Lajos Portisch

Lajos Portisch
Lajos Portisch in 1968
Full name	Lajos Portisch
Country	Hungary
Born	(1937-04-04) 4 April 1937 (age 79) Zalaegerszeg, Hungary
Title	Grandmaster (1961)
FIDE rating	2467 (February 2017)
Peak rating	2655 (January 1980)

Lajos Portisch (born 4 April 1937) is a Hungarian chess Grandmaster, whose positional style earned him the nickname, the "Hungarian Botvinnik". One of the strongest non-Soviet players from the early 1960s into the late 1980s, he participated in twelve consecutive Interzonals from 1962 through 1993, qualifying for the World Chess Championship Candidates' cycle a total of eight times (1965, 1968, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1985, and 1988). Portisch set several all-time records in Chess Olympiads. In Hungarian Chess Championships, he either shared the title or won it outright a total of eight times (1958, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1975, and 1981). He won many strong international tournaments during his career. In 2004, Portisch was awarded the 'Nemzet Sportoloja', Hungary's highest national sports achievement award.

He still competes occasionally at his age. His main hobby is singing operatic arias; he has a fine baritone voice, a quality shared by Vasily Smyslov, a chess world champion and grandmaster who also had talent as an operatic singer. His younger brother, Ferenc (born 1939), is an International Master.

Portisch represented Hungary at the World Junior Chess Championship, Antwerp 1955. He scored 4.5/7 in the preliminary round to advance to the final, where he scored 5.5/9, to finish fourth; the winner was Boris Spassky. Portisch tied for first through third places in a master event at Budapest 1956, along with Joszef Szily and Bela Sandor, ahead of Pal Benko; the three winners scored 7/11. In a second master event at Budapest 1956, Portisch made 7.5/11. He was in the pack at Debrecen 1956 with 5.5/11.

Portisch successfully represented Hungary in several team matches in 1956 and 1957, against Poland, Estonia, the Soviet Union, Belarus, and Yugoslavia. He made his first Student Olympiad and full Olympiad appearances for Hungary in 1956; he would eventually represent Hungary at a record twenty Olympiads (see below). He excelled at his first individual international event, winning at Balatonfüred 1958 with 9/11, ahead of strong Grandmasters László Szabó and Alexander Tolush. He earned the International Master title. He finished second at Hastings 1958–59 with 7/9, behind Wolfgang Uhlmann.