Walther gained a measure of notoriety at Zurich in 1959 when he had a winning position against the eventual world champion, but thanks to a stroke of luck, Fischer managed to draw when Walther misplayed the ending.
Walther took four national titles: he was Federal Champion in 1949, 1957, 1971 and in 1965 he won the Coupe Suisse.
Oddly, he never managed to win the Swiss Championship. The closest he came was in 1965 when he lost the playoff against Marcel Markus after they tied for first. As a long-time member of the Swiss national team Walther played in six chess Olympiads. He was a long time member of the Zurich Chess Club.
He was also well known in correspondence chess and he won the Swiss Correspondence Championship twice (1967 and 1971).
In the semi-final of the 8th World Correspondence Championship (1972-75), he tied for first and second and in the final he finished 11th. As a result, he was awarded the Correspondence IM title. His highest OTB FIDE rating was 2316.
The following game wa splayed in Oldenburg, 1949. While Walther did not obtain a particularly good result, his game against Heemsoth contained a pleasing finale.
Hermann Heemsoth (1909-2006) was a German player who was awarded the Correspondence IM title in 1972 and the Correspondence GM title in 1987. He was German Correspondence Champion in 1954 and 1969.
It’s interesting to note that three of the Oldenburg participants ended yp living in the United States. Elmars Zemgalis (1923-2014). Originally from Latvia, when the Soviet Union invaded Latvia in WWII he fled to Germany and in 1952 he finally settled in Seattle, Washington.
Nicolas Rossolimo (1910-1975) was born in Kiev and moved to Paris in 1929. In 1952 he moved to New York City. I met Rossolimo at his chess studio sometime in the early 1960s.
U asked him for a game and he said, “I can’t play for nothing.” I coughed up his $20 fee and we sat down to play on regulation set.
After the opening I must have had a pretty good game because he jumped up, walked over to a display case and grabbed a glass board that look like the dark squares were made out of blue butterfly wings and sat it at the end of the table where the sun was shining on it.
He then started grabbing pieces off out board and setting them up on the new one. When I asked what he was doing he said, “I want to play on this board.” I think he set up the position correctly, but in any case I lost quickly.
Povilas Tautvaisas (1916-1980) was born in what is now Belarus. Following the Second World War as a displaced person he eventually via Germany made his was ti the Chicago area.
Edgar Walther–Hermann Heemsoth1–0B67Oldenburg4Oldenburg GER21.06.1949Stockfish 16
B67: Sicilian: Richter-Rauzer Attack 1.e4 c5 2.f3 c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 d6 6.g5 The Richetr-Rauzer Attack threatening to double black's
Ps after Bxf6 and avoids the once feared Dragon Variation. e6 After this
move Vsevolod Rauzer introduced the modern plan of Qd2 and 0-0-0 in the 1930s. 7.d2 a6 8.0-0-0 d7 9.f4 h6 10.h4 e7 11.f3 c7 12.e5 dxe5 13.fxe5 d5 Preferred by Stockfish engines around the world. 13...g4 14.g3 d8 15.e1 h5 and white is better. Ou,R (1390)-Gao,M (1172) Nanjing CHN 2023 14.xd5 exd5 15.xe7 xe7 White now has several playable moves. 16.e1 16.d3 0-0-0 17.he1 17.f4 e6 18.d4 c6 19.xc6 xc6 20.d4 b8
Draw agreed. Foltys,J-Kottnauer,C Vienna 1949 17...b8 18.d4 c6 19.xc6+ xc6 20.b4 is equal. Kamishov,M-Chistiakov,A Moscow 1947 16.b4 f5 17.d3 xd3 18.xd3 0-0 19.hd1 is equal. Pilnik,H-Wexler,B Mar del Plata 1955 16...0-0 17.g1 fc8 18.g4 A hint of what Walther is up to on the K-side.
b5 A routine move that quickly lands him in trouble. A better idea was
pressuring white's e-Pawn with 18...Re8 19.d3 a5 20.d4 b6 21.f5
Black's last few moves have amounted to beating the air. White, on the other
hand, is clearly preparing a K-side strike. g6 22.g3 The idea is to place
the R on the h-fule...clearly Walther is planning something on the h-file. 22.gf1 This was actually more potent. c6 23.g5 hxg5 24.xg5 a4 25.h4
with a very strong attack. 22...e8 22...c6 was a far better defense
which demonstrates the problem with white's 22.Rg3 23.h4 23.g5 h5 24.d6 b8 25.xg6 fxg6 26.xd5+ h7 and suddenly with the reduced material it's
going to be difficult, if not impossible, to get at black's K. And, in the
meantime, black is poised for Q-side play. White's pieces are centralized, so
the chances are equal. 23...e6 24.ge3 ae8 25.d6 d4 26.3e2 8e7
and black has successfully beaten off the attack/ The chances are equal. 23.xh6+ Very nice...white's assault on black's K has been in the air for some
time. gxh6 There was nothing that was really better. 23...f8 24.xf7 xf7 25.g5 e6 26.f1+ g8 27.h5 xe5 28.xg6 xg6 29.xg6 with a
decisive advantage. 24.xh6 f2 25.f1 xf1+ A clever, but futile,
attempt to save himself. 26.xf1 xe5 27.d3 a6 28.h3 Finally...the
point of his 22nd move. xg4 29.xg6 e1+ By giving up his Q black gets a
series of checks and in OYB play who knows where it might lead? 30.d2 d1+ 31.c3 31.e3 would have been an unfortunate mistake. e6+ 32.f4 32.f2 f6+ 33.f3 xg6 34.h4 xf3 35.xf3 d2 Black has equalized! 32...f6+ 33.xg4 xg6+ draws 31...d4+ 32.b3 e6+ 33.a3 b4+ 34.a4 d7+ 35.b3 Stockfish is announcing mate in 27. e6+ 36.c4 dxc3+ 37.c2 d2+ 38.c1 Now if black plays 38...Rd1+ he can hold pff mate for 15 moves. fxg6 39.h8+ Black resigned. It's mate next move. 1–0
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