Victor Ciocâltea was born in Bucharest. He learned chess at the age of 18.
Awarded the IM title in 1957 and the GM title in 1979, he was Romanian champion in 1952 (age 20), 1959, 1961, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1975 and 1979.
He played for Romania in eleven Chess Olympiads from 1956 to 1982.
He was a participant of four zonal FIDE tournaments (1954–1982). In 1954, he took 14th in Mariánské Lázně–Prague (Luděk Pachman won). In 1967, he took 15th in Halle (Lajos Portisch won). In 1972, he tied for 5–7th in Vrnjačka Banja. In 1982, he tied for 19–20th in Băile Herculane (Zoltán Ribli won).
In 1953, he tied for 11–12th in Bucharest (Alexander Tolush won). In 1954, he took 16th in Bucharest (Viktor Korchnoi won). In 1956, he took 3rd, behind Yuri Averbakh and Ratmir Kholmov, in Dresden. In 1956, he took 14th in Moscow (Alekhine Memorial; Mikhail Botvinnik won). In 1962, he took 9th in Havana (Capablanca Memorial; Miguel Najdorf won). In 1962, he tied for 1st–2nd in Sofia. In 1962, he tied for 3rd–4th in Belgrade (Svetozar Gligorić won).
In 1965, Ciocâltea took 16th in Havana (Capablanca Memorial; Vasily Smyslov won). In 1966, he took 2nd in Zinnowitz. In 1966/67, he tied for 1st–2nd with Dragoljub Čirić in Reggio Emilia. In 1968, he took 6th in Netanya (Bobby Fischer won). In 1968/69, he tied for 1st–4th in Reggio Emilia. In 1970, he took 13th in Caracas (Lubomir Kavalek won). In 1971, he tied for 3rd–4th in Málaga (Arturo Pomar won).
In 1973, he won in Tunis. In 1974, he tied for 1st with László Szabó in Dortmund. In 1975, he won in Bucharest. In 1979, he won in Satu Mare. In 1980, he won in Călimăneşti. In 1981, he won in Val Thorens. In 1981, he tied for 2nd–4th in Barcelona. In 1983, he tied for 6–8th in Netanya (Miguel Quinteros won). He finished 3rd in a tournament at Thessalonika 1983 shortly before his death. He died while playing a game in a tournament in Manresa, Spain, in September 1983.
Wikipedia article: Victor Ciocâltea
Kibitzing
