Albéric O'Kelly de Galway
Alberic O'Kelly de Galway Ecuyer ( born May 17, 1911 in Ruisbroeck (near Brussels), † October 3, 1980 in Brussels ) was a Belgian chess master and the third correspondence chess world champion.
Life
Descent
O'Kelly's ancestors came from Ireland. 1720 immigrated ancestor, John O'Kelly, from Liege to. This ancestor was given the hereditary title of nobility Belgian Ecuyer, the Alberic also contributed.
OTB
O'Kelly learned the game of chess as a 12 -year-old. As a student, he joined the Brussels Chess Club L' Echiquire, where he played regularly with the then Belgian top players Frits van Seters, Paul Devos and Paul Limbo. Since the 1930s, O'Kelly was for decades the leading Belgian chess master. He became the first professional chess player in Western Europe. Although Akiba Rubinstein lived in Belgium, but put this tournament play 1932. One of more than a hundred games O'Kellys friendship with Rubinstein have survived. O'Kelly was 1937, when Belgian champion and repeated this success yet seven times, namely in 1950, 1954, 1956, 1960, 1962, 1964 and 1968.
He represented Belgium in eight chess Olympiads, namely in 1937 in Stockholm, 1950 in Dubrovnik, 1954 in Amsterdam, in Moscow in 1956, in Leipzig in 1960, 1962 in Varna, 1966 in Havana and in 1968 in Lugano. His athletic best phase he had by the mid-1940s to mid-1950s. In 1946 he won in Beverwijk, 1947, he won the zone tournament in Hilversum, waived, however, to participate in the interzonal Saltsjöbaden 1948 more tournament victories. São Paulo in 1948, Dortmund 1951, Dublin 1954, Ostend 1956, Utrecht 1961, Málaga in 1963 and 1967.
The World Chess Federation FIDE awarded the title of International Master O'Kelly 1950 and 1956 the Grand Master title.
Since the 1960s, O'Kelly also took part in the team's struggles in the FRG. He was hired by the patron of the Solingen SG 1868, the industrialist Egon Evertz, for his team and coached his employer. With the blades townspeople he won several German championships.
O'Kelly's best historical Elo rating was 2675 in January 1957.
According to him, the O'Kelly system is named in the Sicilian Defence: 1.e2 -e4 c7 - c5 2.Sg1 -f3 a7 - a6.
Correspondence Chess
O'Kelly devoted himself since 1937, the correspondence chess. He won the national championship of Belgium in this discipline repeatedly, namely 1942/43 and 1943 / 44th When played out between 1959 and 1962 Dyckhoff Memorial Tournament, he finished second ( behind Lothar Schmid). At the 3rd World Championship, played from 1962 to 1965, he was the winner. In Ragozin Memorial Tournament, he finished 1966 2nd place behind Horst Rittner.
About the Correspondence Chess O'Kelly said: The correspondence chess is the possibility of almost infallibly to solve most chess problems. It is thus not only an art but also a science! ( quoted from: F. Baumbach: 52 - 54, stop: correspondence chess, Berlin 1990)
Referee
O'Kelly, who was a polyglot, 1962 also International Judge FIDE. He headed in this function, the world championship matches between Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky in 1966 and 1969. Moreover, the candidate final bout in 1974 between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi.
Awards
O'Kelly was honored for his achievements in chess by the Belgian royal house with the Palme d'Or.
Death
O'Kelly suffered to his death from leukemia, the cause of death was also his. 1980, it was after he had trained the Mexican national team, ill admitted, transferred from there to Brussels, where he died on October 3, 1980 at Border Hospital to a hospital in Mexico City.
Works
- Match Botvinnik - Smyslov. Ed. du Marais, Bruxelles 1957
- 34 times chess logic. Verlag de Gruyter, Berlin 1964
- Tigran Petrosian, champion du monde. Ed. du Marais, Bruxelles 1964
- The Sicilan flank game. Batsford, London 1969
- Assess your chess almost. Batsford, London 1978. ISBN 0-7134-1056-6
- Improve your chess almost. Batsford, London 1978. ISBN 0-7134-1054- X