János Flesch
Encyclopedia
János Flesch was a chess
Grandmaster, chess writer and coach, born in Budapest
, Hungary
. He is best known for claiming a world record simultaneous
blindfold
exhibition when he played 52 opponents in Budapest
in 1960. However, he was apparently allowed to consult scoresheets of the games and therefore his claim was disallowed.
Flesch was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1963 and the Honorary Grandmaster (GM) title in 1980. He died in an automobile accident with his wife Ildiko Tenyei in Whitstable
, England
, in 1983.
Represented Hungary on the Tel-Aviv Chess Olympiad
(1964) (fourth place), also participated in the European Team Chess Championship in Hamburg
(1965) (third place).
From 1967 he was working as chess trainer:
(1967–1970) Ferencvárosi Torna Club
(FTC) Chess Club
(1971–1983) PMSC Chess Club
material in search for the initiative
in chess. In many of his sharp games he won with a creative attack against the opponent's king
.
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
Grandmaster, chess writer and coach, born in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. He is best known for claiming a world record simultaneous
Simultaneous exhibition
A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition in which one player plays multiple games at a time with a number of other players. Such an exhibition is often referred to simply as a "simul".In a regular simul, no chess clocks are used...
blindfold
Blindfold chess
Blindfold chess is a form of chess play wherein the players do not see the positions of the pieces or touch them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces...
exhibition when he played 52 opponents in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
in 1960. However, he was apparently allowed to consult scoresheets of the games and therefore his claim was disallowed.
Flesch was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1963 and the Honorary Grandmaster (GM) title in 1980. He died in an automobile accident with his wife Ildiko Tenyei in Whitstable
Whitstable
Whitstable is a seaside town in Northeast Kent, Southeast England. It is approximately north of the city of Canterbury and approximately west of the seaside town of Herne Bay. It is part of the City of Canterbury district and has a population of about 30,000.Whitstable is famous for its oysters,...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1983.
Represented Hungary on the Tel-Aviv Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
(1964) (fourth place), also participated in the European Team Chess Championship in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
(1965) (third place).
From 1967 he was working as chess trainer:
(1967–1970) Ferencvárosi Torna Club
Ferencvárosi Torna Club
Ferencvárosi TC or FTC , simply known as Ferencváros, nicknamed Fradi , is a sport club in Hungary, founded in 1899 by Ferenc Springer and a group of local residents of Budapest's ninth district, Ferencváros. Ferencváros is best known for winning the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 1964-65 in 1965 by...
(FTC) Chess Club
(1971–1983) PMSC Chess Club
Playing style
János Flesch was an attacking player, taking risk in his games, developing an imaginative style of play. He often sacrificedSacrifice (chess)
In chess, a sacrifice is a move giving up a piece in the hopes of gaining tactical or positional compensation in other forms. A sacrifice could also be a deliberate exchange of a chess piece of higher value for an opponent's piece of lower value....
material in search for the initiative
Initiative (chess)
Initiative in a chess position belongs to the player who can make threats that cannot be ignored. He thus puts his opponent in the position of having to use his turns responding to threats rather than making his own. A player with the initiative will often seek to maneuver his pieces into more and...
in chess. In many of his sharp games he won with a creative attack against the opponent's king
King (chess)
In chess, the king is the most important piece. The object of the game is to trap the opponent's king so that its escape is not possible . If a player's king is threatened with capture, it is said to be in check, and the player must remove the threat of capture on the next move. If this cannot be...
.
Notable chess games
- Janos Flesch vs Mikhail Tal, Miskolc 1963, Sicilian Defense: Modern Variations,(B50), ½–½ The opponent is not else than the "Magician from Riga" the great World Champion - Mikhail TalMikhail TalMikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
and Janos Flesch secures a draw in a fighting game. - Janos Flesch vs Hrumo, BFX Budapest 1960, King's Gambit: Accepted.Rosentreter-Testa Gambit,(C37), 1-0 A creative short attacking game, representing the playing style of J.Flesch.
- Janos Flesch vs Viktor Korchnoi, Belgrade 1964, Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian. General,(B30), 1-0
- Janos Flesch vs Svetozar Gligoric, Belgrade 1964, King's Indian Attack(A07), ½–½
- Boris Spassky vs Janos Flesch, Tel-Aviv 1964, Queen's Gambit Declined: Lasker Defense. Main Line.(D57), ½–½