Robert Huebner, R.I.P.--Post #43/2025--In Memoriam.
Robert Huebner
Robert Hübner (November 6, 1948 – January 5, 2025) was a German chess grandmaster, writer, and papyrologist. His cause of death is listed only as “a long illness.”
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Huebner was a world championship candidate three times, and may have been the most unlucky Candidate, literally. He was playing Petrosian in 1971 in a quarter-final, when the street noise just unnerved him. Petrosian, being mostly deaf, was not bothered. When the organizers did nothing, Huebner resigned the match. It is said that top-flight organizers are no more competent than local organizers.
His next trip was a Final Match v. Korchnoi in 1980. Again, Huebner resigned his match out of frustration, but he was losing that match fair and square.
His last time around came in 1983, when a tied match with Smyslov was decided on a roulette wheel. Huebner boycotted the event as absurd. Smyslov showed up, and chose red—naturally. The first spin came up green. The second spin was red, and Smyslov advanced.
After this Huebner gave up FIDE chess, and concentrated on German chess events. The German Rating system, the INGO system, measures playing strength by numbers that decline towards zero; the lower the rating, the stronger the player. Huebner achieved the lowest rating ever—seven.
Huebner was an outstanding intellectual, a professional translator of ancient papyri. Once he was seen at a chess board reading Homer’s Iliad in the original Greek. Mikhail Tal commented, “None of your trashy reading material!”
Vishwanathan Anand, the former world champion, wrote a moving and elegant remembrance of Huebner:
Wanted to share a few thoughts on the sad news of the passing of Robert Hubner. He was, of course, a great chess player, one of the top players in the world in the 70s and 80s, and he came very close to fighting for the world title. I had a chance to interact with him and play with him in several tournaments, but also enjoy some very nice conversations . He played for Baden Baden, just like me. He could always surprise you with the depth of his knowledge. The academic in him made a strong impression on me. I once saw a three page letter of his in a chess magazine where he discusses the meaning of the Greek word logos. Fascinating! He finished saying that though he disagreed with his debater, he was grateful to find someone he could even discuss the subject with.
Even in chess, I remember Jan Timman complaining that Robert Hubner's book review of his book was longer than the book itself.
Somehow that was so typically Robert. The perfectionism! In the pre computer era. And what do you do with someone who learns Finnish to a very high level just because he wanted to talk to a friend. He spoke Greek and Dutch as well. He would always say that he was a patzer in everything. Of course it was partly deflection and partly his perfectionism.
He was no patzer. He was someone who guarded his personal space zealously. He was a giant from a different era in chess and from a different era of chess players.
RIP Robert.
The game of Huebner’s that stands out most in my memory is his victory over Larsen in a French, Guimard Variation from Montreal, 1979. If I can find the game, I’ll annotate it.
Here is the Wikipedia article on his life.
Huebner in the 1980s.