Franciszek Sulik

Infobox chess player
playername = Franciszek Sulik


birthname = Franciszek Sulik
country = POL AUS
datebirth = 1908
placebirth = Lvov
datedeath = 2000 (aged ca. 92)
placedeath = Adelaide
title =
worldchampion =
womensworldchampion =
rating =
peakrating =

Franciszek (Frank) Sulik (1908, Lvov, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine) – 2000, Adelaide, Australia) was a Polish-Australian chess master.

Before World War II, he lived in Lvov (Lviv, Lwów, Lemberg). In 1934, he tied for 2nd-3rd with Henryk Friedman, behind Stepan Popel, in the Lvov championship. In 1935, he tied for 8-9th in Warsaw (3rd POL-ch; Savielly Tartakower won). In 1936, he took 2nd, behind Izak Schächter, in the Lvov-ch. In 1938, he won the Lvov championship.

He played for Poland in Chess Olympiads, and won two team silver medals.
* In 1936, at first reserve board in the unofficial Olympiad in Munich (+2 −3 =2);
* In 1939, at reserve board in the 8th Olympiad in Buenos Aires (+4 −2 =1). [ [http://www.olimpbase.org/players/gwemciah.html Franciszek Sulik] team chess record at olimpbase.org]

In September 1939, when World War II broke out, Sulik, along with many other participants of the 8th Chess Olympiad (Najdorf, Stahlberg, Frydman, Eliskases, Michel, Engels, Becker, Reinhardt, Pelikan, Skalička, Luckis, Feigins, Raud, Rauch, Winz, Gromer, Czerniak, Seitz, de Ronde, Kleinstein, Sonja Graf, Paulette Schwartzmann, etc.) decided to stay permanently in Argentina. [http://ar.geocities.com/carloseadrake/AJEDREZ/Asilados_1939.htm] In 1940, he took 2nd place, behind Aristide Gromer, in Buenos Aires (Bodas de Plata). In 1941, he tied for 10-12th in Mar del Plata (Gideon Stahlberg won).

As a reserve officer, he applied to join the Polish Army. He left Argentina on a British battleship to fight in Italy from 1943 to 1945.

At the end of the war he moved to Scotland, before emigrating to Australia, where he won the South Australian Championship nine times (1954, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, and 1978). [ [http://www.geocities.com/chess_sa/sachampions.htm South Australian Chess Champions] ]

References