IA and GM Gabor Kallai

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Simon Rogers
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Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:30 pm

IA and GM Gabor Kallai

Post by Simon Rogers » Sun Jan 02, 2022 10:00 pm

I am sorry to report the sad news that Hungarian International Arbiter and Grandmaster, Gabor Kallai died on the 31st December 2021, at the age of 62.
Gabor was born on 21st February 1959 in Budapest, Hungary. He became a Grandmaster in 1995 and his highest ELO was 2555 in 2001.
He has written nine chess books in multiple languages.
Basic Chess Openings and More Basic Chess Openings being the most popular.
Since 2005, Gabor has written a chess column in the Hungarian daily newspaper Nepszabadsag. From 2006 he has presented a TV programme on Hungarian Sport1 TV (SAKKK!).
From 2001 to 2005 he was the Professional Director of the Hungarian Chess Federation.
Gabor coached the Hungarian Men's Team for the 2002 Bled Chess Olympiad, guiding the team to the silver medal position (one point behind Russia).
In 2005, Gabor was appointed a FIDE Senior Trainer. He coached the Polgar sisters, most notably Zsuzsa.
He also coached Zoltan Ribli (Top 10 player in the world in the 1980s) and Jeffery Xiong (between 2012 and 2015).
Between 2005 and 2010, Gabor was the Public Relations Director of the Hungarian Chess Federation.
RIP
Last edited by Simon Rogers on Sat Jan 15, 2022 7:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Matt Mackenzie
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Location: Millom, Cumbria

Re: GM Gabor Kallai

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Tue Jan 04, 2022 12:46 pm

A genuine all-rounder, then.
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

Simon Rogers
Posts: 2337
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2020 4:30 pm

Re: GM Gabor Kallai

Post by Simon Rogers » Sat Jan 15, 2022 12:45 pm

Nigel Short posted this nice tribute on Twitter on 4th January:
"Very sad to learn of the untimely death of GM Gabor Kallai, whom I first got to know in Budapest 2003. A very warm and friendly guy. Excellent company. We will miss him."

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