Jindřich Fritz

Jindřich Fritz (* 15 June 1912 in Prague; † 9 November 1984 in Prague) was an important Czech chess composer.

Fritz learnt the Bohemian School during his law studies, in the style of which he created several chess problems, but soon turned to endgame studies. His first compositions were published in 1930.

500 of his compositions and studies were published in his book Vybrané šachové problémy, which appeared in 1979. Of his more than 500 compositions, 26 won first prizes.

Initially, inspired by Henri Rinck, Fritz composed studies in the classical style, but this changed after reading Sowremmeni schachmatni etjud, as he saw no future for them. The first of his studies in the new style appeared in Gros on 24 October 1937. His style was mostly piece play, often with echo turns. He won the three Czech study championships in 1951-52, 1953-54 and 1963-65. According toJaroslav Pospíšil, Fritz popularised the study composition of the 1950s in Czechoslovakia by taking over the column in Československý šach in 1951 and publishing his book. While the new method Fritz described in his 1951 book was worked on by Gorgiew and Herbstmann, Fritz combined it with Bohemian themes.

From 1956, the lawyer with a doctorate was an international adjudicator for chess compositions and from 1976 a grandmaster for chess composition.

About his studies: Unnecessary material in the study composition is avoided. The ideas are incorporated into the studies with unrivalled clarity.

Others: On Dutch Website ARVES.org 23 endgame studies with solution are selected.