Richard Réti was one of the strongest players in the 1920s, and a leader of hypermodern ideas which were introduced to chess in that decade. Below, I explore his life and games.
Photo: ÖNB, Bildarchiv Austria, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Table of contents:
Biography
Early life
Richard Réti was born in 1889 in Bösing, a town in the Hungarian part of what was Austria-Hungary. However, he spent much of his childhood in Vienna. This was very beneficial for his development as a player, as Vienna was one of the most important chess cities in the world at the time.
Réti learned to play at the age of six, and around 12, he submitted a chess problem to the chess column in the publication “Über Land und Meer”. The publication was run by Hermann von Gotschall, who wrote back to inform Réti that his problem had been accepted into the publication and praising him for having composed it. Sadly, Reti’s father died shortly after this, which placed financial pressure on the family.
Improving reputation
In 1903, the young Réti met with the experienced master Schlechter, who also lived in Vienna. Schlechter was impressed with his play, and so invited Réti to join the prestigious Wiener Schachklub. This was very useful for the future star, as he now had access to the club’s chess library, which he spent many hours learning from.
In 1907, Réti competed in the Hungarian national tournament at Szekesfehervar, where he played against many of the strongest players in the country. He finished in a respectable shared 7th place, scoring 7,5/14. This improved his reputation in the eyes of the Hungarian chess world.
Vienna 1908
The following year, Réti was asked to take the place of a suddenly unavailable master at the incredibly strong tournament in Vienna. Many of the world’s strongest players took part, such as Maroczy, Schlechter, Duras, Rubinstein, Teichmann, and Tartakower. At the event, Réti was only able to draw three games, finishing in last place with 1,5/19. However, one of the draws was against Duras, the tournament winner, which allowed Schlechter and Maroczy to share 1st place with him. Despite the poor result, the chance to do battle with many of the world elite was an excellent opportunity for Réti to sharpen his skills.
Tournament success
After finishing school, Réti enrolled to study maths at the University of Vienna. However, he did not stop playing chess: in 1909, he won two small tournaments in Vienna. At the end of the year, he took another 1st place, this time at the 2nd Trebitsch Memorial, ahead of Tartakower. In 1912, Réti shared 3rd with Cohn, behind only Spielmann and Duras, at the King’s Gambit tournament in Abbazia. It was clear that he was becoming stronger with age.
WWI
In 1914, Réti was nearing the completion of his doctorate. However, the outbreak of WWI delayed its completion. During the war, Réti was sent to perform clerical work near the Serbian border. Here he could not make much progress on his academic work, but he did have the opportunity to work on his chess.
An opportunity in the Netherlands
After the end of the war in 1918, Réti took first place at Kaschau, ahead of a strong field which included Vidmar, Breyer and Schlechter. He scored an incredible 10/11, two points ahead of Vidmar in 2nd place. Réti then followed this up by sharing 1st place with Zoltan at Budapest, ahead of Breyer and Schlechter. It became clear that Réti had become a very strong player.
Réti was again close to finishing his doctorate, which he kept in a booklet that he often carried around with him. However, the booklet went missing, and he lost all his work. This was a dark time in Réti’s life, with his brother later writing that he was near suicide. However, Réti received an invitation to travel to the Netherlands as a chess master in residence. This was an important opportunity, as the Netherlands had been far less damaged economically by the war than Hungary. From this point onwards, chess became the main thing in Réti’s life.
Many tournament successes followed his arrival in his new country. Réti won a tournament in Rotterdam 1919 with a perfect 7/7, before also taking 1st at Amsterdam 1920, ahead of both Maroczy and Tartakower.
Gothenburg 1920
Later in 1920, Réti travelled to compete in an incredibly strong tournament in Gothenburg. The field was extremely strong, and included such famous names as Rubinstein, Bogoljubow, Mieses, Tarrasch and Tartakower. Tarrasch claimed that Réti and Breyer should rather play in the lower section, as they had not proven themselves worthy of an invitation to the top section of such a prestigious event. However, the organisers decided to let them compete, and Réti took his revenge by finishing in clear 1st place ahead of a world class field. It became clear that Réti had become one of the strongest players in the world.
Die Neuen Ideen im Schachspiel
In 1921, Réti began to supplement his income by working as a chess journalist for Austrian and German newspapers. The following year, he took a respectable 5th place at the incredibly strong tournament in Bad Pistyan. Réti then took clear 1st at Teplitz-Schönau, ahead of Tartakower, Grünfeld, Rubinstein and Tarrasch. 1922 also saw the publication of Réti’s famous book, Die Neuen Ideen im Schachspiel, in which he presented many of the new hypermodern ideas which were being introduced to chess.
Defeating invincibility
Over the next few years, Réti performed well at various strong international tournaments. He took shared 2nd place at Hastings 1922/3, shared 4th at Karlsbad 1923, 2nd at Mӓhrisch-Ostrau 1923, 2nd at Vienna 1923, and shared 3rd at Scheveningen 1923. At the famous and incredibly strong tournament in New York in 1924, Réti finished 5th. However, he shocked the world by winning a game against the World Champion Capablanca, which was the Cuban’s first defeat in eight years!
A trip to Brazil
In 1925, Réti travelled to Brazil, where he set a new world record by playing 29 blindfold simultaneous games, scoring 21 wins, six draws, and only two losses. His return to Europe was not immediately successful. Réti finished 11th at Baden-Baden 1925, shared 5th at Marienbad 1925, shared 7th at Moscow 1925, and took 8th at Semmering 1926.
Improving results
However, he then finished 2nd, behind only Bogoljubow, at Bad Homburg in 1927. This was followed by a strong 11,5/15 score on board 1 for the Czechoslovakian team at the Olympiad in London later that year. 1928 was also a successful year for Réti, as he finished in clear 1st at Vienna, ahead of Spielmann, Tartakower and Grünfeld, before taking another tournament victory at Giessen, ahead of Tartakower and Sӓmisch.
Nordic adventures
Réti then travelled north, to give various simuls in Sweden and Norway. While there, he played his last ever tournament, a quadrangular event in Stockholm. Réti finished in clear 1st with 4,5/6. Sadly, his life ended prematurely, as he died from scarlet fever shortly after his 40th birthday. Réti had been working on another book, Die Meister des Schachbretts, which was published after his death.
Legacy
Today, Réti is remembered as one of the strongest players of the 1920s, and for his two important chess books. He also composed many endgame studies, which chess players all over the world still enjoy today. Réti was seen as one of the leading masters who introduced hypermodern ideas to chess, and his name is linked to the opening move 1.Nf3, which he employed often.
Game Analysis
Réti won an interesting game against Tarrasch at Bad Pistyan 1922, which illustrates several instructive points.
Lessons from this game:
- Every exchange must do something specific to improve the position. If not, it is better to maintain the tension. In this game, every exchange white made had a concrete goal in mind.
- Rooks belong behind passed pawns!
- The square directly in front of the isolated queens pawn is often an effective home for the opposing pieces. In this game, white’s bishop was very powerful on d4.
Puzzles
Réti – Chalupetzky, Budapest 1911
Réti – Duras, Abbazia 1912
Réti – Johner, Bad Pistyan 1922
Réti – Villegas, Buenos Aires 1924
Solutions
Further Reading
To find more about Réti’s life and games, the following are useful sources:
Réti’s chessgames.com page,
his chess.com page,
this account of Réti’s life written by his brother Rudolph,
this record of Réti’s tournament results,
and the excellent website chesshistory.com, run by Edward Winter.
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