Szabo was primarily noted for his aggressive style of and startled everyone when he won the 1935 Hungarian Championship at the age of 18, which at that time was considered a remarkable feat; he would go one to win it a total of 9 times. Szabo also finished first at the 1938/39 Hastings tournament.
In his non-chess life he was a banker and during World War II at the outbreak of war captured by Russian troops who held him as a Prisoner of War.
After the war, he returned to chess and played in many major international events. In 1948 at the Saltsjobaden Interzonal he finished 2nd behind Bronstein and after scoring strong finishes in several major tournaments he was awarded a place in the Amsterdam Candidates tournament in 1956. His finish there was a tie for third with Bronstein, Geller, Petrosian and Spassky behind Smyslov and Keres. Pretty good company!
In the 1960s and 1970s, he continued to excel in international competition, scoring a number of firsts. In the early to mid-1960’s he was finally overtaken by Lajos Portisch as Hungary’s best player and it’s a pity his games are not better known.
Pal Benko, in his autobiography, makes mention of Szabo in an unflattering manner. He wrote, “Though Laszlo was good player, not many people liked him. He was a tough communist at that time, a real party guy, and he took full advantage of it. He once told me (when I was 24 years old) that if I didn't behave and do what he told me to do, he would make sure I was drafted into the army a second time! Can you belive that guy? I had already done my army nightmare stint when I was sixteen, so I certainly had no desire to be introduced to that kind of thing again!”
In 1952, Benko attempt to defect from Hungary resulted in him getting arrested. He explained...
“Back in Hungary, I was accused of being an American spy. An almost non-stop, three-week interrogation began that was designed to break me down mentally...
I was dragged out of my cell and taken to a concentration camp — once they got the information they wanted (which in my case was nothing), they would just lock you up and forget about you completely...
Benko continued, "The one person who did know that I was locked away was Grandmaster Szabo. He was the political editor of the top Hungarian chess magazine. The first page had nothing about chess on it at all, just political ravings about the wonders of communism. This mean-spirited person had no interest in helping me out; in fact, he was happy about my being arrested!
...one moment a national chess hero, the next a broken creature relegated to an existence of perpetual night ... I had been living like a diseased troll for a year and a half when a miracle occurred: Stalin died.”
Enjoy the following game from the 1950 Hungarian Championship. Szabo scored +12 -1 =6 to take first a point and a half ahead of Gideon Barcza. Pal Benko finished 3rd.
Szabo’s opponent was Karoly Honfi (October 25, 1930 - August 14, 1996). An IM, Honfi was born in Budapest and was posthumously awarded the title of Honorary Grandmaster.
Laszlo Szabo–Karoly Honfi1–0D02Hunfarian Championship, Budapest810.1950Stockfish 16
Semi-Slav 1.f3 d5 2.d4 e6 3.c4 c6 4.e3 f6 The Semi-Slav may readily
be reached by a number of different move orders. Black's P-formation is a
mixture of the Orthodox Queen's Gambit Declined, ...e6, and the Slav Defense, .
..c6 5.d3 bd7 Black's main alternative is 5...dxc4 6.0-0 d6 7.c3 0-0 8.e4 dxc4 9.xc4 e5 10.g5 e7 11.e1 b6 The main line is 11...Rd8 12.b3 12.xe5 This does not offer white any advantage. xe5 13.dxe5 xe5 14.xf6 xf6 with complete equality. 12.e2 e8 Instead of this black
should ply 12...exd4 13.dxe5 xe5 14.c1 h6 15.h4 g5 16.xe5 xe5 17.g3 e7 18.e5 and white scores a quick knockout in Graf,A (2585)-Handoko,E (2495)
Singapore 1995 12...g4 13.h3 13.dxe5 xe5 14.h3 xf3 15.xf3 did not
offer much to white in Martinovic,S (2537)-Mrdja,M (2394) Velika Gorica 2014 13...xf3 14.xf3 exd4 Up until thispoint the play has been pretty routine
and has withstood the test of time, but this move allows white to gain the
advantage. 14...bd7 15.d5 h6 16.dxc6 bxc6 17.e3 c5 This is better
than 17...Bc5 that was played in Pinter,J (2590)-Schwalfenberg,J (2370) GER
1998 18.c4 ab8 19.b3 h8 with about equal chances although in Smagin,S
(2505)-Flear,G (2495) Zenica 1987, white manages a quick win so black must
play accurately. 14...h6 This black's best move then after 15.h4 a5
white can play either 16.Rad1 or 16.d5. In either case he has the initiative. 15.e5 Honfi likely expect the mild retreat 15.Be2, but this sharp thrust
gains the advantage. xe5 16.e4 Putting pressure on the pinned N. d8
This does nothing to help black's predicament. 16...h6 loses without a
fight after 17.xf6 xf6 18.xf6+ xf6 19.xf6 gxf6 20.e7 16...fe8
This is the best black has, but after 17.xf6+ gxf6 18.h6 h8 19.ad1
his position is not so great. 17.f5 Obviously the B cannot withdraw, so
it must be defended, but there is no good way to do it. bd7 17...c7 18.xf6+ gxf6 19.xf6 wins the Q or mates 17...e8 18.f4 even better that
taking on f6. d7 19.xd7 bxd7 20.fxe5 xe5 21.xf6 xf6 22.d6 White
has won a piece. 18.f4 Has Szabo blundered away his Q? g6 The Q is
trapped. 19.xe5 xe5 20.xf6+ h8 21.fxe5 White not only
has enough material for the Q, but he also has a winning attack. c7 22.e4 h5 22...ae8 23.xe8 xe8 24.f1 g7 25.f6+ g8 26.e6 fxe6 27.xe6 xe6 28.xe6+ f8 29.d8+ 23.ae1 g7 24.e6 White is clearly winning.
Weaker is 24.xd4 b6 25.e3 a5± 24...fxe6 25.xe6 Threatening mate
with Re7+. f7 26.e8+ Black resigned. Stockfish assess Szabo's play as
"flawless." 1–0
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