Wolfgang Dittmann

Wolfgang Dittmann (14 June 1933 in Hamburg; † 5 February 2014 in Berlin) was a German Germanist, university professor and chess composer.

Life
Dittmann studied German and theology at the University of Hamburg, where he received his doctorate in Old German in 1960 and completed his habilitation in 1969. From 1970 until his retirement in 1998, he was Professor of Old German Literature and Language at the Free University of Berlin.

Chess composition                                                                                                                                                                  From 1981 to 1988, he was chairman of the German Association for Problem Chess "Schwalbe". In 2004, he was appointed International Judge for Chess Composition. His main chess interest was retroanalysis, in which the (fictional) history of a chess position is the solution to the problem and not, as is usually the case, the continuation to checkmate.

He was a German composer and an International Master, the grand old man of retro-composition, Wolfgang Dittmann, died on the 5th of February in Berlin suffering from pneumonia.

Wolfgang Dittmann had composed in his life direct mates and selfmates mainly in the style of the New German school. In the period 1970 – 1990 he was one of the world's leading experts in the field of orthodox retro-problems. After a break of about 12 years (for family reasons) in 2002 he found his way back to chess composition. The Anticirce Proca Defensive Retractor then became Wolfgang’s specialty and he has enriched the problem world with many masterpieces of this kind. Wolfgang’s book “Der Blick zurück” (2006) is a reference work for retrograde analysis theory and practice. WFCC has acknowledged Wolfgang’s merits by granting the titles International Master and International Judge for Chess Composition. (information from grandmaster in chess compositon Klaus Wenda)

Writings (selection)
Hartmann's Gregorius. Investigations into the tradition, structure and content. E. Schmidt, Berlin 1966 (revised version of the dissertation, University of Hamburg, 1960).
The stylization of the self as an artistic principle. On self-portrayal in German poetry of the late Middle Ages. Habilitation thesis, University of Hamburg, 1969.
With Armin Geister and Dieter Kutzborski: Logical fantasies. Herbert Grasemann and his chess problems. de Gruyter, Berlin; New York 1986, ISBN 3-11-010415-6.
The flight of the swallow. History of a problem chess association. The Swallow, German Association for Problem Chess, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-922392-20-2.
Looking back: An introduction to retroanalysis, with a selection of our own problems. Edition feenschach-phénix, Aachen 2006, no ISBN.
Literature
Wolfgang Dittmann. In: Peter Kniest (ed.): Caissas Schloßbewohner. Volume 3, P. Kniest, Wegberg 1986, ISBN 3-922392-19-9, p. 40 f.
Weblinks
Compositions by Wolfgang Dittmann on the Schwalbe PDB server
Obituary notice from the FU Berlin for Professor Dr. Wolfgang Dittmann, PDF
In Memoriam – Wolfgang Dittmann, German Chess Federation, accessed on December 25, 2014