Chess Warrior: The Life & Games of Géza Maróczy

By László Jakobetz and Lajos Portisch

The Patriarch of Hungarian Chess

Ask any chessplayer today if they recognize the name “Maróczy” and you will probably get a reply that it describes a pawn configuration designed to limit black pawn levers. While technically correct, such a reply would overlook the life and legacy of one of the great grandmasters, organizers, and arbiters in chess history.

Géza Maróczy was the first Hungarian world-class grandmaster. In the most comprehensive biography of him ever written, Hungarian chess historian László Jakobetz traces Maróczy’s life from the earliest years, his maturing to an elite player and his significant contributions to the royal game.

This remarkable book has over 180 annotated games, supplemented by hundreds of rare archival photographs. Also included are Maróczy’s complete tournament and match records, along with crosstables, from Budapest 1892 to his final tournament in the Netherlands in 1947.

Until now, very few books worthy of Géza Maróczy’s influence and chess legacy have been published worldwide. Therefore, I am delighted that this comprehensive biography presents to chess-loving readers the exceptional personalities and chess events of past eras, along with many interesting lessons and insights for the present generation. – from the foreword by Lajos Portisch

Most players are familiar with modern Hungarian grandmasters such as Judit Polgár and Péter Lékó, but it was the great patriarch of Hungarian chess Géza Maróczy who paved the way for them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Russell Enterprises, Inc.
• Release date: May 14, 2024
• ISBN: 9781949859942

Book preview

Author’s Preface

It would be easy to think that the life of Hungary’s most significant chessplayer in the half-century after 1890 – figuratively speaking – is an open chess book. After all, numerous writings, newspaper articles, and volumes have been published about Géza Maróczy’s achievements and his almost countless social engagements, and a significant portion of these were written by Maróczy himself. From a century-long perspective, it seems impossible to say anything new about him, but among the news of the contemporary press, we find several things that make the memory of the grandmaster even more exciting. It is worth exploring and getting to know those events which have not yet appeared in chess literature.

In this book, I present this data in two chapters, as Géza Maróczy’s life also had two parts: besides family and work, there was room for chess playing worldwide, albeit with smaller or larger conflicts. No one is alive today who personally knew Grandmaster Maróczy, but his life’s path can still be traced.

During my work spanning more than two years, I reviewed tens of thousands of newspaper articles and references, as well as hundreds of (family) photos. I tried to remain objective, proceed as cautiously as possible, and verify the information from as many (even foreign) sources as possible. Nevertheless, there may be inaccuracies, debatable information, mostly stemming from the sensationalism of the newspaper writers of that time, despite Maróczy occasionally warning them in a friendly manner not to write a lot of nonsense. (If the dear reader finds any glaring errors or can provide substantive additions regarding the life of Géza Maróczy and his family, I kindly ask you to let me know.)

I have included many quotations in my work, most of the time trying to preserve the original writing style, even if it cannot be considered impeccable from a stylistic point of view, but it reflects the language of that era well.

I also emphasized the social and political reality of the 19th and 20th centuries. Central Europe and, within it, the history of Hungary (with two lost world wars) present a special picture that cannot be separated from the chess life of that era either. I endeavored to present the human side of one of the most famous Hungarian chessplayers realistically, even if this meant dismantling a few legends.

Grandmaster Maróczy has more than a thousand recorded games. In my work, I have attempted to include many of the unpublished ones (meaning those missing from databases and chess magazines). Of course, even so, there may still be a few hiding in the English-language newspaper archives (containing 900 million pages), the Austrian and Hungarian archives (with 50 million pages each), and the Dutch newspaper archives (with 15 million pages).

Since Maróczy did not focus on a sea of variations in his game analyses, I followed suit. Instead, I highlighted strategic observations and tried to shed light on the psychological turning points of the games using the concrete findings of computer chess programs. (This led to the correction of frequently misunderstood computer moves.) But I did not just present the often incomprehensible computer moves; I also included variations that are easier for the human mind to grasp. In addition, I tried to provide a brief glimpse into chess history regarding the opponents and the evolution of the openings.

Please, with all this in mind, read the most comprehensive Maróczy biography to date, and I wish you a pleasant reading experience and enjoyable browsing of the corrected crosstables!

László Jakobetz

Budapest

April 2024

Foreword

Lajos Portisch

During my life and career, I have always felt a profound sense of longing because I never had the opportunity to personally meet Géza Maróczy. In 1950, when he regularly attended the Candidates Tournament in Budapest, I was just a little-known chessplaying boy from Zalaegerszeg. Not to mention the travel difficulties of that time, which kept my hometown and the capital city apart.

However, my first chess books, Theory of Openings and World Championships at the Top, were written by Grandmaster Maróczy. I borrowed them from my esteemed instructor, Antal Csuti, whom I fondly remember, and they greatly contributed to my development.

Maróczy’s positional chess philosophy strongly influenced my game, and like him, one of my favorite weapons against 1.e4 was the French Defense. With the exception of the final years of my competitive career, it was an integral part of my repertoire. The famous Maróczy Bind brought me numerous successes with White for a long time (including victories over the likes of Larsen during his prime), although in my games it typically arose from the English Opening.

Géza Maróczy’s analyses had a lasting impact not only on me but also, I believe, on my Hungarian contemporaries. We all tried to internalize his thoughts. In this regard, my advice to today’s young chessplayers is to read old chess books rather than overly imitate computer play.

Chess used to be a sportsmanlike duel, and I do not think we could find anyone among the past world-class players who resorted to dishonorable means to win or gain an advantage. Lasker is known to have intentionally provoked his opponents with his unpleasant cigars, and there were occasions when Nimzowitsch pointed this out. The true gentleman Géza Maróczy might not have even objected to Lasker’s foul cigars if their long-awaited title match had taken place. Let us not forget that smoking was allowed for a long time, even in the most prestigious tournaments.

At the Tilburg Interpolis tournaments, not only the players but even the arbiter smoked their smelly cigarettes! The Soviet grandmasters did not dare mention it (although Tal and Korchnoi, among their compatriots, were passionate smokers) for fear of not receiving any more invitations. Once, Polugaevsky came to me to complain about the unpleasant smoke cloud. At my request, the tournament director reluctantly extinguished his cigar. (This problem was not limited to tournament rooms; in Spain, for example, one could light up during theater performances.)

One irreparable loss for Hungarian and universal chess is that the encounter between Lasker and Maróczy never happened. Of course, the competition for world supremacy, both in the past and present, has not always taken place within the most acceptable and regulated framework. In our rapidly changing era and era of declining values, it is especially important to remember our great figures. Until now, very few books worthy of Géza Maróczy’s influence and chess legacy have been published worldwide. Therefore, I am delighted that this comprehensive biography presents to chess-loving readers the exceptional personalities and chess events of past eras, along with many interesting lessons and insights for the present generation.

Lajos Portisch

Budapest

April 2024

Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge the following people who have provided material for the book: Iván Bottlik; Léda Bodné Szőnyi; Jürgen Brustkern; Etelka Csom; Tibor Felföldy (book design, Hungarian ed.); Gábor Gyuricza; András Hajdu (cover design, Hungarian ed.); Sarolta Hegedűs; Dr. András Jakobetz; Philip Jurgens; Dr. Tibor Keresztfalvi; Zoltán Jakobetz; Dr. Béla Mihalik; Eddy Sibbing (Max Euwe Center); Csaba Schenkerik; Ádám Szieberth; Erika Sziva; Gary Thomas; Peewee van Voorthuijsen; and Dr. Dávid Zakariás.

All of the pictures in this book courtesy of The author and Fortepan.

Frequently used acronyms:

ACB – American Chess Bulletin

BSK – Budapest Chess Club

BSO – Budapest Chess Home

BST – Budapest Chess Society

FIDE – International Chess Federation

MCC – Manhattan Chess Club

MADOS – National Chess Federation of Hungarian Workers

MSSZ – Hungarian Chess Federation

MSV – Magyar Sakkvilág

OTI – National Social Security Institute

PH – Pesti Hírlap (Pest Herald)

Chapter I

The Early Years

You do not develop into a Maróczy, you are born a Maróczy. – Gedeon Barcza

Earliest Portrait of Géza Maróczy (1895)

Géza Maróczy, Olympic champion and international grandmaster, was born in Szeged, Hungary on March 3, 1870 (he was christened by Chaplain József Straub two days later) and passed away in Budapest on May 29, 1951. We begin his life’s journey between these two dates by introducing his parents, about whom little was known until now. In his own books, he also spoke sparingly about them, but extensive research has yielded significant results.

Until now, only a few sources mentioned his father, stating that the good old gentleman Maróczy was a beloved figure of old Szeged and that he worked as a skilled metalworker and locksmith. In 1891-1892, he drilled the first artesian well near the family house on Mars Square in Szeged (which was actually the second one). However, this man’s life was much more interesting and extensive than this. Ecclesiastical records indicate that he was baptized in Szeged on August 11, 1842, and his father’s name was registered as József István Maróczi (born in 1810 or 1811). Later, he was regularly listed as such in industrial bulletins, making it difficult to determine why and when Géza Maróczy began spelling his name with a y.

In the gymnasium notifications, his name appeared in two different ways (which could be a clerical error). Undoubtedly, for a well-known person, the noble writing style looked better and was often an expectation, although Maróczy never mentioned such a family connection. It is true that there was a time when it was better to keep this hidden. In any case, Béla Kempelen’s seventh volume of the series Hungarian Noble Families (1913) features a Pál Maróczy from Veszprém County, who received a letter with a coat of arms in 1625, even though the settlement of Maróc had already existed in Vas and Veszprém counties two centuries earlier.

Moreover, Anita Rácz, an expert in the field, derives the Marót-Maróc-Moravian linguistic line from the names of ethnic groups living in the Czech-Moravian territories, and their first appearance dates back to the 13th century based on the linguistic evidence. (They were sometimes called Kuruc-sounding.) Tracing the above-mentioned medieval line would require a professional genealogist, and the ultimate result would not be of great significance.

Maróczy’s father worked as a chief mechanic at the gas works in Szeged when Géza was young. In a curious way, the father’s name first appeared in an issue of Fővárosi Lapok (Capital Newspapers) – and in other media – on September 15, 1865, which said, He had an independent shop: the meat-chopping machine, which attracted general attention, was demonstrated by József Maróczy, a master locksmith from Pest, and for which he will apply for a patent in the near future.

We read about him for the second time in Szegedi Híradó (Szeged News) of February 21, 1867, as a young tradesman and the author of a poem recited at the dance party of the association of apprentices. Every verse of this poem ends with such splendid words: The homeland thrives by her industry. In addition, he also appeared in theatrical performances.

Two months later, we read about his wonderful professional achievements among the handmade products at an exhibition. This is probably the very same that was featured in the news two years before, although the name of a cauldron also appeared: A meat-chopping machine, invented and made by locksmith József Maróczy. It turned out at the prize-giving ceremony that this machinery had come in fourth place and yielded a small prize of five francs in gold coins. The father contributed 50 crowns to the wounded French soldiers during a donation drive in 1871.

After several foreign academic trips, in 1877, he invented a portable gas lamp and patented it within the territory of the monarchy. (According to the impressive and metaphorical expression of the political daily newspaper, He wants to give light to the Hungarian plains.) The 16-candlepower flame burned for 22 hours without a wick, costing 18 crowns of kerosene, which amounted to nearly a krajczár (an obsolete term, about a penny) an hour. Its mode of operation and economic efficiency made headlines in several towns in the countryside. He was commissioned to light up the streets of Kecskemét, where he had a successful trial-burn in May. This was reported in detail in Kecskeméti Lapok (Kecskemét Newspaper) on May 27, 1877, where Maróczy’s father was often called an industrialist.

The detailed report was published in the May 27th issue of Kecskeméti Lapok, frequently referring to Maróczy’s father as a manufacturer. However, his lamps were not widespread despite winning a favorable contract – probably because of a lack of operating capital. József Maróczy was an outpost agent of Szeged, which was considered a position of trust in the second half of the 19th century. It translates roughly as local representative of the General Workers’ and Disabled Health Insurance Fund and Office.

In July 1881, he made a written proposal for the demolition of the chapel and central tower of the Szeged fortress to obtain materials, and in September, he also participated in closed bidding negotiations for the construction of the Szeged prison and related buildings, where he competed for the locksmith contracts. In addition to that, he actively participated in sales and also offered construction remnants in advertisements.

In addition to these activities, for nearly two years, he became a well-known publisher and owner of a newspaper and printing office. It was the Maróczy & Co. applied arts printer and was awarded a medal for artistic taste and competitive superiority. This temporary initiative came to an end in a published statement in Szegedi Híradó at Christmas.

Later he became a well-digging entrepreneur after he had changed several jobs, and he belonged to the leading people of the handicraftsmen’s world as an intelligent and conscientious clerk. He was a plumber from Szeged, or, according to some accounts, a certified mechanic, and played an active role in the life of the association as a cashier for 10 years starting in his twenties. He worked as an appointee by the trade authorities and apprentice supervisor in the late 1880s. His name has been found among the smiths in the directory and the home addresses of tradesmen and handicraftsmen. (According to earlier entries and directories, he was also an inhabitant of Pest before the Compromise of 1867, but we do not know whether he lived there permanently.)

But the old well-digger father got into the limelight again when the newspaper Szeged és Vidéke (Szeged and Its Countryside) reported on August 29, 1907, following an article published by Neues Pester Journal, that József Maróczy, an entrepreneur, having signed a contract a year before, had been attacked and wounded in the large village of Mohács, but the assailant was not apprehended and the police did not know anything about the incident. The story was covered only by the tabloid press and was not followed up at the local level. (Dry humor turned up in the newspaper a few days later. It read, General Demand, which had nothing to do with the abovementioned event. Géza Maróczy should be appointed Prime Minister. Why? Because he always drives the king into the corner…)

The head of the family (who was described as tall, lanky, with long hair and intelligent eyes, who was well spoken just like his well-known son, Gizi), three years before that event, made a long statement in the same newspaper on July 12, 1904, presenting all of the follies of his children. (It remains unclear to what extent you could get the readers’ attention when there were bullfights in Budapest.)

As for Géza, he thought his love for chess was his specialty, noting that he would often play against himself all night long when in high school. Sometimes the kerosene lamp would burn out. (It is well-known that his father urged him to play the board game Nine Men’s Morris and wanted him to become a mechanical Engineer.)

He calls his other son a well digger, just like himself (that son later took over his father’s professional legacy and there are indications he was a volunteer firefighter and an assistant secretary of the National Association of Firemen in Szeged). Interestingly, the younger Jozsef was registered as an estate engineer in 1909, at his sister’s address near Temesvar, in Torokszakos-Rozsamajor.

1914 advertisement for Well-Digger József Maróczy, Jr.

His elder daughter played chess remarkably well and played the cimbalom (a Hungarian gypsy dulcimer) in an artistic manner, while the younger one had a sharp tongue such that no servant could take it and remain at their house for more than eight or ten days. That leads us to believe that the family was wealthy at that time, although there is record of a levying execution (seizure of property) undertaken against them in 1878.

The great flood of Szeged in 1879 had also caused a huge amount of damage to them and to the widow Józsefné Maróczy, Róza Daka (Géza’s grandmother, born in 1810 or 1811), but the largest amount of money (25 and 12 forints) was received by József Maróczy from the General Workers’ Sick and Disabled Aid Fund, while 7 forints was paid twice to Róza Maróczy. (This woman could have been Géza Maróczy’s mother as well, although her name was rarely used in this form.) From the above, it can be deduced that the old Maróczy house was completely ruined by the overflow of the Tisza River. In 1889, their locksmith workshop caught fire, but it was insured.

The streets of Szeged in Géza Maróczy’s early years.

The drilling of artesian wells presumably could have brought profit to the Maróczy family, even though it was well known that they worked with a small margin. In 1887, when submitting the plan for the second well in Szeged, they offered a significantly better price than the famous expert, Vilmos Zsigmondy. (An extensive and flawed article in the Pesti Hírlap in 1902 claimed that the respectable old Maróczy, without any engineering knowledge, risked half of his fortune in this daring venture.)

Unfortunately, this fortuitous situation did not last long. According to the Pesti Hírlap and other newspapers, on March 26, 1909, József Maróczy Sr., the senior industrialist, passed away in Szeged at the age of 67. Less than a year before that, he had been listed as a homeowner in the jury selection of the Szeged Royal Court (while one of his properties was put up for auction in the summer of 1893 for 7,628 forints), where he was elected as a regular juror.

Eight months after the father’s death, Ferenc Hirmann, owner of a coppersmith’s factory, filed a summary motion in the amount of 262 crowns plus legal costs, for a debt that had been owed by Maróczy, Sr. The four heirs, who were the defendants in the case, must have paid the inherited debt quickly, because we do not know of any seizure of property.

Rozál Valkovics, Géza Maróczy’s mother (Róza Valkovits, Rozália as she was often called) was presumably a housewife because you cannot find anything about her having a job, not even in the register of those who were christened at the Holy Church of Szegedrókus, or in the certificate of her son, Géza József Maróczy (that was his full name).

Obituary of József Maróczy Sr.

One of Maróczy’s schoolmates from high school, in his memoirs in 1902, describes Maróczy’s mother around 1885 as a meek-eyed, warm-hearted, decent lady, who loved her son’s great mind. But we all know that children always consider grown-ups to be older than they really are. Mrs. József Maróczy was a regular guest – and among the most beautiful ladies – at the exclusive balls and parties in Szeged.

Géza Maróczy’s original birth certificate. Note that his full, proper name was Geiza József Maróczi.

Délmagyarország published a detailed article About the Maróczy Family on July 24, 1910. It says that the ever-unselfish grandmaster planned to stop playing chess because of a lack of sponsorship and that his mother, who had always come along with him to the international tournaments and fulfilled his superstitious wishes, had moved to Budapest two months before.

The two-story house at 6 Török utca (Turkish street) – Törökfej (Turkish head) before the Great Floods – thus became deserted, although in November, 1909 the estate had come under the hammer thanks to many creditors. However, Mrs. Wolf, who had been the first resident of that place, still stayed in touch with the Maróczy family.

Meanwhile, in Budapest, Géza’s beautiful sister Mária, also known as Pál Leu née Maróczy, died of cerebral typhus (meningitis). Her funeral took place two days later, on July 22, 1910. Despite her short life, she had had vibrant social activity, and participated in carnival festivities, live chess demonstrations, and in 1903, she was the supervisor of the Szeged People’s Kitchen.

Deaths and calamities to younger family members continued to haunt the family. Post office clerk József Maróczy, who was the grandmaster’s cousin, died at the age of 22 in August 1929. A few years later, Györgyi Maróczy, Géza’s niece (the daughter of his brother) fell out of a moving streetcar on Krisztina Boulevard. (She was born in 1908, but she later corrected it to 1912 – for social reasons – because she wanted to be younger than her would-be husband, dentist-odontologist Kálmán Morelli.) The schoolgirl from Pesterzsébet survived, though she had suffered a concussion.

Géza Maróczy’s sister and mother resting side by side in the Új Köztemető cemetery in Budapest

Having survived the accident, she became a woman of the world, a real socialite, who drove cars with the top down, according to the family history.

Géza Maróczy’s mother proved to have a long life. The Pesti Hírlap and the Kecskeméti Közlöny announced her death on the last day of January 1940, after the funeral, as follows: Józsefné Maróczy passed away at the age of 90, and she was buried two days ago in the Rákoskeresztúr cemetery. (According to the cemetery records, she died on January 27, 1940, and was laid to rest on January 30 as a dependent. Her registered address was Rákóczi út 39, in the seventh district, which was presumably the residence of her granddaughter Magdolna.) Therefore, she was born in 1850 and gave birth to her son Géza at the age of 20.

There are more details available about Maróczy’s brothers and sisters and some of the extended family:

Géza’s younger brother, Tóbiás József Maróczy, Jr., just 18 months younger than Géza, was born in Szeged on September 12, 1871 and passed away in Kalocsa on January 12, 1946.

Their two sisters were also born there: Róza Olga Etelka Maróczy on March 14, 1880 and Eugénia Júlia Mária (Mariska) Maróczy on March 18, 1887. Etelka died in Budapest on August 8, 1960, as Mrs. Dezső Belányi. Géza’s siblings were all christened at the parish of Szeged-downtown (Palánk).

Mic(z)i Maróczy, a well-known name from the world of artists, was probably their cousin.

Géza Maróczy once said about the family’s chess connection: There is no talk of atavism in my case because there is no knowledge of any chess talent in my family, either on my father or mother’s side. But more details about this will be covered in the next section.

Chapter II

First Steps

In order to be able to play the game of chess from memory you need to study, to study for a second time, then to study even more for a third time. Our intrinsic feel for chess and our own memory does help and enables us to play several games at the same time. – Géza Maróczy

His Studies

Maróczy pursued his studies at the Szeged City Main Gymnasium, led by the Piarist Fathers or also known as the Order of Pious Schools. However, there is noted in his report card for the second grade (1881-1882) that he did not take the examination. In his report card for the third grade (1882-1883), his name can be found among the absentees, and also indicated that he repeated a year.. The reasons for this are unknown.

Based on his eighth-grade certificate, it can be observed that the only excellent grades he achieved were in physical education, religious studies, and conduct. It is surprising that he did not receive similar grades in subjects such as mathematics, freehand drawing, or any of the compulsory languages, although these would later become important in his work and life. It is true that he never received a grade lower than pass, but it is quite interesting that he received a satisfactory grade in mathematics in the sixth grade, a subject for which he later became a teacher.

The headmaster, Gábor Magyar, and class teachers likely favored him. For example, in the fifth grade, he contributed to the enrichment of the school’s youth library through his donation. At the same time, his father and colleague, Ignácz Csikós, won the bid for the metal work for the construction of a new gymnasium facility in the city.

Among his classmates, Maróczy had individuals such as Szilveszter Somogyi, a future police captain and mayor who was later awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to the establishment of new university buildings, and Valér Onitiu, a renowned problem composer and the director-general of the Romanian Railway Liquidation Office. The date of Maróczy’s high school graduation certificate: June 7, 1889.

One of the most debated points in Maróczy’s early life is whether he graduated from the famous Zürich Polytechnic University (known at that time as Polytechnikum) at the end of the 19th century. Although Iván Bottlik has repeatedly stated that there is no evidence of this, some individuals (who fancy themselves as chess historians) stubbornly and uninformedly hold this view.

By chance, a friend of mine – who studied and taught at the same institution – researched it in the university library and inquired of the lady in charge of the database multiple times, but no trace of Géza Maróczy’s name was found. Therefore, we can now definitively close the question and agree with Iván Bottlik: it is likely that Maróczy attended certain lectures in Zürich, but he never took any exams or obtained a degree.

The meticulous Swiss registration should clearly confirm this, especially since some records state that he spent three years in Zürich and returned home with a diploma, yet going back 130 years, there are no documents to support these claims. Maróczy always spoke about it diplomatically, without ever mentioning solid facts, such as this back in 1944: I left for the Institute of Technology in Zürich. After completing my studies in Zürich. His finals, degrees, or certificates were never mentioned.)

Gedeon Barcza wrote in his 1951 obituary of Maróczy: He began his engineering studies in Zürich… If anyone still doubts this, here are a few lines from Dr. Benő Kormányos, his former schoolmate, which can be found in his recollection published in the Pesti Hírlap on July 12, 1899: Then he went to Zürich for his technical studies, which he, however, abandoned, and since 1892, he has been employed as an official in the capital’s water department.

During his university years (and even afterwards), he was often referred to in the newspapers as a technical trainee or technician.

Later another doubt would arise concerning whether Maróczy had any kind of diploma. Since Iván Bottlik did not find any information about it in the registry of the Budapest Technical University, it is certain that Géza Maróczy did not have an engineering degree, which he himself never claimed, and he was not employed under that title at his workplaces either. It is likely that due to his burgeoning chess career and the need to support himself independently, he did not have time to complete his university studies.

In his reminiscences, Maróczy mentions that he visited the Hungarian Association in Zürich and was also its librarian, but we cannot exclude the possibility that he also frequented the chess club operating there since 1809, the oldest in the world.

Although there are minor exaggerations in the above-mentioned Kormányos article, it is evident that the author was familiar with the Maróczy family during those years and also had knowledge of chess. An example of this is the fact that on April 1, 1900, Maróczy played three simultaneous blindfold games against good players (Árpád Benkő, Pál Kende, Dr. Benő Kormányos) and achieved complete success. Just two days earlier, he also won handicap games.

Nevertheless, it is a surprising fact that he published nearly a half-page article on Swiss watches and watchmaking in Alföldi Iparlap on December 18, 1887 (that is to say, before Maróczy’s 18th birthday). This might lead one to think that it is based on his personal experiences, although it is rather unlikely.

There are two new recent discoveries in connection with Maróczy’s education:

Géza Jászai wrote in his book A History of the One Hundred Year-Old Roman Catholic Church to Saint Rókus of Szeged, published in 1905, that Maróczy received an engineer’s degree at the University of Graz after spending a few years in Zürich and returning to Budapest.

We could believe Jászai, who was Maróczy’s contemporary and fellow townsman, but his writing contains a lot of inaccuracies. It is a fact that this noble bishop, who later became the president of the National Workers’ Party (!), repeated many unsubstantiated things.

The other discovery happened much later. This piece of information, which has been unknown up until now, appeared in the yearbook of the Royal Hungarian University of Budapest: Géza Maróczy’s name is found several times among the extraordinary law students and students of the Faculty of Arts of this institution between 1902 and 1909. But what prompted the world famous, middle-aged grandmaster to enroll in two schools is completely unclear. It is possible he might have considered retiring from chess, although he did not get a degree from either of the universities. Settling down and starting a family almost certainly played an important role in his decision, although he never mentioned it.

Gyula Germanus, the internationally known Hungarian Orientalist and writer of cultural history, cherished his memory of Maróczy:

Dr. Aladár Ballagi was Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Budapest in 1903. The ever restless and critical professor of universal history always honored me with his affection, and I was allowed to be present during his office hours. On one such occasion, some eight freshmen showed up to take an oath. When the name Géza Maróczy was heard, Dr. Ballagi tossed up his balding head, which contained so much knowledge, and he almost had to look up to Maróczy, who was a haggard, tall student-to-be.

The famous chess master, I suppose? he asked.

Yes, sir. I am a teacher in a higher elementary school and I would like to get a university degree.

Welcome! cried the dean and we, the young, looked at the famous man who was seven or eight years older than us, in admiration. [Maróczy was 14 years older than Germanus. – LJ]

"Perhaps in 1913 or later, Maróczy came to my place at 16 Wesselényi utca and asked me to teach him Turkish. I considered his request a great honor and gave him the book Turkish Grammar by Béla Erődi and Vilmos Prőhle. For a while he would come to me every week and picked up a few lessons from the grammar book. I checked his pronunciation. He was as talented and diligent in his studies as he was excellent at chess. But about a month later he said he would have to go abroad and would suspend his studies for the time being. I have not seen him since, but I have not forgotten about him."

The second mention of Géza Maróczy’s name can be found in the August 2, 1892 issue of the Szegedi Híradó, where they try to present him as the Chess King of Szeged based on his blindfold playing abilities, the son of József Maróczy, an aspiring skilled worker.

His name came up for the third time in Fvőrosi Lapok on August 10, 1892: A young technician called József Maróczy excelled at playing chess at the casino in Szeged, where he played on five boards at the same time, first winning against two good players, then beating the other three. (We can add: Maróczy never used his middle name.)

His name appears for the fourth time in the newspaper Ország-Világ (Country World) in the July 1893 issue, when he sent in the correct solutions to chess problems.

We can read about him and his friend, Rezső Charousek, among the participants of the correspondence competition of the Budapesti Sakk-Szemle (Budapest Chess Review).

Portrait of the young Géza Maróczy.

First Moves on the Chessboard

Many people have written about Maróczy’s introduction to chess. The accounts have been similar, with nothing revealing reported. However, there are more detailed and credible sources available. Maróczy himself wrote his memoirs a half-century later, but newspapers, his father, classmates, and those who knew him as a young man also made statements around 1880 when Maróczy took his first chess steps. Based on these sources, we can summarize the facts (or what we believe to be facts):

In 1884, a slender, enthusiastic student from Szeged, József Maróczy, the 14-year-old son of the skilled worker Maróczy, became acquainted with the secrets of the 64-square chessboard, and from that point on, his life became inseparably connected to the royal game. It is said that Géza was taught the elements of chess by Vilmos Bartos, an official (Gyula Bartos, the father of the actor from the National Theater). The respected citizen of Szeged lived in the Maróczy’s house in those years.

Everyone liked Géza, the tall, lean, pale-skinned boy, even at school. He was a model of a serious and hardworking student who always sought to be first. He was also known for his modesty and being rather reserved. He studied a lot and enjoyed books. His favorite pastime was playing chess, to which he dedicated most of his free time.

He kept dreaming of big things when he was very young. There was hardly anyone among his friends in Szeged who could have been a match for him. Instead, he liked playing chess sitting in the other room without seeing the pieces and told his moves to his opponent sitting at the board. He hardly ever lost a game that way. His first chess partners were Józsi Vértes, Aurél Bezsán, and Lajos Vermes. After getting back home at 4 p.m., they immediately sat down to play. There was a small room in the Maróczy house where Géza’s closest friends would often come. At first, the host hardly ever won a game, but perhaps that motivated him.

Géza Maróczy’s personal chess set.

With his schoolmates he would often go to the café Fekete Sas (Black Eagle) under the threat of being expelled from school, where he, as a fifth grader, took a liking to chess in a smoke-filled room, kibitzing behind the old timers. Very soon he became better than his masters. Three months later, Imre Magyar, the son of the late president of the school committee of Szeged, took him to his father, János, who at that time was one of the most prominent amateur chess authorities of Szeged. Maróczy played against the venerable old man and beat him.

Of course, news of this great event spread among the school inspector’s casino society and in the gymnasium, where Maróczy always brought his chess book with him among his textbooks. Chess became a real mania among the high school students in those days. There were big chess tournaments every Wednesday and Saturday at the home of the school board chairman, but soon enough, the Maróczy child outgrew it. He often demonstrated his skills by playing and defeating opponents while blindfolded. This amazed the hosts.

Géza Maróczy as a young man in front of the chessboard.

One day, young Géza received a great honor. He was invited to play chess at the Noble Casino. His school principal gave him permission for this. A few of his classmates accompanied him, anxiously awaiting to see if he would win again. He won, and he defeated five local masters. After each individual game, he also played blindfold games while enjoying a good meal and reading the newspapers.

Szeged was astonished and admired him. He received invitations one after another from the most prestigious families. The city’s Lloyd Club also invited him to compete, and Maróczy was held in high regard everywhere.

Only Géza’s parents did not rejoice in their son’s chess knowledge. That boy does not study, complained the elderly Maróczy, who was one of Szeged’s most intelligent and skilled craftsmen. As a child, Maróczy had seen the most exemplary family life in front of him, and he had a particularly warm brotherly love for his younger sister, Mariska. This little girl always called her brother Gizi Bátya (Brother Gizi), and even his friends referred to him that way.

In his hometown, Géza had no one to play with because no one could match his skill. The good venerable folk teacher, Strasser, and the only banker in Szeged, Miksa R. May, occasionally tried to challenge him, but ultimately, according to the popular saying of the time, Macedonia became too small for Maróczy! After his high school graduation, he moved on to the capital, Budapest, where he played chess more than ever before.

Károly Liptai, the pen name of a Hungarian theater critic, wrote an article in the June 23, 1900 issue of Magyarország, somewhat supplemented (and hopefully not embellished) with the following information. He writes about the early path of the Hungarian chess grandmaster from the times before the Pallas Lexicon (1893). His longer reflection is based on personal memories, a schoolmate, and a good friend:

Géza Maróczy first appeared not at the Hastings tournament but at the desks of the Piarist Gymnasium in Szeged. The desks were regularly filled with chess pieces and chess puzzles by Budavári József (currently a classic philologist from Rózsahegy) during his Greek lessons. Maróczy was not interested in the irregular conjugation of the verb lűó (to study). Instead of experimenting with aeristos, he read chess books, and only algebra could coexist with his chess passion.

When Maróczy was in grade five of the Szeged high school, there were quite a few adolescent youths in the class. These robust lads evaded the principal’s (Gábor Magyar, now the provost of the religious order) rules of discipline and, under the threat of being expelled from the school, they would all go to Fekete Sas, where there was big rivalry in the casino and even bigger games of billiards. Maróczy would go to Fekete Sas too. He would also talk with the lady cashier, but he did not play billiards but rather chess, and if he did not have an opponent, he would hold court for the typical brokers who played um a schwartzen (for a black coffee) every afternoon.

However, at the Fekete Sas, there was soon no worthy opponent for Géza Maróczy. He defeated his fellow students one by one, so he became the arbiter of disputed chess matters in the student circles and the um a schwartzen circle. On Sundays, when the postcards arrived, he quickly solved chess puzzles, much to the amazement of the onlookers.

Maróczy had a dear friend among the students, Imre Magyar (who recently died). His father, the late János Magyar, was the chairman of the school board in Szeged (the father-in-law of the late writer Zoltán Papp). As an amateur chessplayer, he had a great reputation in Szeged.

When there were no more students left in the Fekete Sas, Imre Magyar took his good friend to his father to show what Maróczy could do. At first, the old man just played around with his young partner, offering some fóros (rook sacrifices) as well. But when Géza warmed up, the old man quickly lost all his pawns, and he could not help but stare in amazement at his opponent.

Finally, Maróczy left Szeged and in the Budapest chess club, he became what the chess world celebrates today: the foremost chessplayer of the monarchy and one of the world’s first chess matadors. Now his parents are proud of him, just as Szeged and all of cultured, chess-playing Hungary is proud of him.

With knowledge of all these accounts(!), an original column by Mihály Cserzy (who had the pseudonym Homok) titled Egy és más Maróczyról (This and That About Maróczy) that appeared in the May 25, 1906 issue of Pesti Hírlap, seems less original and more anecdotal. Romantic sentences put into the mouth of the elder József Maróczy, who sat at the marble table of the Szeged Európa café, became dubious when he mentions Géza’s family, who were preparing to go to America: His wife and son will soon follow him.

It is hard to believe that the proud grandfather did not think of his newborn granddaughter, Magda, who would be born just five days later. Or did the family plan to leave behind a newborn at home? The other questionable statement comes from Maróczy’s uncle, who praises chess to the skies throughout the text, saying that in chess, you can only win or lose, even though it is well known that the chances of a draw are enormous. The most surprising thing is that the Magyar Sakkvilág published the article in its entirety in 1925, on the occasion of Maróczy’s 30-year anniversary as a master, among other notable articles, but without adding any commentary.

In the above accounts, we find numerous overlaps, but the essential biographical elements are clearly discernible, providing a mostly realistic picture of the beginning of a Hungarian child prodigy in the 19th century.

Chapter III

The Maróczy and Mann Families

Among the wives of chess masters, Gézáné Maróczy is undoubtedly the happiest, and among the children of the masters, Maróczy’s son and daughter are undoubtedly the happiest. – Gerard Oskam

The Maróczy Family

There are many who would agree with the above statement about Géza Maróczy, a dedicated family man who always took care of his loved ones. We will try to address this issue, aware that the grandmaster could not contribute much to raising his children because of his constant obligations as a competitor and employee. And so it happened that shortly after the birth of his son, he traveled to Vienna, while when his daughter was born, he was heading from America to Ostend for a very lengthy tournament.

His wife, Magdolna Irén Mann of Csonoplya (September 4, 1883-May 17, 1962) did not bear her father’s name for a few months after her birth. We do not know much about her studies, but it is certain that she dropped out of grade five of the state upper school for girls of Szeged in the school year 1897-1898.

Géza Maróczy and his fiancée became engaged on December 17, 1903, in Szeged, and they did not have to wait long for the wedding ceremony to take place. The civil marriage took place on January 24, 1904, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, in the presence of a large wedding party, in the ceremonial hall of the Szeged city council building. The witnesses were Károly Stipl, the president of the Royal Court in Kecskemét, and Pál Sándor, a member of the Parliament. The religious ceremony took place 30 minutes later in the downtown Szent Demeter Church, which was already filled with the high society of Szeged.

Shortly after the ceremony, a portrait of the beautiful young woman was displayed in the shop window of Pál Sátor, a fashion merchant on Kárász Street in Szeged. The painting is an outstanding work of art, the credit going to Emil Keglovich, which also revealed the social standing of the wedding between the Maróczy and Mann families.

Géza was often accompanied by his young wife to his competitions (their honeymoon was at the Monte Carlo tournament) and his later guest appearances. In September 1929, during his simultaneous exhibition in Érsekújvár, a journalist from Prágai Magyar Hírlap described her as follows: A very elegant, youthful-looking lady. It was revealed that during their twenty-five years of marriage, Géza never attempted to teach her chess. Moreover, until their children were grown, there was hardly a chess set in their house. She considered her husband an exception among chess masters because he was not nervous, incompatible, or crazy… In 1927, Maróczy also said similar things: I declare that neither my wife nor my children play chess at all. I would not want them to.

Géza Maróczy and his wife at the time of their wedding (1904).

Among her relatives, her brother-in-law, Kálmán Mann from Csonoplya, won a prize book in June 1939 for correctly solving a chess problem in Maróczy’s chess column in the Pesti Hírlap newspaper, but other people with the surname Mann also appeared among the winners. Kálmán took part in a live chess performance as a pawn at the Opera House in 1905; it was directed by Maróczy, the chess teacher. Then in 1936, he was also a guest of honor at Maróczy’s celebration in Albertfalva, which means the two families remained in close contact.

Their son, Mihály Maróczy, was born on November 2, 1904, in Szeged, and passed away on September 28, 1999, in Budapest. In his youth, he submitted chess puzzle solutions to newspapers but never played chess competitively. He said that it would not be appropriate with his name. (He always enthusiastically preserved his father’s chess legacy, for example, in 1961, he made the ceremonial first move at the Maróczy Memorial Tournament.)

He married Katalin (Kató) Saly in 1938, and their marriage lasted until her death. She passed away on November 27, 1982, presumably in Budapest. In 1938, György was promoted from assistant clerk to insurance intern at the OTI. Although he never worked in a technical position in his life, he was considered a technical genius according to family legend. Near the end of World War II, he became aware of the threats of German bombers only after crossing the border, as he often illegally tapped into military radio transmitters. He remained highly active even in his 90s, working as a porter at Ybl Bank until 1992.

Géza Maróczy’s daughter, Magdolna Maróczy, was born on May 30, 1906, in Szeged and passed away on June 3, 1998, in Budapest. She retained her married name, Péterné Keresztessy, even after her husband’s death (1965). (Her husband worked as a certified mechanical engineer in the technical department of the OTI for a long time.) She excelled academically and completed most of her schooling in Szeged through traditional means.

However, she attended the first grade as a private student at the Szemere School in Budapest, the second grade at the Borbála Varga-led Girls’ Training Institute in her hometown (in the girls’ school), and the third grade at the Roman Catholic Girls’ School in Kalocsa. This also means that she was away from her father for many years as he had been working in Budapest for a long time.

Between June 1920 and October 1922, the family was together during their stay in Austria, and from then until May 1924, Magdolna lived in the girls’ educational institute in Gernrode, Germany (where she received an excellent letter of recommendation) and with the family of Carl Mittag, a book publisher. (This is close to the chess village of Ströbeck, which is surely a coincidence. Some sources say that she studied in Berlin in 1924, but there is no evidence of this.) After that (from 1925), she learned dressmaking because her parents expected her to acquire a reliable trade.

Her first-semester report card for the third class of the General Directional Girls’ Vocational School in Budapest is dated March 16, 1927 (with excellent results). Her assistant certificate was issued on October 10, 1927, in Szeged at Jolán Jurikné Lusztig’s apprentice school (which included a women’s fashion salon). We know these details primarily from Géza Maróczy’s own typed parental certificate dated November 30, 1927, in Budapest.

At the age of 22, Magdolna was accepted as an extraordinary student at the Faculty of Law and Political Science of the Hungarian Royal Franz Joseph University in Szeged, which had moved there after the Treaty of Trianon.

She completed two semesters of state accounting, which was necessary for job applications. In 1930, she successfully passed the first-class office typist exam in Szeged (together with Irma Novák), and they became the first in the city to achieve this qualification. (However, according to Magdolna Maróczy’s certificate from 1931, this press release was not accurate as it did not confirm the highest first-class qualification.)

From 1928 to 1937, Magdolna Maróczy worked at the aforementioned university in the position of assistant assigned to office services, as a so-called hired clerk. Later, in 1937, she became a technical draftsman and later a specialist lecturer at the OTI (she obtained a lower-level social insurance professional examination in 1939), where she remained employed until 1950. After that, until 1961, she worked as a clerk in several healthcare institutions, then until 1967, she worked as a clerk and buffet attendant at the Pannónia hotel chain. In 1968, she worked as an administrator at the ORFI hospital, and finally, after retiring, she was a porter at OTP until 1986. In her free time, she successfully solved bridge puzzles and was a supporting member of the literary circle Petőfi Society.

Throughout their lives, the two siblings lived in a close and loving relationship (even during their work, as both held positions as OTI officials for a long time). Numerous photos were taken of them, both in their childhood and old age. At the turn of the century, the well-being of the Maróczy family is evidenced not only by dozens of high-quality studio photographs but also by the fact that the photos show, for example, György’s own midwife and nanny. They took great care in preserving the memory of their father.

The Mann Family

Dr. Jakab Mann (December 18, 1848, Csonoplya-December 5, 1923, Budapest) was the father-in-law of Géza Maróczy, hailing from Alsace and of noble origin with a coat of arms. He completed his medical studies in Budapest. In 1877, he received a university award and a prize in obstetrics, followed by a doctoral degree in medicine, surgery, and midwifery a year later.

In the summer of 1880, he traveled to several countries on a scholarship, and in 1881, he became an assistant professor. In 1882, he obtained a private teaching qualification in operative obstetrics. In 1906, he was granted the honorary title of Csonoplya by King Francis Joseph as a recognition of his work. We know that in 1921, Dr. Jakab Mann served as a private university professor for female patients in Budapest at 68 Aréna Road (Géza Maróczy previously had also been a resident there).

In November, 1923, he lost a libel case, which caused quite a stir, when he was the hospital superintendent of the Szeged School of Midwifery. It turned out that the former doctor of repute, when he grew older, could no longer keep up with the latest scientific developments. He would often enter the ward for women in confinement with a cigar in his mouth and did not wear rubber gloves during operations, and the institution started to fall apart under his leadership. A few days after the libel judgement, the doctor, who had become weak and had had a clash with the other members of the family, died in Budapest.

In his obituary, which appeared in the newspaper Szeged on December 8, he is mentioned as an advisor to the royal court (as of 1911) and an honorary lecturer at university, but he was often referred to as a Professor of Medicine (which is an exaggeration). He was the organizer and lecturer of countless conferences of experts, conventions and official inquiries. Among his many other works, he was the author of multiple editions of the Hungarian Midwifery Handbook for certified midwives.

Mrs. Jakab Mann, Géza Maróczy’s mother-in-law (née Amália Anna Horn, born July 15, 1851; died June 2, 1925, Budapest) would often do charity work with her second husband. She also took part in the meetings of the ladies’ association, balls, banquets, and openings of exhibitions. It is very likely that she never had to work in her life because she gave birth to one child before their marriage and then three after their marriage in 1884. Her standing in society at that time is well attested by the fact that the art publication Original Hungarian Songs, which was released by the then still-existing Rózsavölgyi and Co. Imperial and Royal Music store in Budapest, was deferentially dedicated to her ladyship in 1888. But why the magazine Zalamegye (Zala County) was the only one to publish this piece of news is still a mystery.

The couple had two daughters (Irén, Mária), two sons (Kálmán, Jenő), and an adopted son (Gyula). Both daughters married into high social circles, particularly Mária-Mici, who was widely known throughout the country as Dr. Károlyné Mészáros. Therefore, it surprised many when she committed suicide in 1919. It turned out from her suicide note that she had not been able to put up with bullying by her father and her husband, who had been a gynecologist and worked as Dr. Jakab Mann’s subordinate in the public health institution run by his father-in-law. (The circumstances of Ilona Mann, Mrs. Dr. Jenő Korda – her husband was also a gynecologist – are unclear.)

Jakab Mann

Chapter IV

Civil Service

Chess teaches you to think logically. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s a bad profession. – Géza Maróczy

Géza Maróczy worked in various positions and roles during his employment in Hungary. Based on his abilities and ambition, he would quickly climb the career ladder until a personal or historical event interrupted his progress. He dreaded the uncertainty of existence, which is why money played a central role in his life (it was the measure of his worth), as he often emphasized in his statements.

We cannot know what would have happened if he had not spent his most productive first two decades in chess as a semi-professional. He might have burned out very soon because he always reckoned – as he suggested to Euwe – that one should not concentrate exclusively on chess: studies and work must come first. At the age of 63, when asked if it was worth sacrificing so many nerves, energy, and time for chess, he replied:

The middle-aged Maróczy

It was worth it for me because I immediately started with success, and I have had successes since then. But I would tell others, it is not worth it. Because thousands and thousands believe they have a marshal’s baton in their pocket. They waste time, energy, and in the end, a tragic collapse occurs because only one in a thousand succeeds. If they would put that much energy into seeking success through other means, they might achieve their goals. I say this not only from the perspective of material success but also from a spiritual sense; chess cannot fulfill the life of a cultured person.

His worldview may have been shaped by the fact that his second-place finishes were seen as true tragedies by newspapers from his youth, while just a few years later, they spoke of the decline of the older grandmaster. The alleged near misses also forced Maróczy into constant explanations, and he always had another (forced) variation in response. Fortunately, the human mind selectively erases most bitter periods of time, so Maróczy, thankfully, never gave up chess completely.

Let’s now go through when, where, and what Maróczy did during his career, especially since future generations treated this question (among others) inaccurately and superficially.

Workplaces/Occupations

1892-1903

At the New Káposztásmegyer Waterworks, he worked as a technical draftsman and later as an assistant engineer (occasionally mentioned as a soil researcher). However, it was noted in several places that he was an official at the Municipal Engineering Office of Budapest in 1902. Finally, the 1898 issues of Fővárosi Közlönyök shed light on this peculiar job assignment when they mentioned Maróczy among the temporary staff employed for the construction and capacity increase works of the large waterworks on the left bank (with a daily wage of 2.50 crowns).

The Waterworks of Káposztásmegyer was Maróczy’s first workplace (1893).

1903-1908(?)

He was a teacher at the Municipal Boys’ School on 17 Knézits Street in the 9th district. The newspapers presented Maróczy’s career change as follows:

After the excitement of the chess tournament master life, he longed for a quieter occupation [some mentioned rest – LJ] and thus applied for a teaching position to Dr. István Bárczy, the counselor of the capital’s educational department, who sent Maróczy to the Ferencváros elementary school as a mathematics professor.

According to the articles, he taught quantity theory and geometry (later mentioned as mathematics and descriptive geometry), but we also know that he taught calligraphy as a homeroom teacher. He used his (non-existent) teaching diploma for the service of the capital city. This introduction seems to indicate that this profession was more highly esteemed at the time than being a top chessplayer. However, we know from the pages of Ferenc Molnár’s youth novel translated into forty languages, titled The Paul Street Boys (A Pál utcai fiúk) that the Franzstadt professorship was not exactly a relaxing pastime.

Especially considering that this was the period when Maróczy had his peak as a competitor, which often required finding substitutes for him at the school. Moreover, in all those years, his position was not finalized, which is why Maróczy changed professions. (In the bilingual 1907-1908 Budapest Directory of Titles and Residences, Maróczy’s name appears twice as a teacher, but this publication was printed in April 1907, before the start of the school year, so it is doubtful that he ever gave a single lesson.) If we want to be objective, we must acknowledge that few principals would rant permanent status to an instructor who requested several months of leave each school year…

Regarding this period of Maróczy’s life, Kornél Havasi later recalled in the Pesti Napló:

After achieving his world-famous successes, Maróczy was indeed appointed as a paid hourly teacher at the elementary school on his merits, but there is more here than meets the eye. The assistance became problematic because every time he went to a foreign tournament, Maróczy had to pay the substitute teacher out of his own pocket. So in fact he ended up paying for the teaching position. Maróczy always struggled with financial difficulties; he even tried his hand at wine trading once (he had a wine cellar in Tétény), and in the last ten years, he held the position of audit commissioner at the Workers’ Insurance Fund.

Undoubtedly, this is a vivid and illustrative statement, but no one – not even Maróczy himself – ever spoke about some of its elements.

1908-1919

The National Workers’ Accident Assistance and Insurance Fund was established in October 1908, and Maróczy became a clerk there. He steadily climbed the career