Sandor Hatala

[Mick Norris]

"It is with sadness that I report the death, at the age of 90, of Sandor Hatala, one of the founder members in 1956 of Bury Chess Club. (Although his involvement with chess in Bury pre-dates the Club, as he played chess at the Bury Atheneum Club before 1956.) He had been a Vice-President of the Club, but for some years recently had been unable to get down to play. We remember a solid and thoughtful opponent with a smiling sense of humour, and a reliable team player.
He died in hospital on 20th February following a heart attack.
Our sympathies go to his wife, Heidi, and his family.
The funeral will take place at Radcliffe Crematorium on Monday 4th March at 12 noon.

Bernard Sharples
President, Bury Chess Club"

Just to add to Bernard's comments, Sandor was a member at Bury when I first joined in 1987. He was a gentleman, a fierce competitor on the board, but always friendly off the board. Originally from Hungary, he had a particular friendship with our Polish members. We will miss him.

Mick Norris, President, Manchester Chess Federation

[Mick Norris]

As always, interesting information is provided at the funeral

Sandor was captured by the Germans in Hungary during the war, and liberated by the British, which is why he chose to come to England - his work took him overseas frequently, and he lived in South Africa for 2 years

Back to the chess, he played against Korchnoi in a simul at Marple in 1972 - I would be interested if anyone has any details about the simul, as Korchnoi must have been very strong then

[Christopher Kreuzer]

As always, interesting information is provided at the funeral

Sandor was captured by the Germans in Hungary during the war, and liberated by the British, which is why he chose to come to England - his work took him overseas frequently, and he lived in South Africa for 2 years

Back to the chess, he played against Korchnoi in a simul at Marple in 1972 - I would be interested if anyone has any details about the simul, as Korchnoi must have been very strong then

I think documenting the history of simultaneous displays is a missing niche in chess history (well, having said that, I'm sure someone will disprove this). The thread here on a Kasparov simul shows that the history is sometimes still around even years later:

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4934

If you have the exact date and location, you might find the local chess club/organisers may have records from back then, or it was reported in a newspaper or chess club magazine. All I was able to find is the following:

http://www.chessit.co.uk/Centenary/Hist ... oenix.html

"Two former Phoenix players deserve special mention. Firstly, Rodney Benjamin met Viktor Korchnoi in a 25-board simultaneous display in 1972, and was the only player to beat the (then) Russian Grandmaster."

That may be the same simul or one that took place elsewhere in the UK in the same year (the location is not given, only that Rodney Benjamin was a former Phoenix player, which may not relate to the 1972 simul). Korchnoi had not defected at that date, so would have presumably been part of an official Soviet delegation (maybe taking part in a tournament somewhere in the UK?), so that might help. Would that sort of thing have been reported in the chess magazines at the time?

Failing that, the books about Korchnoi may have some details. Sometimes you get unexpected snippets in books written by others. One book by Bronstein had details about Korchnoi I had not read elsewhere.

[Mick Norris]

Chris

Thanks for that

Thanks to help from Marple club, we now know where Victor stayed, and that it is featured in their club minutes - more info to follow

[AustinElliott]

Probably early in 1972...? Think 1971-2 was the Hastings tournament at which both Korchnoi and Karpov represented the USSR and shared 1st place, which would explain Korchnoi's presence in the UK.