Wolfgang Heidenfeld
Wolfgang Heide field (* May 29, 1911 in Schöneberg; † August 3, 1981 in Ulm ) was a German - Irish chess player. Heidefeld spent a long time in exile in South Africa and later in Ireland.
Biography
Heidefeld was born in Schöneberg, which is part of Berlin since 1920. An avid chess player, who had taken up the study of law, was forced because of his Jewish ancestry, to escape the mid-thirties from Germany.
He spent more than twenty years in exile in South Africa. He battled his way through a variety of activities. Besides his chess activities, he wrote crossword puzzles, writing short stories and worked as a journalist or agents. During the Second World War heath field should also have in the decoding of German messages helped by the Allies.
The then ruling system in South Africa of apartheid refused heath field, especially since he had become a victim of discrimination even in his youth. In 1957 he decided to re- emigration and moved to Dublin. His new home in Ireland he had met the year before at a chess tournament.
However, his biography was further marked changes of location. He lived for several years in Frankfurt am Main, before he in 1963 with his new German wife, this time for a longer period settled in Ireland. In 1979 Heidefeld eventually moved with his family to Ulm, where he died two years later.
Chess career
His chess career reflects the unusual life heath field. During his time in South Africa, he won a total of eight times the national championship in chess. Heidefeld represented the country in 1958 in Munich also took part in the first Chess Olympiad, at the South Africa.
In his career he scored match wins against such strong opponents like the former Dutch world champion Max Euwe or Miguel Najdorf. However, he never won the title of International Master. According to one version Heidefeld, who was known for his very individual had finally achieved the necessary qualification, but declined the award by the World Chess Federation.
The Irish Chess dominated heath field around a decade. He won 1958-1972 a total of six times the national championship. In the years 1966, 1968, 1970 and 1974 he also was a member of the Irish team at the Chess Olympiad.
Heidefeld also worked as a chess composer and was the author of several chess books, including the German band appeared on Big drawn games.
In a game against Kerins Heidefeld castled twice by mistake in Dublin in 1973. Because the breach of the rules of chess gone unnoticed, he, setting a " record " for the greatest number of reshuffles on in a tournament game.
German - Irish chess family
His son Mark Heath field (* 1968) also emerged in chess and is an International Master. He won the 2000 Irish national championship and represented Ireland since 1996 in several Chess Olympiads.