Reti, Richard
Last updated on Sun, 05/04/2008 at 6:05pm.
Richard Reti (1889-1929) was one of the founders of the hypermodern school of chess, along with Nimzovich, Tartakower, and Breyer. He was born in Hungary and went to Vienna to study mathematics, but gave that up for chess. Richard Reti played in both the Hungarian and Czechoslovakian national championship in the same year. In 1924, Reti defeated Capablanca in the great 1924 New York tournament. It was Capablanca’s first defeat in 10 years. In 1925 he went to South America and played 29 games simultaneously, blindfolded. It was a record at the time. He was hit by a street car and taken to a hospital to heal in Prague. While in the hospital he contracted scarlet fever, which killed him. He was 40 years old. He was the author of the classic Modern Ideas in Chess.