1903– August 1981) was a Croatian chess master. He was born in Šibenik, Croatia, and graduated from a gymnasium in Split. Then he studied international law at the Sorbonne in Paris and receive ...

(1903–1981) born in Šibenik,

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Henryk Friedman Henryk Friedman (Friedmann) (1903–1942) was a Polish chess master. He lived in Lviv (Lwów, Lemberg). In 1926–1934, Friedman won seven times in succession the Championship of Lviv but 1930, when he took 2nd place behind Stepan Popel. Friedman ...

(1903–1942), Polish master *

Gisela Harum Gisela Harum (1903 – 1995) was an Austrian chess player. She played four times in the Women's World Championship. She took 7th at London 1927 (Vera Menchik won), 3rd (behind V. Menchik and Regina Gerlecka) at Warsaw 1935, and tied for 17-2 ...

(1903–1995), Austrian

master * Menachem Oren (1903–1962) born in Różana, Poland * Karol Piltz (1903–1939), Polish

master. * Solomon Gotthilf (1903–1967), Russian master * January 1 – Kola Kwariani (1903–1980) professional wrestler, is born in

Kutaisi Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbilis ...

, Georgia * February 28 – Ozren Nedeljković (1903–1984), Serbian master, is born in Sremski Karlovcim * March 20 – Vitaly Halberstadt (1903–1967), French endgame study composer, is born in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

* March 29 –

Heinrich Reinhardt Enrique Alfredo Kurt (born Heinrich Alfred Kurt) Reinhardt (29 March 1903, Stettin,Zabelsdorf, according tPassengers of the Piriápolis/ref> German Empire – 14 June 1990, Ciudad Jardín Lomas del Palomar, Argentina) was a German–Argentine ches ...

(1903–1990), German–Argentine master, is born in

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...

* April 1 –

Salo Landau Salo (Salomon) Landau (1 April 1903, Bochnia, Galicia, Austria-Hungary – March 1944,Westerbork Cartotheek NIOD Amsterdam Grodziszcze, Świdnica County, Poland) was a Dutch chess player, who died in a Nazi concentration camp. Biography Early l ...

(1903–1943), Dutch player, who died in a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

concentration camp is born in Bochnia, Galicia,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

* April 9 –

Morris Schapiro Morris Abraham Schapiro (1903 – December 26, 1996) was an American investment banker and chess master; in the 1950s, he negotiated the mergers of Chase Bank and the Bank of Manhattan and of Chemical Bank and New York Trust Company. His broth ...

(1903–1996), American investment banker and chess master, is born in Lithuania *

Gregor Piatigorsky Gregor Piatigorsky (, ''Grigoriy Pavlovich Pyatigorskiy''; August 6, 1976) was a Russian Empire-born American cellist. Biography Early life Gregor Piatigorsky was born in Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. As a child, ...

(1903–1976), Russian-American cellist and chess patron, is born in

Dnipropetrovsk Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

* June 14 –

Lajos Steiner Lajos Steiner (14 June 1903, in Nagyvárad ( Oradea) – 22 April 1975, in Sydney) was a Hungarian–born Australian chess master. Steiner was one of four children of Bernat Steiner, a mathematics teacher, and his wife Cecilia,(née Schwarz) ...

(1903–1975), Hungarian and Australian

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 ...

(1950), is born in Nagyvárad * August 4

Karl Ruben Carl (Karl) Ruben (born 4 August 1903, died 28 October 1938) was a Danish chess master. He won a match against Johannes Pedersen (1.5–0.5) at Aalborg 1927, tied for 2nd-3rd in Danish Championship at Vordingborg 1927 ( Erik Andersen won), shar ...

(date of death unknown), Danish master * August 21 – William Fairhurst (1903–1982), British and New Zealand International Master (1951), is born in Alderley Edge * August 25 – Arpad Elo (1903–1992), Hungarian-American player and inventor of the Elo rating system, is born in

Egyházaskesző Egyházaskesző () is a village in Veszprém county, Hungary.Street map

Notable people

...

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

* September 17 – George Koltanowski (1903–2000), Belgian and American chess player, is born in Antwerp * September 27

Boruch Israel Dyner Boruch Israël Dyner (27 September 1903 – 13 February 1979) was a Belgian–Israeli chess master. Born in Poland, he moved to Belgium. Dyner won thrice Belgian Chess Championship in 1932 (jointly with Victor Soultanbeieff), 1933 and 1935. He ti ...

(1903–1979) was a Belgian–Israeli

master * October 8 –

Georgy Geshev Georgy (Georgi) Geshev (Geschew) ( bg, Георги Христов Гешев) (born October 8, 1903, in Sofia – died July 15, 1937) was a Bulgarian chess master. At the beginning of his career, he tied for 6-7th at Varna 1926 (K. Atanasov, G. ...

(1903–1937), Bulgarian master, is born in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

* December 20 –

Ramón Rey Ardid Ramón Rey Ardid (20 December 1903, Zaragoza – 21 January 1988) was a Spanish chess master. He was Spanish champion from 1929 to 1942. He was a psychiatrist and professor at the Zaragoza University. In 1924, he played for Spain in first unoffi ...

(1903–1988), Spanish master and Spanish champion from 1929 to 1943.

Deaths

* February 26 – Samuel Tinsley (1847–1903), English player and chess columnist for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', competed at Hastings 1895, dies in London. * June 1 – Josef Noa (1856–1903), Hungarian master, dies in Budapest at age 46. * August 8 –

Gyula Makovetz Gyula Makovetz (Makowetz, Makovets) (29 December 1860, Arad – 8 August 1903, Budapest) was a Hungarian journalist and chess player. He edited the chess magazine ''Budapesti Sakkszemle'' from 1889 to 1894. Makovetz was 1st, ahead of Johann Herma ...

(1860–1903), Hungarian chess player and editor of the chess magazine ''Budapesti Sakkszemle'', dies in Budapest.

References

{{reflist 20th century in chess Chess by year