Alexander Fritz

Alexander Fritz around 1890
Association	German Empire
Born	January 15, 1857 Kirchlotheim
Died	April 22, 1932 Alsfeld
Best Elo rating	2531 (December 1891; historic Elo rating )

Alexander Fritz (born January 15, 1857 in Kirchlotheim , Hesse , † April 22, 1932 in Alsfeld ) was a strong German chess player .

biography

Fritz was the son of a pastor . He studied law in Giessen , then worked as a lawyer in Gernsheim and Darmstadt , most recently as a Privy Councilor in Alsfeld.

Chess player

For professional reasons, Fritz rarely took part in chess tournaments. He played his first major tournament in Leipzig in 1877 , where he took part in the main tournament. In 1878 he shared fifth place in the championship tournament with Wilfried Paulsen in Frankfurt am Main . He competed in other tournaments in Wiesbaden in 1880 (13th place), in the same year in Braunschweig (9th place) and the German championships in Nuremberg in 1883 , in Frankfurt in 1887, in Breslau in 1889 , in Cologne in 1898 and in Düsseldorf in 1908 , where he was the strongest Player of his time met. For example, he won against Schallopp in 1883 and against Mieses in 1908 .

A variant in the double knight game is named after him: After the moves 1. e2 – e4 e7 – e5 2. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – c6 3. Bf1 – c4 Ng8 – f6 4. Nf3 – g5 d7 – d5 5. e4xd5 becomes now with 5.… Nc6 – d4 the Fritz variant introduced.

He often played blind simulta-neously in the framework of tournaments , usually against ten opponents, and occasionally entertained the guests with singing at parties .

organizer

Together with his friend, the Erfurt city ​​councilor Fritz Riemann , he supported German chess. For this, Walter Robinow appointed him honorary member of the German Chess Federation at the Federal Assembly in Magdeburg in 1927 .