Happy Birthday to Zoltán Sárosy--110 Years Old Today

And still playing chess. The former Hungarian chess champion, living in Canada since 1950, turns 110 years old today.
dailynewshungary.com/oldest-man- … ss-player/

The last recorded game I can find for him is from 2012

[Event “Ch Hungary”]
[Site “Hungary”]
[Date “2012.10.7”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Antal Tibor Kende (HUN)”]
[Black “Sarosi Zoltan (HUN)”]
[Result “1-0”]
[Eco “B12”]
[Annotator “”]
[Source “”]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nd2 e6 5.Nb3 Nd7 6.Nf3 Ne7 7.Be2 Bg4
8.h3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Nf5 10.Be2 a6 11.Bd3 g6 12.Bxf5 gxf5 13.Be3
h5 14.Qd2 Nb6 15.Na5 Nc4 16.Nxc4 dxc4 17.b3 Qd5 18.O-O Rg8 19.f3
O-O-O 20.Qe2 c3 21.Rfd1 Ba3 22.Rd3 Qa5 23.Rad1 Rg6 24.Kh1 Rdg8
25.Rg1 b5 26.Bf2 Bb2 27.Qe3 Qb6 28.Be1 b4 29.Bh4 Qb7 30.Qe2 Kd7
31.f4 Qb5 32.Qxh5 Qxd3 33.cxd3 c2 34.Bg5 c1=Q 35.Rxc1 Bxc1 36.Qe2
Rxg5 37.fxg5 Bxg5 38.g3 Be7 39.Qf2 Ke8 40.Kh2 a5 41.Qf3 Kd7 42.Qh5
Ke8 43.Kg2 Rg6 44.Kf2 Bf8 45.Qf3 Kd7 46.Qe2 Kc7 47.g4 fxg4 48.hxg4
Be7 49.Qf3 Rg7 50.Qh3 Rg8 51.Kf3 Kd7 52.Qh7 Rf8 53.Kf4 Ke8 54.g5
Kd7 55.Kg4 Ke8 56.Kh5 Kd7 57.Kh6 Ke8 58.d5 cxd5 59.d4 Kd7 60.Kg7
Rb8 61.Kxf7 Rf8+ 62.Kg7 Rf4 63.g6 Rxd4 64.Qh3 Rf4 65.Kh7 Bf8
66.g7 Bxg7 67.Kxg7 Rf5 68.Qe3 Kc6 69.Kg6 Kb5 70.Qd3+ Kc5 71.Qc2+
Kd4 72.Qxf5 exf5 73.e6 Kc3 74.e7 Kb2 75.e8=Q Kxa2 76.Qa4+ Kb2
77.Kxf5 d4 78.Ke4 1-0

theglobeandmail.com/news/tor … e31391585/

This is surely not the same guy. For one thing the game was played in Hungary in 2012, when the Canadian guy was about 95 or 96 and, according to the newspaper article, using a mobility aid.

The FIDE rating list shows a Hungarian born in 1958 rated 2209, named Zoltan Sarosi. That’s probably the player in this game.

The FIDE rating list doesn’t show the Canadian guy. That may be because they stop listing you after you have been inactive for long enough (I don’t know how long).

Thanks for posting the links; interesting guy!

Bruce

It may be the guy. If you look at the record using the Sarosi spelling in Hugebase, you’ll see the Canadian correspondence history and the tournaments played in Canada as well as tournaments in Canada. The first game Chessbase has for him is in 1983. In the Chess Assistant Hugebase the, apparently, same player has games going back to 1974. He did, or does, have daughter from his first marriage in Hungary and perhaps grandchildren and other relatives, so travel to Hungary for tournaments is a possibility. I’ll do some more digging. If it is two different players, some attributions will need to be corrected. Maybe it’s his grandson in Hungary?

ICCF does have a Sarosy and not a Sarosi. Looks like two different people. I don’t have the Chessbase Correspondence base. If someone here does, please check it under both spellings. So, there are indeed two players. Are they related in any way?

From the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame site.

Correspondence International Master 1988
Canadian Correspondence Champion (1967, 1972, 1981)
1st place, Master Candidates Tournament, Diosgyor, Hungary 1943
Won Chess Club tournaments in different cities in Hungary: Nagykanizsa (Club Ch) 1929; Pecs (Club Ch) 1932; Budapest 1934
Invented the move order: 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. d4
Reached age 100 in 2006 while still playing chess by e-mail; in 2007, became longest lived Canadian chess player ever
Canadian Chess Hall of Fame 2006
Game with Zoltan Sarosy’s favourite move:

Leon Kempen - Zoltan Sarosy
Pacific Area Team Tournament 4, Australia - Canada, Board 3, Correspondence, ICCF, 1999

Contributors: J. Ken MacDonald; family of Frank Anderson, John Donaldson, Zoltan Sarosy (photo).