Tunç Hamarat (born December 1, 1946) is a Turkish

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 ...

player living in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and the sixteenth ICCF

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

, 1999–2004. Born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Hamarat attended the

n St. Georgs-Kolleg high school in Istanbul, and then graduated in

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

from the

Middle East Technical University Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi'', ODTÜ) is a prestigious public university, public Institute of technology, technical university located in Ankara, ...

(ODTÜ) in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

. In 1972, he moved to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria for his

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Physics Engineering at the

Vienna University of Technology TU Wien () is a public research university in Vienna, Austria. The university's teaching and research are focused on engineering, computer science, and natural sciences. It currently has about 28,100 students (29% women), eight faculties, and ...

there. In 1976, he went temporarily back to

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, Turkey for military service. Since 1972 he has been living in Austria and has been an Austrian citizen since 1994. Recently, he is working for a

telecommunication Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

company in Vienna. During the sixteenth ICCF World Championship, he had amassed an unassailable 11 points out of 15 games with one game remaining. Hamarat was deadly on the black side of the Sicilian Sveshnikov, beating former CC World Champion Horst Rittner of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

International Master

Spyros Kofidis Spiro(s) may refer to: * Spiro, Oklahoma, a town in the U.S. ** Spiro Mounds, an archaeological site * Spiro (band), a British music group * Spiro (name), including a list of people with the name * Špiro, South Slavic masculine given name * ARA ...

with it. At one time, Hamarat was supposed not to have lost a single game as White in over 40 years. However, this retroactively ceased to be the case, as correspondence chess games date from their year of initiation, and Hamarat eventually lost games playing with the white pieces against Edgar Prang (started in 2001) and Hans Marcus Elwert (started in 2002), though he apparently resigned these only after he became World Champion in January 2004. In 'over-the-board' chess, he played in the finals of the Turkish championships three times. In Vienna, he played in the top league. But since 1963 his main interest has been correspondence chess, "because I am a perfectionist", he says. In 1997, he earned the title of International Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess. Hamarat also plays

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back at least 1,600 years. The earliest record of backgammo ...

professionally. He is one of the top players in Austria. He won several titles in international backgammon tournaments. Besides, he is also an expert in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

music, and acts as a jazz DJ in Vienna. The Austrian mail authority issued a personified postage stamp with his picture in his honor. The ''Wiener Zeitung'', an important newspaper, named him as the 'Viennese of the month'.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamarat, Tunc 1946 births Living people World Correspondence Chess Champions Correspondence chess grandmasters Austrian people of Turkish descent Turkish chess players Austrian chess players Turkish backgammon players Middle East Technical University alumni TU Wien alumni Chess players from Istanbul St. George's Austrian High School alumni Turkish emigrants to Austria