Wolfgang Uhlmann
 |
| Wolfgang Uhlmann | |
|---|---|
 Wolfgang Uhlmann, 1967 | |
| Full name | Wolfgang Uhlmann |
| Country |  Germany |
| Born | March 29, 1935 Germany |
| Title | International Grandmaster |
| FIDE rating | 2415 (July 2009) |
Wolfgang Uhlmann (born March 29, 1935) is a prominent German International Grandmaster of chess.
His father taught him the game at the age of eleven at their home in Dresden and he progressed to the title of German Youth Champion in 1951. By 1956 he was an International Master and by 1959, a Grandmaster.
He quickly established himself as the dominant force in East German chess, winning the GDR (German Democratic Republic, the official name for East Germany) national championship on eleven occasions from 1954 to 1986. Indeed, eleven appears to be a significant number in his life; he was the GDR's most outstanding player at the Chess Olympiads of 1956 - 1990, making eleven appearances, mostly on top board. At the 1964 event in Tel Aviv, he scored 83.3 percent, earning him the individual board one gold medal. An individual bronze medal followed in 1966 at Havana.
His most promising attempt at World Championship qualification occurred at the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal of 1970, where he tied for fifth and sixth place and reached the Candidates Matches, held the following year. Alas, his quarter-final match with Bent Larsen in Las Palmas ended in disappointment - a 5½-3½ victory for Larsen and Uhlmann was not able to come so close again.
It was during the 1960s that he made a lasting impression on the international tournament scene. He shared victory (with Polugaevsky) at Sarajevo 1964, tied for first (with Smyslov) at Havana 1964, tied for first (with Ivkov) at Zagreb 1965 (ahead of world champion Petrosian), tied for first (with Spassky) at Hastings 1965/66, tied for first (with Bronstein) at Szombathely 1966, tied for first (with Liberzon) at Zinnowitz 1967 and tied for first (with Bronstein) at the Berlin 'Lasker Memorial' in 1968. At Raach in 1969, a zonal tournament, he finished two points clear of the field (which included Lajos Portisch).
Into the 1970s and 80s, there was further success. He tied for first (with Bronstein and Hort) at Hastings 1975/76, placed second (behind Karpov) at Skopje 1976, finished first at Vrbas 1977, tied for first (with Farago and Knaak) at Halle 1978 and was an outright winner at Halle 1981.
Uhlmann is acknowledged as one of the world's leading experts on the French Defence, having refined and improved many of its variations and authored books on the opening. He is one of very few Grandmasters to have deployed the French almost exclusively in reply to 1.e4.
Despite being a dedicated professional chess player and undoubtedly, the GDR's most successful ever, he has also had a career in accountancy.
References
- OlimpBase - The History of the Chess Olympiads
- Hooper, David and Whyld, Kenneth (1984). The Oxford Companion to Chess. Oxford University. ISBN 0-19-217540-8.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
External links
- Wolfgang Uhlmann rating card at FIDE
- Wolfgang Uhlmann player profile and games at Chessgames.com