Čeněk Kottnauer (24 February 1910,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

– 14 February 1996,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) was a Czech British chess master, earning the title of

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 ...

. At the beginning of his career, he tied for 11-12th at Prague 1933 (''Kautsky Memorial'', Karel Opočenský won), and took 7th at Prague 1939 (pre-Olympic qual, Jiří Pelikán won). During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he took 6th at Prague 1942 (

Alexander Alekhine Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine. He disliked when Russians sometimes pronounced the of as , , which he regarded as a Yiddish distortion of his name, and insisted that the correct Russian pronunciation was . (March 24, 1946) was a Russian ...

and

Klaus Junge Klaus Junge (1 January 1924 – 17 April 1945) was a Chilean-German chess master who was among the world's leading players during World War II. An officer in the Wehrmacht, he died during the Battle of Hamburg (1945), Battle of Welle shortly bef ...

won), tied for 7-8th at Choceň 1942 ( Miroslav Katětov won), and won at Zlin 1943 (ahead of Jan Foltys). In May 1944, he along with other Czech players (

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 i ...

, Podgorny, Prucha, etc.) lost an 8-game training match against Fedor Bogatyrchuk (+0 –7 =1) in Prague. After the war, he took 13th at Groningen 1946 (

Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik (; ; – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who held five world titles in three different reigns. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer sci ...

won), took 13th at Moscow 1947 (''Chigorin Memorial'', Botvinnik won), shared 2nd at Vienna 1947 ( Schlechter Memorial, László Szabó won), took 3rd at Beverwijk 1947 ( Theo van Scheltinga won), took 4th at Bad Gastein 1948 (

Erik Lundin Erik Ruben Lundin (2 July 1904 – 5 December 1988) was a Swedish chess master. In 1928, he won in Oslo, took 5th in Helsingborg, tied for 2nd-3rd in Stockholm (''Quadrangular'', Richard Réti won). In 1929, he took 2nd in Gothenburg (Nordic Ch ...

won), tied for 8-9th at Beverwijk 1948 ( Lodewijk Prins won), took 9th at Venice 1949 (Szabó won), took 10th at Trenčianske Teplice 1949 (

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 No ...

won), tied for 3rd-6th at Vienna 1949 (''Schlechter Memorial'', Foltys and Stojan Puc won), tied for 9-10th at Szczawno Zdrój (Salzbrunn) 1950 (''Przepiórka Memorial'',

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 ...

won), took 17th at Amsterdam 1950 (

Miguel Najdorf Miguel Najdorf ( ; born Mojsze Mendel Najdorf; 15 April 1910 – 4 July 1997) was a Polish-Argentine chess grandmaster. Originally from Poland, he was in Argentina when World War II began in 1939, and he stayed and settled there. He was a leadin ...

won), and won at Lucerne 1953. In 1953, he emigrated to the United Kingdom. He tied for 5-7th at Hastings 1959/60 (

Svetozar Gligorić Svetozar Gligorić ( sr-Cyrl, 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 11 times, and is considered the best ...

won), and took 11th at Hastings 1968/69 (

Vasily Smyslov Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov (; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster who was the seventh World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidates Tournament, Candidate for the World Chess Championship on ...

won). Kottnauer thrice played in

Chess Olympiads 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 ...

. He represented Czechoslovakia on the fourth board at Helsinki 1952 (won an individual gold medal, +10 –0 =5), and England on the first board at Tel Aviv 1964 and on the second board at Lugano 1968. He was awarded the

title in 1950, and the

International Arbiter 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 capable of acting as arbiter ...

title in 1951.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kottnauer, Cenek 1910 births 1996 deaths Chess players from Prague Czech chess players British chess players Chess International Masters Chess arbiters Czechoslovak emigrants to the United Kingdom Chess Olympiad competitors 20th-century British chess players