Lothar Maximilian Lorenz Schmid (10 May 1928 – 18 May 2013) was a German
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 ...
grandmaster. He was born in
Radebeul
Radebeul ( hsb, Radobyle) is a town (''große Kreisstadt'') in the Elbe valley in the district of Meißen in Saxony, Germany, a suburb of Dresden. It is well known for its viticulture, a museum dedicated to writer Karl May, and a narrow gaug ...
near
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
into a family who were the co-owners of the
Karl May
Karl Friedrich May ( , ; 25 February 1842 – 30 March 1912) was a German author. He is best known for his 19th century novels of fictitious travels and adventures, set in the American Old West with Winnetou and Old Shatterhand as main pro ...
Press, which published the German Karl May adventure novels.
He was best known as the chief
arbiter at several
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who has held the title since 2013.
The first event recognized as a world championship was the World Chess ...
matches, in particular the 1972 encounter between
Bobby Fischer
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11 ...
and
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky ( rus, Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский, Borís Vasíl'yevich Spásskiy; born January 30, 1937) is a Russian chess grandmaster who was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 ...
at
Reykjavík
Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...
. He was also an avid collector of chess books and paraphernalia. It was reputed that he owned the largest known private
chess library
Chess libraries are library collections of books and periodicals on the game of chess. In 1913, preeminent chess history, historian H. J. R. Murray estimated the total number of books, magazines, and Chess columns in newspapers, newspaper columns ...
in the world,
as well as a renowned collection of chess art,
chessboard
A chessboard is a used to play chess. It consists of 64 squares, 8 rows by 8 columns, on which the chess pieces are placed. It is square in shape and uses two colours of squares, one light and one dark, in a chequered pattern. During play, the bo ...
s and
chess piece
A chess piece, or chessman, is a game piece that is placed on a chessboard to play the game of chess. It can be either White and Black in chess, white or black, and it can be one of six types: King (chess), king, Queen (chess), queen, Rook (chess ...
s from around the globe.
Playing career
German championships
In 1941, at the age of 13, Schmid won the Dresden chess championship which marked the beginning of his chess career. In 1943, he took second place in Vienna (German Juniors Championship). In June 1947, he tied for first place with
Gerhard Pfeiffer in Wiessenfels (
SBZ-ch). In April 1948, he tied for second place in
Celle
Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...
when
Carl Ahues
Carl Oscar Ahues (26 December 1883, Bremen – 31 December 1968, Hamburg) was a German chess International Master.
Chess career
He was Berlin champion in 1910 and shared 3rd place at the strong Berlin tournament of 1926 (Efim Bogoljubow won ...
won. In September 1948, he tied for fourth place at the full
German Chess Championship The German Chess Championship has been played since 1861, and determines the national champion. Prior to 1880, three different federations organized chess activities in Germany: the ''Westdeutscher Schachbund'' (WDSB), the ''Norddeutscher Schachbund ...
(12th GER-ch) in Essen. The event was won by
Wolfgang Unzicker
Wolfgang Unzicker (26 June 1925 – 20 April 2006) was one of the strongest German chess Grandmasters from 1945 to about 1970.
He decided against making chess his profession, choosing law instead.
Unzicker was at times the world's strongest amat ...
. In May 1949, he took third place in
Bad Pyrmont
Bad Pyrmont (, also: ; West Low German: ) is a town in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river Emmer, about west of the Weser. Bad Pyrmont is a popular spa resort ...
(13th GER-ch). The event was won by
Efim Bogoljubow
Efim Bogoljubow ( or ), also known as Ewfim Dimitrijewitsch Bogoljubow, ( (); also Romanized ''Bogoljubov'', ''Bogolyubov''; uk, Юхим Дмитрович Боголюбов, Yukhym Dmytrovych Boholiubov; April 14, 1889 – June 18, 1952) ...
. In August 1949, he tied for first place in
Grossröhrsdorf. In October 1955, he was second behind
Klaus Darga
Klaus Viktor Darga (born 24 February 1934) is a German chess grandmaster.
Chess career
In 1951, Darga became German Junior Champion after winning the national under-20 championship. He also proved his strength as a young chess player by sharing ...
in Hoechst (third FRG-ch), having won a qualifying event in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
the same year. In October 1959, he took second place, behind Unzicker, in Nuremberg (5th FRG-ch).
International tournaments and matches
![Schmid lothar 20081122 olympiade dresden 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Schmid_lothar_20081122_olympiade_dresden_1.jpg)
In 1950, he drew a match with Wade in
Bamberg
Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...
, 4–4. In 1951, he won in
Travemünde
Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Bay of Lübeck, Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, an ...
. In 1951–52, he took third place in Hastings (
Svetozar Gligorić
Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић, 2 February 1923 – 14 August 2012) was a Serbian and Yugoslav chess grandmaster and musician. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is consider ...
won). In 1953, he tied for second place behind
Esteban Canal
Esteban Canal (April 19, 1896 – February 14, 1981) was a leading Peruvian chess player who had his best tournament results in the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Chiclayo, Peru, he later lived in Italy, and died in Varese.
As a chess player
Canal wa ...
in Venice. In 1954, he won in
Zürich
Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
and at
Bad Kissingen
Bad Kissingen is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and seat of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is one of the health resorts, which be ...
. In 1956, he won in
Gothenburg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
. In 1957, he held the fourth place in Dublin; a zonal qualifier tournament won by
Luděk Pachman
Luděk Pachman (German: Ludek Pachmann, May 11, 1924 – March 6, 2003) was a Czechoslovak-German chess grandmaster, chess writer, and political activist. In 1972, after being imprisoned and tortured almost to death by the Communist regime in ...
. In 1961, he tied for fourth place in Zürich. In 1963, he tied for second place in
Málaga
Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...
. In 1964, he won the
South African Open, held in "
The Wilderness". In 1968 in his home town of Bamberg,
he tied for second place with
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (, ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style, ...
who was the world champion at the time, behind
Paul Keres
Paul Keres (; 7 January 1916 – 5 June 1975) was an Estonian chess grandmaster and chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s, and narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five ...
, an outcome described by the ''Oxford Companion to Chess'' as "Schmid's greatest playing achievement".
In 1970, he won the
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a s ...
. In 1971, he finished equal second with two others in Adelaide. In 1979, he tied for third place in
Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
. In 1980, he won the fifth edition of the BBC's
The Master Game
''The Master Game'' is a BBC production of televised chess tournaments that ran for seven series on BBC2 from 1976 to 1983.
Presented by Jeremy James with expert analysis from Leonard Barden and, later, Bill Hartston, ''The Master Game'' was n ...
series, ahead of
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ( rus, Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, p=vʲiktər lʲvovʲɪtɕ kɐrtɕˈnoj; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He ...
and
Vlastimil Hort
Vlastimil Hort (born 12 January 1944) is a German chess Grandmaster. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the 1977–78 Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship, but never qualified f ...
.
Olympiads
Lothar Schmid played for West Germany at eleven
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 ...
s.
[Schmid, Lothar](_blank)
team chess record at olimpbase.org
* In 1950, at second board at the
9th Olympiad in
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...
(+7−1=4)
* In 1952, at second board at the
10th Olympiad in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
(+7−1=4)
* In 1954, at second board at the
11th Olympiad in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
(+6−4=3)
* In 1956, at second board at the
12th Olympiad in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
(+4−2=7)
* In 1958, at third board at the
13th Olympiad in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
(+6−3=4)
* In 1960, at second board at the
14th Olympiad in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
(+7−2=5)
* In 1962, at third board at the
15th Olympiad in
Varna
Varna may refer to:
Places Europe
*Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria
**Varna Province
**Varna Municipality
** Gulf of Varna
**Lake Varna
**Varna Necropolis
*Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy
*Varniai, a city in Lithuania
* Varna (Šaba ...
(+4−2=2)
* In 1964, at third board in at the
16th Olympiad Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
(+7−2=5)
* In 1968, at second board in at the
18th Olympiad Lugano
Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...
(+6−0=6)
* In 1970, at second board in at the
19th Olympiad Siegen
Siegen () is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly sho ...
(+7−1=4)
* In 1974, at first board in at the
21st Olympiad 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 ...
(+5−3=7)
Team competitions
He won four individual silver medals (1950, 1952, 1968, 1970) and two team bronze medals (1950, 1964).
Representing his national team, he also competed for the
Clare Benedict Cup The Clare Benedict Cup was a chess tournament for national teams from Western and Northern Europe, which took place 23 times from 1953 to 1979.
Overview and History Foundation
Clare Benedict (1871–1961), author and patron, was originally fro ...
on twelve occasions. He won nine gold, one silver, and two bronze medals in the period 1957–73.
Correspondence chess
In
correspondence chess
Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less common ...
, he won the first German Championship (1950–1952), the first
Eduard Dyckhoff Memorial (1954–1956), and came second with
Lucius Endzelins
Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from ''Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames (''praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from L ...
, behind
Viacheslav Ragozin
Viacheslav Vasilyevich Ragozin (russian: Вячесла́в Васи́льевич Раго́зин; 8 October 1908 – 11 March 1962) was a Soviet chess player, writer and editor. He was world champion in correspondence chess and held the title ...
, in the second World Correspondence Championship (1956–1959).
International titles
Schmid was awarded the
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 ...
title in 1951, and the
Grandmaster title in 1959.
Arbiter
Schmid was awarded 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 ...
title in 1975.
He was the chief arbiter for the
Fischer–Spassky 1972,
Karpov–Korchnoi 1978,
Kasparov–Karpov 1986 World Championship matches, and for the
Fischer–Spassky 1992 'Revenge Match'.
Schmid was featured in the 2014
Bobby Fischer
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11 ...
biopic ''
Pawn Sacrifice
''Pawn Sacrifice'' is a 2014 American biographical drama film about chess player Bobby Fischer. It follows Fischer's challenge against top Soviet chess grandmasters during the Cold War and culminating in the World Chess Championship 1972 match ...
'', which depicted the 1972 contest between Fischer and Spassky, played by the actor Brett Watson.
Collector
Among the many rare books he owned was one of only ten copies
that have survived of the first-ever printed chess manual ''Repetición d'Amores y Arte de Ajedrez'', published in
Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...
in 1497.
[The Telegraph, London, 20 May 2013]
Notable games
Schmid vs. Walter Sahlmann, Essen 1948, 12th GER-ch, Sicilian, Chameleon, B20, 1–0Efim Bogoljubow vs. Schmid, Bad Pyrmont 1949, 13th GER-ch, Scotch Game, Schmid Gambit, C47, 0–1 Desperado piece!
Schmid vs. Herman Steiner (USA), Dubrovnik 1950, 9th Olympiad, Sicilian, O'Kelly Variation, B28, 1–0Juan Carlos Gonzales Zamora (CUB) vs. Schmid, Helsinki 1952, 10th Olympiad, English Opening, King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian, A21, 0–1 Classical ending mastery.
Schmid vs. Paul Keres (URS), Tel Aviv 1964, 16th Olympiad, Ruy Lopez, Closed, C92, 1–0 After a long and exhausting battle White broke down Black's resistance.
Grantel Gibbs (HKG) vs. Schmid, Lugano 1968, 18th Olympiad, Alekhine's Defense, B02, 0–1 Shortest decisive game of the
Olympiad
An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games.
Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not until ...
.
Schmid vs. Bent Larsen, San Juan 1969, Sicilian, Richter–Rauzer Variation, B60, 1–0Schmid vs. Anton Kinzel (AUT), Siegen 1970, 19th Olympiad, Russian Game, Modern Attack, C43, 1–0Best game prize winner.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmid, Lothar
1928 births
2013 deaths
Chess grandmasters
Chess double grandmasters
Chess Olympiad competitors
German chess players
German bibliophiles
Chess arbiters
Book and manuscript collectors
Sportspeople from Dresden
Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany