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Walter John

WALTER JOHN (born Jan-29-1879, died Dec-27-1944, 65 years old) Germany [what is this?] Walter John was born in Thorn (Toruń)(1). He moved to Berlin, where he died in 1944. John was a pharmacist by profession. John was an amateur player, but of master strength. He played sporadically over time e.g. 1904-10, 1914, 1917-1920, 1932-1934, 1938, 1940. He drew a match with Marco in 1905, beat Speilmann in a match in Munich in 1908 Munich +5 -3 =0, and lost to Reti in Breslau in 1914. He was the runner-up in the 1902 tournament at Café Kerkau, finishing behind Curt von Bardeleben. In 1908, John moved from Barmen to Aschersleben, to work as a pharmacist. The editors of the Elberfeld club magazine gave the departing master a nice testimonial in the issue of January 4th: "His departure leaves a noticeable gap in the chess scene in Wuppertal and across the Rhine, especially since John has won many friends through his friendly cooperation in organizing simultaneous displays, consultation games, etc." (2) John won the Main tournament of the 13th German Chess Congress in Hannover. He drew a match with Jacques Mieses in Leipzig, 1917, with +1 =3 -1. (3) John was associated with the Nazi 'Kraft durch Freude' (Strength Through Joy) state leisure organisation. He played in regional tournaments and gave exhibitions organised by the group in Germany and occupied Poland. In 1940, for example, he played in several KdF events. (1). Wikipedia article: Toruń (2). (Neue) Wiener Schachzeitung February 1908 (3). Wikipedia article: Walter John Last updated: 2024-12-31 18:00:29

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page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 173  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. D Bleijkmans vs W John   1-0 41 1902 DSB-13.Kongress Hauptturnier A D00 Queen's Pawn Game 2. W John vs A Edelheim   1-0 39 1902 DSB-13.Kongress Hauptturnier A C42 Petrov Defense 3. W John vs B Leussen   1-0 29 1902 DSB-13.Kongress Hauptturnier A C41 Philidor Defense 4. Pillsbury vs W John   ½-½ 23 1902 Pillsbury Blindfold Simul 21b, Hanover B32 Sicilian 5. W John vs E Dyckhoff 0-1 10 1904 ? C69 Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Gligoric Variation 6. W John vs O Bernstein 0-1 33 1904 14th DSB Congress, Coburg C69 Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Gligoric Variation 7. von Bardeleben vs W John 1-0 54 1904 14th DSB Congress, Coburg D55 Queen's Gambit Declined 8. W John vs H Caro 1-0 47 1904 14th DSB Congress, Coburg C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 9. J Mieses vs W John   ½-½ 73 1904 14th DSB Congress, Coburg B25 Sicilian, Closed 10. W John vs Schlechter ½-½ 35 1904 14th DSB Congress, Coburg D02 Queen's Pawn Game 11. H Wolf vs W John 1-0 33 1904 14th DSB Congress, Coburg C41 Philidor Defense 12. W John vs G Marco 0-1 29 1904 14th DSB Congress, Coburg C78 Ruy Lopez 13. J Berger vs W John 1-0 52 1904 14th DSB Congress, Coburg D00 Queen's Pawn Game 14. W John vs H Suechting 0-1 23 1904 14th DSB Congress, Coburg C67 Ruy Lopez 15. von Gottschall vs W John   ½-½ 47 1904 14th DSB Congress, Coburg A07 King's Indian Attack 16. W John vs Swiderski 1-0 37 1904 14th DSB Congress, Coburg D02 Queen's Pawn Game 17. L Forgacs vs W John   ½-½ 23 1904 14th DSB Congress, Coburg C55 Two Knights Defense 18. A Flad vs W John   ½-½ 70 1905 Frankfurt C41 Philidor Defense 19. H Suechting vs W John 1-0 27 1905 Barmen Meisterturnier A C41 Philidor Defense 20. W John vs Burn   0-1 37 1905 Barmen Meisterturnier A C68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange 21. Alapin vs W John   0-1 63 1905 Barmen Meisterturnier A B73 Sicilian, Dragon, Classical 22. W John vs Chigorin   ½-½ 65 1905 Barmen Meisterturnier A C68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange 23. W John vs O Bernstein   0-1 54 1905 Barmen Meisterturnier A C68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange 24. Maroczy vs W John 0-1 43 1905 Barmen Meisterturnier A D31 Queen's Gambit Declined 25. W John vs J Berger ½-½ 37 1905 Barmen Meisterturnier A C68 Ruy Lopez, Exchange  page 1 of 7; games 1-25 of 173

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Apr-19-04    Honza Cervenka: Chessgames.com, John is the surname of this player. Apr-19-04    chessgames.com: Thanks. We found some other games of his hiding under different player folders. I see he's a strong player, he beat and drew some of the best. Apr-20-04    Honza Cervenka: See also http://www.chessmetrics.com/PL/PL17... Jan-12-06    cu8sfan: At the time when this player was active, the real hero was Walter Johnson! http://www.baseball-reference.com/j... Jan-12-06    Castle In The Sky: (cu8sfan) The unsung pitching phenom of the long defunct, from a perspective of baseball and politics, Senators. May-04-08    Chessical: John was an amateur player, but of master strength. He played sporadically over time e.g. 1904-10, 1914, 1917-1920, 1932-1934, 1938, 1940. He drew a match with Marco in 1905, beat Speilmann in a match in Munich in 1908 Munich +5 -3 =0, and lost to Reti in Breslau in 1914. Jul-31-10    Dredge Rivers: Not to be confused with John Walter! Jul-31-10    BobCrisp: Nor with Prester John: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preste... Aug-08-10    Dredge Rivers: Goodnight Walter Johnboy! Aug-08-10    whiteshark: In September 1940, he won in Danzig. In December 1940, he died in Berlin. Bio/Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter... Jul-15-12    Karpova: Walter John moved from Barmen to Aschersleben in 1908. Page 56 of the 1908 '(Neue) Wiener Schachzeitung' Sep-08-20    Alan McGowan: Ancestry.com has the following marriage record:- Walter Hugo Albert John, an 'Apotheker' (pharmacist, John's known profession) married Julie Gehrmann in Frankenberg, Saxony on 29 December 1910. The document records John's birth information as 29 January 1879 in Sandomierz, 'Russland' (later, Poland), as that area was still under Russian control at the time of his birth. A 1915 record shows him living in Breslau (Wroclaw). Ranneforths Schach-Kalender 1920 shows him residing in Berlin. He appears in later editions of RSK at Emser Strasse 40, Berlin W15, and this is the address for him in the 1943 Berlin Address Book. The Wikipedia entry for Walter John offers no sources for his date/place of birth or his death, stated to be December 1940, Berlin. The German researcher Peter Anderberg has previously shown elsewhere that Schach-Echo of 10 June 1942 had a report of a simultaneous exhibition by John in Posen on 1 May 1942. John was associated with the Kraft durch Freude (Strength Through Joy) state leisure organisation. He played in regional tournaments and gave exhibitions organised by the group in Germany and occupied Poland. In 1940, for example, he played in several KdF events: Zoppot: John (Berlin) 6½; Rogmann 4½; Ahues and Elstner 4 and four others. Berlin: Elstner 7½; Rogmann 7; Hartmann and W. John 6½. Leipzig: E. Grünfeld 6½/8; W. John and Rogmann 5½; Elstner 4½; Heuäcker 4; Kübart 3½; Zollner 3; Ulrich 2; Wacker 1. (Deutsche Schachzeitung 1940, pp 158 & 187.) Apr-17-21    Alan McGowan: Berlin-Charlottenburg death record no. 4228, December 1944, shows that Walter John of Berlin-Wilmersdorf, Emserstrasse 40, died 27 December 1944 at Eschenallee 28, Berlin-Charlottenburg, likely a nursing home. The cause of death was cancer that had metastasized. The document shows the deceased was born 29 January 1879 in Sandomir, Galizien, as well as giving his wife and parents' names. Apr-17-21    Chessist: No, it was a hospital: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauli... May-23-21    Jishi II: How does an incorrect death date for Walter John come into the chess world? Also, from his marriage document found at Ancestry.com is this statement: Hiernächst erklärt der unter Nr. 1 genannte Walter Hugo Albert John nach entsprechender Belehrung, daß er das von seiner nunmehrigen Ehefrau am 4. Juni 1910 zu Dresden geborene Kind, Vornamens "Fritz", dessen Geburt unter Nr.1453 im Geburtsregister des Königlichen Standesamts zu Dresden V(?) vom Jahre 1910 beurkundet ist, als das seinige anerkennt. Jun-29-21    Jishi II: Hiernaechst erklaert der unter Nr. 1 genannte Walter Hugo Albert John nach entsprechender Belehrung, dass er das von seiner nunmehrigen Ehefrau am 4. Juni 1910 zu Dresden geborene Kind, Vornamens "Fritz", dessen Geburt unter Nr.1453 im Geburtsregister des Koeniglichen Standesamts zu Dresden V(?) vom Jahre 1910 beurkundet ist, als das seinige anerkennt. (special characters converted for better reading) Aug-02-21    wrap99: In Lasker's Adventure of Chess, this player challenged Nimzovitch to a duel, not at chess but a real one but never happened according to the story because Nimzovitch wanted to have a fist fight when offered choice of weapons. Aug-02-21    offramp: Nimzo wanted a BANFF (a bare-knuckle fist-fight). Apr-01-25    stone free or die: RE: Biographer Notes: Two tournaments (1932/33 Berlin-ch), with <Jones, Wilhelm> merged in: Biographer Bistro (kibitz #31880) Ssshhh, don't tell <jn>, but where did <Wilhelm> come from? < Notes: Di Felice has 'John, Wilhelm' at this event; McGowan has 'John, Walter> http://www.edochess.ca/tournaments/...

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