Walter Niephaus
Walter Niephaus ( born March 30, 1923 in Moers, † November 2, 1992 in Andernach ) belonged in the 1940s and 1950s, one of the strongest German chess players.
Life
At 15, he came to Frankfurt am Main, where he graduated as a bank clerk and an uncle learned to play chess. In March 1942 he was Master of Frankfurt city. At this time he defeated in two simultaneous games the terminal on a tour of world chess champion Alexander Alekhine, who said in a letter to the Board of the Greater German Chess Federation about Niephaus: After Klaus Boy ( Hamburg ), I have yet to meet a young player of similar talent in Germany.
At the German Championships 1942 in Bad Oeynhausen he was eleventh. A little later Niephaus was called up for military service and became German champion in chess army.
After the war he took part in eight times German Championships, with his best results were two fourth places. He also starred twice in the Dähne Cup final, but lost in 1950 against Lothar Schmid and 1954 after Tie against Karl Gilg. In 1955 established the German ranking Niephaus the No. 4 In correspondence chess, he was active in 1947 and second in the German Championship.
In 1951 he won in Wiesbaden a match against Belgian champions and later Grand Master O'Kelly with 3,5:2,5. Niephaus played 47 matches for the German national team, among others, at the Chess Olympiad in Moscow in 1956. There he achieved a positive balance with 6.5 points out of 10.
With his club he Düsseldorf SG 1960 German team champion.
Until his retirement he worked as a claims adjuster for an insurance company in Dusseldorf. After a work-related break, he played at SV Andernach in the Rhineland -Palatinate League.
His best Historical Elo rating was 2563 in January 1952. He was so number 87 in the world.