Czech-German grandmaster Vlastimil Hort, one of the world’s strongest players during the 1960s and 1970s and a former world number six, has passed away at the age of 81.
Vlastimil Hort was born on 12 January 1944 in Kladno, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (now the Czech Republic). He learned chess at the age of five and immediately showed great potential. Hort progressed rapidly, making his debut for the Czechoslovak national team at the age of sixteen.
A Grandmaster since 1965, Hort reached his peak in the 1970s. Playing for the “World” team in the famous “USSR vs. Rest of the World” match in 1970, he faced Lev Polugaevsky on board four and defeated him with a score of 2.5–1.5—one of the highlights of his career. In 1976, he finished third in the Manila Interzonal, earning a spot in the Candidates Tournament.
His Candidates quarterfinal match against Boris Spassky became one of the most memorable demonstrations of sportsmanship in chess history. During the later stages of the match, Spassky fell ill and had used up all his allotted time-outs. Hort could have claimed victory by default, but instead, he offered Spassky one of his own time-outs, allowing the former World Champion to recover and continue. Spassky eventually won the match by a narrow margin.
A five-time Czechoslovak champion (1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, and 1977), Hort moved to West Germany in 1985 and went on to win the national championship of his new homeland in 1987, 1989, and 1991.
Vlastimil Hort represented Czechoslovakia and later Germany in a total of 14 Chess Olympiads: for Czechoslovakia in 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1980, 1982, and 1984, and for Germany in 1988, 1990, and 1992.
Following his successful playing career, Hort became a beloved commentator and columnist. He appeared frequently alongside Grandmaster Helmut Pfleger in the popular television program Schach der Großmeister, which developed a broad and loyal following.
FIDE extends its sincere condolences to Vlastimil Hort’s family, friends, and loved ones.