Richard Réti

Richard Selig Réti (28 May 1889 – 6 June 1929) was an Austro-Hungarian, later Czechoslovak, chess player, chess author, and composer of endgame studies.

He was one of the principal proponents of hypermodernism in chess. With the exception of Nimzowitsch's book My System, he is considered to be the movement's foremost literary contributor.

Early life
Réti was born to a Jewish family in Bazin, Austria-Hungary (now Pezinok, Slovakia), where his father worked as a physician in the service of the Austrian military.

His older brother Rudolph Reti (who did not use the acute accent) was a noted pianist, musical theorist, and composer.[1] He is the great-grandfather of the German painter Elias Maria Reti [da]. Réti came to Vienna to study mathematics at Vienna University.

Chess career
One of the top players in the world during the 1910s and 1920s, he began his career as a combinative classical player, favoring openings such as the King's Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.f4). After the end of the First World War, however, his playing style changed, and he became one of the principal proponents of hypermodernism, along with Aron Nimzowitsch and others. He had his greatest early successes in the period 1918 through 1921, in tournaments in Košice (1918), Rotterdam (1919), Amsterdam (1920), Vienna (1920), and Gothenburg (1921).

In 1925 Réti set a world record for blindfold chess with 29 games played simultaneously. He won 21, drew 6, and lost 2.

Réti was also a notable composer of endgame studies.

Death
Réti died on June 6, 1929 in Prague of scarlet fever. His ashes are buried in the grave of Réti's father, Dr. Samuel Réti, in the Jewish section of Zentralfriedhof cemetery in Vienna, in Section T1, Group 51, Row 5, Grave 34.[3]

Legacy
This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.
The Réti Opening (1.Nf3 d5 2.c4) is named after him.

Réti defeated World Champion José Raúl Capablanca in the New York 1924 chess tournament in 31 moves – Capablanca's first defeat in eight years, his only loss to Réti, and his first since becoming world champion. This tournament was also the only occasion in which Réti beat future world champion Alexander Alekhine, accomplishing this feat in the same number of moves.

Réti's writings have become classics of chess literature. Modern Ideas in Chess (1923) and Masters of the Chess Board (1933) are studied today.

Source: Wikipedia

Others: 13 endgame studies composed by Richard Réti are selected on the Dutch Website arves.org. (editor Peter Boll)