Lajos Steiner (14 June 1903, in

Nagyvárad Oradea (, , ; german: Großwardein ; hu, Nagyvárad ) is a city in Romania, located in Crișana, a sub-region of Transylvania. The county seat, seat of Bihor County, Oradea is one of the most important economic, social and cultural centers in the ...

( Oradea) – 22 April 1975, in Sydney) was a Hungarian–born Australian

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 dist ...

master. Steiner was one of four children of Bernat Steiner, a mathematics teacher, and his wife Cecilia,(née Schwarz). His elder brother was

Endre Steiner Endre (Andreas) Steiner (27 June 1901 – 29 December 1944) was a Hungarian chess player, born in Budapest. Endre Steiner played for Hungary in five official and one unofficial Chess Olympiads. * In 1927, he played at first reserve board at 1st ...

. He was educated at the Technical High School in

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 ...

, and graduated in 1926 with a diploma in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...

from the Technikum Mittweida in Germany. In 1923, he tied for 4-5th in Vienna. In 1925 he took 2nd, behind Sándor Takács, in Budapest. In 1927, he won in Schandau and tied for 2nd-3rd in

Kecskemét Kecskemét ( , sk, Kečkemét) is a city with county rights central part Hungary. It is the eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country's th ...

. In 1927/28, he took 2nd. In 1929, he took 2nd in Bradley Beach. In 1931, he won in Budapest ( HUN-ch), took 5th in Vienna, and tied for 5-6th in Berlin. The event was won by

Herman Steiner Herman Steiner (April 15, 1905 – November 25, 1955) was an American chess player, organizer, and columnist. He won the U.S. Chess Championship in 1948 and became International Master in 1950. Even more important than his playing career were his ...

. In 1932/33, he tied for 3rd-4th in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

(

Salo Flohr Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournam ...

won). In 1933, he tied for 2nd-3rd in Maehrisch-Ostrau (

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four riv ...

). The event was won by Ernst Grünfeld. In 1933, he took 4th in Budapest. In 1934, he tied for 1st-2nd with

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 ...

in Maribor (Marburg). In 1935, he tied for 1st-2nd with

Erich Eliskases Erich Gottlieb Eliskases (15 February 1913 – 2 February 1997) was a chess player who represented Austria, Germany and Argentina in international competition. In the late 1930s he was considered a potential contender for the World Championship. ...

in Vienna (the 18th Trebitsch Memorial). In 1935, he tied for 5-6th in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

(

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 ...

won) and took 4th in Tatatovaros ( László Szabó won). In 1936, he won, with Mieczysław Najdorf, in Budapest (HUN-ch). In 1937, he took 2nd in Brno (Brunn), and took 3rd in

Zoppot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest city ...

(Sopot). In 1937/38, he won in Vienna (the 20th Trebitsch Memorial). In 1938, he tied for 3rd-4th 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 ...

(Laibach). The event was won by

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 ...

. In 1938, he tied for 8-9th in Łódź where Pirc won. Lajos Steiner played a few matches. In 1930, he lost (+3 –5 =2) to

Isaac Kashdan Isaac Kashdan (November 19, 1905 in New York City – February 20, 1985 in Los Angeles) was an American chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was twice U.S. Open champion (1938, 1947). He played five times for the United States in chess Olymp ...

. In 1934, he won (+7 –3) against

Pál Réthy Pál Réthy (28 January 1905, Deva – 27 December 1962, Budapest) was a Hungarian chess master. Born in Deva, Transylvania (then Austria-Hungary, now Romania), he lived in Hungary after World War I. He took 7th at Vienna 1926 (Rudolf Spielmann w ...

. In 1935, he won (+3 –1) vs

Henri Grob Henri Grob (4 June 1904 – 5? July'3 July' according to Gaige, '9 July' according to Golombek, '4 June' according to ''Mundo del Ajedrez'' November 1974, p. 318. 1974) was a Swiss chess player, artist, and painter. He was Swiss chess champi ...

. He played for Hungary in four Chess Olympiads: * In 1931, he played at second board at 4th Chess Olympiad in

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 ...

(+10 –3 =4). * In 1933, he played at second board at 5th Chess Olympiad in Folkestone (+5 –4 =5). * In 1935, he played at first board at 6th Chess Olympiad in Warsaw (+7 –4 =7). * In 1936, he played at second board at 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 ...

(+13 –2 =5). He won individual bronze medal in Prague, and team gold medal and individual silver medal in Munich. Steiner emigrated to Australia in 1939. He won the

Australian Chess Championship The Australian Chess Championship is a tournament organised by the Australian Chess Federation and held every two years. The tournament is largely restricted to Australian chess players, although it is common to allow a small number of strong overse ...

four times in 1945, 1946/47, 1952/53, and 1958/59. He also won nine of his ten attempts at the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

title (1940–41, 1943, 1944, 1945–46, 1953, 1955, 1958).Australian Dictionary of Biography :: Steiner, Lajos
/ref> He took 3rd in Karlovy Vary –

Mariánské Lázně Mariánské Lázně (; german: Marienbad) is a spa town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Most of the town's buildings come from its Golden Era in the second half of the 19th centu ...

in 1948. The event was won by

Jan Foltys Jan Foltys (13 October 1908, Svinov – 11 March 1952, Ostrava, Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic) was a Czech chess International Master. Biography In 1933, he tied for 8-12th in Mnichovo Hradiště (13th Czech championships). In ...

. He took 19th at the 1st Interzonal Tournament in

Saltsjöbaden Saltsjöbaden is a locality in Nacka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,491 inhabitants in 2010. It is on the Baltic Sea coast, deep in the Stockholm Archipelago. History Saltsjöbaden () was developed as a resort by Knut Agathon W ...

in 1948. The event was won by

David Bronstein David Ionovich Bronstein (russian: Дави́д Ио́нович Бронште́йн; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet and Ukrainian chess player. Awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1950, he narro ...

. He was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1950.

References

External links

*
ADB bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steiner, Lajos 1903 births Hungarian Jews Hungarian emigrants to Australia Hungarian chess players Australian chess players Jewish chess players Chess International Masters Chess Olympiad competitors Hungarian refugees Jewish refugees Australian Jews Australian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent 1975 deaths 20th-century chess players

See also

References

External links