- Lajos Steiner
Lajos Steiner (born
14 June 1903 ,Nagyvárad (Oradea ) – died22 April 1975 ,Sydney ) was a Hungarian–bornAustralia n chess master.Steiner, who was
Jew ish, was one of four children of Bernat Steiner, mathematics teacher, and his wife Cecilia, née Schwarz (Lajos was a younger brother ofEndre Steiner ). He was educated at the Technical High School,Budapest , and gained a diploma inmechanical engineering (1926) from the Technikum Mittweida,Germany .Both he and his elder brother Endre started playing in master chess events in Budapest while they were schoolboys. He was granted the title of master at the age of 19. In the late 1920s Steiner spent two years working as an engineer in the
United States . Back in Europe, he turned professional, but made a precarious living from tournamentsIn 1923, he tied for 4-5th in Vienna. In 1925 he took 2nd, behind
Sándor Takács , in Budapest. In 1927, he won in Schandau and tied for 2nd-3rd in Kecskemét. In 1927/28, he took 2nd. In 1929, he took 2nd in Bradley Beach. [http://www.anders.thulin.name/SUBJECTS/CHESS/CTCIndex.pdf Name Index to Jeremy Gaige's "Chess Tournament Crosstables", An Electronic Edition, Anders Thulin, Malmö] In 1931, he won in Budapest (HUN-ch), took 5th in Vienna, and tied for 5-6th in Berlin. The event was won byHerman Steiner . In 1932/33, he tied for 3rd-4th in Hastings (Salo Flohr won). In 1933, he tied for 2nd-3rd inOstrava . The event was won byErnst Grünfeld . In 1933, he took 4th in Budapest.In 1934, he tied for 1st-2nd with
Vasja Pirc in Maribor (Marburg). In 1935, he tied for 1st-2nd withErich Eliskases in Vienna (the 18thTrebitsch Memorial ). In 1935, he tied for 5-6th in Łódź (Lodz) (Savielly Tartakower won) and took 4th in Tatatovaros (László Szabó won). In 1936, he won, with Mieczysław Najdorf, in Budapest (HUN-ch). In 1937, he took 2nd, behindAlexander Koblencs in Brno (Brunn), and took 3rd in Zoppot (Sopot). In 1937/38, he won in Vienna (the 20th Trebitsch Memorial). In 1938, he tied for 3rd-4th in Ljubljana (Laibach). The event was won byBorislav Kostić . In 1938, he tied for 8-9th in Lodz where Pirc won. [http://www.rogerpaige.me.uk]Lajos Steiner played a few matches. In 1930, he lost (+3 –5 =2) to
Isaac Kashdan . In 1934, he won (+7 –3) againstPál Réthy . In 1935, he won (+3 –1) withHenri Grob .He played for Hungary in the
Chess Olympiads .
* In 1931, he played at second board at 4th Olympiad in Prague (+10 –3 =4).
* In 1933, he played at second board at 5th Olympiad in Folkestone (+5 –4 =5).
* In 1935, he played at first board at 6th Olympiad in Warsaw (+7 –4 =7).
* In 1936, he played at second board at unofficial Olympiad in Munich (+13 –2 =5). He won individual bronze medal in Prague, and team gold medal and individual silver medal in Munich. [ [http://www.olimpbase.org OlimpBase :: the encyclopaedia of team chess ] ]In 1936 Steiner toured Australia. Although he played in the 1936-37 Australian championship in Perth, and won every game, he was ineligible for the title. He returned to
Western Australia in theCharon on 11 March, 1939, en route to settle in Sydney.His father and brother died in
Nazi concentration camp s. On 19 October, 1939 Steiner married Augusta Edna Kingston, who had won the New South Wales women's chess championship six times; they remained childless. Unable to earn a living from tournament chess, he found work as a mechanical draughtsman, first with International Combustion Australasia Pty Ltd., and then with Electricity Meter and Allied Industries Ltd. He was naturalized in 1944. In 1949 he was appointed a designing draughtsman at the Colonial Sugar Refining Co. Ltd's chemical factory atLane Cove .He won the
Australian Chess Championship four times in 1945, 1946/47, 1952/53, and 1958/59. He took 3rd in Karlovy Vary – Mariánské Lázně in 1948. The event was won byJan Foltys . He took 19th at the 1st Interzonal Tournament in Saltsjöbaden in 1948. The event was won byDavid Bronstein .He was awarded the
International Master (IM) title in 1950.References
External links
*chessgames player|id=10692
* [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160363b.htm ADB bio]
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