| Eric Lobron | |
|---|---|
 Lobron in 2013 | |
| Country | Germany |
| Born | May 7, 1960 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Title | Grandmaster (1982) |
| FIDE rating | 2463 (June 2024) |
| Peak rating | 2625 (July 1992) |
| Peak ranking | No. 21 (July 1992) |
Eric Lobron (born 7 May 1960) is a German chess grandmaster. A former two-time national champion, he has been awarded the title Grandmaster by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
Born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, Lobron moved with his family to Germany at the age of five and was raised in Wiesbaden. It was soon apparent that he had a talent for the game and he became the national junior champion in 1978.
Just two years later, Lobron's continued rapid progress enabled him to attain International Master status and win the West German Championship at Bad Neuenahr. Buoyed by this success, it was not long before he decided to become a full-time chess professional, whereupon he broke from his law degree to embark on the international chess tournament circuit.
There were several notable achievements from the outset, including victories at Biel 1981 (with Vlastimil Hort), Ramat Hasharon 1982 and Manila 1982 (with Lev Polugaevsky). Lobron's qualification as a Grandmaster took place the same year and he followed up with several more tournament wins, either outright or shared; at New York Kavkasian 1983 and New York Manhattan 1985 (both invitation tournaments), Biel 1986 (again with Lev Polugaevsky), Brussels and Ter Apel (both 1987), Lyons 1988 (with Simen Agdestein), the strong New York (Open) 1992 as sole winner, Wiesbaden and Graz (both 1993), Bad Zwesten 2000 and Wijk aan Zee 2003. Meanwhile, he was West German Champion for a second time in 1984.
In attempting to reach the latter stages of the (PCA) World Championship, Lobron scored well at the Groningen 1993 qualifying tournament, outperforming many players rated more highly, including Judit Polgár, Veselin Topalov and Evgeny Bareev. [1]
In team chess, Lobron was for many years a stalwart of the Bundesliga and represented Germany at all of the Olympiads between 1980–96, except for the event held at Dubai in 1986. At the European Team Chess Championship (ETC) he played three times, in 1983, 1989 and 1992, being honoured with selection at top board on the first and last occasions. At the Olympiad, Lobron earned an individual bronze medal for his board three performance in 1990 and at the ETC, earned a team bronze in 1989. [2]
Reputed to have been a successful trader on the stock market during profitable times, Lobron acquired 'celebrity' status in 2004, when he became romantically involved with Estonian supermodel Carmen Kass, herself a keen chess player and President of the Estonian Chess Federation. [3] On the lead up to the 2008 Olympiad, Kass campaigned to bring the event to her home country, but ultimately lost out to Dresden's bid.
At the peak of his chess career, Eric Lobron had an Elo rating of 2625. Since the mid-2000s he has played little over-the-board chess, but competes online at The Internet Chess Club as Yardbird, where he holds one of the highest blitz ratings. He is also known to be a good player of Backgammon.
Henrique Costa Mecking, also known as Mequinho, is a Brazilian chess grandmaster who reached his zenith in the 1970s and is still one of the strongest players in Brazil. He was a chess prodigy, drawing comparisons to Bobby Fischer, although he did not achieve the International Grandmaster title until 1972. He won the Interzonals of Petropolis 1973 and Manila 1976. His highest FIDE rating is 2635, achieved in 1977, when he was ranked number four in the world. He became the 3rd best in the world in 1977, behind only World Champion Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi. He is the first Brazilian to become a grandmaster. Despite winning his first national championship at the age of 13, he played in very few tournaments. He won at Vršac in 1971 and finished third with Robert Byrne at Hastings in 1971–72. In 1975, he twice shared second place behind Ljubomir Ljubojević, firstly at Las Palmas with Ulf Andersson and Mikhail Tal and then at Manila with Lev Polugaevsky, Bent Larsen and Helmut Pfleger.
Aivars Gipslis was a Latvian chess player, writer, editor and coach, who held the FIDE title of Grandmaster and the ICCF title of Correspondence Chess Grandmaster.
Lajos Portisch is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated in twelve consecutive Interzonals from 1962 through 1993, qualifying for the World Chess Championship Candidates Cycle a total of eight times. Portisch set several all-time records in Chess Olympiads. In Hungarian Chess Championships, he either shared the title or won it outright a total of eight times. He won many strong international tournaments during his career. In 2004, Portisch was awarded the title of 'Nemzet Sportolója', Hungary's highest national sports achievement award.
Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky was a Soviet chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE in 1962 and was a frequent contender for the World Championship, although he never achieved that title. He was one of the strongest players in the world from the early 1960s until the late 1980s, as well as a distinguished author and opening theorist whose contributions in this field remain important to the present day.
László Szabó was a Hungarian chess player. He was awarded the title of International Grandmaster in 1950, when it was instituted by FIDE.
Glenn Curtis Flear is a British chess grandmaster now living in Montpellier, France. He is the author of several books, some on chess openings and some on the endgame.
Ivan Radulov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster.
Zoltán Ribli is a Hungarian chess grandmaster and International Arbiter (1995). He was twice a World Championship Candidate and three times Hungarian Champion.
Vladimir Borisovich Tukmakov is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He gained the Grandmaster title in 1972.
Rafael Artemovich Vaganian is an Armenian chess player holding the title of grandmaster (GM). He was Soviet champion in 1989.
Josif Davidovich Dorfman is a Soviet-French chess Grandmaster, coach, and chess writer.
Boris Leonidovich Avrukh is an Israeli chess grandmaster. He was the World Under-12 champion in 1990.
Alexander Mikhailovich Chernin is a Soviet-born Hungarian chess grandmaster and trainer.
Events in chess in 1990;
Events in chess in 1972;
Events in chess in 1974;
Helmut Pfleger is a German chess grandmaster and author. He was one of the most promising chess players in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1977 until 2005, Pfleger hosted a series of chess programs on German public TV, including Chess of the Grandmasters, often together with grandmaster Vlastimil Hort. By profession, he is a doctor of medicine.
Events in chess in 1976;
Eugenio "Eugene" Torre is a Filipino chess grandmaster. In 1974, at 22 years old, he became the first Filipino and non-Soviet Asian to qualify for the title Grandmaster. Torre did this by winning the silver medal in the 21st Chess Olympiad in Nice, France. He is considered the strongest chess player the Philippines produced during the 1980s and 1990s, and played for the Philippines on board 1 in seventeen Chess Olympiads. In 2021, Torre was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame.
Semen Isaakovich Dvoirys is a Russian chess player. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1990.
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