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Wolfgang Heidenfeld
W Heidenfeld 
Lacking The Master Touch (Heidenfeld, 1970)  

Number of games in database: 259
Years covered: 1929 to 1976
Overall record: +62 -104 =92 (41.9%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 1 exhibition game, blitz/rapid, odds game, etc. is excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (52) 
    B22 B23 B50 B85 B59
 Vienna Opening (17) 
    C29 C28 C25
 French Defense (15) 
    C00 C02 C10 C14 C11
 Caro-Kann (9) 
    B12 B13
 French (8) 
    C00 C10 C11
 Giuoco Piano (6) 
    C50 C53
With the Black pieces:
 French Defense (50) 
    C13 C05 C00 C14 C11
 French (28) 
    C13 C00 C11 C10
 Budapest Gambit (22) 
    A52 A51
 Dutch Defense (16) 
    A90 A97 A85 A84 A99
 French Tarrasch (12) 
    C05 C07
 Classical French (6) 
    C14
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   W Heidenfeld vs Zietemann, 1929 1-0
   I Bilek vs W Heidenfeld, 1968 1/2-1/2
   W Heidenfeld vs L Barden, 1951 1-0
   W Heidenfeld vs A Angos, 1958 1/2-1/2
   W Heidenfeld vs C Lee, 1974 1-0
   W Heidenfeld vs P List, 1953 1-0
   R Cardoso vs W Heidenfeld, 1958 1/2-1/2

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Johannesburg (1955)
   Enschede (1961)
   Paignton (1956)
   Netanya (1961)
   Castlebar (1969)
   Venice (1953)
   Amsterdam IBM (1962)
   Siegen Olympiad Final-D (1970)
   Madrid Zonal (1960)
   Marianske Lazne / Prague Zonal (1951)
   British Championship (1956)
   Munich Olympiad Final-C (1958)
   Havana Olympiad Final-C (1966)


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WOLFGANG HEIDENFELD
(born May-29-1911, died Aug-03-1981, 70 years old) Germany

[what is this?]

Wolfgang Heidenfeld was born in Berlin-Schöneberg, Germany. He was Irish Champion in 1958, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968 and 1972. He was South African Champion in 1939, 1945-46 (jointly), 1947 (jointly), 1949, 1951, 1955, 1957 and 1959 (jointly). His son is Mark Heidenfeld. He passed away in the German city of Ulm in 1981.

Wikipedia article: Wolfgang Heidenfeld


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 page 1 of 11; games 1-25 of 259  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. W Heidenfeld vs Zietemann 1-0221929BerlinC55 Two Knights Defense
2. R Duehrssen vs W Heidenfeld  0-1291930Berlin ch-Prelim. Group 'A'A52 Budapest Gambit
3. W Schlage vs W Heidenfeld  1-0351930Wilmersdorf CC JubileeA52 Budapest Gambit
4. W Heidenfeld vs G Katz  0-1371930Wilmersdorf CC JubileeB02 Alekhine's Defense
5. Alekhine vs W Heidenfeld ½-½201930Simul, 30bA51 Budapest Gambit
6. M Blieden vs W Heidenfeld  0-1301935South African ChampionshipA52 Budapest Gambit
7. W Heidenfeld vs S Driman 1-0161942JohannesburgC29 Vienna Gambit
8. J M Holford vs W Heidenfeld  0-1191945South Africa-chA52 Budapest Gambit
9. W Heidenfeld vs F Bohatirchuk  1-0561950CAN-RSA corrC57 Two Knights
10. W Heidenfeld vs J Lokvenc  0-1431951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalB56 Sicilian
11. E Pedersen vs W Heidenfeld  1-0451951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalC07 French, Tarrasch
12. W Heidenfeld vs A Pytlakowski 1-0351951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalC23 Bishop's Opening
13. Barcza vs W Heidenfeld  1-0241951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalA04 Reti Opening
14. W Heidenfeld vs A Tsvetkov  1-0491951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalD85 Grunfeld
15. Szabo vs W Heidenfeld  1-0341951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalD50 Queen's Gambit Declined
16. W Heidenfeld vs J A Fred  0-1551951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalA07 King's Indian Attack
17. S Basjuni vs W Heidenfeld  ½-½641951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalA85 Dutch, with c4 & Nc3
18. W Heidenfeld vs O Barda 1-0281951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalE00 Queen's Pawn Game
19. G Stoltz vs W Heidenfeld  1-0351951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalA34 English, Symmetrical
20. W Heidenfeld vs Benko  ½-½341951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalB59 Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3
21. K Skold vs W Heidenfeld  1-0831951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalC14 French, Classical
22. W Heidenfeld vs J Sajtar  0-1311951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalD85 Grunfeld
23. I Balanel vs W Heidenfeld  ½-½201951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalA52 Budapest Gambit
24. W Heidenfeld vs J Foltys  0-1371951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalB50 Sicilian
25. Pachman vs W Heidenfeld 1-0211951Marianske Lazne / Prague ZonalC42 Petrov Defense
 page 1 of 11; games 1-25 of 259  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Heidenfeld wins | Heidenfeld loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jan-02-05  Benzol: Wolfgang Heidenfeld
Born 29th May 1911 in Schoneberg
Died 3rd August 1981 in Ulm
South African champion in 1939, 1945-46 (joint), 1947 (joint), 1949, 1951, 1955, 1957 and 1959 (joint). He was also Irish champion in 1958, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968 and 1972.
May-29-06  BIDMONFA: Wolfgang Heidenfeld

HEIDENFELD, Wolfgang
http://www.bidmonfa.com/heidenfeld_...
_

May-29-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Peligroso Patzer: According to a site compiled by Tim Krabbe(http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/records...), Heidenfeld holds the record for most times castling in a single game. According to Krabbe, in Heidenfeld - Kerins, Dublin 1973 (not currently in the CG.com database) Heidenfeld played 10. 0-0, subsequently brought his King back to the e1-square and then played 33. 0-0-0 (with no one apparently noticing that the move was illegal!).
Dec-26-07  Octavia: He wrote a most beautiful book: Draw!
May-29-08  brankat: Mr.Heidenfeld won a combined total of 15 Irish and South African national Championships!
May-29-08  whiteshark: <Peligroso Patzer: <...Heidenfeld holds the record for most times castling in a single game.>> W Heidenfeld vs Kerin, 1973
May-29-08  whiteshark: Bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfga...
Mar-02-09  JaneEyre: <Not only does chess admit of two points of view; without two points of view there would be no chess.>
Jul-14-09  returnoftheking: What happened to the game link of Whiteshark?
Jul-14-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Peligroso Patzer: <returnoftheking: What happened to the game link of Whiteshark?>

It was apparently deleted on the grounds that the game score was invalid. As explained in my post of May-29-2007, the game in question holds the record for "most castlings". More specifically, in this game, Heidenfeld played 10. 0-0, subsequently brought his King back to the e1-square and then played 33. 0-0-0 (with no one apparently noticing that the move was illegal!).

The game score can be found on Tim Krabbe's Chess Records site: http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/records...

On the above linked site, under the "Moves" menu, select "Greatest number of castlings".

Jul-14-09  returnoftheking: I see, thanks. Is it technically not possible for cg to display games when they are "invalid"??
May-29-10  wordfunph: In 1958, the reigning Irish Champion won his game at the Munich Olympiad, yet Ireland lost the match 0-4! That's because the Irish Champion Wolfgang Heidenfeld played for South Africa where they defeated Ireland 4-0!
May-30-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  GrahamClayton: <brankat>Mr.Heidenfeld won a combined total of 15 Irish and South African national Championships!

<brankat>,
I don't think that there would be too many other players who have won the national championships of two separate countries on six occassions.

Nov-30-10  wordfunph: interesting book "Lacking the Master Touch" by Wolfgang Heidenfeld..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...

May-03-11  myschkin: . . .

Ein Meister zwischen den Welten

http://schach-und-kultur.com/?p=5321 *

(in German, compilation of different sources, © 2011 Schach und Kultur)

* featured game:

[Event "Johannesburg"]
[Site "Johannesburg"]
[Date "1955.??.??"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Heidenfeld, Wolfgang"]
[Black "Euwe, Max"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C53"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "1955.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Bb6 5. d4 Qe7 6. O-O d6 7. h3 Nf6 8. Re1 O-O 9. a4 a6 10. Na3 Kh8 11. Nc2 Ng8 12. b4 f6 13. Ne3 Ba7 14. Ba3 Qe8 15. Qd3 Nce7 16. b5 axb5 17. axb5 Qh5 18. Nf1 Qe8 19. Re2 Ng6 20. Bc1 Bd7 21. Rea2 Qb8 22. b6 cxb6 23. Bb5 Bxb5 24. Qxb5 N8e7 25. Ne3 Nc8 26. Nd5 Nge7 27. Nxe7 Nxe7 28. dxe5 Nc6 29. exd6 Na5 30. Ba3 Rd8 31. e5 Qc8 32. Bb4 Nc6 33. Qd5 fxe5 34. Nxe5 Nxe5 35. Qxe5 Qb8 36. Qe7 b5 1-0

Son: IM Mark Heidenfeld

Jun-08-11  wordfunph: Wolfgang Heindenfeld, in his book "Draw!" called Reuben Fine 'probably the most underrated player in the history of the game'.

http://www.amazon.com/Draw-Wolfgang...

Jun-08-11  parisattack: <wordfunph: Wolfgang Heindenfeld, in his book "Draw!" called Reuben Fine 'probably the most underrated player in the history of the game'.>

Very possible! Other candidates, of course - Flohr, Kashden, Boleslavsky comes to mind. The first two certainly could have been WCs if the tumbles had jiggled just so.

Heidenfeld's books all excellent - Draw!, Lacking the Master's Touch (my favorite) and Chess Springbok.

Jun-08-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  Domdaniel: I never played Heidenfeld, but I played in the same tournaments a couple of times in the mid-70s. I think he was probably a stronger player than his son, Mark Heidenfeld, who is an IM and has also represented Ireland at olympiads.

In the 1950s and 60s, being a master - International or Grand - *meant* something. There were fewer opportunities to gain titles: England had no GMs, Ireland no IMs. Yet Wolfgang had played - and in many cases beaten - more notable players than the average 'lesser' master has today.

He was also a noted chess historian, writing in BCM and CHESS on issues such as the Lasker-Schlechter match.

Jun-08-11  parisattack: <Domdaniel: ...In the 1950s and 60s, being a master - International or Grandmaster - *meant* something.>

Hear, hear!

Jul-02-11  Antiochus: "Not only tolerates chess
two different points of view,in fact without them there would be no chess."

Wolfgang Heidenfeld

May-29-12  brankat: R.I.P. Mr.Heidenfeld.
May-17-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: "But also chess allows viewpoints in fact not just chess."

Wolfgang Hideansikh.

May-17-13  JimNorCal: The book "Draw" is excellent. It went lost in my local library--it had been misfiled in the "Art" section. Someone must have thought the book was about drawing and sketching.

He also published a number of excellent articles in the Thinker's Press series "Lasker & His Contemporaries". I've only read issues 1 through 4, quite a lot of interesting content.

May-29-13  backrank: <JimNorCal: The book "Draw" is excellent. It went lost in my local library--it had been misfiled in the "Art" section. Someone must have thought the book was about drawing and sketching.>

*smile*

Heidenfeld was an excellent author. He regarded the drawn game as the perfect game, if both players played so well that neither could win. In his book, he admitted only such perfect draws, where there was no win for either side.

May-29-13  Howard: Yes, his book Draw ! was quite good. Unfortunately, when he died in 1981 it was not quite done, and it was John Nunn who finished the transcript and got it published.

One of the more interesting comments in the book is when he annotates a draw involving Frederick Yates, saying "Few players below the world's top elite have been as feared as Frederick Yates." The author goes on to say that Yates had a notorious reputation for pulling off upsets---quite true !

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