Albert Becker (chess player)

Albert Becker (5 September 1896, Vienna – 7 May 1984, Vicente Lopez) was an Austrian–Argentine chess master.

Chess career

Early career

In 1921, he won in Vienna. In 1923, he tied for 4-5th in Frankfurt (23rd DSB Kongress). The event was won by Ernst Grünfeld. In 1924, he tied for 2nd-3rd with Carls, behind Wagner, in Bremen. In 1924, he won a match against Heinrich Wagner (+3 –1 =4) in Hamburg. In 1924, he won ahead of Post and Gruber in Vienna. In 1925, he tied for 5-7th in Breslau (24th DSB Kongress). The event was won by Efim Bogoljubow. In 1925, he tied for 1st-2nd with Wolf in Vienna. In 1926, he tied for 4-5th in Vienna (10th Trebitsch-Turnier). The event was won by Rudolf Spielmann. In 1927, he tied for 1st with Friedrich Sämisch in Mittweida. In 1927, he tied for 1st with Hans Müller in Vienna. In 1928, he tied for 2nd-5th in Vienna. In July–August 1928, he took 8th in the Amateur World Championship in The Hague. The event was won by Max Euwe. In 1928, he took 7th in Vienna. In 1929, he tied for 5-7th in Karlovy Vary. The event was won by Aron Nimzowitsch. In 1930, he took 3rd in Ebensee (Hans Kmoch won). [http://www.anders.thulin.name/SUBJECTS/CHESS/CTCIndex.pdf Name Index to Jeremy Gaige's Chess Tournament Crosstables, An Electronic Edition, Anders Thulin, Malmö, 2004-09-01]

In July 1931, Becker played for Austria at fourth board (+10 –3 =1) in the 4th Chess Olympiad in Prague. He won individual gold medal there. In 1931, he won in Vienna (14th Trebitsch). In 1932, he won in Vienna (15th Trebitsch). In 1934, he tied for 1st with Erich Eliskases in Linz. In 1934, he tied for 7-9th in Bad Liebwerda (Lázně Libverda). The event ("13.Kongreß des Deutschen Schachverbandes in der Tschechoslowakei") was won by Salo Flohr. In 1934, he won in Vienna (17th Trebitsch). In 1935, he took 3rd, behind László Szabó and Ernő Gereben in Tatatovaros. In 1935, he tied for 3rd-5th in Vienna (18th Trebitsch). In 1936, he took 11th in Zandvoort (Reuben Fine won). In August 1936, he played for Austria at second board (+11 –2 =5) in unofficial Olympiad in Munich. Becker won individual bronze medal there. In 1937, he took 4th in Teplitz-Schönau (Karl Gilg won). In 1937, he took 3rd in Vienna (Quadrangular). The event was won by Paul Keres. [http://www.rogerpaige.me.uk/index.htm Roger Paige's Chess Site]

Post Anschluss

After the Anschluss in March 1938, he tied for 1st with Ludwig Rellstab in Berlin. In July–August 1938, he tied for 5-7th in Bad Oeynhausen (5th GER-ch). The event was won by Eliskases. In December 1938, he tied for 4-5th in Karlsruhe. In June 1939, he took 5th in Vienna (Eliskases won).

Albert Becker was a Captain of the German team in the 8th Chess Olympiad at Buenos Aires 1939. He played at fourth board (+6 –3 =3), and won team gold medal. [ [http://www.olimpbase.org OlimpBase :: the encyclopaedia of team chess ] ] In September 1939, when World War II broke out, he along with all members of the German team (Eliskases, Michel, Engels, Becker, Reinhardt) and many other participants of this Olympiad (Najdorf, Stahlberg, Frydman, Feigins, Czerniak, Winz, Kleinstein, Rauch, Pelikan, Skalička, Luckis, Raud, Gromer, Sulik, Seitz, de Ronde, Sonja Graf, etc.) had decided to stay permanently in Argentina. [http://ar.geocities.com/carloseadrake/AJEDREZ/Asilados_1939.htm] In 1944, Alberto Becker took 3rd, behind José Maria Cristiá and Pablo Michel, in Buenos Aires (La Regence).

Becker was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1953.

References