Richard Reti (1889-1929)

World's top player and study composer

Signed letter from 22 June 1927

written in pen to his friend Jaromir Dubsky

size 17.7 x 14.2 cm (unfolded 17.7 x 28.4 cm)

Very good:  the letter has light trace after horizontal folding. Otherwise minor signs of use.

Richard Reti wrote the letter during a tournament in Homburg. In his letter he asks Mr. Dubsky to take care of several things in connection with his participation at the Chess Olympiad in London.

Text of the letter, written in pen in German:

Sehr geehrter Herr Dubsky!

Auf meinen Brief aus Barcelona habe ich keine Antwort erhalten. Vielleicht schreiben Sie mir auf meine Düsseldorfer Adresse: Schwanenmarkt 4 II. Ich habe geloest, dass es noetig ist, schon jetzt Zimmer in London zu bestellen. Wenn also die U.J.C.S. Wert auf

meine Teilnahme legt, bitte ich dass man mir die 30 Pfund, die mir als Spesenersatz bewilligt wurden, an mein Konto bei der Deutschen Bank, Köln a. Rh. ueberweisst (Bitte dazu zu schreiben fuer Konto R. Reti, Düsseldorf). Ich bin auch einverstanden wenn man mir jetzt die Haelfte des Betrages ueberweist

und die andere Haelfte bei Beginn des Turniers in London uebergibt. Jedenfalls waere mir Eile erwuenscht, da man mir jetzt hat, dass es spaeter schwer sein wuerde, Zimmer zu erhalten. Ist die Reihenfolge der Spieler schon bestimmt? Ich habe naemlich in einer russischen Schachzeitung zu meinem Erstaunen gelesen

(auch zum Erstaunen der Schachzeitung selbst) dass ich fuer das 3. Brett bestimmt sei.

Mit besten Gruessen Ihr Ergebener

R. Reti (signature)

(Below the signature are a few notes in other hand).

By the way, the first Chess Olympiad was played in London from 18 to 30 July 1927. Richard Reti played on the 1st chess board for Czechoslovakia with an excellent result of 11.5 points from 15 games.

Biographical data:

Richard Reti (1889 Pezinok, today’s Slovakia - 1929 Prague), in the 1920s one of the best chess players in the world. Together with Tartakower and Breyer, one of the founders of hypermodernism in chess. Reti was also an excellent composer of studies.

Jaromir Dubsky (1901-1943), Prague chess player, chess enthusiast and organizer. Dubsky was a friend of Richard Reti and often helped him with various technical and organizational matters, as this letter also proves. Dubsky was captain of the Czechoslovak team at the 1935 Olympiad in Warsaw. He was a co-founder and representative of the Evona soap factory, which sponsored strong tournaments in Prague in the 1920s. When Reti died in 1929, Dubsky wrote an obituary in the magazine Ceskoslovensky sach (Ceskoslovensky sach 1929, pp. 98-99). Jaromir Dubsky died on 15 December 1943 in the Oswiecim (Auschwitz) concentration camp.

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