Remembering Heinz Lehmann
Heinz Gerhard Lehmann (20 October 1921, Königsberg – 8 June 1995, Berlin) was a German chess grandmaster and 1956 Berlin Chess Champion. He studied law.
He was a national player in the 1950s and 1960s, took part in the 13th and 14th Chess Olympiad. He played for West Germany in the 1957 European Chess Championship, and won the individual bronze medal for his board.
Lehmann tied for first with Rudolf Teschner at the 1947 Berlin Championship, but lost in the playoff match. He became a regular participant in the Berlin event and finally took the title in 1956. He won the Malta Open in 1958 and took first at Kiel (Germany) in 1961. He also won at Amsterdam in 1963. Another first place finish came at Beverwijk 1964. In 1968 he had two first place finishes: one at Olot Spain, and the other in the 17th High Tatra Cup at Starý Smokovec (Czechoslovakia). He tied for first with Spanish GM Arturo Pomar Salamanca at the 16th Clare Benedict Cup held in July 1969 at Adelboden Switzerland, and he was first place again at the 1969 Starý Smokovec Tournament. Finally, he was on the winning team in 1976 for the European Chess Club Cup.
Lehmann earned the IM title in 1961 and was awarded the honorary GM title in 1992. He remained active in OTB Tournament play until his death in June 1995. His final tournament was the Spring Open held at Budapest (Hungary) that year.
The following game was played at the Hoogovens Tournament in Beverwijk (Netherlands) against three-time Dutch Champion Jan Hein Donner. The game was played January 6th, 1965 in the First Round.
The next game was also played at the 1965 Hoogovens Event. It was January 13th in the Seventh Round. His opponent was the eight-time Hungarian Chess Champion, Lajos Portisch.
The third featured game was in the tenth round at Palma de Mallorca in Spain. The date was December 9th, 1966, and his opponent was the three-time Yugoslavian Champion Borislav Ivkov.
The final game was against Hungarian Champion Pál Benkő (Benkő was a US. citizen by the time of this game). This was played December 6th, 1968 in the eleventh round at Palma de Mallorca.
