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.
[Event "Hunfarian Championship, Budapest"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1950.10.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Laszlo Szabo"]
[Black "Karoly Honfi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "1950.??.??"]
{Semi-Slav} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 e6 3. c4 c6 4. e3 Nf6 {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. Bd3 Nbd7 {Black's main alternative is 5...dxc4} 6. O-O Bd6 7. Nc3 O-O
8. e4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 e5 10. Bg5 Qe7 11. Re1 Nb6 {The main line is 11...Rd8} 12.
Bb3 (12. Nxe5 {This does not offer white any advantage.} Bxe5 13. dxe5 Qxe5 14.
Bxf6 Qxf6 {with complete equality.}) (12. Be2 Re8 {Instead of this black
should ply 12...exd4} 13. dxe5 Bxe5 14. Qc1 h6 15. Bh4 g5 16. Nxe5 Qxe5 17. Bg3
Qe7 18. e5 {and white scores a quick knockout in Graf,A (2585)-Handoko,E (2495)
Singapore 1995}) 12... Bg4 13. h3 (13. dxe5 Bxe5 14. h3 Bxf3 15. Qxf3 {did not
offer much to white in Martinovic,S (2537)-Mrdja,M (2394) Velika Gorica 2014})
13... Bxf3 14. Qxf3 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... Nbd7 15. d5 h6 16. dxc6 bxc6 17. Be3 Nc5 {This is better
than 17...Bc5 that was played in Pinter,J (2590)-Schwalfenberg,J (2370) GER
1998} 18. Bc4 Rab8 19. b3 Kh8 {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. Bh4 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.} Bxe5 16. Ne4 {Putting pressure on the pinned N.} Qd8 {
This does nothing to help black's predicament.} (16... h6 {loses without a
fight after} 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Nxf6+ Qxf6 19. Qxf6 gxf6 20. Re7) (16... Rfe8 {
This is the best black has, but after} 17. Nxf6+ gxf6 18. Bh6 Kh8 19. Rad1 {
his position is not so great.}) 17. Qf5 {Obviously the B cannot withdraw, so
it must be defended, but there is no good way to do it.} Nbd7 (17... Bc7 18.
Nxf6+ gxf6 19. Bxf6 {wins the Q or mates}) (17... Re8 18. f4 {even better that
taking on f6.} Qd7 19. Qxd7 Nbxd7 20. fxe5 Rxe5 21. Bxf6 Nxf6 22. Nd6 {White
has won a piece.}) 18. f4 {Has Szabo blundered away his Q?} g6 {The Q is
trapped.} 19. Qxe5 {[%mdl 512]} Nxe5 20. Nxf6+ Kh8 21. fxe5 {White not only
has enough material for the Q, but he also has a winning attack.} Qc7 22. Re4
h5 (22... Rae8 23. Nxe8 Rxe8 24. Rf1 Kg7 25. Bf6+ Kg8 26. e6 fxe6 27. Rxe6 Rxe6
28. Bxe6+ Kf8 29. Bd8+) 23. Rae1 Kg7 24. e6 {White is clearly winning.} ({
Weaker is} 24. Rxd4 Qb6 25. Be3 Qa5 $16) 24... fxe6 25. Rxe6 {Threatening mate
with Re7+.} Rf7 26. Ne8+ {Black resigned. Stockfish assess Szabo's play as
"flawless."} 1-0
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