Franz Pachl

Franz Pachl (born January 8 1951 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein) is a Germany grandmaster of the FIDE for chess compositions. [ [http://www.sci.fi/~stniekat/pccc/gm.htm Grandmasters ] ] He also was german champion of minigolf.

Chess composition

While Pachl played correspondence chess in 1975, he subscribed to the magazine "Schach-Echo". Schach-Echo's problem column interested Pachl in chess composition. On a problem solver's meeting in Ludwigshafen 1975 he met Hermann Weißauer. Weißauer took care of Pachl, taught him about chess composition and also helped him publishing his first problem, a twomover, in 1976. He specialized in twomovers and helpmates. In 1988, when Pachl and Markus Manhardt became acquainted, he also became interested in fairy chess.

As of December 2005, around 848 compositions were published (including 364 helpmates, 269 twomovers and 163 fairy problems), winning 193 prizes, 186 honoring mentions and 139 commendations. More than 300 compositions are co-productions.

Pachl became International master of the FIDE for chess composition in 1989. The Grandmaster title was awarded in September 2005. He's international judge of the FIDE for twomovers and helpmates.

One of his wishes was to write a book about chess composition, which he fulfilled in 1999.

Minigolf

In his youth, Pachl played table tennis in a club. In 1973 he started playing minigolf where he became German champion and in 1981 and 1982 vice champion (single). In the team championship, he won the title six times. However, he's not an active player anymore.

Family and work

Pachl is the oldest child of his parents and has three more siblings. For more than 30 years he worked as a clerk (merchant) at BASF. He's married and has a son.

Sources

* Hermann Weißauer: "Franz Pachl & Udo Degener", Problem-Forum special issue December 2005

References