Robert Hübner
Encyclopedia
Robert Hübner is a respected German chess
Grandmaster, chess writer, and papyrologist
(an expert in Egyptian
hieroglyphics
). At eighteen, he was joint winner of the West German Chess Championship
. In 1975, he became one of the world's leading players, rising to third place in the FIDE world ranking list in 1980.
—"His perfectionist and rather pessimistic approach, however, prevented him from reaching the very top". Certainly, his progress was hampered by disputes and withdrawals at inopportune moments; he withdrew from his 1971 Candidates Match against Tigran Petrosian
over a dispute about intolerable conditions, and again from a 1980 Candidates Match against Viktor Korchnoi
. His fortune was dealt a particularly cruel blow at his 1983 Candidates Quarter Final match against Vasily Smyslov
, when Smyslov refused to play tie-break rapid games (these were optional at the time and a noted strength of Hübner). Consequently, the match was awarded to Smyslov on the spin of a roulette wheel.
At his strongest as a chess player in the mid-seventies to early eighties, he participated in many of the elite tournaments of the day, such as Tilburg
1978 and Montreal
1979 (The Tournament of Stars), playing alongside Anatoly Karpov
, Mikhail Tal
, and Jan Timman
. There were tournament victories at Houston 1974, Munich
1979 (shared with Ulf Andersson
and Boris Spassky
), Rio de Janeiro
Interzonal
1979 (shared with Lajos Portisch
and Tigran Petrosian
) and Linares
1985 (shared with Ljubomir Ljubojević
). He remained active on the international chess circuit into the 2000s, but has never been a full-time chess professional due to his academic career.
Hübner's contributions to chess literature include the study of World Champions and extensive analysis of 19th century chess brilliancies. His recent contributions are detailed analysis and study of the chess games of World Champions – notably Bobby Fischer
and Alexander Alekhine
.
He served as a second to Nigel Short
in his efforts to win the World Chess Championship
match against Garry Kasparov
in 1993. In 2000 he won with the German team a silver medal in the 34th Chess Olympiad
in Istanbul
.
His International Master (IM) title was awarded in 1969 and his Grandmaster (GM) title in 1971.
He is the eponym of the Hübner Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defence
, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bxc3+.
Additionally, Hübner is known as one of the world's best xiangqi
players not from China.
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 papyrologist
Papyrology
Papyrology is the study of ancient literature, correspondence, legal archives, etc., as preserved in manuscripts written on papyrus, the most common form of writing material in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome...
(an expert in Egyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
hieroglyphics
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
). At eighteen, he was joint winner of the West German Chess Championship
German Chess Championship
The German Chess Championship has been played since 1861, and determines the national champion.Prior to 1880 three different federations organized chess activities in Germany: the Westdeutscher Schachbund , the Norddeutscher Schachbund and the Mitteldeutscher Schachbund . Each one organized its...
. In 1975, he became one of the world's leading players, rising to third place in the FIDE world ranking list in 1980.
Biography
Over the chess board, Hübner's technique has been described as efficient and ruthless. According to Bill HartstonWilliam Hartston
William Roland Hartston is an English chess player who played competitively from 1962 to 1987 with a highest Elo rating of 2515...
—"His perfectionist and rather pessimistic approach, however, prevented him from reaching the very top". Certainly, his progress was hampered by disputes and withdrawals at inopportune moments; he withdrew from his 1971 Candidates Match against Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
over a dispute about intolerable conditions, and again from a 1980 Candidates Match against Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ; pronounced in the original Russian as "karch NOY"; Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, born March 23, 1931 is a professional chess player, author and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the tournament circuit...
. His fortune was dealt a particularly cruel blow at his 1983 Candidates Quarter Final match against Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...
, when Smyslov refused to play tie-break rapid games (these were optional at the time and a noted strength of Hübner). Consequently, the match was awarded to Smyslov on the spin of a roulette wheel.
At his strongest as a chess player in the mid-seventies to early eighties, he participated in many of the elite tournaments of the day, such as Tilburg
Tilburg
Tilburg is a landlocked municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brabant.Tilburg municipality also includes the villages of Berkel-Enschot and Udenhout....
1978 and Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
1979 (The Tournament of Stars), playing alongside Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
, Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail 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 Jan Timman
Jan Timman
Jan Timman is a Dutch chess Grandmaster who was one of the world's leading players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. At the peak of his career he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known as "The Best of the West"...
. There were tournament victories at Houston 1974, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
1979 (shared with Ulf Andersson
Ulf Andersson
Ulf Andersson is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972 .-Career:...
and Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
), Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
Interzonal
Interzonal
Interzonal chess tournaments were tournaments organized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and were a stage in the triennial World Chess Championship cycle.- Zonal tournaments :...
1979 (shared with Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik"...
and Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else...
) and Linares
Linares chess tournament
The Linares International Chess Tournament , is an annual chess tournament, usually played around the end of February, takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén province of Andalusia, Spain, in which it is held...
1985 (shared with Ljubomir Ljubojević
Ljubomir Ljubojevic
Ljubomir Ljubojević is a Grandmaster of chess. He was born on November 2, 1950, in Titovo Užice, Yugoslavia . Ljubojević was awarded the International Master title in 1970 and the GM title in 1971. He was Yugoslav champion in 1977 and 1982. He won the 1974 Canadian Open Chess Championship...
). He remained active on the international chess circuit into the 2000s, but has never been a full-time chess professional due to his academic career.
Hübner's contributions to chess literature include the study of World Champions and extensive analysis of 19th century chess brilliancies. His recent contributions are detailed analysis and study of the chess games of World Champions – notably Bobby Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
and Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
.
He served as a second to Nigel Short
Nigel Short
Nigel David Short MBE is an English chess grandmaster earning the title at the age of 19. Short is often regarded as the strongest English player of the 20th century as he was ranked third in the world, from January 1988 – July 1989 and in 1993, he challenged Garry Kasparov for the World Chess...
in his efforts to win the World Chess Championship
World Chess Championship
The World Chess Championship is played to determine the World Champion in the board game chess. Men and women of any age are eligible to contest this title....
match against Garry Kasparov
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, and one of the greatest chess players of all time....
in 1993. In 2000 he won with the German team a silver medal in the 34th Chess Olympiad
34th Chess Olympiad
The 34th Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, took place between October 28 and November 12, 2000, in Istanbul, Turkey.- Chess competition :...
in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
.
His International Master (IM) title was awarded in 1969 and his Grandmaster (GM) title in 1971.
He is the eponym of the Hübner Variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defence
Nimzo-Indian Defence
The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:This hypermodern opening was developed by Grandmaster Aron Nimzowitsch who introduced it to master-level chess in the early 20th century. Unlike most Indian openings the Nimzo-Indian does not involve an immediate fianchetto,...
, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bxc3+.
Additionally, Hübner is known as one of the world's best xiangqi
Xiangqi
Xiangqi is a two-player Chinese board game in the same family as Western chess, chaturanga, shogi, Indian chess and janggi. The present-day form of Xiangqi originated in China and is therefore commonly called Chinese chess in English. Xiangqi is one of the most popular board games in China...
players not from China.
Notable chess games
- Robert James Fischer vs Robert Hübner, Palma de Mallorca iz 1970, Caro-Kann Defense: Breyer Variation (B10), 1/2-1/2 A dramatic game with central pawn attacks against the GM Robert James Fischer.
- Robert Hübner vs Raymond Keene, Vienna (Austria) 1972, Modern Defense: King Pawn Fianchetto (B06), 1-0 After a long series of manoeuvres the White pressure on the Black king position peaks in a winning combination.