Legendary chess grandmaster Vlastimil Hort dies

Vlastimil Hort (1944–2025), a former representative of Czechoslovakia and one of the most prominent world chess players of the 1970s and 1980s, has passed away at the age of 81. The news of his death was published by the Chess Federation of the Czech Republic.

Vlastimil Hort was a chess phenomenon of his time – he represented Czechoslovakia at the age of 16 and became a grandmaster at the age of 20. During his career, he won more than 80 tournaments, won 9 national titles, and later served as coach of the German national team.

Among his greatest achievements are:

• Participation in the "match of the century" (1970) between the world team and the USSR,
• Advancement to the Candidates Tournament for the title of World Champion (1977),
• 3rd place at the World Championships in Manila (1976),
• Silver with the Czechoslovakian team at the Chess Olympiad in Lucerne, Switzerland (1982),
  where Slovaks Ján Plachetka and Ľubomír Ftáčnik also played with him.

He took second place in the poll for the best Czechoslovak and Czech chess player of the 20th century. The chess world loses a great player, a gentleman and an unforgettable personality.

Source: Slovak Chess Association 

Photo from the archive of Ing. Miroslav Tkáč:

Meeting with GM Vlastimil Hort at the ACO Chess Tournament, Crete 2021