László Szabó (19 March, 1917-8 August, 1998) was a Hungarian chess player, International Grandmaster, chess Olympiad winner, European Championship silver and bronze medalled, World Champion Candidate, ten times Hungarian Champion.

He was born in Budapest, in a Jewish family. In 1935, at the age of 18 he won the Hungarian Championship, due to this he was selected to the national team of his country and represented Hungary at the Warsaw chess Olympiad. At the 1936 unofficial Olympiad in Munich he won a gold medal as a member of the Hungarian team.

At the outbreak of World War II he was inducted to a Force Labor Unit, although it was promised he wouldn’t be under attack because of his origin. In 1943 he was captured by the Russian army and became a prisoner of war. After the war, he returned to chess and took part in several international events. He finished fifth place at 1946 Groningen, which was an extraordinarily strong tournament with such players like Botvinnik, Euwe, Smyslov, Najdorf, Boleslavsky and Kotov. At the 1948 Saltsjöbaden International he finished second behind Bronstein. At the 1952 Saltsjöbaden Interzonal and the Gothenburg Interzonal of 1955 he tied for fifth place. Both achievements were enough to qualify him to the Candidates but, he was not be able to compete for the world championship title. In 1956, Amsterdam he finished third amongst the Candidates, behind Smyslov and Keres, shared with Bronstein, Geller, Petrosian and Spassky.

In the 1960s and 1970s he continued his excellent form in the international tournaments: first place at 1964 Zagreb, then first in Budapest of 1965 (shared with Polugaevsky and Taimanov). He also won at 1972 Sarajevo, 1973 Hilversum (with Geller). Then, in 1973/74 he won the Hastings Tournament (with Gennady Kuzmin, Timman and Tal).

He represented Hungary in 11 official and 1 unoffical Chess Olympiad, playing on Board 1 on five occasions and delivering many medals to the team with his performance. As a member of the Hungarian team he won one gold, one silver and two bronze medals and won one gold, two silver and one bronze individual medals.

According to Chessmetrics historical rating his highest score is 2726.

Sources: https://hu.wikipedia.org; https://en.wikipedia.org;

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