Lajos Asztalos (Ljudevit Astaloš) (29 July 1889,

Pécs Pécs ( , ; hr, Pečuh; german: Fünfkirchen, ; also known by other #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 countr ...

– 1 November 1956,

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

) was a Hungarian chess

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 ...

, professor, and teacher of languages. At the beginning of his career, he tied for sixth-eighth at

1911 (third HUN-ch, Zoltán von Balla and

Zsigmond Barász Zsigmond Barász (January 1878 – 28 May 1935, Budapest) was a Hungarian chess master. He took 2nd, behind Zoltán von Balla, at Győr in 1906 (the first Hungarian Championship) losing one match to him (0.5 : 2.5) there; took 9th at Budapest ...

won); tied for 7-8th at Breslau (

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, r ...

) 1912 (18th DSB–Congress, B tourn, Bernhard Gregory won); took second, behind

Gyula Breyer Gyula "Julius" Breyer (30 April 1893 Budapest – 9 November 1921) was a Hungarian chess player and 1912 Hungarian national champion. Chess career In 1912 Breyer won the Hungarian championship in Temesvar. In a 1920 tournament in Berlin he f ...

, at Temesvár 1912 (fourth HUN-ch); won at

Debrecen Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and ...

1913 (fifth HUN-ch); tied for 8-9th at Budapest 1913 (

Rudolf Spielmann Rudolf Spielmann (5 May 1883 – 20 August 1942) was a Jewish-Austrian chess player of the romantic school, and chess writer. Career Spielmann was born in 1883, third child of Moritz and Cecilia Spielmann, and had a younger brother Edgar, an ol ...

won), took fifth at

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

1914 (''Hauptturnier A''); took 4th at

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

1917 (Quadrangular,

Milan Vidmar Milan Vidmar (22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, Chess theory, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugu ...

won), and took 5th at Kaschau 1918 (

Richard Réti Richard Selig Réti (28 May 1889 – 6 June 1929) was an Austro-Hungarian, later Czechoslovakian, chess player, chess author, and composer of endgame studies. He was one of the principal proponents of hypermodernism in chess. With the exc ...

won). After World War I, he moved to the

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

(later known as

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

). In 1923, he tied for sixth-seventh in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

; (

Paul Johner Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

won). In 1924, he took third in

Győr Győr ( , ; german: Raab, links=no; names in other languages) is the main city of northwest Hungary, the capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron County and Western Transdanubia region, and – halfway between Budapest and Vienna – situated on one of ...

(7th HUN-ch, Géza Nagy won). In 1925, he took 5th in Budapest (Lovas and Sterk won), and tied for 13-14th in Debrecen ( Hans Kmoch won). In 1926, he took third, behind Hermanis Matisons and

Savielly Tartakower Savielly Tartakower (also known as ''Xavier'' or ''Ksawery'' ''Tartakower'', less often ''Tartacover'' or ''Tartakover''; 21 February 1887 – 4 February 1956) was a Polish and French chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandm ...

, in Bardejov (Bártfa, Bartfeld, Bardiów). In 1927 he took 4th in Kecskemét (

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine, ''Aleksándr Aleksándrovich Alékhin''; (March 24, 1946) was a Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, a title he held for two reigns. By the age of 22, Alekhine was already a ...

won). He represented Yugoslavia in Chess Olympiads: * In 1926, in 2nd unofficial Chess Olympiad in

– team silver medal; * In 1927, at third board in 1st Chess Olympiad in London (+4 –3 =8); * In 1931, at second board in

4th Chess Olympiad The 4th Chess Olympiad ( cz, 4. Šachová olympiáda), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female playe ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

(+7 –3 =6); * In 1936, at fourth board in 3rd unofficial Chess Olympiad in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

(+5 –3 =8). In 1931, he took 13th in

Bled Bled (; german: Veldes,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper C ...

(Alekhine won). In 1934, he took sixth in Maribor (

Vasja Pirc Vasja Pirc () (December 19, 1907 – June 2, 1980) was a Slovenian chess player. He is best known in competitive chess circles as a strong exponent of the hypermodern defense now generally known as the Pirc Defense. Pirc was champion of Yugosl ...

and Lajos Steiner won). In 1935, he tied for 8-9th in Belgrade (

and

Borislav Kostić Borislav or Boryslav (Cyrillic script: Борислав) is a Slavic male given name. People who have this name include: *Borislav Cvetković, a Croatian-born Serbian football manager and former player *Borislav Ivanov, a Bulgarian chess player ...

won). In 1938, he tied for 5-7th in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

(Kostić won). During World War II, Astaloš played for Croatia in a match against Slovakia on first board with Ivan Vladimir Rohaček (1 : 1) in Zagreb in December 1941. 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 Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of philosophy and a languages teacher. He died in Budapest during the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

against the Soviet Union. He was awarded the

(IM) title in 1950 and the

International Arbiter {{No footnotes, date=April 2022 In chess tournaments, an arbiter is an official who oversees matches and ensures that the rules of chess are followed. International Arbiter ''International Arbiter'' is a title awarded by FIDE to individuals deemed ...

(IA) title in 1951. He was the author of ''A sakkjáték elemei'' (Budapest 1951). Asztalos Memorial has been held regularly in Hungary since 1958 till 1971.

Notable games

Lajos Asztalos vs Alexander Alekhine, Bled (03) 1931, French Defense: Classical, Burn Variation Morozevich Line (C11), ½–½Lajos Asztalos vs Borislav Kostic, Bled 1931, Nimzowitsch Defense: Scandinavian, Advance Variation (B00), ½–½Geza Maroczy vs Lajos Asztalos, Bled 1931, Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation (C49), ½–½

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asztalos, Lajos 1889 births 1956 deaths People from Pécs Hungarian chess players Croatian chess players Yugoslav chess players Chess Olympiad competitors Chess International Masters Chess arbiters Croatian people of Hungarian descent