Ernő Gereben, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Ernő Gereben

Hungarian-Swiss chess player

Date of Birth: 18-Jun-1907

Place of Birth: Sopron, Győr-Moson-Sopron County, Hungary

Date of Death: 16-May-1988

Profession: chess player

Nationality: Switzerland

Zodiac Sign: Gemini


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About Ernő Gereben

  • Erno Gereben (18 June 1907–16 May 1988) was a Hungarian–Swiss chess master whose half-century career extended from the mid-1920s to the late 1970s. Born in Sopron, a Hungarian town at the Austrian border, Erno Gereben used, until 1935, the German-language form of his name, Ernest (or Ernst) Grünfeld.
  • In 1926, he tied for 1st–2nd in Körmend.
  • In 1928, he won in Šumperk.
  • In 1930, he took 5th in Budapest and tied for 7–8th in Gyor.
  • In 1932, he took 7th in Budapest.
  • In 1934, he tied for 5–7th in Sopron (Rudolf Spielmann won).
  • In 1934, he tied for 13–14th in Budapest (Maróczy Jubilee), which was won by Erich Eliskases.
  • In 1935 he tied for 2nd–3rd with Albert Becker, behind László Szabó, in Tata-Tóváros.
  • In 1936, he took 4th, behind Mieczyslaw Najdorf, Lajos Steiner and Endre Steiner in Budapest.
  • Following World War II, Gereben played in several Hungarian Chess Championships.
  • In 1947, he won team gold medal and individual silver medal at sixth board in the 2nd Balkan Games in Sofia.
  • In 1947, he took 7th in Vienna (2nd Schlechter Memorial; Szabó won).
  • In 1948, he took 5th in Bad Gastein (Erik Lundin won).
  • In 1951, he won in Sopot.
  • In 1952, he took 15th in Budapest (Paul Keres won).
  • Due to the Hungarian uprising in 1956, Gereben emigrated to Switzerland and began playing extensively in the west.
  • In 1957, he took 2nd, behind Gedeon Barcza, in San Benedetto del Tronto.
  • In 1958/59, he took 3rd in Hastings.
  • In 1959, he tied for 1st in Bognor Regis.
  • In 1960, he tied for 4-5th in Zurich.
  • In 1963/64, he tied for 1st-4th in Reggio Emilia.
  • In 1967, he tied for 2nd-5th in Amsterdam (Master Tournament).
  • In 1969, he took 4th in Monte Carlo (Master Tournament). Gereben played four times in the Chess Olympiads; once for Hungary at first reserve board (+6 -3 =6) in the 11th Olympiad at Amsterdam 1954, and thrice for Switzerland; at third board (+5 -4 =7) at Siegen 1970, at second reserve (+3 -5 =5) at Skopje 1972, and at first reserve board (+3 –3 =7) at Nice 1974. He remained a keen player in his adopted country even into his seventies.
  • The British Chess Magazine editor, Bernard Cafferty, described him as "a delightfully friendly personality, rather different to many of the continental masters of that time.
  • Chess was fun for him, not just a way to make a living." Gereben was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1950.
  • He died in Switzerland in the year of his 81st birthday.

Read more at Wikipedia

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