Karpova: More on <Johann Kotrc>, as the 'Wiener Schachzeitung' calls him, by Karl Traxler:He studied Architecture. Kotrc came to Prague in 1883. He was highly influenced by Morphy and even drew a portrait of Morphy which was showcased in the, then newly founded, 'Cesky spolek sachovni'. He had a very deep understanding of Morphy playing style, going beyond being merely fascinated by Morphy's brilliant combinations.
His stay in Prague from 1884 to 1900 was soimportant for Bohemian chess,that the article calls it (paraphrasing) the first schooldays of serious chessin Bohemia. First, he founded a free chess society, and became together with Dobrusky and Moucka the "soul" of the newly founded 'Cesky spolek sachovni', after the split of the <utraquistischen> Prague chess club. 'Cesky spolek sachovni' was located in Jedlicka's Cafe.
Kotrc edited the first lithographed Bohemian chess magazine 'Sach mat', wrote it and drew the diagrams himself. He always won the club tournaments and taught in the 'Ceske Listy Sachove' (<Böhmische Schachblätter>, Bohemian Chess Pages), which he had founded in 1896 together with Pospisil and Traxler. His chessplay was also the immediate antetype of Duras' playing style.
In the Dresden Main tournament 1892, he shared 4-6th place with Baird and Malthan (Lipke won). At Prague 1895, he shared 2nd-3rd place with Traxler (Johann Kvicala won. Yet, in several matches, Kotrc proved his superiority over Jos. and Joh. Kvicala). He represented the 'Cesky spolek sachovni' honourably against other masters, e. g. 1896 against Schiffers and Chigorin - scoring +1 -2 =2. He scored +0 -1 =1 against Charousek in 1897, but they were about equal in free, less serious games.
He came in 8th in the strong Kolisch tournament in Vienna 1899. At the beginning, he suffered from a painful soul pressure (<schmerzlichen Seelendruck>, maybe he was depressed?) and lost 3 of the first 4 games. Then he won 2 and drew 5 (against Schlechter, Marco and Alapin among others) and didn't lose a single game anymore. It's noted that, unlike the tournament report claimed, Kotrc came from chess play to chess composition, not the other way round.
For several years now, his professional duties prevented him from serious play and study composition, yet he remains interested. In 1910, he established a column in the 'Delnicke Listy', which is now maintained by Traxler. Then he founded a chess column in the 'Arbeiter-Zeitung', editing it together with the problemist S. Steiner. He also published a Bohemian Chess textbook 2 years ago, which shall be published in German eventually. Johann Kotrc was born on August 21, 1862, in Bilsko (Silesia).
Source: Pages 194-197 of the September-October 1915 'Wiener Schachzeitung'
Kibitzing
