Klaus Junge

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Klaus Junge (born 1 January 1924 at Concepción, Chile - died 17 April 1945, at Welle, Germany) was one of the youngest German chess masters.

[edit] Biography

In 1941, at the age of 17, Klaus Junge was considered one of the strongest players in Germany. In 1941, he won a championship of Hamburg. In May 1941, he won at Bad Elster (qual. GER ch.). In August 1941, he tied for 1st with Paul Felix Schmidt at Bad Oeynhausen (8th GER ch.), although he lost a play–off match for the title against Schmidt at Bromberg (+0 –3 =1). In October 1941, he took 4 th, behind Alexander Alekhine, Paul Felix Schmidt, and Efim Bogoljubow, at Krakow/Warsaw (2nd GG Tournament).

In January 1942, Klaus Junge won at Dresden. In 1942, he took 2nd, behind Walter Niephaus at Leipzig. In April 1942, he took 2nd, behind Carl Carls at Rostock. In June 1942, he tied for 3rd-4th with Schmidt, behind Alekhine, and Paul Keres at Salzburg. In Sempember, he took 7th at Munich (1st European Championship). The event was won by Alekhine. In October 1942, he took 2nd, behind Alekhine, at Warsaw/Lublin/Krakow (3rd GG Tournament). In December 1942, he tied for 1st with Alekhine at Prague. In 1942–1943, he played three correspondence tournaments, winning among others Rudolf Teschner, and Emil Josef Diemer.

As a lieutenant, he lost his life in combat against Allied troops in Welle, on the Lüneburger Heide, close to Hamburg, three weeks before the World War II ended.

In 1946, Regensburg hosted the first Klaus Junge Memorial. The event was won by Fedor Bohatirchuk, ahead of Elmars Zemgalis, Wolfgang Unzicker, etc.

According to Dr Robert Hübner, Klaus Junge was the greatest German chess talent in 20th century.