Werner Speckmann
Werner Speckmann (born August 21, 1913 in Dortmund ; † February 23, 2001 in Hamm ) was a German chess composer and judge in civil matters.
Chess composition
Werner Speckmann learned to play chess at the age of 12 and came to art chess in 1929 through the Viennese magazine Das Rätsel and its editor Hans Schaffer. Speckmann's first chess problem (see below) appeared shortly before his 16th birthday. In 1959 he was appointed International Referee for Chess Composition and in 1967 International Master of Chess Composition (with 58.17 points most recently). Speckmann was also a member of the British Chess Problem Society .
Werner Speckmann was editor from 1953 to 1962 and from 1969 to his resignation in 1982 the first chairman, then honorary chairman of the Schwalbe ( German association for problem chess founded in 1924 ). Above all in the 1960s, Speckmann demanded solution tournaments from FIDE . On the initiative of Gerhard Wolfgang Jensch, he achieved the acceptance of the swallow in the German Chess Federation in 1972 . Represented by DSB President Egon Ditt , he awarded Speckmann the “Golden Badge of Honor” on his 80th birthday in 1993. In 1995 he was also awarded a “Golden Badge of Honor” by the Schwalbe .
From 1963 to 1988 Speckmann edited the compositional part of the Deutsche Schachzeitung and continued this there until 1991 after the paper was merged with the chess report . Speckmann always helped to spread the chess composition. So he answered incoming questions and supported new composers such as Bernd Schwarzkopf .
From 1961 to 1982 Speckmann wrote several essays on chess composition for the German chess newspaper. He also edited several books. He mainly wrote about the "New German School", which he also made popular in Russia. In addition, Speckmann translated books from the Russian language, including Genrich Gasparjan's Magic of the Endgame . In 1999 he published the first German internet chess composition book ( Speckmann, Selected Chess Tasks ). In the last years of his life, Speckmann revised his own earlier works.
Speckmann wrote several thousand chess compositions, including 1718 miniatures (i.e. pieces with a maximum of seven pieces). Above all, the lively publication activity in this context made him known beyond national borders. He invented some fairytale chess pieces, including the super builder.
Das Rätsel (Vienna), August 13, 1929
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Solution:
1. Qe4 – b4! (threatens 2. Db4-b5 matt )
1. ... 2. Lc5xb4 Tb7-a7 matt
1 ... La8xb7 second Db4-a5 matt
1 ... Lc5-b6 2. Db4xb6 matt
This piece was Werner Speckmann's first chess problem.
Personal and professional
Speckmann studied law between 1933 and 1936 at the universities in Bonn and Münster / Westphalia . In 1937 he received his doctorate under the dean's office of Max Kaser on the subject of "The discretion of administrative authorities and its control by the highest administrative courts". After completing his legal traineeship, he first worked as a court assessor from 1939 and in 1942 switched to the Reich Patent Office as an official . After the war and his release from Soviet captivity , he was appointed judge in civil matters in 1946 and - after an interim position at the German Patent Office in Munich (1951 to 1953) - was appointed higher regional judge at the higher regional court in Hamm in 1953 . Until his retirement in 1976 he dealt in particular with questions of family and inheritance law; in addition, he was a member of the judicial examination office at the Higher Regional Court of Hamm until 1968. Speckmann wrote two legal and legal-political treatises from 1952 to 1954 and another 32 from 1968 to 1974.
In 1947 Werner Speckmann married Irma Meyer zu Theenhausen (* January 7, 1921 , † September 5, 2016 in Oldenburg ).
Werner Speckmann fell ill with a mild form of Parkinson's disease in the last few years, but was mentally very active until the end. On the day of his death (February 23, 2001) he was still working on his computer for problem chess; During the subsequent breakfast with his wife Irma, he died of a second . In addition to his wife, he also leaves two children, Susanne (* 1949) and Lothar (* 1958). Lothar Speckmann is also a lawyer and has chaired a chamber of the Troop Service Court North as a judge since 2005 .
Works (selection)
- Werner Speckmann: Strategy in the chess problem . 1959
- Franz Palatz , Wilhelm Maßmann , Werner Speckmann, Karl Fabel : Cabaret in the Chess Problem, Volume 2 . Walter Rau Verlag, 1963
- Werner Speckmann: The logical chess problem . 1965
- Werner Speckmann: Chess miniatures with a black queen .
- Werner Speckmann: Looking back .
- Werner Speckmann: Selected chess problems . 1999
- See also book report (PDF file; 29 kB) - overview of the problem chess books published by Werner Speckmann with explanations by the author.
Web links
- http://www.problemschachbuch.de/ - Werner Speckmann's electronic chess books
- http://www.wernerspeckmann.de/ - "In memoriam", written by Lothar Speckmann
- http://www.irma-speckmann.de/ - Homepage of Irma Speckmann
- http://www.lothar-speckmann.de/ - Homepage of Lothar Speckmann
- Compositions by Werner Speckmann on the PDB server
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Speckmann, Werner |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German chess composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 21, 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Dortmund |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 23, 2001 |
| Place of death | Hamm |