ChessTerra.com

May 12 in Chess History

12 birthdays, 5 matches, tournaments and games and 4 deaths from chess history on May 12.

May 12, 2025: Vlastimil Hort died. On this day in chess history.

20251 year ago today

Vlastimil Hort died

Czech-German chess player

Facebook X WhatsApp RedditDownload square

Card photo: Hans van Dijk for Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tap any entry to put it on the share card.

Matches, tournaments and games

1927Danish Chess Championship 1927Began · won by Erik Andersen
1974Women US Championship 1974Ended · won by Mona May Karff
1988Optiebeurs TournamentBegan · won by Garry Kasparov
200565th Armenian Chess ChampionshipEnded · won by Ashot Anastasian
2016European Individual Chess Championship 2016Began · won by Ernesto Inarkiev

Born on May 12

1913Igor BondarevskyRussian chess player
1930Antonia IvanovaBulgarian chess player
1942Dragoljub VelimirovićSerbian chess grandmaster
1955Zbigniew JaśnikowskiPolish chess player
1956Zenón Franco OcamposParaguayan chess grandmaster
1961Aleksa StrikovićSerbian chess player
1969Gundula HeinatzGerman chess player
1978Maher AyyadBruneian chess player
1981Tejas BakreIndian chess player
1987Baira KovanovaRussian chess player
1993Ayelen MartinezArgentine chess player
2000Toni LazovNorth Macedonian chess player

Died on May 12

1925Arthur Napoleão dos SantosBrazilian musician
1987Zsuzsa MakaiRomanian and Hungarian chess player
2010Edith Keller-HerrmannEast German chess player
2025Vlastimil HortCzech-German chess player

Dates from Wikidata (CC0). Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each card. Dates can differ between sources, especially before 1918 when Russia used the old calendar.

<div id="puzzlebot-container"></div>

<script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@chrisoakman/chessboardjs@1.0.0/dist/chessboard-1.0.0.polyfills.min.js"></script>

<script>
  var board = null;
  var game = new Chess();

  function onDragStart(source, piece, position, orientation) {
    // do not allow dragging when game is over
    if (game.game_over()) return false;

    // only allow white pieces to be dragged
    if (piece.search(/^b/) !== -1) return false;
  }

  function onDrop(source, target) {
    // see if the move is legal
    var move = game.move({
      from: source,
      to: target,
      promotion: "q" // always promote to a queen for example simplicity
    });

    // illegal move
    if (move === null) return "snapback";

    // update the board position
    board.position(game.fen());

    // get a random move from the engine
    window.setTimeout(makeRandomMove, 250);
  }

  // make a random move
  function makeRandomMove() {
    var possibleMoves = game.moves();

    // game over
    if (possibleMoves.length === 0) return;

    var randomIndex = Math.floor(Math.random() * possibleMoves.length);
    game.move(possibleMoves[randomIndex]);
    board.position(game.fen());
  }

  // initialize the chessboard
  function init() {
    var config = {
      draggable: true,
      onDragStart: onDragStart,
      onDrop: onDrop,
      position: 'start'
    };

    board = Chessboard('puzzlebot-container', config);

    makeRandomMove();
  }

  $(document).ready(init);
</script>

<script src="https://revolvermaps2.com/embed.js" data-site="z79wnx94gq4m" data-size="300" data-theme="custom" data-color="ffffff" data-land="d4a843" data-ocean="0f1a2e" async></script>