In 8, May, after 3 days of his 99th birthday died GM Andor Lilienthal the great old man of Universal Chess-playing. In his life he defeated 6 world champions and achieved numerous successes. One of these there was in the Warsaw Olympiad in 1935. His olympic result in Warsaw is excellent: +11 =8 –0.

There he played in succession against:             Scored:

Sir George A. Thomas (England)                        0,5

Karl Opocensky (Czecho-Slovakia)                     1

Frank Marshall (USA)                                         1

J. Bolbochan (Argentina)                                  1

G. Stolz (Sweden)                                           0,5

M. Monticelli (Italy)                                         1

J. J. O’Hanlon (Ireland)                                   0,5

L. Betbéder (France)                                       1

F. Aspeniek (Latvia)                                        0,5

H. Grob (Switzerland)                                     0,5

Vasja Pirc (Yugoslavia)                                    1

Paulin Frydman (Poland)                                  0,5

B. Nielsen (Denmark)                                      1

Rudolph Spielmann (Austria)                             0,5

I. Solin (Finland)                                             1

S. Machtas (Lithuania)                                     1

G. Friedemann (Estonia)                                  1

Dawid Enoch (Palestina)                                  0,5

Troian Ichim (Romania)                                   1

What a list of names! The 24 years old Lilienthal on the second board played in all round. He was playing in the Hungarian team in 3 Olympiad and performed above 75 percent. Here is his best game from Warsaw in the 8th round against France. (Beside Lilienthal were playing Alekhine and Lajos Steiner at the first board the score was 0,5 – 0,5.) Behold here is the game on the second board:

Lilienthal published his book „My life is the Chess” in 1985 in Budapest. From this book here is a quote when he went Paris (in 1930) and met with Alekhine at the chessboard in the Café de la Régence in the „Mekka” of chessplaying:

„Still I haven’t completed my 19th year and there wasn’t such a quick chessplayer in the Régence who was similar to me. Soon after I had the honour that Alekhine sat down to me for 4 quick games. I did overexert myself and the world champion might has been underestimating me, because the first three games I won and lost the fourth only. Alekhine looked for me hardly and declared definitely that he want play four games still. I got frightened a little: ’- Sir Doctor, I’m unwilling to play more. I would preserve this result as a souvenir. This is a very great pleasure for me because nobody could be boasting that defeated the world champion, except me.’ – answered timidly because Alekhine had a nervous disposition with quick speech. But he laughed at my request and had put away the chessmen.”

One of Chess Classics is gone. Let go with him Caissa as first guardian angel! Rest in peace!