Johann Behting

Johann Behting (Latvian: Jānis Bētiņš; * 9 May 1856 in Berzmuiža near Doblen, Courland Governorate; † 19 October 1944 in Sopot) was a Baltic chess composer.

Life
Johann Behting's life was much quieter than that of his younger brothers Carl (Kārlis) and Robert. After primary school and grammar school in Riga, Behting studied engineering at the polytechnic there from 1877 to 1886, but did not graduate.

He was a weaker chess player than his two brothers.

1890/91 2nd place in the side tournament of the 1st Winter Tournament of the Riga Chess Society with 10 out of 12
1892/93 Winner of the 1st side tournament of the 3rd winter tournament of the Riga Chess Society with 6.5 out of 8
The following year he took part in the main tournament.
In November he drew a simultaneous match against Siegbert Tarrasch, but lost a simultaneous game in which Tarrasch played blind.
In his last years, Johann Behting lived in Mellupi, a small rural community near Riga. He left his home in the summer of 1944 at the age of 88. His library of around 10,000 volumes, including fiction, was used as fuel by the German occupying forces.

Chess composition
During his student days, Johann Behting published chess exercises from 1885 and studies from 1890. Already at the beginning of his creative period he composed some astonishing works with which he, together with his brother Karl, became one of the co-founders of modern study composition. Inspired by correspondence with Ottó Bláthy, however, Behting later abandoned his original successful style and composed lengthy studies.

Source: de.wikipedia.org