Koenig spent much of his life in Vienna, but in 1938 he emigrated to England and became a British citizen in 1949. The English climate adeversely affected his health, so in 1953 he moived to California.
He became a promising player at an early age and in 1920, while in college, he met Spielmann, Tartakover and Reti, who sparked his interest in the Hypermodern style.
Koenig’s results were handicapped by a poor temperament for tournament chess which prevented him from achieving greater success in the international events. He played for Yugoslavia in the chess Olympiads of 1931 and 1935 and finished 2nd in the 1922 Yugoslav championship. In international tournaments his best result was at Hastings 1948/49 where he finished 2nd behind Rossolimo.
The following game is one of his later efforts that was played in Fresno in the 1962 annual Northern California vs. Southern California match. This was a massive 43 board event which was won by the northern team by a score of 28.5-14.5.
His opponent was FM Tibor Weinberger (born 1932), a Hungarian master who played in five Hungarian championships from 1952 through 1956. He settled in the United States in 1957.
This game is far from perfect and hardly shows either player at their best, but the quick reversal of fortunes illustrate the point, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” See more Yogisms
Imre Koenig–Tibor Weinberger1–0A07North-South Match, Fresno1962Stockfish 17
B24: Closed Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.c3 The Closed Sicilian tends to be more
positional in nature. White will usually go for a K-side attack. Black will
either play in the center or expand on the Q-side. c6 This is black's most
common reply; it is not yet known if white will play for d4 or 3.g3 3.g3
This is the thematic move in the Closed Sicilian. White intends to control the
light squares in the center and make it difficult for black to play ...d5 g6
This is the most common move for black. 4.g2 g7 5.d3 e6 At this point
white almost always plays the routine 6.Be3 and 9.Qd2. 6.h3 A rare
sideline, while not as common as 6. Be3 or 6. f4, aims to play a delayed f4
and launch a K-side attack usinf the f-file. Black has a wide variety of good
responses. ge7 7.0-0 0-0 8.g5 8.e3 b6 9.d2 d5 10.h6 b7 11.xg7 xg7 12.exd5 xd5 13.xd5 exd5 14.ae1 is completely equalm but in Suttles,
D (2470)-Westerinen,H (2450) Havana 1966 they played on and black somehow
eventually manages to win. 8...h6 9.e3 d6 9...b6 10.f4 b7 11.h4 d4 Black is slightly better. Krnic,I (2166)-Tomazini,Z (2370) Legnica POL 2013 10.d2 h7 11.ab1 Highly unusual. Realizing he has no real prospects on
the K-side, Kownig turns his attention to the other side. 11.f4 f5 This
blunts white's prospects on the K-side sp he gas to cast about for play
elsewhere. 11...b8 12.e2 e5 13.f3 b6 14.b4 d7 15.f2 f5 15...cxb4 16.xb4 d5 17.f4 5c6 18.a3 18.d2 d4 18...d4 leaves black with a
solid position. 16.f4 Of course, white wants open lines for his as of yet
only potential K-side attack that black's last move has made possible. 5c6 17.bxc5 dxc5 18.e5 The immediate 18.d4 leads to equalizing exchanges. c8 19.c3 d5 20.xd5! exd5 21.d4 c4 White has a protected passed e-Pawn,
but it doesn;t confer any advantage because black is solidly in control of e6. 22.e1 f7 23.d1 f8 24.c1 b5 25.e3 e6 26.d2 a6 All of this
maneuvering has not really lead anywhere. Black threatens the a-Pawn whicj
Koenig now mistakenly defends...it would have been better to let black have it.
27.c1 This allows black to gain some counterplay. 27.d1 keeps the
balance. xa2 28.a1 b2 29.c2 a5 30.b1 a2 31.a1 draws. 27...b4
This threatens to win with ...bxc3. 28.cxb4 This is a serious
error. 28.h1 A pass to show the threat. bxc3 29.xb8 cxd2 30.xd2 xb8 Black has won a piece. 28...xd4 29.c3 c6 Threatening ...d4 30.c2 c5+ 31.g2 d4 32.f2 d5+ Weinberger now has a winning position. 33.h3 e4 Also very strong was 33...g5 34.bxc5 xb1 35.xd4 g5 36.fxg5 hxg5 37.e6 White's K is clearly in a very dangerous position and all black has to do
in play 37...g4+ forcing it to h5. Instead, Weinberger plays his K to g6 so
that it will allow him to deliver mate with 38...Rh7. g6 One wonders if
Weinberger was expecting his opponemt to resign. 38.xg5 xg5
As Yogi Berra once said, "You've got to be very careful if you don't know
where you are going, because you might not get there." After this move the
treat of 38...Rh7 cannot be met...or can ot?! 38...xc1 It's astonishing,
but this is the only winning move black has! 39.xf7 39.xc1 xg5 wins.
For example 40.d2+ f4 41.gxf4+ f5 42.g1 h7+ 43.g3 xe5 44.xe5 h6
The Bs of opposite color are meningless because there isd a mate in 7. 45.f6 45.f2 xh2+ 46.f1 xd2 47.g5+ e6 48.g6+ xg6 49.f5+ xf5 50.d4 h1+ 51.g1 d3# 45...c3 46.h4 cxd2 47.f2 xf4+ 48.e2 f3+ 49.xd2 d7+ 50.c1 a3+ 51.b2 e3# 39...xc3 40.h8+ g7 41.f4 b7 42.h4 e7 with an easy win. 39.d2+ This completely turns the tables! g6 The
threat is still ...Rh7+ 40.d6+ h7 The K is forced to cut the R off fron
h7. 41.f4 Now black;s KJ is in a mating net. g8 42.h4 c8 43.g6+ g7 44.e6 Coldblooded efficiency. bb7 44...xg6 45.h8# 45.xg7 xg7 46.h6 A bitter disappointnebt for Weinberger! A lucky escape for
Koenig! 46.h6 f8 47.h8+ g8 48.f6+ e8 49.f7+ d8 50.xg8+ 1–0
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