Enrico Paoli

Enrico Paoli, 2004
Association	Italy (before 2003) Switzerland (from 2003 at the latest)
Born	January 13, 1908 Trieste
Died	December 15, 2005 Reggio nell'Emilia
title	International Master (1951) Honorary Grand Master (1996)
Best Elo rating	2355 (July 1971)

Enrico Paoli (born January 13, 1908 in Trieste , † December 15, 2005 in Reggio nell'Emilia ) was an Italian chess player and chess composer .

Chess player and editor

Paoli learned to play chess from a customer in his mother's shop at the age of nine. He was Italian champion three times (1951, 1957, 1968) and initiated the Torneo di Capodanno chess tournament in Reggio nell'Emilia in 1958 , which has been held annually since then. He took part with the Italian team in the Chess Olympiads in 1954 , 1970 , 1972 and 1976 . Paoli wrote numerous chess books and from 1950 contributed to the chess magazine L'Italia Scacchistica . In 1974 he was a referee at the Chess Olympiad in Nice . In June 2004, he had to stop writing about chess because of an eye disease. He played club chess at AS Reggiana , with whom he took part in the 1994 European Club Cup .

Paoli was named international master in 1951 , missed the title of grandmaster by half a point in 1969, but was awarded the honorary grandmaster title by the World Chess Federation FIDE in 1996 .

Paoli took part in tournaments until 2004, although he was registered for the Swiss Chess Federation from 2003 at the latest. According to Bill Wall, Paoli was the oldest active chess player at the age of 97, but this record has since been overtaken by Francisco Benkö .

Chess composition

More than 150 studies by Enrico Paoli have been published in many countries.

Enrico Paoli
L'Italia Scacchistica, 1947

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

White moves and wins

Solution:

The black passed pawn initially keeps his balance.

1. Bxb7 d5 closes the diagonal but becomes a block .
2. Kc2 Kb5
3. c4 + Kxc4 The field of conversion should not be disclosed . 3.… Ka4 4. Kb2
4. Ba6 mate

Private

At the age of 18, Paoli received a license to become a ship captain and then spent seven years at sea for Lloyds of Trieste. He learned several languages ​​on his travels. He also earned a university degree in business management. After the Second World War , Paoli settled in Reggio nell'Emilia, where he worked as a teacher in a primary school .

Paoli was married for 70 years and had a daughter named Livia. In 2005, Paoli was admitted to hospital where he stayed for at least a month and died on the night of December 15, 2005.

Individual references and sources

• EG 163 (March 2006), p. 49.

1. ↑ Enrico Paolis results at the Chess Olympiads on olimpbase.org (English)
2. ↑ Enrico Paolis results at European Club Cups on olimpbase.org (English)
3. ↑ Enrico Paoli's Elo evaluation April 2004 at FIDE (English)
4. ↑ Elo evaluation of the Aostatal Open 2003 at FIDE (English)
5. ↑ Bill Wall: Oldest in Chess ( Memento from December 24, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
6. ↑ FIDE Rating card: Francisco Benkö

Web links

Commons : Enrico Paoli  - collection of images

• Compositions by Enrico Paoli on the PDB server