Richard Réti

Submitted by Fellippo on Thu, 11/15/2007 at 3:47am.

Richard Réti (28 May 1889, Pezinok (now Slovakia) – 6 June 1929, Prague) was an Austrian-Hungarian, later Czechoslovakian chess player, chess author, and chess problemist. He was born in Pezinok which at the time was in the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary. His older brother Rudolph Réti was a noted composer and pianist^.

One of the top players in the world during the 1910s and 1920s, he began his career as a fiercely combinative classical player, favoring openings such as the King's Gambit (1. e4 e5 2. f4). However, after the end of the First World War, his playing style underwent a radical change, and he became one of the principal proponents of hypermodernism, along with Aron Nimzowitsch and others. Indeed, with the notable exception of Nimzowitsch's acclaimed book My System, he is considered to be the movement's foremost literary contributor. The Réti OpeningJosé Raúl Capablanca in New York in 1924 — Capablanca's first defeat for eight years, the only one to Reti, and the first since becoming World Champion — is named after him. He was also a notable composer of endgame studies. (1. Nf3 d5 2. c4), with which he famously defeated the world champion

In 1925 Reti set, and for a time held, the world record for blindfold chess with 29 games played simultaneously. He won 21 of these, drew 6, and only lost 2.

His writings have also become "classics" in the chess world. New Ideas in ChessMasters of the Chess Board (1930) are still studied today. (1922) and

Reti died on June 6, 1929 in Prague of scarlet fever as one of the most talented chess players in the world.

Enjoy this beautiful game!

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