George Koltanowski
Koltanowski c. 1975 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 September 1903 Antwerp, Belgium |
| Died | 5 February 2000 (aged 96) |
| Chess career | |
| Country | Belgium, United States |
| Title | International Master (1950) Grandmaster (honorary, 1988) |
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.