- Ernő Gereben
Ernő Gereben (
18 June 1907 –) was a Hungarian–Swisschess master whose half-century career extended from the mid-1920s to the late 1970s.Born in
Sopron , a Hungarian town at theAustria n border, Ernő Gereben used, until 1935, theGerman-language form of his name, Ernest (or Ernst) Grünfeld. In 1926, he tied for 1st–2nd inKörmend . In 1928, he won inŠumperk . In 1930, he took 5th inBudapest and tied for 7–8th inGyör . In 1932, he took 7th inBudapest . In 1934, he tied for 5–7th in Sopron (Rudolf Spielmann won). In 1934, he tied for 13–14th in Budapest (Maróczy Jubilee), which was won byErich Eliskases . In 1935 he tied for 2nd–3rd with Albert Becker, behindLászló Szabó , in Tata-Tóváros. In 1936, he took 4th, behindMieczysław Najdorf ,Lajos Steiner andEndre Steiner in Budapest.Following
World War II , Gereben played in severalHungarian Chess Championship s. In 1947, he won team gold medal and individual silver medal at sixth board in the 2nd Balkan Games inSofia . In 1947, he took 7th inVienna (2nd Schlechter Memorial; Szabó won). In 1948, he took 5th inBad Gastein (Erik Lundin won). In 1951, he won inSopot . In 1952, he took 15th in Budapest (Paul Keres won).Due to the Hungarian uprising in 1956, Gereben emigrated to
Switzerland and began playing extensively in the west. In 1957, he took 2nd, behindGedeon Barcza , inSan Benedetto del Tronto . In 1958/59, he took 3rd inHastings . In 1959, he tied for 1st inBognor Regis . In 1960, he tied for 4-5th inZurich . In 1963/64, he tied for 1st-4th in Reggio Emilia. In 1967, he tied for 2nd-5th inAmsterdam (Master Tournament). In 1969, he took 4th inMonte Carlo (Master Tournament).Gereben played four times in the
Chess Olympiad s; once for Hungary at first reserve board (+6 −3 =6) in the 11th Olympiad at Amsterdam 1954, and thrice for Switzerland; at third board (+5 −4 =7) atSiegen 1970, at second reserve (+3 −5 =5) atSkopje 1972, and at first reserve board (+3 –3 =7) atNice 1974.He remained a keen player in his adopted country even into his seventies. The
British Chess Magazine editor, Bernard Cafferty, described him as "a delightfully friendly personality, rather different to many of the continental masters of that time. Chess was fun for him, not just a way to make a living."Gereben was awarded the
International Master (IM) title in 1950.citation
last=Gaige | first=Jeremy | author-link=Jeremy Gaige
year=1987 | title=Chess Personalia, A Biobibliography
publisher=McFarland
isbn=0-7864-2353-6
page=137] He died in Switzerland in the year of his 81st birthday.References
*British Chess Magazine - Obituary, July 1988.
External links
*chessgames player|id=10685|name=Erno Gereben
* [http://www.chessworld.net/chessclubs/statistics_pgn_rating_chart.asp?username=Gereben,Erno Statistics at ChessWorld.net]
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