Wolfgang Unzicker, 1925–2006
Anatoly
Karpov called Wolfgang Unzicker the “world champion of amateurs”.
He was born in Pirmasens, Germany, on June 26, 1925, and started to play chess
at the age of ten.
Unzicker's career as an international tournament player began after the Second
World War. He won the German championship seven times, from 1948 to 1965, and
played in thirteen Chess Olympiads, from 1950 to 1978 (on board one in ten of
them). In 1954 he was awarded the grandmaster title. He represented his country
on the national team nearly 400 times.
Wolfgang Unzicker died of heart failure on April 20, 2006, during a holiday
in Albufeira, Portugal. He is survived by his wife Freia, three sons and three
grandchildren. Until his death he sill played first board on the club team
"Tarrasch Munich".
Career highlights
Unzicker's tournament victories include first place tie (+6 =9) with Boris
Spassky at the Chigorin Memorial in Sochi 1965, first at Maribor 1967 ahead
of Samuel Reshevsky, first at Krems, and first at Amsterdam 1980, tied with
Hans Ree.
Wolfgang Unzicker vs Dr Max Euwe at the 1950 Chess Olympiade in Dubrovnik.
The kibitzers are Lothar Schmid and Vincenzo Castaldi
In 1950, Unzicker shared the prize for best top-board score (+9 =4 -1) with
Miguel Najdorf for his performance on first board for the West German team
at the Dubrovnik Chess Olympiad.
Playing against Spassky at the Piatigorsky Cup, Santa Monica 1966
At the Tel Aviv 1964 Chess Olympiad Unzicker scored 13.5 points playing first
board for the West German team that won the bronze medal on the strength of
a 3:1 team victory over the Soviet Union. Unzicker also shared fourth place
(+2 =14 -1) with Lajos Portisch in the 1966 Piatigorsky Cup in Santa Monica,
California. Only Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer, and Bent Larsen finished ahead
of Unzicker. Unzicker placed ahead of world champion Tigran Petrosian, Samuel
Reshevsky, Miguel Najdorf, Borislav Ivkov, and Hein Donner. At Hastings 1969-1970,
Unzicker finished second (+4 =5) after Lajos Portisch and before Svetozar Gligoric
and world champion Vasily Smyslov. Unzicker finished second (+3 =7 -2) to Viktor
Korchnoi at South Africa 1979.
| Klaus Junge Memorial 1946 |
|
6/9 |
+3 |
Rank 3 |
| Essen 1947 |
|
7.5/11 |
+4 |
Rank 2 |
| Augsburg 1st 1946 |
|
14/16 |
+12 |
Rank 1 |
| Bad Nauheim 1948 |
|
9/12 |
+6 |
Rank 1 |
| GER-ch 12th 1948 |
|
13.5/15 |
+12 |
Rank 1 |
| Velbert m 4849 1948 |
|
4/6 |
+2 |
Match winner |
| Heidelberg 1949 |
|
7/9 |
+5 |
Rank 1 |
| Travemuende 1950 |
|
8/11 |
+5 |
Rank 1 |
| FRG-ch 01st 1950 |
|
12.5/17 |
+8 |
Rank 1 |
| Dubrovnik ol (Men) 1950 |
|
11/14 |
+8 |
|
| Hastings 5051 1950 |
|
7/9 |
+5 |
Rank 1 |
| Bad Pyrmont zt 1951 |
|
10/14 |
+6 |
Rank 2 |
| Opatija 1953 |
|
10/17 |
+3 |
Rank 4 |
| FRG-ch 02nd 1953 |
|
12/15 |
+9 |
Rank 1 |
| GER-ch 15th playoff 1954 |
|
3.5/4 |
+3 |
Match winner |
| Munich zt 1954 |
|
15/19 |
+11 |
Rank 1 |
| Madrid 1957 |
|
7.5/11 |
+4 |
Rank 3 |
| FRG-ch 04th 1957 |
|
10/15 |
+5 |
Rank 2 |
| FRG-ch 05th 1959 |
|
11.5/15 |
+8 |
Rank 1 |
| Baltic Nations 1960 |
|
8/11 |
+5 |
Rank 2 |
| FRG-ch 06th 1961 |
|
9.5/15 |
+4 |
Rank 2 |
| FRG-ch 07th 1963 |
|
11.5/15 |
+8 |
Rank 2 |
| FRG-ch m 1964 |
|
2.5/4 |
+1 |
Match winner |
| Chigorin mem Socci 1965 |
|
10.5/15 |
+6 |
Rank 1 |
| FRG-ch 08th 1965 |
|
11/15 |
+7 |
Rank 1 |
| FRG-ch 08th playoff 1966 |
|
2/4 |
+0 |
Draw |
| Piatigorsky-Cup 2nd 1966 |
|
9.5/18 |
+1 |
Rank 4 |
| Maribor 1967 |
|
10/15 |
+5 |
Rank 1 |
| Vidmar mem 1969 |
|
9.5/15 |
+4 |
Rank 3 |
| Hastings 6970 1969 |
|
6.5/9 |
+4 |
Rank 2 |
| Bari 1970 |
|
8.5/14 |
+3 |
Rank 4 |
| Lugano 1970 |
|
7.5/14 |
+1 |
Rank 3 |
| Biel 1979 |
VIII |
7/13 |
+1 |
Rank 3 |
| Bad Kissingen 1980 |
XV |
1.5/6 |
-3 |
|
| FRG-HUN 1980 |
XV |
0.5/2 |
-1 |
|
| IBM-B 1980 |
IX |
7.5/11 |
+4 |
Rank 2 |
| Beersheba 1984 |
IX |
8/13 |
+3 |
Rank 3 |
| Almada 1988 |
VII |
8.5/11 |
+6 |
Rank 1 |
| Daugavpils 1990 |
VIII |
6/9 |
+3 |
Rank 3 |
| Bad Wildbad 1990 |
VIII |
6.5/11 |
+2 |
Rank 4 |
| Donner mem-B 1994 |
VIII |
5.5/9 |
+2 |
Rank 1 |
| Zuerich Kortschnoj-A 2001 |
XIV |
2/5 |
-1 |
Rank 4 |
Opponents
| Jan Hein Donner |
19.5/31 |
+8 |
31 Games |
| Svetozar Gligoric |
15.5/31 |
+0 |
31 Games |
| Arturo Pomar Salamanca |
12.5/20 |
+5 |
20 Games |
| Helmut Pfleger |
9.5/19 |
+0 |
19 Games |
| Laszlo Szabo |
7.5/15 |
+0 |
15 Games |
| Miguel Najdorf |
6/15 |
-3 |
15 Games |
| Paul Keres |
4.5/15 |
-6 |
15 Games |
| Ludek Pachman |
7/14 |
+0 |
14 Games |
| Boris V Spassky |
6/13 |
-1 |
13 Games |
| Vlastimil Hort |
5.5/13 |
-2 |
13 Games |
| Paul Troeger |
9/12 |
+6 |
12 Games |
| Baldur Hoenlinger |
8.5/12 |
+5 |
12 Games |
| Karl Robatsch |
6.5/12 |
+1 |
12 Games |
| Wolfgang Uhlmann |
5.5/12 |
-1 |
12 Games |
| Tigran V Petrosian |
5/12 |
-2 |
12 Games |
| Robert Huebner |
3.5/12 |
-5 |
12 Games |
| Borislav Ivkov |
5.5/11 |
+0 |
11 Games |
| Florin Gheorghiu |
4.5/11 |
-2 |
11 Games |
| Vassily Smyslov |
4.5/11 |
-2 |
11 Games |
| Lajos Portisch |
4.5/11 |
-2 |
11 Games |
| Viktor Kortschnoj |
4/11 |
-3 |
11 Games |
Links