Vishy Anand remembers Robert Hübner: "He was a giant..."

by ChessBase
1/13/2025 – Viswanathan Anand has published an obituary for Robert Hübner on his Facebook page. Anand and Hübner had met occasionally at tournaments and were team-mates in Baden-Baden. Anand: "He was a giant from a different era in chess and from a different era of chess players." | Photo: Anefo/ Dutch National Archive

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Wanted to share a few thoughts on the sad news of the passing of Robert Hubner. He was, of course, a great chess player, one of the top players in the world in the 70s and 80s, and he came very close to fighting for the world title. I had a chance to interact with him and play with him in several tournaments, but also enjoy some very nice conversations . He played for Baden Baden, just like me. He could always surprise you with the depth of his knowledge. The academic in him made a strong impression on me. I once saw a three page letter of his in a chess magazine where he discusses the meaning of the Greek word logos. Fascinating! He finished saying that though he disagreed with his debater, he was grateful to find someone he could even discuss the subject with.

Even in chess, I remember Jan Timman complaining that Robert Hubner's book review of his book was longer than the book itself.

Somehow that was so typically Robert. The perfectionism! In the pre computer era. And what do you do with someone who learns Finnish to a very high level just because he wanted to talk to a friend. He spoke Greek and Dutch as well. He would always say that he was a patzer in everything. Of course it was partly deflection and partly his perfectionism.

He was no patzer. He was someone who guarded his personal space zealously. He was a giant from a different era in chess and from a different era of chess players.

RIP Robert.

Anand's Facebook page...

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chessbibliophile chessbibliophile 1/14/2025 12:50
It is not so easy to remember a conversation that took place 28 years before. Our fellow reader “Jehonadab” comes close to it all the same. The Interview with Robert Hübner appeared in New in Chess Magazine #2, 1997. “Jehonadab” wrote a letter to the magazine, criticising Hübner’s interpretation of the word, logos as it appeared in the original Greek version of the Bible. It was duly sent to Hübner and he wrote a reply. Hübner does not quite give in, but recognises the strength of his critic’s argument. At the end of his reply he writes, “Nevertheless, I have been delighted by Mr. Akkerman’s letter. It is very gratifying to find somebody who cares about questions of philology even if his results differ from mine.”
The letter and the reply both can be seen in New in Chess Magazine #3, 1997(p.6-p7). Trust, Mr. Jonadab Akkerman would excuse me from revealing his identity.
P.S.: Years later the interview with Hübner appeared in the New in Chess anthology,
“The Day Kasparov quit” with a characteristic quote from Hübner as the title,
“I have seen that I don’t understand too much about chess” If the great master did not “know”, what do we know? In chess, as in life we are only patzers.
(The New in Chess Editors also got the date of the interview wrong and put it as 1996 December)
dwaltz dwaltz 1/13/2025 06:32
just try any game commentted by Robert.
Jehonadab Jehonadab 1/13/2025 05:29
I just read Anand's obituary for Robert Hübner. In it he refers to Hübner's comments on the Greek word logos (the way it is used in John 1:1) that appeared in New in Chess magazine in, I think, 1996. Well, I am the 'debater' (the word used by Anand) who disagreed with Hübner on this subject. I was pleasantly surprised that the great Anand himself apparently read not just Hübner's but also my comments! (By the way, I am sure Hübner knew much more about Biblical Greek than I do; I just disagreed with him completely on this specific subject.)
phille phille 1/13/2025 03:40
All I can add is, that I met Anand once in 1996 when I played my first tournament in Dortmund and as a teenager I was already deeply impressed by Anand. He was kind enough to share some words with me and even signed one of my books. Ananad is a true humble gentleman and his words about Hübner are heart warming. I was also glad enough to stand close to Hübner, watching him analysing a game. Truly awesome experience!

R.I.P. Robert Hübner
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