Zoltán von Balla
Zoltán von Balla (31 August 1883, Budapest – 1 April 1945, Budapest) was a Hungarian chess champion.
In 1904, he took 11th in Coburg (14 DSB Congress, B tournament). In 1905, he took 10th in Vienna. In 1906, he won 1st Hungarian Championship in Györ. He shared the title with Zsigmond Barász at Budapest 1911. He won at Györ 1911, took 18th at Breslau 1912 (18th DSB-Congress, Akiba Rubinstein and Oldřich Duras won), tied for 7-8th at Pistyan 1912 (Rubinstein won), tied for 3rd-4th at Temesvár 1912, and tied for 4-5th at Budapest 1913 (Rudolf Spielmann won).
In 1916, he took 2nd in Budapest. In 1918, he tied for 1st-2nd in Budapest. In 1918, he tied for 6-7th in Kaschau (Richard Réti won). In 1921, he took 5th in Budapest. In 1922, he tied for 12-13th in Pistyan (Efim Bogoljubow won). In 1924, he won in Budapest. In 1925, he took 3rd in Budapest. In 1928, he took 9th in Budapest (José Raúl Capablanca won).[1]
In 1935, he tied for 17-18th in Tatatovaros (László Szabó won). In 1939, he tied for 1st-2nd with László Szabó in Budapest (Dori Memorial). In 1940, he tied for 4-5th in Budapest (Maróczy Jubilaeum, Max Euwe won).[2]
He died in a traffic accident with a Soviet tank at the end of World War II.