Gábor Kállai (21 February 1959 – 31 December 2021) was a Hungarian

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 ...

Grandmaster.

Life and career

In team championships he has won several gold medals; in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

with ''MTK-VM'' and with ''Miskolci SSC'', in Switzerland with the team of

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, and in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

with the team of

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. He has written nine books, published in multiple languages. ''Basic Chess Openings'' is his most popular work, published in Hungarian,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, English and French. Since 2005 he has written a chess column in the Hungarian daily newspaper

Népszabadság ''Népszabadság'' (; ) was a major Hungarian newspaper which was formerly the official press organ of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party during the Hungarian People's Republic. Before its closure, ''Népszabadság'' was considered the '' d ...

and from 2006 has presented a TV-program on Hungarian SPORT1 TV (SAKKK!). In 2014, he was named chair of MTK's chess section. As a chess trainer, he worked between 1983–1986 as a second of GM

Zoltán Ribli Zoltán Ribli (born September 6, 1951 in Mohács) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster and International Arbiter (1995). He was twice a World Championship Candidate and three times Hungarian Champion. A career in chess As a youngster, he was tw ...

, between 1980–1994 as one of the

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

of Zsuzsa Polgár and in 2005, was appointed a FIDE Senior Trainer (the highest trainer licence of FIDE). From 2012 to 2013 he coached Kayden Troff and between 2012 and 2015 Jeffery Xiong. In 2015, he was appointed a master instructor at the Hungarian Physical Education University. From 2001 to 2005 he was the Professional Director of the Hungarian Chess Federation (HCF). He coached the Hungarian Men's Team for the 2002 Bled Chess Olympiad, guiding the team to the silver medal position. From 2005 to 2010 he was the Public Relations Director of the HCF. In 2006, he was a founding member of the Hungarian Association of Talent Support Organizations. From 2014, he was member of the board of directors at Bay Area Chess. Kállai died on 31 December 2021, at the age of 62.Meghalt Kállai Gábor nemzetközi sakknagymester

References

External links

* *
Gábor Kállai: Portrait of a Dedicated Chess Worker
1959 births 2021 deaths Chess Grandmasters Hungarian chess players Hungarian chess writers Chess coaches National team coaches Chess officials Chess players from Budapest {{Hungarian chess grandmasters