Horst Rittner

Horst Rittner, 2008

Horst Robert Rittner (born July 16, 1930 in Breslau ) is the 6th correspondence chess world champion . Along with Fritz Baumbach, he is the most successful German correspondence chess player.

The functionary

Although he was a banker by profession, the strong chess player, who is based in Berlin , became the full-time general secretary of the German Chess Association of the GDR in 1954 . In the early 1960s he was a trainer at TSC Berlin, then from 1965 to 1991 editor of the magazine Schach . For many years he edited the chess column in the Wochenpost , in which commented games and chess compositions alternated. From 1961 to 1991 he was Vice President of the ICCF and Chairman of the Qualification Commission. In 1979 he was offered honorary membership in the ICCF for his services. In May 2002 the German Chess Federation expressed its gratitude and recognition in the form of an honorary certificate.

Correspondence chess

At the beginning of the 1950s he became acquainted with correspondence chess and made remarkable progress in it. In 1956 he won the All-German Correspondence Chess Championship, and in 1961 the ICCF awarded him the Grand Master's title for correspondence chess players. In total, it met the GM standard ten times (until 2000). In 1966 he won the very strong Ragosin memorial tournament .

Rittner won the 6th World Correspondence Chess Championship, played from July 1968 to September 1971, in front of ex-world champion Vladimir Sagorowski . Its success found a certain media coverage in the GDR. He was awarded the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Medal by the DTSB association for the title .

Rittner did not succeed in defending or regaining his title, although he still took part in numerous other world championship tournaments.

Tournament chess

Rittner also achieved an acceptable level of play on the board. He took part in the GDR championship three times in the 1950s. With the club AdW Berlin he played in the top league. Before that, he worked for the SC Einheit Dresden , among others . He won the GDR team championship from 1959 to 1963 and again from 1965 to 1967.

Private

Horst Rittner is married and has two sons. His hobby is traveling.

literature

• Fritz Baumbach : Correspondence Chess. 52-54 stop. Tips and tricks from the world champion. Sportverlag, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-328-00398-3
• Volker Kluge :  Rittner, Horst . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Web links

• Replayable chess games by Horst Rittner on chessgames.com (English)
• Horst Rittner at the World Correspondence Chess Federation ICCF (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Honorary certificates of the German Chess Federation on the occasion of the 125th anniversary
2. ↑ Schach 11/1971, p. 323