František Zíta (29 November 1909 – 1 October 1977) was a Czech

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

master who was born and died in

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 ...

. Zíta played for Czechoslovakia in

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 FIDE Onli ...

s: * In 1937, at first reserve board in

7th Chess Olympiad The 7th Chess Olympiad (), organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and (unofficial) women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between July 31 and August 14, 1937, in Stockholm Stock ...

in Stockholm (+4 –4 =3); * In 1939, at first reserve board in

8th Chess Olympiad The 8th Chess Olympiad (), organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE), comprised an open tournament, as well as a Women's World Championship contest. The main team event took place between August 21 and September 19, 1939, in ...

in Buenos Aires (+10 –2 =4); * In 1952, at first reserve board in

10th Chess Olympiad The 10th Chess Olympiad (; ), 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 players. team tournament, as w ...

in Helsinki (+1 –0 =2); * In 1954, at third board in

11th Chess Olympiad The 11th Chess Olympiad (), organized by the FIDE and comprising an openAlthough commonly referred to as the ''men's division'', this section is open to both male and female players. team tournament, as well as several other events designed to pro ...

in Amsterdam (+1 –1 =8). He won the individual silver medal at Buenos Aires 1939. During World War II, he tied for 4th= in Bohemia and Moravia Championship at Rakovnik 1940 (

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

won), shared 4th at Chocen 1942 (

Miroslav Katětov Miroslav Katětov (; March 17, 1918, Chembar, Russia – December 15, 1995) was a Czech mathematician, chess master, and psychologist. His research interests in mathematics included topology and functional analysis. He was an author of the Katě ...

won), tied for 4th= at Prague 1942 (Duras Jubileé,

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), won at Prague 1943 (B&M-ch), tied for 4th= at Zlín 1943 (

Čeněk Kottnauer Čeněk Kottnauer (24 February 1910, Prague – 14 February 1996, London) was a Czech British chess master, earning the title of International Master. At the beginning of his career, he tied for 11-12th at Prague 1933 (''Kautsky Memorial'', Ka ...

won). After the war, he shared 11th at Prague 1946 (Treybal Memorial,

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), shared 1st in

Czechoslovak Chess Championship The Czechoslovak National Chess Championship was a chess competition to determine the best Czechoslovak chess player. History The first Czechoslovak championships were held in Prague in 1919. After a break caused by World War II, the championsh ...

at Bratislava 1948 but lost a play-off match for the title to Emil Richter, took 17th at Karlovy Vary 1948 (Foltys won), took 16th at Szczawno Zdrój 1950 (

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 3rd at Prague 1953 (CSR-ch,

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 ...

won), shared 13th at Mariánské Lázně / Prague 1956 (

Miroslav Filip Miroslav Filip (27 October 1928 – 27 April 2009) was a Czech chess grandmaster. Filip was awarded the title of International Master in 1953, and the Grandmaster title in 1955. Filip represented Czechoslovakia in 12 consecutive Chess Olympiad ...

won), took 10th at Sofia 1957 (zonal, Filip won). Zita played in the 1957 European Team Championship where the Czech team won the bronze medal. Zíta 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 ...

(IM) title in 1950.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zita, Frantisek 1909 births 1977 deaths Chess players from Prague Czech chess players Chess International Masters Chess Olympiad competitors 20th-century chess players