A lengthy and varied chess career
Today, one of East Germany's leading players, Thomas Paehtz, celebrates his 70th birthday. Thomas Pähtz was born on 4 September 1956 in Erfurt into a chess-playing family. His brother Wolfgang, two years his senior, played chess, as did his sister Hannelore (married name Kube), who was one year older.
One of his first international tournaments was the under-20 championship in Zinnowitz, in which the future world-class player Oleg Romanishin also took part. In the final of the East German Championship in Potsdam in February 1974, Thomas Paehtz finished an excellent 6th place in a field of 20 players. The title was won by Rainer Knaak, three years his senior, who was then emerging as the number one player in East Germany. Paehtz subsequently became a regular participant in the East German Championships and won the title twice, in 1988 jointly with Lutz Espig and in 1990 jointly with Raj Tischbierek.
In a total of 6 chapters, we look at the following aspects: the right decision based on tactical factors, decisions in exchanges and moves, complex and psychological decisions in longer games and in defence.Thomas Paehtz was selected to represent East Germany in international team matches. Following the 1969 resolution on elite sport, however, chess was no longer officially supported in East Germany, and the country did not participate in the Chess Olympiads until 1988 - East Germany then returned to the Olympiad and Paehtz was selected as a reserve on board five. It was to remain his only appearance at a Chess Olympiad.
Over the course of his career, Paehtz played for various teams in the East German Team Championship. He won the title in 1973 with Schachgemeinschaft Leipzig, in 1988 with Mikroelektronik Erfurt and in 1991 with SV Erfurt-West.
After the German reunification, Thomas Paehtz shared first place with Thomas Luther in the 1993 German Championship. In the Bundesliga, he played for SF Dortmund-Brackel, SV Erfurt-West (later Erfurter SK), PSV Duisburg, Ilmenauer SV and TSV Bindlach-Aktionär. He also competed in the Austrian Bundesliga, the Belgian League and, for various clubs, in the Luxembourg League. In Austria and Luxembourg, he won the national team championship several times with his clubs.
In 1984, Paehtz received the title of international master. He became a grandmaster in 1990.
Paehtz passed on his passion for chess to his son, Thomas Paehtz Jr, and his daughter, Elisabeth. His son became a strong player, but later gave up competitive chess to concentrate on his career. In Elisabeth's case, the enthusiasm for chess found particularly fertile ground. In 1994, at the age of nine and with her father as her coach, Elisabeth Pehtz won her first youth championship. She later became a two-time World Youth Champion, earned all of FIDE's titles, became Germany's first female player to achieve the grandmaster title in 2022, and for decades was Germany's leading female player. She currently holds that position once again.
After the end of his active playing career, Thomas Paehtz continued to work as a chess coach and founded a chess school in Kerpsleben, where he lives. There he organised summer camps for talented children. One of his current pupils is Christian Gloeckler.
In 2002, the German Chess Federation honoured Thomas Paehtz with a certificate in recognition of his contribution to chess in Germany.
Today, Thomas Paehtz celebrates his 70th birthday. We extend our warmest congratulations.
The Neo-London System offers many new, creative possibilities to present your opponents with serious problems in the early stages of the game.
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