RICHARD RETI (born May-28-1889, died Jun-06-1929, 40 years old) PRONUNCIATION: [what is this?] Richard Réti was born in 1889 in Bösing (now Pezinok, Slovakia) which at the time was in the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary. Early career At the age of 12, he had already submitted a chess problem to the chess column in Über Land und Meer run by Hermann von Gottschall. Von Gottschall advised him to continue working on his chess. In 1903, the then 13-year old Réti was introduced to Carl Schlechter who remarked "for his age, this is certainly exceptional".(RR) He went on to fare well at the 2nd Hungarian National tournament in Székesfehérvár, 1907.(Edo) Réti's interest in chess was dampened following some disappointing tournament results, although he won smaller events in Vienna 1909 and the 2nd Trebitsch Memorial in 1910.(Edo) His main interests then became mathematics and, to some extent, physics. He was about to finish his doctorate when World War I broke out. Réti was assigned to clerical work due to his "somewhat weak constitution".(RR) A turn of life In 1918, he won the strong Kaschau (Košice) tournament. But he still viewed chess mostly as a hobby. He had planned to finish his doctorate in mathematics at the University of Vienna. He carried his doctoral thesis around in a small booklet, which he lost and never recovered. This drove him near suicide as he later confided to his older brother Rudolph.(RR) At that time, Richard received an invitation to go to the Netherlands as a Chess Master in Residence. He accepted the invitation, and decided to pursue a chess career instead of becoming a scholar. Regarding this decision, Rudolph said, "It haunted him throughout his life, and he never found a definite answer to it."(RR) Tournament successes Réti won 1st prize in the strong Gothenburg (1920) tournament. He confirmed that he was one of the world elite by tying for first with Rudolf Spielmann at Teplitz-Schonau (1922). (TS) He finished 2nd at Maehrisch-Ostrau (1923) (behind Emanuel Lasker) and Vienna (1923). He dominated the 3rd Argentine National Tournament (1924), scoring 16/18. Réti won Vienna (1928) by a staggering two-point margin ahead of Spielmann, Tartakower, and others.(WSZ28) He won Giessen (1928). He tied for first with Friedrich Saemisch at Brno (1928). Theory and Practice He was one of the founders of hypermodernism, along with Aron Nimzowitsch and Savielly Tartakower. The Réti Opening (1.♘f3 d5 2.c4) has become a staple of grandmaster play. With this opening system, Réti famously defeated then reigning world champion Capablanca in Reti vs Capablanca, 1924 in New York (1924), the Cuban's first loss in eight years and first as world champion. Réti authored two books, Modern Ideas In Chess (Die neuen Ideen im Schachspiel, 1922) in 1923 and Masters Of The Chess Board (Die Meister des Schachbretts, 1930), published posthumously in 1933. Study composition Réti also composed numerous endgame studies, the most famous of which was a 1921 study that illustrated a beautiful method of drawing what seems at first blush a hopeless king and pawn ending. White to play and draw: click for larger view Réti died from scarlet fever on June 6, 1929, a week after turning forty. Sources (RR) Rudolph Réti in Edward Winter's "The Réti Brothers", http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... (Edo) Rod Edwards, http://www.edochess.ca/players/p217... (TS) Game Collection: Teplitz-Schönau 1922 (WSZ28) "Wiener Schachzeitung", March 1928, pages 81-82. Provided in "ANNO / Österreichische Nationalbibliothek" Wikipedia article: Richard Réti Last updated: 2025-03-20 10:53:41

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page 1 of 32; games 1-25 of 776  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Reti vs G Kovacs   0-1 27 1907 2nd Hungarian Congress, Szekesfehervar D02 Queen's Pawn Game 2. Reti vs B Steiner   0-1 28 1907 2nd Hungarian Congress, Szekesfehervar D25 Queen's Gambit Accepted 3. L Forgacs vs Reti 1-0 43 1907 2nd Hungarian Congress, Szekesfehervar C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed 4. I Cseh vs Reti   ½-½ 31 1907 2nd Hungarian Congress, Szekesfehervar D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 5. Reti vs E Smogrovics   1-0 32 1907 2nd Hungarian Congress, Szekesfehervar D02 Queen's Pawn Game 6. Reti vs Z Barasz 1-0 61 1907 2nd Hungarian Congress, Szekesfehervar D11 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav 7. Reti vs G Exner   1-0 72 1907 2nd Hungarian Congress, Szekesfehervar D02 Queen's Pawn Game 8. K Demeter vs Reti   0-1 79 1907 2nd Hungarian Congress, Szekesfehervar C12 French, McCutcheon 9. Alapin vs Reti 1-0 63 1908 Vienna C86 Ruy Lopez, Worrall Attack 10. Reti vs E Cohn 0-1 49 1908 Vienna C49 Four Knights 11. Marshall vs Reti 1-0 31 1908 Vienna C49 Four Knights 12. Reti vs Maroczy 0-1 54 1908 Vienna B22 Sicilian, Alapin 13. J Berger vs Reti 1-0 26 1908 Vienna D05 Queen's Pawn Game 14. Reti vs Teichmann 0-1 34 1908 Vienna C49 Four Knights 15. Schlechter vs Reti 1-0 47 1908 Vienna C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 16. Reti vs Duras ½-½ 31 1908 Vienna B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange 17. J Mieses vs Reti 1-0 25 1908 Vienna C23 Bishop's Opening 18. Reti vs H Suechting   ½-½ 17 1908 Vienna B01 Scandinavian 19. Tartakower vs Reti 1-0 34 1908 Vienna A30 English, Symmetrical 20. Reti vs P Leonhardt ½-½ 53 1908 Vienna C26 Vienna 21. Swiderski vs Reti 1-0 32 1908 Vienna A84 Dutch 22. Reti vs Spielmann 0-1 36 1908 Vienna C86 Ruy Lopez, Worrall Attack 23. Salwe vs Reti 1-0 31 1908 Vienna D00 Queen's Pawn Game 24. von Bardeleben vs Reti 1-0 30 1908 Vienna C77 Ruy Lopez 25. Reti vs J Perlis   0-1 36 1908 Vienna D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch  page 1 of 32; games 1-25 of 776

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 14 OF 15 ·  Later Kibitzing> Mar-08-18    Retireborn: <z> Thanks for those links. So Rogneda returned to Russia, married again, had a daughter, and was still alive in the Kruschev era. This Biryukov chap sounds like a bit of a bar steward! Mar-08-18    zanzibar: "Bar steward" is a bit of an unknown term round these parts, at least figuratively. Does it mean about the same as "cad"? Mar-08-18    ughaibu: Remove the "rew", what's left? Mar-08-18    zanzibar: Ah, got it, thx. Mar-08-18    zanzibar: http://canadianbartenders.com/how-t... Mar-09-18    Retireborn: Child of unmarried parents, as the more elegant Wodehousian phrase has it! Apr-18-18    ketchuplover: The world chess hall of fame is now Reti to rumble!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jun-12-18    zanzibar: RE: Reti's play in <Stockholm (1919) - Quad> <Réti of whom the Dutch are better result would have expected, played in this quadcopter very nervous and made because of that numerous blunders. For example, he often put pieces in that a regular onlooker there the kindness made up "Réti gives his opponents Christmas gifts". Nevertheless, his was playing power still sufficient to him about keeping pace with Bogoljubow and Rubinstein. He played in the ninth round a very instructive party against Spielmann generally as the best position party of it tournaments is considered.> 27-12-1919 Het Vaderland : staat- en letterkundig nieuwsblad - p9 See also: Akiba Rubinstein (kibitz #1275) Jun-12-18    Retireborn: <z> Quadcopter is a marvellous word! The only Reti game from Stockholm that made it into Golombek's book was this one:- Reti vs Spielmann, 1919 Although I think that's not the one from the quadcopter referred to, but rather from the Schultz memorial in November. Jun-13-18    zanzibar: <RB> Here's looking at you kid! http://www.droneomega.com/wp-conten... Jun-13-18    Retireborn: <z> Eye in the sky! BTW I have some round dates of the quadcopter from another Gillam booklet, if you still want them. Looks like he's guessing about the date of rd 7 though. Jun-13-18    zanzibar: <BTW I have some round dates of the quadcopter from another Gillam booklet> Oh, goodness <RB> you do?! If you would please be so kind as to look over my version and note any differences, I would be most appreciative. < 1919.12.01: 2 Mon R-1 1919.12.02: 2 Tue R-2 1919.12.03: 2 Wed R-3 1919.12.05: 2 Fri R-4 1919.12.06: 2 Sat R-5 1919.12.08: 2 Mon R-6 1919.12.10: 2 Wed R-7 1919.12.11: 2 Thu R-8 1919.12.12: 2 Fri R-9 1919.12.15: 2 Mon R-10 1919.12.16: 2 Tue R-11 1919.12.17: 2 Wed R-12 > Note that I framed the match as no-play on Sundays, and one rest/adj game for each cycle. Also, if Gillam provided any info about the tournament (eg. where it was held, who sponsored it, playing session times, time controls, etc.), I would love to know about it, as I've had no luck finding almost anything in the literature other than the games themselves. Many thanks in advance. Jun-13-18    Retireborn: <z> Gillam doesn't have any real info about the tournament - he calls it "little publicised", and it seems his sources (Tidskrift and an obscure Spanish booklet from 1973) don't have much apart from the games. I'm hoping to acquire a booklet fot the Schultz memorial - likely the organizers of that were also the organizers of this. Anyway he gives:- Round 1, Monday Dec 1st Round 2, Wednes Dec 3rd Round 3, Friday Dec 5th Round 4, Saturd Dec 6th Round 5, Sunday Dec 7th Round 6, Monday Dec 8th Round 7, Tuesd Dec 9th ("likely" Gillam who thinks that Dec 10th was a free day, because half way through) Round 8, Thursd Dec 11th Round 9, Friday Dec 12th Round 10, Saturd Dec 13th Round 11, Monday Dec 15th Round 12, Wednes Dec 17th So you can see it's a little different from yours - not a particularly consistent schedule. Jun-14-18    zanzibar: <RB> thank you very much for that, though it seems Gillam is in the same shape as I am - the sources are rather thin. I doubt the 1973 Spanish booklet is authoritative - so the main source is TDS. But afaik it didn't have any of the game dates in it, making me wonder how Gillam came up with his schedule, or how I missed it? . Jun-14-18    Retireborn: <z> I was wondering about that myself. It's possible that he got the dates from the Spanish booklet (which was part of a series about Rubinstein, he says) or perhaps from some other Rubinstein book such as the Donaldson/Minev one. The TfS source he quotes is 1920 pp 4-32. Jun-14-18    zanzibar: <RB> the specifics of the ref is helpful; I'll have a second look then. Jun-15-18    sneaky pete: That Spanish booklet (Ricardo Alvarez Cela y Luis Eceizabarrena Gaba, Estocolmo 1919 y Rubinstein-Bogoljubow, 1920, published by Ricardo Aguilera, Madrid, 1973, as part of the Serie Rubinstein of the Torneos Retrospectivos) has no dates or anything else worth menrioning, only the games in that horrible Spanish descriptive notation. Jun-15-18    Retireborn: <sneaky pete> Heh. I'd love to see just how big your library is! If the dates aren't in TfS then I can only suppose Gillam has got hold of a local bulletin or schedule. Jun-15-18    zanzibar: OK, I doublechecked <TfS_1920_0103 p4-32>, and there definitely is only the bracket dates + round numbers given. That means we don't know how Gillam arrived at his schedule. I suspect he would have cited Swedish newspaper accounts if he had access to such. Or other newspaper accounts, for that matter. My working theory is that my schedule is the most consistent, at least at the moment(*). (*) Do we have any Nordic historians who might search their country's newspaper archives? May-28-19    Pyrandus: GM Réti was Hungarian? Nobody say it... Feb-03-20    hvhgcfx: That was amazing to read. Thanks for the article. Here you go https://learndrone.tech/ Apr-15-20    Stonehenge: Nice photo: https://geheugen.delpher.nl/nl/gehe... The caption: <Chess. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Chess Federation, a chess competition is held in 1923 between Dr. Max Euwe and Richard Reti [1889-1929]. The competition takes place in the Kurhaus in Scheveningen.> Is that really Euwe? Apr-15-20    Retireborn: <Stonehenge> Very nice photo, but that is not Euwe. I assume the caption just means that Euwe and Reti were on opposing sides in the 1923 Scheveningen. I assume the mystery opponent is one of the other (Dutch?) players who were present. They are not playing a competitive game there, I think. Apr-16-20    Stonehenge: I wonder what opening that was. 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. dxc5 e5 4. Nc3 Bxc5 5. e3 Bb4 6. Qc2 d5 7. Nf3 Nbd7? May-01-20    Fusilli: Another Reti endgame study click for larger view White to play and win. Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 15) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 14 OF 15 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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