Zoltan Sarosy

Zoltan Sarosy
Born Sárosy Zoltán
(1906-08-23)August 23, 1906
Budapest, Austria-Hungary
Died (2017-06-19)June 19, 2017
(aged 110 years, 300 days)
Toronto, Canada
Occupation Professional chess player
Known for Winner of chess tournaments
supercentenarian[1]
Spouse(s) Hella Mällo (married 1930–1998; her death)

Zoltan Sarosy (August 23, 1906 – June 19, 2017)[2] was a Hungarian- Canadian professional chess master, who was born in Budapest; he won numerous tournaments in his native country, before immigrating to Toronto in the early 1950s.

Early life

Sarosy was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary on August 23, 1906. He started playing chess in public parks at the age of 10. He continued playing in school and while at university in Vienna, where he studied international trade. He graduated in 1928 and returned to Budapest where he continued his chess career.[3]

Tournaments

Sarosy won chess tournaments in several cities in Hungary including Nagykanizsa (1929), Pécs (1932), and Budapest (1934). During World War II he won the Hungarian Master Candidates Tournament in 1943.[4] After the war, following a period in a refugee camp in West Germany, he moved to France in 1948. He drew a training match (2–2) with Alsace Champion Henri Sapin in 1950 and then emigrated to Canada, arriving in Halifax and then settling in Toronto. In Toronto he took up correspondence chess and was thrice Canadian Correspondence Champion (1967, 1972, 1981).[4] In 2006 he was inducted into the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame.[5][6] He was still actively playing chess at the age of 108.[7]

Later life

At the end of World War II after having fled Hungary where he served as a military translator, and leaving his wife and daughter behind he later sent for them when he was in Canada, but his wife refused to leave the country so they divorced.[4] After divorcing his first wife, he married Hella Mällo, an Estonian immigrant, in Canada. On August 23, 2016, Sarosy became a supercentenarian, when he reached the age of 110 years, and at the time was the oldest living man and fourth oldest living person in Canada.[4][1] Sarosy died on June 19, 2017, in Toronto, Canada.

References

  1. 1 2 Kate McGillivray (August 23, 2016). "Chess master turns 110 years old". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Zoltan Sarosy, Chess Master, passes away at 110". chessbase.com. June 21, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  3. ↑ Fred Langan (August 12, 2016). "Hungarian chess master living in Toronto tells tales from his 110 years". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Eszter Vass (August 22, 2016). "The Oldest Man In Canada Is A 110-Year-Old Hungarian Chess Player". Daily News Hungary. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  5. ↑ Canadian Chess Hall of Fame Inductee 2006, ncf.ca; accessed May 26, 2014.
  6. ↑ Bottlik, Ivan, "Zoltan Sarosy: the oldest sportsman in the world?", Chess Vol. 71 September 24–25, 2006
  7. ↑ "Dust settles. People shouldn't". Staff. Human Unlimited. January 16, 2015. Retrieved June 15, 2016.

Sources

  • Zoltan Sarosy player profile and games at Chessgames.com
  • Berry, Jonathan, "Chess", The Globe and Mail, December 30, 2006, pg. R17
  • Berry, J. "Chess", The Globe and Mail, September 16, 2006, pg. R25
  • Berry, J. "Chess", The Globe and Mail, April 14, 2007, pg. R25
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