Walter Korn

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Walter Korn (born 22 May 1908 in Prague, Czechoslovakia, died July 9, 1997 in San Mateo, California) was an author of books and magazine articles about chess. Strangely, there seems to be no record of him playing tournament chess and few chess players ever met him.

Korn was the author of Modern Chess Openings, which was considered the bible and authoritative work on the openings of chess. A new edition of Modern Chess Openings would come out every five years or so and it was required reading for tournament chess players.

In later years, Korn enlisted the help of top players, such as Grandmaster Larry Evans and Grandmaster Nick de Firmian, while continuing to be listed as a co-author.

Korn fled his homeland for London in 1939. Several years later, in Germany, he directed the U.N. Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, helping to relocate concentration camp survivors. In 1948, he served as national director of ORT in Geneva.

He immigrated to the United States in 1950 and lived in Detroit, where he worked as business manager of the Jewish Community Center. From 1960 to 1964, he lived in Israel, working for both the Joint Distribution Committee and the United Jewish Appeal.