Salo Landau
Samuel "Salo" Landau (born April 1, 1903 in Bochnia , Galicia , Austria-Hungary ; † March 1944 in the forced labor camp Gräditz ( Grodziszcze ), Powiat Świdnicki ) was a Dutch chess master of Galician descent.
Life
During the First World War , Samuel Landau and his family fled the Russian attacks to Vienna , from there the young Landau came to live with friends in Rotterdam . It was here that Landau learned to play chess and soon made a name for himself as a strong Dutch player: he finished second in the Dutch championship in 1929 and won the championship in 1936. At that time he was next to Max Euwe as the best player in the country. Landau represented the colors of the Netherlands at the Chess Olympiads in Hamburg in 1930 and in Stockholm in 1937 . He met the world's best players of his time in competitions. In 1927 he was defeated in Rotterdam by Richard Réti with 1-5, in 1930 in Amsterdam by Géza Maróczy with 0-3 and Akiba Rubinstein with 0.5-2.5. In 1939 he managed a draw against László Szabó (5-5) in Amsterdam. He published a large number of chess books in the Netherlands.
After the occupation of the Netherlands by National Socialist Germany, Landau tried to flee to Switzerland with his wife and daughter in September 1942, but was captured on the run and taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp . November 1943 Landau was transported from Westerbork . He was deported by the National Socialists to a forced labor camp for Jews in Gräditz in Silesia and murdered there in March 1944. Max Euwe, to whom Landau was able to smuggle a message during his imprisonment, stood up for his friend with world champion Alexander Alekhine . Whether the world champion had enough influence to help Landau is unknown, but it was rumored during the war that Alekhine, the z. B. published anti-Semitic articles, was not ready to help.
Landau's wife Susanna (June 6, 1912 - October 12 or 14, 1944) and daughter Henriette Renee (November 28, 1938 - October 12 or 14, 1944) were transported from Westerbork in September 1944 and murdered in Auschwitz in October.
Landau achieved his best historical Elo rating of 2575 in January 1939.
Game example
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In the following game, Landau defeated Efim Bogoljubow with the white pieces at the tournament in Zandvoort in 1936 .
- Landau – Bogolyubov 1-0
- Zandvoort, July 30, 1936
- Rejected Queen's Gambit ( Cambridge Springs variant ), D52
- 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Db3 Bb4 9. Rc1 e5 10. Bc4 S7b6 11. Bxd5 Nxd5 12. Nxe5 Be6 13. a3 Bxc3 + 14.bxc3 Nb6 15. Qd1 Qxa3 16. 0–0 f6 17. Qh5 + Kd8 18. Bh4 g5 19.Ng6 Rg8 20. Qxh7 gxh4 21. c4 Rxg6 22. Qxg6 Qe7 23. d5 Bf7 24. Qh6 Kc7 25. d6 + Qxd6 26.c5 De5 27.cxb6 + axb6 28.Rfd1 b5 29.Qh7 Qh5 30.Qd3 Ra4 31.Qd8 # 1: 0
Web links
- "Samuel Landau" memorial page (Joods Monument)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Auschwitz / L. Landsberger, A. de Haas and K. Selowsky. 's – Gravenhage, Nederlandsche Roode Kruis, 1947–1953
- ↑ Salo Landau's results at the Chess Olympiads on olimpbase.org (English)
- ↑ Hans Kmoch : Chess under the Nazi Jack-Boot. In: Chess , October 1945, p.9 (English)
- ↑ Card file Westerbork (NIOD Amsterdam)
- ↑ Chessmetrics Player Profile April 22, 2006 (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Landau, Salo |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Landau, Samuel |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch chess player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 1, 1903 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bochnia , Galicia |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 31, 1944 or October 12, 1944 |
| Place of death | Forced labor camp Gräditz (Grodziszcze), Powiat Świdnicki (Lower Silesia) |