Béla Tóth (born 19 April 1943) is a Hungarian-born

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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 ...

player who holds the

FIDE title 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 ...

of International Master (IM, 1974) and the

ICCF title International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) was founded on 26 March 1951 as a new appearance of the International Correspondence Chess Association (ICCA), which was founded in 1945, as successor of the Internationaler Fernschachbund (IF ...

Correspondence Chess Grandmaster International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster is a correspondence chess title created by FIDE in 1953, second only to that of world correspondence champion. Currently, this title is awarded by the International Correspondence Chess Federation (IC ...

(GM, 2004). He is a four-time

Italian Chess Championship The Italian Chess Federation (Italian: Federazione Scacchistica Italiana (FSI)) was established in 1920. The first Italian Chess Championship took place at Viareggio 1921. The 1998 Championship was held 21–29 November in Saint-Vincent. The ten-p ...

winner (1975, 1976, 1980, 1982), a

Hungarian Chess Championship The inaugural Hungarian Chess Championship was held in the city of Győr in 1906. Initially, there was no governing body responsible for its organisation, until the formation of the Hungarian Chess Federation. The HCF first appeared in 1911, but fai ...

medalist (1971), a

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 2020 and ...

individual silver medalist (

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

), and a European Correspondence Chess Championship winner (1973-78).

Biography

Béla Tóth was born in Hungary and in 1971 won a bronze medal in the

. He moved to Italy in the early 1970s and became a four-time winner of the

: 1975, 1976, 1980, and 1982. Béla Tóth successfully participated in international chess tournaments held in Italy. He has won the Bratto chess festival three times: in 1978, 1979 and 1983. Béla Tóth finished 2nd in the ''Banco di Roma'' chess tournaments in 1976 and 1977, and 3rd-4th in the 1984 tournament. In 1978 he won the 11th European Correspondence Chess Championship (1973-78). In 1982, playing in the first board, Béla Tóth won the 19th Italian Team Chess Championship with chess club ''Milanese Chess Society''. Béla Tóth played for Italy in the

s: * In 1974, at third board in the

21st Chess Olympiad The 21st Chess Olympiad (french: La 21e Olympiade d'échecs), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. team tournament, as well as severa ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

(+9, =2, -6), * In 1976, at second board in the

22nd Chess Olympiad The 22nd Chess Olympiad ( he, אולימפיאדת השחמט ה-22, ''Olimpiada ha-shachmat ha-22''), organized by Fédération Internationale des Échecs, FIDE, took place between October 26 and November 10, 1976, in Haifa, Israel. For the firs ...

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

(+7, =3, -2) and won individual silver medal, * In 1980, at first board in the

24th Chess Olympiad The 24th Chess Olympiad ( mt, L-24 Olimpijadi taċ-Ċess), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. and a women's tournament, as well as ...

La Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 was ...

(+4, =4, -4), * In 1984, at second board in the

26th Chess Olympiad The 26th Chess Olympiad ( el, Η 26η Σκακιστική Ολυμπιάδα, ''I 26i Skakistikí Olympiáda''), organized by FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male an ...

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

(+4, =3, -5). Béla Tóth played for Italy in the Men's Chess Mitropa Cup: * In 1978, at second board in the 3rd Chess Mitropa Cup in Ciocco (+4, =0, -1) and won team gold medal, * In 1979, at first board in the 4th Chess Mitropa Cup in

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

(+2, =1, -2). In 1974, Béla Tóth awarded the FIDE International Master (IM) title but in 2004 he awarded

International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster is a correspondence chess title created by FIDE in 1953, second only to that of world correspondence champion. Currently, this title is awarded by the International Correspondence Chess Federation (IC ...

title. In the mid-1980s Béla Tóth moved to

Allschwil , neighboring_municipalities= Baselland (BL), Binningen, Buschwiller (FR-68), Hégenheim (FR-68), Neuwiller (FR-68), Oberwil, Saint-Louis (FR-68), Schönenbuch , twintowns = Pfullendorf (Germany), Blaj (Romania) } Allschwil () is a town a ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, where he works as an instructor at the local chess club. He has written several chess books, including ''Damengambits Minoritätsangriff'' (1987) and ''Die Russische Verteidigung'' (1987).

References

External links

* * * * 1943 births Living people Italian chess players Italian chess writers Hungarian chess players Chess International Masters Correspondence chess grandmasters Chess Olympiad competitors 20th-century chess players Sportspeople from Budapest {{Italy-chess-bio-stub