CHESS PLAYERS from Belgium

Top 2

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Belgian Chess Players of all time. This list of famous Belgian Chess Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Edgard Colle (1897 - 1932)

With an HPI of 48.21, Edgard Colle is the most famous Belgian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages on wikipedia.

Edgard Colle (18 May 1897 – 19 April 1932) was a Belgian chess master. He scored excellent results in major international tournaments, including first at Amsterdam 1926, ahead of Savielly Tartakower and future world champion Max Euwe; first at Meran 1926, in a strong field ahead of Esteban Canal; and won twice outright at Scarborough in 1927, and again in 1930, ahead of Maróczy and Rubinstein. Colle's playing career was cut short by ill health. He survived three difficult operations for a gastric ulcer and died after a fourth at the age of 34 in Ghent. Hans Kmoch wrote that Colle "was not sentimental. He bore his sufferings as something quite private and of minor importance. He asked for no special consideration, he was always in good humor and a boon companion in company; but at the board he was a relentless fighter guided by a really ideal sense of duty and sportsmanship".

2. George Koltanowski (1903 - 2000)

With an HPI of 46.22, George Koltanowski is the 2nd most famous Belgian Chess Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

George Koltanowski (also "Georges"; 17 September 1903 – 5 February 2000) was a Belgian-born American chess player, promoter, and writer. He was informally known as "Kolty". Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937, in Edinburgh, by playing 34 chess games simultaneously while blindfolded, making headline news around the world. He also set a record in 1960 for playing 56 consecutive blindfold games at ten seconds per move.