Rudolf Elstner

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Rudolf Elstner (born October 13, 1893 in Bohemia ; † August 12, 1966 in Berlin ) was a German chess player and writer. His greatest success was winning the first GDR chess championship in Sömmerda in 1950 before Wolfgang Pietzsch .

Chess career

Rudolf Elstner was one of the strongest chess masters in Berlin between 1920 and 1960. However, he never managed to win the Berlin championship . A 3rd place behind Kurt Richter and Ludwig Rellstab in 1936 was his greatest success, whereby he was the only one to defeat the winner Richter.

On July 19 and 20, 1930, he played two show games with living figures in Berlin's Lunapark against José Raúl Capablanca , who was staying in Berlin for three days. Both games were canceled in the middle game in a critical position.

Elstner was originally a Gürtler by profession , but made chess his life. Before the Second World War , he was head of the chess room at Moka Efti for years . Even after the war he remained loyal to this task and ran the chess café on Yorckstrasse. 80 in Berlin. The café was open every day except Wednesday.

The years immediately after the Second World War were Elstner's most successful times, while he had already won the KdF Gaume Championship in 1940 . In 1947 he was fourth in the Berlin championship, followed by third place in the championship of the Soviet zone of occupation in the same year . In 1950 he had the big hit: In Sömmerda he won the first GDR championship.

Elstner often changed his place of residence in Berlin and played for various clubs. In 1947 he became Berlin Blitzmeister with the Friedenau chess group ( Friedenauer Schachgesellschaft ). Until the early 1960s he played for the chess group of the BSG Einheit Pankow in east Berlin. At the same time, he had been a member of the Kreuzberg Chess Club in West Berlin since 1950 , where he also lived. The German Chess Federation of the GDR warned him several times about crossing the border. On May 22, 1959, the DSV Presidium decided to ban Elstner from April 1, 1959 to March 31, 1960. He remained loyal to the Kreuzberg club until his death, where he also received honorary membership.

Books

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kurt Richter: "Altmeister Elstner died", Deutsche Schachzeitung , September 1966, pp. 283–284
  2. ↑ 1st GDR Championship, Sömmerda 1950 table and all 136 games on 365Chess (English)
  3. ↑ Kurt Richter: old master Elstner died. In: Deutsche Schachzeitung , September 1966, pp. 283–284.
  4. ↑ Tables of tournaments held in 1950 ( Memento from July 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  5. ↑ SCHACH 1959 , p. 190, office meeting of the Presidium of the German Chess Association .
personal data
SURNAME Elstner, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German chess player and chess writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 13, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Bohemia
DATE OF DEATH August 12, 1966
Place of death Berlin