Valerian Onițiu, Date of Birth, Date of Death

Valerian Onițiu

Romanian chess player

Date of Birth: 08-Apr-1872

Date of Death: 31-Dec-1948

Profession: chess composer, chess player

Nationality: Romania

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Valerian Onitiu (also Valeriu Onitiu) (April 8, 1872, Sibiu, Romania – 31 December 1948, Timisoara) was a Romanian chess problemist. Onitiu composed all types of problems particularly fairy chess problems.
Onitiu has ten chess problems in FIDE Albums. Onitiu also did significant work on knight's tours.
First in Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement (vol.1 no.12 Jun 1932 p.74) problems 452-455 he gives tours with ten three-unit lines.
The editor T.
R.
Dawson states: "V.
Onitiu writes to me that he has examined all possible cases, some 1330 in all, and is convinced that only six of them admit tours, namely Dr Hogrefe's , mine, and the following four new ones.
Second in Fairy Chess Review (vol.4 no.3 Dec 1939 p.43 problem 4135, with solution in no.6 Jun 1940 p.93.) he gives a symmetric tour with squares in a knight chain.
The editor states: "VO notes that he examined 144 dispositions of the squares, all that are possible for diametral symmetry, and this is the only case leading to a tour.
Moreover every move of the tour is determined, so that the tour is UNIQUE in all the millions possible."