RÉTI, RICHARD (1889–1929), Slovak chess master. Born in Pezinok, Réti studied science in Vienna where he won his first tournament in 1910. After World War I he gained first prizes in many tournaments. In matches he drew with Savielly *Tartakover (1919) and defeated the Dutch player Max Euwe (1920). In tournament play he was one of the few to defeat Capablanca. Réti made an impressive contribution to chess. One of the opening systems bears his name; and he is famous as the composer of many end-game studies which combine great theoretical interest with extraordinary elegance. Playing blindfolded, he was the first to achieve simultaneous play on 24 boards. As a theorist he was a pioneer of the modern school and wrote about chess brilliantly. His books include Die neuen Ideen im Schachspiel (1922; Modern Ideas in Chess, 1923) and Die Meister des Schachbretts (1930; Masters of the Chess-board, 1932).


H. Golombek (ed.), Réti's Best Games of Chess (1954).

[Gerald Abrahams]
