Paul Felix Schmidt ( – 11 August 1984) was an Estonian and 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 dist ...

player, writer and chemist.

Biography

In June 1935, Schmidt won, ahead of

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 ...

, at

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

. In May 1936, he drew a match against Keres (+3 –3 =1) at

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet ...

. In 1936, he won the 8th Estonian Championship at Tallinn. In December 1936, he placed 2nd, behind Keres, at Tallinn. In July 1937, he won Estonia's first-ever international tournament at Pärnu, ahead of two world title contenders,

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 ...

and Keres, as well as

Gideon Ståhlberg Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg (26 January 1908 – 26 May 1967) was a Swedish chess player. He was among the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became N ...

. In 1937, he won at Tallinn (9th EST–ch). In August 1937, he played for Estonia (2nd board) at the 7th

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 an ...

in Stockholm (+4 –4 =8). In June 1938, he tied for 8th-10th at

Noordwijk Noordwijk () is a town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and had a population of in . On 1 January 2019, the former municipality of Noordwij ...

. The event was won by

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 August–September 1939, he played for Estonia (3rd board) at the 8th Chess Olympiad at Buenos Aires (+2 –5 =6). Estonia took 3rd place, behind Germany and Poland. Schmidt emigrated from Estonia to Germany in the autumn of 1939. In August 1940, he took 2nd, behind

Georg Kieninger Georg Kieninger (5 June 1902, in Munich – 25 January 1975, in Düsseldorf) was a German chess player and International Master (IM). A cigar smoker, Kieninger was nicknamed "Eiserner Schorsch" (roughly translated as "Iron Georgie") because of h ...

, at the 7th German Championship, held in

Bad Oeynhausen Bad Oeynhausen () is a spa town on the southern edge of the Wiehengebirge in the district of Minden-Lübbecke in the East-Westphalia-Lippe region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The closest larger towns are Bielefeld (39 kilometres southwest) ...

. In August 1941, he tied for 1st with Klaus Junge at Bad Oeynhausen (8th GER–ch). In 1941, he won a play-off match for the German championship against Junge (+3 –0 =1) at Bromberg. In October 1941, he tied for 1st with

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 ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

(the 2nd

General Government chess tournament General Government chess championships (''Schachmeisterschaft des Generalgouvernements'') were Nazi tournaments held during World War II in occupied central Poland. Hans Frank, the Governor-General of General Government, was the patron of those tour ...

). In June 1942, he tied for 3rd-4th with Junge, behind Alekhine and Keres, at

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

.Salzburg 1942
In June 1943, he took 3rd, behind Keres and Alekhine, at Salzburg. In August 1943, he took 2nd, behind

Josef Lokvenc Josef Lokvenc (1 May 1899, Vienna – 2 April 1974, Sankt Pölten) was an Austrian chess master. In 1925, he was awarded the Chess Master title in Braunau. In 1926, he took 3rd in Vienna. In 1936, he tied for 6-7th in Vienna (19th Trebitsch-Tu ...

, 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 ...

(10th GER–ch). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, in May 1946, he tied for 2nd-3rd with

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 ...

, behind Wilfried Lange, at

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. In May 1947, he took 2nd, behind

Efim Bogoljubov 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) ...

at Kassel. In 1949, he tied for 3rd-5th at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. 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 1949, he published the book ''Schachmeister denken'' (Dietmannsriel-Allgau 1949). In 1950, he was awarded the title of International Master by FIDE. In 1951, he earned a PhD in chemistry from

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...

, and moved to Canada, then to the United States, settling in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, where he took a job as a professor. After this, he and his wife Eva moved to Bell Telephone Laboratories,

Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: *Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California *Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County *Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Taze ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, where he made contributions to

electrochemistry Electrochemistry is the branch of physical chemistry concerned with the relationship between electrical potential difference, as a measurable and quantitative phenomenon, and identifiable chemical change, with the potential difference as an outco ...

and anodic oxidation of silicon, was expert in neutron activation analysis, and published many papers, till his retirement in 1982. He continued playing occasional games of chess, regularly visiting

Reuben Fine Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mi ...

in New York.

Notable chess games

Paul Felix Schmidt vs Paul Keres, Pärnu 1937, Queen's Gambit Declined, D06, 1-0

Paul Felix Schmidt vs Klaus Junge, Bad Oeynhausen 1941, 8th GER-ch, Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav, Meran Variation, D49, 1-0

Paul Felix Schmidt vs Teodor Regedzinski, Krakow/Warsaw 1941, Caro-Kann Defense, Two Knights Attack, B10, 1-0

Paul Felix Schmidt vs Gösta Stoltz, Salzburg 1942, Sicilian Defense, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation, B92, 1-0

Efim Bogoljubow vs Paul Felix Schmidt, Salzburg 1943, Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Slav, Meran Variation, D49, 0-1

References

External links

* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Paul Felix 1916 births 1984 deaths 20th-century German chemists 20th-century American chemists Chess International Masters Estonian chess players German chess players American chess players Chess Olympiad competitors German chess writers American chess writers Estonian chemists Baltic-German people Estonian emigrants to the United States Sportspeople from Narva German male non-fiction writers 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century chess players