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Gyula Sax
Sax 
Photograph copyright © 2006 Milan Kovacs (www.milankovacs.com)  

Number of games in database: 2,073
Years covered: 1969 to 2013
Last FIDE rating: 2439
Highest rating achieved in database: 2610
Overall record: +719 -314 =1029 (59.8%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 11 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (404) 
    B93 B32 B90 B42 B30
 Ruy Lopez (151) 
    C92 C84 C95 C78 C96
 French Defense (137) 
    C02 C18 C11 C10 C07
 Ruy Lopez, Closed (95) 
    C92 C84 C95 C96 C91
 Caro-Kann (82) 
    B12 B10 B18 B17 B15
 Sicilian Najdorf (69) 
    B93 B90 B97 B96 B91
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (350) 
    B81 B84 B83 B22 B40
 Sicilian Scheveningen (124) 
    B81 B84 B83 B80 B82
 Queen's Indian (107) 
    E15 E12 E17 E14 E13
 English, 1 c4 c5 (77) 
    A35 A36 A34 A33 A30
 Grunfeld (71) 
    D85 D86 D97 D78 D93
 Nimzo Indian (65) 
    E32 E55 E46 E20 E48
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Smyslov vs Sax, 1979 0-1
   Sax vs Seirawan, 1988 1/2-1/2
   Sax vs J H Donner, 1976 1-0
   Sax vs Sveshnikov, 1977 1-0
   Sax vs Ehlvest, 1988 1-0
   Sax vs E Hermansson, 2005 1-0
   Miles vs Sax, 1980 0-1
   Sax vs D Minic, 1975 1-0
   L Hazai vs Sax, 1971 0-1
   Sax vs Smejkal, 1977 1-0

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Norwich Junior (1972)
   Vrnjacka Banja (1974)
   Kostic Memorial (1981)
   Hungarian Championship (1976)
   Las Palmas (1978)
   Subotica Interzonal (1987)
   Australian Open 1986/87 (1986)
   Hungarian Championship (1974)
   Hungarian Championship (1977)
   Budapest Tungsram (1976)
   Amsterdam IBM-B (1972)
   Baile Herculane Zonal (1982)
   Hungarian Championship (1975)
   Keres Memorial (1979)
   Rio de Janeiro Interzonal (1979)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Amsterdam IBM 1976 by suenteus po 147
   Skelleftea World Cup 1989 by suenteus po 147
   Teesside 1975 by suenteus po 147
   Hastings 1977/78 by suenteus po 147
   Tilburg Interpolis 1989 by suenteus po 147

RECENT GAMES:
   🏆 TCh-HUN -14
   Sax vs I Farago (Sep-29-13) 1/2-1/2
   H Stevic vs Sax (Sep-21-13) 1/2-1/2
   Sax vs I Cheparinov (Sep-18-13) 0-1
   Sax vs A Groszpeter (Jul-29-12) 1/2-1/2
   T K Antal vs Sax (Jul-28-12) 1/2-1/2

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GYULA SAX
(born Jun-18-1951, died Jan-25-2014, 62 years old) Hungary
PRONUNCIATION:
[what is this?]

International Master (1972); Grandmaster (1974); US National Master (1991 or before); (1) Hungarian Junior Champion (1970); the first European Junior Champion (1972); Hungarian Champion (1976 & 1977); Candidate (1988 & 1991); International Arbiter (1995).

Gyula Sax was born in Budapest. He was one of Hungary's top players and one of the world's most consistent tournament players during the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. Sax was in the top 100 of the world from May 1974 to January 1993, and again in January 2000. He peaked in January 1989 when he was ranked equal #12 in the world, around the time he started contesting Candidates events, alongside Viktor Korchnoi, Mikhail Tal, Jan Timman, Lajos Portisch and other legends. During his heyday, Sax received many invitations to play in heavyweight high-category invitational tournaments and was one of the most consistent players on the circuit. Following his World Championship campaign, which lasted from 1975 until 1993 - with a very brief efflorescence in 2000 - he remained active and competitive throughout his life, although he gradually decreased his work load over the years. Later in his career, Sax shifted his emphasis to playing more in open tournaments, and less in invitationals, especially as his invitations to high category events waned, although he never stopped competing in invitationals. He started playing more in national leagues, mainly in eastern Europe, along with the Bundesliga. Sax played many seasons in the Hungarian League (his club was Z.Csuti-Hydrocomp SK in the 2013-14 season (his final game being in round 3)). He spent the last few years of his life playing in the Caissa GM invitationals in Kecskemét. The last tournament Sax won was in May 2013, when he placed first in the category 8 Caissa GM invitational.

Championships

<Junior> Sax won the 1970 Hungarian Junior Championship (2) and the inaugural European Junior Championship (EJC) in 1971-72 (3). The EJC was the result of FIDE renaming the Niemeyer Tournament that had been held since 1961-2. (4)

<National> He played in most of the Hungarian Championships staged between 1970 and 2009 inclusive, the highlights of these events being =4th with 9.5/15 in 1973, half a point behind the joint leaders Istvan Csom, Zoltan Ribli and Andras Adorjan, (5), wins in 1976 (sole winner) and 1977 (jointly with Zoltan Ribli), and =2nd in 1991 behind 15 year old Judit Polgar, a result which made Polgár the youngest Grandmaster of all time. (6) Sax was also runner up by half a point to Zoltan Almasi in the 1999 Championship, a category 13 event. (7)

<Continental> Sax competed in the inaugural European Championship (then known as the European Union Championship) in 2000 where he finished =23rd.(8) It was the only time he played in a Continental championship.

<World> (9) Sax first entered the World Championship cycle in 1975 when he competed at the Zonal tournament in Vraca (Враца) in Bulgaria. He achieved a good result in finishing equal third, half a point from the lead, but this was insufficient to qualify for the Interzonal. Sax tried again in January 1979, when he qualified from a preliminary Zonal tournament in Warsaw, to make the Zone 3 final, in which he finished in the top two to qualify for the Interzonal in Rio de Janeiro, played later that year. At his inaugural Interzonal, Sax scored 9/17 to finish tied for seventh, 2.5 points outside the top three qualifiers for the Candidates. In January 1982, he again qualified for the Interzonal, this one in Moscow, via Zonal 3 (for Eastern Europe). However, Sax fared no better at this event, scoring 6/13 to place eighth, well out of the top two qualification slots. He did have the satisfaction of beating one of the qualifiers, Alexander Beliavsky (the winner having been Garry Kasparov), in their individual game.

Sax continued his campaign in 1985 at the Biel Interzonal, again failing to qualify, but in 1989 he won the Interzonal in Subotica (Serbian: Суботица), qualifying for the Candidates alongside English GMs Nigel Short and Jonathan Speelman. He contested the Candidates held in 1988, but was eliminated by Short in the preliminary match after losing the first two games, the final score being 1.5-3.5 (+0 =3 -2). Again qualifying via Zonal 3, Sax qualified for another round of Candidates matches at the Manila Interzonal held in June-July 1990, placing fifth with a score of 8/13, including wins against the eventual winner of the Interzonal Boris Gelfand and the up and coming Gata Kamsky. He met Korchnoi at the Candidates matches in Wijk aan Zee in January-February 1991 and lost a hard fought match in the tiebreaks 1.5-0.5, after drawing the main portion of the best-of-eight match 4-4 (+1 -1 =6). After he failed to qualify at a 1993 Zonal, Sax did not participate again in the World Championship cycle, apart from a last hurrah at the Budapest Zonal in 2000, when he had regained his top 100 ranking and from which he withdrew after one round for family reasons. (10) After that, he focused his energy on tournaments and national and club leagues for the rest of his life. (11)

Standard Tournaments

Sax's tournament record was very impressive, winning many and rarely being far from the leader board. Gaining his GM title at an early age (for the time) and showing good results in events like the European Junior Championship in 1970 and the Hungarian Championships in the 1970s lead to invitations to some heavyweight tournaments such as:

• the Budapest Tungsram in 1973 (12) and 1975, ,(13) which included luminaries such as Efim Geller, Anatoly Karpov, Vlastimil Hort, Rafael Vaganian, Laszlo Szabo, and Vladimir Antoshin amongst others in 1973, and Portisch, Lev Polugaevsky, Zoltan Ribli and Jan Smejkal in 1975 when he placed a respectable 6th out of 16;

• the B-Group at Wijk aan Zee in 1973 where he placed 4th, (14);

• the category 12 double round robin 2nd AVRO (1973) in Hilversum in 1973 (which included heavyweight contenders Geller, Szabo, Polugaevsky, Timman, Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Ulf Andersson, and Borislav Ivkov (15) and

• the category 12 round robin event at Teeside in 1975 in which he placed 6th in a field that included Geller, Hort, Vasily Smyslov, David Bronstein, and Robert Huebner. (16)

<Outright or shared first 1972-1985>:

1st at the Norwich Junior International in 1972 with 12.5/15, half a point ahead of James Tarjan (17) =1st with 7.5/11 at the category 6 IBM-B tournament held in Amsterdam in 1972; (18) =1st at the category 4 Reggio Emilia 1973-74 with 8/11; (19) 1st at the round robin Vrnjačka Banja (Serbian: Врњачка Бања ) in 1974, ahead of players like Mark Taimanov, and Milan Matulovic (20) 1st at the category 8 Madonna di Campiglio 1974 in Italy ahead of a field that included Hort, and Vlastimil Jansa (21) and 1st at the category 11 Rovinj-Zagreb tournament in 1975; (22) 1st at the category 10 Vinkovci tournament in 1976; (23) = 1st at the category 10 Las Palmas event in 1978 alongside Vladimir Tukmakov (24) 1st at the Canadian Open Championship in 1978; (25) =1st at the category 12 IBM tournament in Amsterdam 1979 alongside Hort; (26) 1st at the category 10 tournament in Vršac (Serbian: Вршац) in September 1981, ahead of Smejkal and Tigran Petrosian (27) 1st at the category 9 Smederevska Palanka (Serbian: Смедеревска Паланка) tournament held in Yugoslavia in 1982; (28) =1st at the 32-player category 8 OHRA Swiss system tournament in Amsterdam in 1983 alongside Murray Chandler and ahead of Timman, Hort and Short; (29); =1st at the category 9 Rome tournament in February 1984 alongside 12 time Italian champion Stefano Tatai (30) and 1st at the Balatonberen Open 1984 in Hungary; (31)

<Outright or shared first 1986-2000>:

= 1st at the New York Open in 1986 alongside Smejkal who won first prize in a tiebreak contest; (32) =1st alongside Andersson at the category 10 tournament in Rome in 1986; (33) 1st by a point, scoring +10 -1 =0, at the Australian Open (1986/87) in Adelaide; (34) =1st at the category 14 tournament held in Clermont Ferrand in France in 1989 alongside Korchnoi, Jaan Ehlvest , Sergey Dolmatov and Olivier Renet ahead of other players like Boris Spassky, Ribli and Andersson; (35) and =1st alongside Viswanathan Anand, Predrag Nikolic and Ribli at the category 13 Hoogovens (later Corus and then Tata) tournament at Wijk aan Zee in 1989; (36) 1st at the Catania open held in Cattolica in Italy in 1994; (37) 1st at the category 10 Pirc memorial tournament held in Maribor in 1996; (38) =1st with Evgenij Agrest at the category 8 Perenyi Bela Memorial in Gyula, Hungary in March-April 1997; (39) =1st at the 1997 Pula Open; (40) =1st alongside Kozul at the category 8 Vecernjakov GP in Sarajevo in 1988; (41) 1st at the Bled Open in 1999; (42) 1st at the main open in the Montecatini Terme Chess Festival in Italy (July 31st - August 8th 1999) ahead of Smbat Lputian and Viorel Iordachesc; (43) 1st at the Bolzano Open in July 2000; (44) 1st at the Nereto Open in August 2000; (45)

<Outright or shared first 2001-2013>

=1st at the 6th HIT Open that took place in Nova Gorica, Slovenia 25th January 2nd February 2001 alongside Dusko Pavasovic, Evgeny Sveshnikov, and Zdenko Kozul (46) 1st at the category 7 "Goran 2001" International GM tournament in Bibinje in Croatia with a round to spare; (47) =1st at the Baden Baden Open 2002 with 6/7 alongside Aleksandr Karpatchev and Vyacheslav Ikonnikov (48) 1st at the 23rd International Chess Tournament "Conca della Presolana" 2003 with 7/9 (Italy); (49) =1st at the 2004 Balaton Festival Open with 7/9 with Levente Vajda and Csaba Berczes (50) 1st at the 28th Agria Festival 2004 in Eger in Hungary, with 7.5/9; (51) =1st at the 29th Tenkes Cup Open 2005 in Hungary (7/9); (52) =1st at the Zalakaros Open in 2006 with 7/9; (53) =1st in the category 9 main GM Group at the Balaton Chess Festival in Hungary in June 2008; (54) 1st at the category 8 Caissa GM May 2013; (55)

<Events in which Sax placed 2nd or was half a point from the leader(s) 1976-2000>

=3rd at the category 8 Budapest Tungsram of 1976, half a point behind the leaders Ratmir Kholmov and Laszlo Vadasz (56) 3rd at the category 11 IBM event in Amsterdam in 1976, half a point behind Korchnoi and Tony Miles (57) =2nd with 10/17 at the category 10 Budapest Tungsram of 1977 behind Bronstein; (58) =2nd behind Wolfgang Uhlmann and alongside Svetozar Gligoric and Ribli at the category 11 tournament at Vrbas in May 1977, (59) =2nd in the category 9 Hastings (1977/78) in 1977-8 behind Roman Dzindzichashvili and alongside Petrosian; (60) 4th at the category powerful category 15 Tilburg tournament in 1979 behind Karpov, Oleg Romanishin and Portisch; (61); =2nd at the category 9 tournament at Banja Luka in 1981; (62) =4th at Linares (category 14) in 1983 behind Spassky, Karpov and Andersson; (63) 3rd at the category 11 tournament in Zagreb in 1985 behind Timman and Krunoslav Hulak (64) =2nd behind Andersson at the category 9 tournament in Rome in February 1985; (65) =2nd at the Sevilla Open in 1987; (66) =2nd at Vinkovci 1993, half a point behind Ivan Farago (67) =2nd behind Tukmakov at the first Pula Open (in Pula, Croatia) run by the PCS in October 1994; (68) =2nd at Athens Open 1999, half a point behind Ildar Ibragimov (69) =2nd at the Pula Open in 1999, half a point behind the leaders; (70) =7th at the Ljubljana Open 1999, half a point behind the leaders; (71) and =8th, half a point behind the joint leaders at the main grandmaster open, the Komercni Banka Open, part of the Chess Festival in Pardubice in the Czech Republic in July 1999. The main open had 323 players with an average rating of 2323, making it a category 3 open; (72)

<Events in which Sax placed 2nd or was half a point from the leader(s) 2001-2013>:

=3rd at soLett Chess Open in Skellefteå, Sweden in April 2001, half a point behind Hector and Berg; (73) =2nd at the Pula Open 2001 in Croatia, half a point behind the winner Drazen Sermek (74) =5th at the Bavarian International Open 2001; 7/9; half point behind Alexander Shabalov, Vladimir Akopian, Michal Krasenkow, and Vladimir Baklan (75) =2nd at 7th Casino HIT Nova Gorica Open in Jan-Feb 2002, half a point behind the winner Pavasovic; (76) =11th at the International Neckar Open in 2002; 6.5/9; half a point behind 10 joint leaders; (77) =2nd at the ZMD Open in 2002 in Dresden with 7/9; (78) 2nd behind Arkadij Rotstein at the Porto San Giorgio Open in August 2002; (79) =14th at the International Neckar Open 2003 with 6.5/9, half a point behind the 13 co-leaders; (80) =4th at the International Neckar Open in 2004 with 7/9, half a point behind the three co-leaders; (81) =7th at the 15th Ljubljana Open 2004, 6.5/9, half a point behind 6 co-leaders; (82) =2nd at the 24th Zalakaros Kupa Open in 2004 in Hungary, half a point behind the leader Konstantin Chernyshov (83) and =6th with 6.5/9 at the 16th Ljubljana Open in 2005, half a point behind the 5 co-leaders; (84) =4th at the Belisce Metalis Open 2008, 5.5/7, half a point behind the three co-leaders; (85) 2nd at the category 7 Father Ivan Cvitanovic Memorial - 14th GM Tournament – Croatia 2009 with 6.5/9, half a point behind the leader, Predrag Bodiroga (86) =2nd in the category 6 15th International GM Tournament of Father Ivan Cvitanovic Memorial – Croatia 2010 with 7/9, half a point behind the leader; Imre Hera Jr (87) 2nd behind Zlatko Ilincic at the category 8 Spartak Suboticka GM held in October 2010 in Subotica; (88); =2nd at the category 7 Caissa GM tournament in 2011, half a point behind Oliver Mihok (89) =2nd, half a point behind the leader Tamas Fodor Jr at the category 7 Caissa GM September 2011; (90) 2nd, half a point again behind Fodor, at the category 8 Caissa GM tournament in Kecskemet in September 2012; (91) and 2nd behind Attila Groszpeter at the category 7 Caissa GM Dec 2012; (92)

<Last Tournament appearance> Sax scored 6/9 (+4 =4) at his last outing, which was in the Tenkes Cup in November 2013. (93)

Team Events

<Olympiads> (94) Sax was a long time representative on the Hungarian team at the Olympiads, participating in ten: 1972, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1992 and 2000, during which he played 114 games for a point count of 75 (+50 =50 -14) and a percentage of 65.8. As a newly fledged IM in 1972, he played 2nd reserve and won team silver, and may have won a board medal after scoring 8.5/10. His best results came at the 1978 Olympiad held in Buenos Aires when he played on board 3, scoring team gold and individual bronze. He also won team silver in the 1980 Olympiad held in La Valletta, where the Hungarian team lead from beginning to end, only to lose on tiebreak to the USSR.

<Other National Team Representative Events> Sax was a member of the Hungarian teams that played in the:

• Yugoslavia-Hungary Team match played in Pula in 1971 (95),

• USSR-Hungary match played in Moscow, also in 1971, and won by the USSR(96);

• West Germany-Hungary match played in Oberhausen in May 1980 and won by Hungary. (97);

• Hungary – East Germany U30(!) match played in Budapest in 1981 and won by Hungary. (98)

• Hungary-France match played in Budapest in 1982 and won by Hungary. (99)

He was also part of the Budapest team that played Sofia in an inter-city match narrowly won by Sofia in October 1970 by 24.5-23.5. Sax scored 2/4. (100)

Sax played on board 2 in the World Student Team Championships of 1972 and 1974, scoring team silver and individual gold in 1972, and team bronze in 1974. He represented Hungary in the World Team Championships of 1985 and 1989. In the former, he won team silver and individual gold playing on board 3, scoring 6/8 (+4 =4). He also played in six European Team Championships in 1973, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1992 and 1997, helping his national team to win silver in 1977 and 1980, and bronze in 1973 and 1983. He won individual gold for board 8 in 1973, and individual bronze for board 4 in 1980. His points tally in ETC events was 23.5/44 (+13 =21 -10) for 53.4%. He also played board 2 for Hungary at the Mitropa Cup in 1999, helping his team to a gold medal; it is not clear whether he won an individual medal for this event, but his personal tally was 6.5/9 (+5 =3 -1). (101)

<European Club Cup> Sax played in the European Club Cup for eleven seasons, 1988-1994, 1999, 2000, and from 2002 until 2005. Playing board 1 for Honved Budapest from 1998 until 1992, he won team silver in 1988. he subsequently played for the German club SC Stadthagen (1993), the Slovenian club ŠK Piramida Maribor in 1994, before returning to a Hungarian club, EMSE-Miskolc in 1999 and 2000. He played his last four seasons in the ECC (2002-5) for another Hungarian club, Zalaegerszeg playing on one of the top two boards.

<National Leagues>

Sax played in most of the Hungarian League seasons from 1991 until 2013-14. He also played in the Bundesliga, starting off with the Bundesliga 2 in 1990 (102), moving up to the premier Bundesliga starting in 1991 until his final season in the BL in 1998-99. In 1994, he played with the SC Stadthagen team on board 3 behind Judit and Susan Polgar. (103) He also played in the Italian League for the 1995 season, (104) the Bosnian League in 1999 (105) and 2001 (106); the French League in 1990; (107) the Slovenian League from 1998 until 2006, and in 2009; (108) and in almost every season of the Croatian League from 1995 until 2013 inclusive. (109)

Match

Sax and Andersson played a match in Szirak in 1990, and drew 2-2 (+1 -1 =2). (110)

Eulogies and Testimonials

"Gyula Sax was one of the greatest chess players of Hungary. He was the first GM who treated me as a fellow chess player when I was only 9 years old. He was ready to analyze positions with me, and shared ideas and by doing so he gave me a lot of self-confidence." - Judit Polgar (111)

"He always had very interesting games. That's another reason he was so well liked. It's a big loss for Hungarian chess. He's had many great successes in chess, but it's nothing compared to how he was as a person." – Susan Polgar (112)

Eulogies by Kevin Spraggett, (113) and by Chessbase (114) can be found below.

Sources

<General Note> The sources for this bio are mainly the FIDE database for events since 2000, the online weekly periodical <This Week in Chess> #1 to #1004 inclusive for events from 1994 until 2013;www.365chess.com for events from 1972 until 2001, official websites where available and relevant, Mark Weeks' World Championship index, and team results and historical player ratings at Olimpbase. All results from 2001 onwards are double checked against the FIDE database. The purge of Sax's FIDE player card does not purge his results as all the tournaments in which he participated are still in FIDE's database. Screen dumps of all the reporting periods that were originally published in Sax's player card were taken before the purge and should any be needed for reference, they are available on request left at Biographer Bistro. Results atwww.365chess.com were not cited per se without cross-references unless the data were complete and internally consistent, ie: number of rounds multiplied by the number of players equalled both the number of games cited and the total points allocated to each player.

<Specific sources relating to the text> (1) http://main.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlM...; (2) http://www.chessnc.com/biography/pe...; (3) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (4) Wikipedia article: European Junior Chess Championship; (5) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (6) Wikipedia article: Hungarian Chess Championship and http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (7) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (8) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (9) Information in this section is mainly sourced from Mark Weeks' World Championship Index at http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/wcc...; (10) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (11) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (12) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (13) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (14) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (15) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (16) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (17) Gino di Felice, Chess Results, 1971-1974; (18) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (19) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (20) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments... and http://www.chessnc.com/biography/pe...; (21) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments... http://www.chessnc.com/biography/pe...; (22) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (23) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments... (for ratings supplemented by Olimpbase record of ratings at http://www.olimpbase.org/Elo/Elo197...) and Wikipedia article: 1976 in chess. There are many other references to Sax's win in this event, universally acknowledged as a signature result for him.; (24) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments... and http://www.chessnc.com/biography/pe...; (25) http://www.chess.com/groups/forumvi...; (26) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments... and http://www.chessnc.com/biography/pe...; (27) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (28) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (29) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (30) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (31) http://www.chessnc.com/biography/pe...; (32) http://www.chessnc.com/biography/pe... and http://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/09/n...; (33) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (34) http://www.auschess.org.au/archives...; (35) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (36) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments... and Wikipedia article: Tata chess; (37) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (38) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (39) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (40) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (41) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (42) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (43) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (44) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (45) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (46) http://www.sah-zveza.si/rez/0101/ng... and http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (47) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (48) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/... and http://www.chess-international.de/b...; (49) http://www.scaccobratto.com/2003.sh... and http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (50) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (51) http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...; (52) http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...; (53) http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...; (54) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (55) http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...; (56) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (57) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (58) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (59) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (60) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (61) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments... and http://www.chessnc.com/biography/pe...; (62) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (63) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (64) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (65) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (66) http://www.chessnc.com/biography/pe...; (67) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (68) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (69) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (70) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (71) http://www.sah-zveza.si/lj/lj99/ and http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (72) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (73) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (74) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (75) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/... and http://www.schach-am-tegernsee.de/o...; (76) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (77) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (78) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (79) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (80) http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...; (81) [ http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...; (82) http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...; (83) http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...; (84) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/... and http://www.sah-zveza.si/rez/0507/lj...; (85) http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...; (86) http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...; (87) http://chess-results.com/tnr33784.a... and http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (88) ) [ http://chess-results.com/tnr39511.a... and http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (89) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (90) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (91) http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/...; (92) http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...; (93) http://ratings.fide.com/tournament_...; (94) http://www.olimpbase.org/players/q2... is the source of data for this section unless otherwise footnoted; (95) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (96) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (97) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (98) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (99) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments...; (100) http://www.365chess.com/tournaments.... The remaining source links can be found at User: Sax sources.

Last updated: 2025-01-05 01:25:07

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 83; games 1-25 of 2,073  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Gufeld vs Sax  1-0551969DebrecenA04 Reti Opening
2. Sax vs J Tompa  ½-½891970Hungarian ChampionshipC43 Petrov, Modern Attack
3. I Polgar vs Sax  1-0301970Hungarian ChampionshipC64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
4. Sax vs L M Kovacs  0-1511970Hungarian ChampionshipC55 Two Knights Defense
5. T Hradeczky vs Sax  0-1271970Hungarian ChampionshipB06 Robatsch
6. Sax vs B Balogh  1-0431970Hungarian ChampionshipB32 Sicilian
7. I Bilek vs Sax  1-0341970Hungarian ChampionshipA99 Dutch, Ilyin-Genevsky Variation with b3
8. Sax vs B Toth  ½-½431970Hungarian ChampionshipB07 Pirc
9. F Portisch vs Sax  ½-½401970Hungarian ChampionshipD92 Grunfeld, 5.Bf4
10. Sax vs Adorjan 1-0411970Hungarian ChampionshipC41 Philidor Defense
11. L Vadasz vs Sax  0-1361970Hungarian ChampionshipB08 Pirc, Classical
12. Sax vs L Barczay  1-0191970Hungarian ChampionshipB13 Caro-Kann, Exchange
13. P Dely vs Sax  1-0391970Hungarian ChampionshipC84 Ruy Lopez, Closed
14. Sax vs Lengyel  1-0401970Hungarian ChampionshipC59 Two Knights
15. Sax vs L Sapi  ½-½551970Hungarian ChampionshipB05 Alekhine's Defense, Modern
16. G Kluger vs Sax  1-0311970Hungarian ChampionshipE91 King's Indian
17. L Hazai vs Sax 0-1181971HungaryC41 Philidor Defense
18. W Schmidt vs Sax ½-½411971Asztalos MemorialD90 Grunfeld
19. Sax vs J Tabor  ½-½611971Asztalos MemorialC52 Evans Gambit
20. Lengyel vs Sax  ½-½291971Asztalos MemorialE75 King's Indian, Averbakh, Main line
21. N Minev vs Sax  0-1311971Asztalos MemorialC44 King's Pawn Game
22. Sax vs L Masic  1-0351971Asztalos MemorialB96 Sicilian, Najdorf
23. V Ciocaltea vs Sax  1-0411971Asztalos MemorialC64 Ruy Lopez, Classical
24. Sax vs E Paoli  1-0371971Asztalos MemorialB31 Sicilian, Rossolimo Variation
25. E Cobo Arteaga vs Sax  ½-½181971Asztalos MemorialE76 King's Indian, Four Pawns Attack
 page 1 of 83; games 1-25 of 2,073  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Sax wins | Sax loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 4 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Feb-01-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  moronovich: RIP Gyula Sax.
Feb-10-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: What a shame. I stopped off in London once when I was in the military and I got his autograph in a book ... unfortunately, I don't think I have that book anymore.

Goodbye GM Sax. I once witnessed a game in Europe, (again - I was in the military at the time); and no one seem to be sure of what was happening in that wild encounter, I do believe that Sax eventually won a very wild time scramble.

The name of Gyula Sax and interesting chess are one and the same, I believe.

RIP sir, I am sure you will be both appreciated and missed.

Is there any consensus on what is his best game? (I am considering doing a web page on this player.) Stop by my personal forum and leave me a message if you have an idea or want to say anything at all.

Feb-14-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: I guess he may not have that many fans, at least no on this site.
Feb-14-14  Shams: <AJ> Perhaps not, but his biography is quite impressive. More footnoting than I've seen for any other bio. So clearly he has one or two friends in high places, at least.
Feb-14-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  LIFE Master AJ: Yes.

I was offering to do a web page on his best game, if I could get a consensus on what his best effort was.

No one - thus far - seems interested.

Mar-03-14  Bruce Graham: My suggestion is this one: Gyula Sax vs Andras Adorjan, Hungarian Championship, 1970.
Mar-03-14  ozmikey: RIP. A very great player.

I'll never forget his winning performance at the 1986 Adsteam-Lidums tournament in Adelaide, quite probably the strongest Open tournament ever held in Australia. After an early (and unlucky) loss on time Sax absolutely massacred a field full of GMs and finished clear first with 10-1. Some of his wins from that tournament - over Rogers, Torre and a particularly sharp game against Lobron from the last round - were inspiring.

In the next few days I might try to upload some of his games from that tournament, as only a couple of them seem to be here.

Mar-04-14  optimal play: <Hungarian grandmaster wins

THE last round of the great Adsteam-Lidums international tournament in Adelaide at the weekend was an exciting one.

Pitted against each other were the top two young grandmasters in the tournament, Gyula Sax of Hungary, and Eric Lobron of West Germany.

A win in that game would bring the winner first prize in the event.

It was Sax who prevailed, and he came out sole winner of the tournament with 10 points.

Sax's only loss in the 11 rounds had been to Stefan Djuric of Yugoslavia, who shared equal second place with Carlos Garcia Palermo of Argentina, on nine points.

In equal fourth place with 8.5 points were GM Anthony Miles (UK), GM Eugenio Torre (Philippines), GM Ian Rogers (Australia), and Trevor Hay (Australia).

Altogether, there were over 250 contestants in the tournament, including eight grandmasters and, the centre of greatest attention, the three young Polgar sisters, of Hungary, Zsuzsa Polgar , Judit Polgar & Zsofia Polgar

The sensation of the ninth round was a win by 10-year-old Judit Polgar against international master Dolfi Drimer of Romania.

Judit Polgar vs D Drimer, 1986

- The Canberra Times (ACT) issue Wednesday 14 January 1987 page 25>

<ozmikey> You're right.

That did seem to be an important tournamnent.

Jun-08-14  zanzibar: Does this set the record for most footnotes in a bio?
Jun-09-14  optimal play: <ozmikey> I notice the wins against Rogers & Torre are here but that <particularly sharp game against Lobron from the last round> is still missing.

[Event "Adsteam-Lidums International"]
[Site "Adelaide, Australia"]
[Date "1987.01.10"]
[EventDate "1986.12.28"]
[Round "11"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Eric Lobron"]
[Black "Gyula Sax"]
[ECO "B81"]
[WhiteElo "2485"]
[BlackElo "2545"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. g4 h6 7. h4 Nc6 8. Rg1 h5 9. gxh5 Nxh5 10. Bg5 Nf6 11. Rg3 a6 12. Qd2 Qb6 13. Nxc6 bxc6 14. Na4 Qc7 15. Bg2 Nd7 16. O-O-O Rb8 17. Rh1 c5 18. h5 Ne5 19. f4 Nc4 20. Qc3 f6 21. Bh4 d5 22. exd5 Qxf4+ 23. Kb1 Rxh5 24. dxe6 Rxh4 25. Re1 Qd4 26. e7 Bxe7 27. Rxg7 Be6 28. Qxd4 Rxd4 29. c3 Rg4 30. Bc6+ Kf8 31. Rxe7 Kxe7 32. Nxc5 Ne5 33. b4 Rbg8 0-1

<CHESS: SHARP MOVES REPULSE ATTACK AND CARRY SAX TO A VICTORY

<By ROBERT BYRNE

<Published: March 10, 1987

<The Adsteam-Lidums International Tournament in Adelaide, Australia, was won by Gyula Sax.

The 35-year-old Hungarian grandmaster scored 10-1 to capture the first prize of $5,000 Australian.

Tied for second place in the tournament, the largest and strongest in Australian history, were Carlos Garcia-Palermo, an Argentine grandmaster, and Stefan Djuric, a Yugoslav grandmaster. Each scored 9-2 in the 259-player Swiss-system event.

Tied for fourth place were four grandmasters, Ian Rogers of Australia, Eric Lobron of West Germany, Anthony Miles of Britain and Eugenio Torre of the Philippines, plus Trevor Hay of Australia. Each tallied 8½-2½

In the last round, Lobron could have overtaken Sax by winning, but his frantic efforts to attack were sharply repulsed by the Hungarian.<>>>>>>>

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/10/n...

Robert Eugene Byrne then goes on to give an insightful analysis of this game.

Jun-10-14  twinlark: <zanzibar>

Yep. They overflowed to another page.

Jun-10-14  Balmo: Sax played a very beautiful attacking game against former chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin in Pula, Croatia in 1997. I don't know why, but the game isn't given here I don't think. This is the Pgn: 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. d4 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 O-O-O 6. c4 Qf5 7. Be3 Nf6 8. Nbd2 e5 9. d5 Nb4 10. Rc1 Nxa2 11. Ra1 Nb4 12. O-O a6 13. Ra4 Nd3 14. Bxd3 Qxd3 15. Qa1 Re8 16. b4 Bxf3 17. Nxf3 Qxc4 18. Rc1 Qxd5 19. Ra5 Qd3 20. b5 Bb4 21. bxa6 Bxa5 22. Qxa5 Qd6 23. Ng5 Rhf8 24. a7 Kd7 25. Bc5 Qa6 26. Qd2+ Kc8 27. Bd6 c6 28. Bxf8 Rxf8 29. Qd6 Rd8 30. Qb8+ Kd7 31. Nxf7 Re8 32. Rd1+ Ke6 33. Nd6 Qa4 34. Rf1 Rg8 35. Nc8 Qf4 36. Qd6+ Kf5 37. a8=Q Kg4 38. Qe7 Kg5 39. g3 1-0
Jun-10-14  Balmo: Actually - if I can just amend that PGN, I believe the final moves were 37...Ng4 38. g3 and black resigned.
Jun-10-14  twinlark: <Balmo>

You can upload it here: PGN Upload Utility

Jun-18-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  Stonehenge: Perhaps all sources should be put here: User: Sax sources.
Jun-18-14
Premium Chessgames Member
  Penguincw: R.I.P. GM Gyula Sax.
Jun-18-14  twinlark: <Stonehenge>

Can't do that for the same reason they don't all fit here, namely there isn't enough room in the <Sax sources> "bio".

Jun-26-14  Olavi: A mistake in the bio: the 1982 Moscow Interzonal qualified two players, not three.
Jul-06-14  twinlark: <Olavi>

You're correct of course, and I've made the necessary adjustment.

You've noticed a detail that indicates you take a keen interest in chess history.

If you notice any further problems in any player bios, it's best to mention it at Biographer Bistro, where it will receive prompt attention, or at least more prompt than posting it on the player page where it might not be noticed for weeks or months.

Jan-02-15  Conrad93: Wow, I just found out he died. I was looking for one of his games with the Nimzo-Indian and found the news of his death by coincidence.

RIP to a brilliant tactician.

Apr-01-15  zanzibar: Extensive photos from his funeral services, and more, can be found here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/...

Jan-25-16  TheFocus: Rest in peace, GM Gyula Sax!!
Jun-03-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  Fusilli: Sax was a player who did not shy away from risk. Sometimes he paid the price, and many other times he collected rewards. Audentes Fortuna Juvat.
Aug-10-21  Ironmanth: Taken too soon. RIP Gyula Sax.
Feb-05-23
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: This excerpt from Sax' bio:

<....He shifted his emphasis to playing more in open tournaments, and less in closed invitationals, especially the high category events, although he never stopped competing in invitationals....>

is less a function of what a top player 'chose' to do rather than the simple fact that such invitations to elite events rather have a tendency to dry up--for any player--once one has got past their salad days in that august group.

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