Elmar's Zemgalis

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Elmars Zemgalis , originally Elmārs Zemgalis (born September 9, 1923 in Riga , Latvia ; † December 8, 2014 ) was a Latvian-American chess player and mathematician . He experienced the high point of his chess career in Germany in the early post-war period , where he lived as a refugee for several years .

biography

Zemgalis grew up in Riga. His youth was overshadowed by the Second World War . When the Red Army occupied Latvia for the second time in 1944 - this was preceded by the Soviet annexation of the country in 1940 and the long-term occupation by German troops - Zemgalis fled to the West. He was one of the numerous Eastern European refugees who were temporarily admitted to the territory of the later Federal Republic with the status of Displaced Person .

Zemgalis was based in Stuttgart for several years . Most of the “DPs” could not or did not want to return to their homeland. As a rule, they were later given the opportunity to emigrate to another country. Zemgalis finally emigrated to the USA with his wife in 1951 and settled in Seattle the next year .

In addition to earning a living, he completed an evening study of mathematics. Zemgalis was successful in his subject and later became a math teacher at Highline Community College in Des Moines (also in Washington State ). He also wrote several mathematical textbooks.

Chess career

Latvia had a great chess tradition early on. As a young player, Zemgalis had the opportunity to play quick games with the Latvian world-class player Vladimir Petrovs . Petrovs, who had tied with Salo Flohr and Samuel Reshevsky at the tournament in Kemeri in 1937 (ahead of Alekhine and Keres ), died six years later in a Soviet prison camp . During the troubled war years, Zemgalis won the Latvian trade union championships in 1942 and 1943 (shared first with A. Krumins). The youngster also won the Jelgava City Championship .

Zemgalis experienced his best years as a chess player during his time as a refugee in Germany. He participated in a large number of significant post-war tournaments. At the tournament in Augsburg in 1946 he finished second behind Wolfgang Unzicker . In the same year he was again second (behind Fedir Bohatyrtschuk ) at the Klaus Junge memorial tournament in Regensburg. At the Hermann Mattison memorial tournament in Hanau in 1947, he had to give way to his compatriot Lūcijs Endzelīns , who later emigrated to Australia ; the 3rd / 4th Efim Bogoljubow and Baldur Hönlinger shared their place .

In 1948 and 1949, Zemgalis was also twice master of Württemberg. He achieved his greatest success in 1949 at the well-staffed tournament in Oldenburg, which he won together with Bogolyubov (with twelve points each from 17 games). Other participants included Herbert Heinicke , Nicolas Rossolimo , Ortvin Sarapu (a refugee from Estonia ), Georg Kieninger and Wolfgang Unzicker. One expression of the recognition he experienced as a player was the "Zemgalis farewell tournament " in Stuttgart in 1951, which Zemgalis won (with 7.5 out of 8) ahead of Emil Joseph Diemer .

In the USA, Zemgalis, who was now more closely involved in his work and family, was no longer able to fully build on his successes. He was undoubtedly the strongest master in the Pacific Northwest for a long time . In 1952, he got the upper hand 3-1 in a short match against Olav Ulvestad in Seattle . In 1953 and 1959, he won the Washington State Championship. From the mid-1960s, Zemgalis gradually began to withdraw from active chess.

The biography of John Donaldson, published in 2001 (also on DVD ), has revived the memory of the former top player. In 2003 the World Chess Federation FIDE awarded Zemgalis the title of Honorary Grand Master .

The best historical rating for Zemgalis was calculated as 2609 for January 1950, based on the result of the Oldenburg tournament.

literature

  • John Donaldson: Elmars Zemgalis. Grandmaster Without the Title. Pomeranian Publishing, Berkeley CA 2001.
  • John Donaldson: Two Masters from Seattle. = Two Masters from Seattle. ChessBase , Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-935602-82-0 . (ChessBase monograph) , (contains the biographies of Zemgalis and Olaf Ulvestad).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Elmars Zemgalis 9.9.1923-8.12.2014 . Article by John Donaldson dated December 11, 2014
  2. ^ Mechanics Institute Chess Room Newsletter # 165
  3. ↑ Entry for Zemgalis at Chessmetrics
personal data
SURNAME Zemgalis, Elmars
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zemgalis, Elmārs
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Latvian-American chess player and mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Riga , Latvia
DATE OF DEATH December 8, 2014