Jiří Podgorný

Jiří Podgorny (* 9. December 1912 ; † 13. January 1987 in Prague ) was one of the strongest Czech correspondence chess players .

Correspondence chess

Podgorný began playing correspondence chess in the early 1930s . He signed up for tournaments organized by the Wiener Zeitung. From around 1940, however, he shifted his focus to playing on the board. In 1973 he took up correspondence chess again. Podgorný took part in national and international tournaments, for example the 2nd European team championship. In the semifinals of the 14th World Correspondence Chess Championship, he took first place (ahead of the eventual world champion Joop van Oosterom ) and thus qualified for the World Cup finals, which he did not see the start of.

For his successes he received the title of International Correspondence Chess Champion from the World Correspondence Chess Federation ICCF .

Tournament chess

On the board, Podgorný mostly played tournaments in the Czech Republic. He was at important international tournaments in Prague in 1942 and 1943 (then Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ), where he met Alexander Alekhine twice, but against whom he lost each time. Between 1944 and 1959 he took part in the ČSR championships nine times. Other important tournaments that he played were Karlsbad 1948 and Marienbad 1948.

Others

From 1955 to 1974 Podgorný worked as editor-in-chief at the chess magazine Československý Šach . In 1987 he died of a stroke.

Web links

• Literature and other media by and about Jiří Podgorný in the catalog of the National Library of the Czech Republic
• Jiří Podgorný at the International Correspondence Chess Federation ICCF (English)