Dear chessfriends,

Sunday, June 20, 2021: A sad news shakes our chess community far beyond the BdF. GM Horst Rittner finished his last game in the night of June 14 and will never return to the board. A look into his vita shows which big footprints he leaves behind:

• In 1949 his passion for correspondence chess began 
• 1960 he became ICCF Grandmaster, altogether he achieved the GM norm 10 times
• 1966 winner of the strongly occupied Ragosin Memorial Tournament
• 1971 he became World Champion at the 6th Correspondence Chess World Championship
• 1995 3rd place at the 10th Correspondence Chess Olympiad (1987-1995), which was still played by mail, in the team of the GDR

Parallel to his correspondence chess passion Horst Rittner played in various Berlin clubs in close-up chess. Thus he also participated in three individual championships of the GDR. His last participation in a team championship was with SV Mattnetz Berlin e.V. in the 2017/2018 season.

Besides his activities as a player, Horst Rittner turned his hobby into his profession and at the same time he was active in many international and national functions on a voluntary basis.

• 1961 -1991 Vicepresident of the ICCF
• 1979 Honorary member of the ICCF
• 1965 -1991 Editor-in-chief of the magazine "Schach"
• among other things author for chess programs in the German Television of the GDR, columnist of various publications of the GDR
• in the 1990s consultant for public relations in the Berlin Chess Federation e.V.

His achievements and activities for the sport of chess were honored by these awards:

• Bertl von Massow Medal in Gold (1984)
• Bertl von Massow Medal in Silver (1984)
• Honorary certificate on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the DSB.