Thomas Luther
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| Thomas Luther, Bundesliga Berlin, 2006 |
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| Surname | Thomas Luther |
| Association |
 Germany
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| Born | November 4th 1969 Erfurt |
| title |
International Master (1988) Grand Master (1994) |
| Current Elo rating | 2528 (August 2020) |
| Best Elo rating | 2604 (July-December 2001) |
| Tab at the FIDE (English) | |
Thomas Luther (born November 4, 1969 in Erfurt ) is a German grandmaster in chess .
Childhood and youth
Luther learned to play chess at the age of 4. As a child he was already occupied with classical chess literature and taught himself so many things. In 1978 he became a member of the HSG Medizin Erfurt . In 1980, 1981 and 1984 he won the GDR championship in his age group. He was also 1986 GDR champion in correspondence chess at the 12th GDR youth championship. From 1985 Luther played with Mikroelektronik Erfurt in the upper league of the GDR.
Chess career
In 1988 the World Chess Federation FIDE awarded him the title of International Master . After further successes, u. a. Vice-champion of the GDR in Zittau 1989, 2nd place in Altensteig 1991, victories in Andorra in 1992, Lenk and Hamburg in 1993 and after winning the German championship in 1993 (after a 2-0 victory in the play-off against Thomas Pähtz ) he became grandmaster in 1994 .
World and national championships
In 1997 he took part in the World Cup in Groningen. In this knockout tournament he won with 3.5-2.5 in the first round against Portisch , but was eliminated in the second round with 0.5-1.5 against Akopian . In 2001 he reached the World Cup in Moscow after a 3-1 win in the 1st round against Sergei Volkov again round 2. Since he was eliminated after a 0.5-1.5 defeat against Ilia Smirin . In 2002 he won the German championship for the second time in Saarbrücken, ahead of Alexander Graf and Florian Handke . He won his third German championship title in 2006 in Osterburg, after scoring before Vitaly Kunin and Artur Jussupow tied on points .
National team of the FRG
Thomas Luther represented the German Chess Federation as a member of the German national team in numerous international team competitions. In 1998 (in Elista , 6th place), 2000 (in Istanbul , 2nd place), 2002 (in Bled , 14th place) and 2006 (in Turin , 15th place) he took part in the Chess Olympiad . He was also part of the German team at the 2001 World Team Championship and the 2003 European Team Championship.
IPCA
At the Chess Olympiad 2010 he played on the top board for the International Physically Disabled Chess Association and scored 6.5 points from 10 games.
Tournament successes
Thomas Luther won numerous international tournaments, e.g. B. Lippstadt (1994), Hastings (1994/95), Bissen / Luxemburg (1995), Apolda (1994 and 1999), Turin (1996), St.Ingbert (1996), Asti (1997), Cienfuegos / Cuba (1997 ), Bad Zwesten (1998), Nova Gorica / Slovenia (2000), Böblingen (2005), Oberwart (2005), Bad Homburg (2008), Nuremberg (2009). In October 2011 he won the first World Chess Games for Disabled in Dresden with 7 points from 7 games.
He shared 1st place (ie tied, but poorer evaluation) at the following tournaments: Aachen (1990), Lippstadt (1996), Koszalin / Poland (1996), Erfurt (1997), Cali / Columbia (2000), Böblingen (2000), Bad Zwesten (2004), Arco (2004), Schwarzach (2005), Augsburg (2009).
societies
From 1990 Luther played in the German Federal Chess League , initially until 1993 for VfL Sindelfingen , from 1993 to 1997 with SV Empor Berlin , with whom he also took part twice in the European Club Cup , in the 1998/99 season for Schachfreunde Neukölln , from 2001 to 2003 for the Erfurter SK and from 2006 to 2009 for the SC Kreuzberg . Currently (2014/15 season) he plays for SV Empor Erfurt in the Oberliga Ost. In the Austrian State League A (since 2003 1st Bundesliga) he played for Merkur Graz from 1998 to 2002 , with whom he won the State Championship in 1999 , 2000 , 2001 and 2002 and took part in the European Club Cup three times. In the 2002/03 season he played for the Merkur Graz / Frohnleiten syndicate . From 2004 he played for the game community SK Innsbruck / Absam (including in the 2006/07 season in the 1st Bundesliga), from 2007 to 2010 for Styria Graz . Since 2012 he has been playing in the 1st Bundesliga with SK Absam . From 2001 he also played in the French league for TPG Besançon , with whom he was represented in the Nationale I, the top division at the time, in the 2002/03 season . In the Romanian league he plays for CS Contor Group Arad, with whom he was runner-up in 2005.
Lot
Thomas Luther cultivates a tactically oriented style that makes him a formidable opponent even for the strongest players. The following game, in which he attacks Robert Hübner directly from the opening, is typical for this. It was played in the semifinals of the German championship in 2002 and it was decisive for his later title win. The comments are based on personal communications from Thomas Luther himself.
- Robert Huebner (2640) - Thomas Luther (2538)
- (74th German Individual Championship, Saarbrücken, 2002, round 8)
- 1. c2-c4 c7-c6 2. e2-e4 d7-d5 3. e4xd5 Ng8-f6
Black offers a pawn offering . With the Gambit-style opening ( Scandinavian Gambit ), the game quickly becomes sharp.
- 4. Qd1-a4
Even after 4. d5xc6 Nb8xc6 there is a Gambit variant with good play for Black.
- 4.… e7 – e6
Either way, Black definitely wants to sacrifice a pawn.
- 5. d5xe6 Bf8-c5 6. Ng1-f3
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Position after White's 6th move
White did not want to risk accepting the second pawn sacrifice. After 6. e6xf7 + Ke8xf7 the rook h8 intervenes.
- 6.… Nf6 – g4
Black continues to rely on an aggressive approach.
- 7. d2-d4 Bc5xd4 8. Nf3xd4 Qd8xd4 9. Qa4-c2 Nb8-a6
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Position after Black's 9th move
The second black knight joins the attack. Black's opening strategy was a success.
- 10. Nb1 – a3 Bc8xe6 11. h2 – h3 Sa6 – b4 12. Qc2 – d2 Qd4 – e4 + 13. Bf1 – e2 De4xg2 14. Rh1 – f1 Ng4 – h2 (!)
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Position after Black's 14th move
Black introduces a combination with material gain. The inconspicuous knight h2 will almost single-handedly lay the white position in ruins.
- 15. Qd2xb4 0-0-0 16. Sa3-b5
A nice attempt to bother the black king with a knight sacrifice, but Black has a counter-attack that is worth seeing:
- 16.… c6xb5 17. Bc1 – f4
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Position after White's 17th move
Now Qc5 + threatens, which would force Qc6 with a loss of the knight, since otherwise Black will be checkmated .
- 17.… Qg2xf1 + !!
This queen sacrifice prepares the jumpers for an effective use. Black wins decisive material.
- 18. Be2xf1 Sh2-f3 + 19. Ke1-e2 Nf3-d4 + 20. Ke2-d2
Fits into the deduction check, but other king moves were even worse: Ke2 – e1 / e3 follows Nd4 – c2 + with a queen win.
- 20.… Nd4 – c6 + 21. Qb4 – d6 Rd8xd6 + 22. Bf4xd6 Be6xc4
The reward of the black combination game: the smoke has cleared and Black has 2 more pawns.
- 23. Kd2 – c3 Rh8 – d8 24. Bd6 – f4 Bc4xf1 25. Ra1xf1 b5 – b4 + 26. Kc3 – c2 Rd8 – d5 27. Bf4 – e3 Kc8 – d7 28. Rf1 – g1 g7 – g6 29. Rg1 – g4 a7 –A5 30. Rg4 – h4 h7 – h5 31. Rh4 – f4 f7 – f5 32. h3 – h4 b7 – b5 33. Rf4 – f3 Nc6 – d4 + 34. Be3xd4 Rd5xd4 35. Rf3 – d3 Rd4xd3 36. Kc2 – d3 g6 -G5
This pawn breakthrough decides the game. The rest for completeness:
- 37. h4xg5 h5 – h4 38. Kd3 – e2 f5 – f4 39. f2 – f3 Kd6 – e6 40. Ke2 – f2 Ke6 – f5 41. Kf2 – g2 Kf5xg5 42. Kg2 – h3 Kg5 – h5 43. Kh3 – g2 Kh5 –G6 44. Kg2 – h2 Kg6 – f6 45. Kh2 – h3 Kf6 – e5 46. Kh3xh4 Ke5 – d4
- White gave up!
Personal
Luther, who has a congenital handicap ( dysmelia ) in his arms, was assessed as a child by some people in charge in the GDR that he had no prospects for sport. He reports that he has gained a lot of energy from the experience of being as good as others.
Thomas Luther is an author at ChessBase . He has published various educational DVDs. In particular, he is considered one of the leading experts in the field of French defense , on which he wrote several works.
2009 he completed his studies at the University of Hagen with the title of Diplom Kaufmann's from.
Since the FIDE Congress in 2010, Thomas Luther has been the FIDE representative for disabled chess.
literature
- Thomas Luther: From pupil to grandmaster . Quality Chess, Glasgow 2016. ISBN 978-1-78483-016-8 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Thomas Luther's results at the Chess Olympiads on olimpbase.org (English)
- ↑ Thomas Luther's results at team world championships on olimpbase.org (English)
- ↑ Thomas Luther's results at the European Team Championships on olimpbase.org (English)
- ↑ wcgd.org , October 30, 2011
- ↑ a b Thomas Luther's results at European Club Cups on olimpbase.org (English)
- ↑ Dirk Poldauf: “For me there is no limit”, interview with Thomas Luther, Schach 2003/1, p. 31.
Web links
- Homepage of Thomas Luther ( Memento from September 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- Thomas Luther at the World Chess Federation FIDE (English)
- Literature by and about Thomas Luther in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Luther, Thomas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German chess player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 4th November 1969 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Erfurt |