GM Wolfgang Uhlmann

I ask this because I've heard of Uhlmann. He is from the Fischer era and because I saw the headings in caturNews - Dresden 2026: Uhlmann exhibition with AI simulation. .



However, that's all I know about the supposed legend.

the rest of the info here is dugged up from Google search...


🇩🇪 CHESS LEGEND: WOLFGANG UHLMANN (1935–2020) ♟️

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Who was he?
A German Grandmaster and the most successful chess player in East German history! 🏆

👑 11-time National Champion
🎯 1971 Candidates Tournament – the final step before a World Championship match!

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Why is he a true legend?

🔹 The French Defense Master
He was known as the world's BEST expert on the French Defense.
📖 He even wrote a famous book about it – "Winning with the French".

🔹 Played the Greats
Over his long career, he faced ten different World Champions!
💥 And he BEAT legends like:
• Vasily Smyslov
• Mikhail Botvinnik
• Bobby Fischer

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🔥 Two of his most famous games:

⚔️ Uhlmann vs. Smyslov (1956) – A brilliant early win against a former World Champion, using his beloved French Defense.

⚔️ Mikhail Tal vs. Uhlmann (1971) – An electrifying attacking battle between two French Defense masters!

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👑 An exclusive club
For many years, Uhlmann was one of only 10 living people who had ever defeated Bobby Fischer in a tournament game.
He held that rare distinction until his passing in 2020. 🕊️

Here's a game where Uhlmann defeated Fischer:

[Event "Buenos Aires"]
[Site "Buenos Aires ARG"]
[Date "1960.07.02"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Fischer, Robert James"]
[Black "Uhlmann, Wolfgang"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C19"]
[Opening "French Defense"]
[Variation "Winawer, Advance, 6...c5"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 
5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. a4 Nbc6 
8. Nf3 Bd7 9. Qd2 Qa5 10. Bd3 c4 
11. Be2 f6 12. Ba3 Ng6 
13. O-O O-O-O 14. Bd6 Nce7 
15. Nh4 Rde8 16. Nxg6 hxg6 
17. exf6 gxf6 18. h3 Nf5 
19. Bh2 g5 20. f4 Nd6 21. Bf3 g4 
22. hxg4 f5 23. g5 Re7 24. Bg3 Be8 
25. Qe3 Ne4 26. Bxe4 dxe4 
27. Kf2 Reh7 28. Rfb1 Qd5 
29. Qc1 Rh1 30. Qxh1 e3+ 31. Kg1 Rxh1+ 
32. Kxh1 e2 33. Rb5 Bxb5 34. axb5 Qxb5 
35. Re1 a5 36. Rxe2 a4 37. Rxe6 a3 
38. g6 Qd7 39. Re5 b6 40. Bh4 a2 
41. Re1 Qg7 42. Ra1 Qxg6 

0-1

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A true giant of the game. Rest in peace, legend. ♟️🙏

With recent World Blitz and Rapid team over, I now look at what we have for our local scene that is similiar.

The most notable is PMX Trophy — 3rd National Open Team Chess Championship, which just concluded a couple of weeks back. 

Not to worry, we still have the SMS Deen for the next major team rapid in Malaysia. Here's a quick comparison of what we Malaysians care about. How much to pay to enter, and what are the prizes :)

There may be errors so please inform me if I made any mistakes.

My personal challenge is to capture the excitement a team event like this brings. In the past, it has been pictures and videos, as well as some DGT live game broadcasts by our master broadcaster, Norazwan Kamarulzaman, also better known as Shin Azwan. Nothing earth-shattering, but recording and adding some highlighted games would be nice for a change.

Quick Comparison

Detailed Breakdown

1. PMX Trophy — 3rd National Open Team Chess Championship

Organised by MCF and held at AEON Mall Shah Alam, this is the premier national team chess event in Malaysia.

Registration Fees:

• RM 700 — all-Malaysian Open team
• +RM 100 per foreign player (e.g. a team with 4 foreigners pays RM 1,100 total)
• RM 400 — State teams (limited to 2 per state)
• +RM 100 late fee for entries after 22 May 2026

Prize Fund — RM 30,000 total:

• Champion: RM 6,000
• Full breakdown of remaining prizes not published in the official announcement; distributed among top finishers and special categories (e.g., Best State Team, Best Junior)

Format: 7-round Swiss, Standard time control (90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move)

Team: 4 main players + 1 optional reserve. Limited to 60 teams, with priority given to state associations.

2. SMS Deen Merdeka Open Rapid Team Championship — 21st Merdeka Chess Festival

Organised by DAT Chess Centre (DATCC) and held at KL Gateway Mall, this opens the annual Merdeka Chess Festival (Aug 28 – Sep 6, 2026).

Registration Fee:

• RM 450 — Open team
• Late entries after 21 August 2026 incur a surcharge or double fee
• Name/board order changes: RM 50 per change

Prize Fund — RM 24,000 total:

Format: 9-round Swiss, Rapid time control (20 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move)

Team: 4 players. Hard cap of 50 paid teams. Average team rating must not exceed 2,250.

Key Takeaways

The prize gap between the two events is much narrower than often assumed — RM 30,000 vs RM 24,000. The SMS Deen event actually has a more detailed and generous prize structure across categories, rewarding Malaysian teams, state teams, juniors, and ladies separately. The PMX Trophy carries a higher registration cost and uses the slower classical format over 4 days, while the SMS Deen event wraps up in just 2 days at a rapid pace, making it accessible for more casual or club-level teams.

And for you guys planning to take part, START TRAINING NOW !!!!

Why do you think he was looking back? Curious to know.

The game.

With all the hype on the World Rapid and Blitz Team, I've completely missed our Malaysian players taking part in the world youth. If not for the headlines I saw in https://catur.org/news, this would have been completely missed.

Malaysia has sent a four-player delegation to the World Youth Chess Championship 2026, which is currently ongoing at the Pala Dean Martin Congress Center in Montesilvano.

Located on the beautiful Adriatic coast in the Abruzzo region (near Pescara), it hosts major conferences, concerts, and international gatherings, such as the FIDE World Youth Chess Championships. The center is clean, spacious, and sits just a short walk away from the beach.

As the tournament crosses the halfway mark (heading into the rest day after Round 6), here is the lineup and their latest available performance data:

Open Under-18

• FM Siva Kumar Nirish Kumar (2224): Started the tournament with a win in Round 1 but dropped his Round 2 game playing with the black pieces against Norway's FM Sivert Schanche Torfoss (2328).

Open Under-16

• CM Shen Ree Herng (1971): Secured 1.5 points across the first three rounds. He lost his opener to Azerbaijan's Pasham Alizada (2296), bounced back with a win against Taiwan's Huang Da-Xuan, and drew against Austria's Noah Benedikt (2164).
• Ch'ng Kai Xue Edric (1655): Competing as the 115th seed in the highly competitive U16 section.

Open Under-14

• Rajendran Kartikeyan (1957): Scored 2.5 points in his first 5 rounds (scoring: 0, 1, 1, ½, 0). This placed him around 67th in the standings heading into the second half of the event.

There are no Malaysian representatives in the Girls' sections this year.

SHEN, Ree Herng (1971) – DOTZER, Lukas (2495)
World Youth Chess Championship 2026 – Open 16 (Montesilvano, ITA), 18.06.2026

🏆 DOUBLE GOLD FOR DRAGON CHILLING! 🐉 FIDE World Team Rapid & Blitz 2026 Wraps Up in Hong Kong! 🇭🇰