Luděk Pachman
Pachman in 1972 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 11 May 1924 Bělá pod Bezdězem, Czechoslovakia |
| Died | 6 March 2003 (aged 78) Passau, Germany |
| Chess career | |
| Country | Czechoslovakia West Germany |
| Title | Grandmaster (1954) |
| Peak rating | 2520 (January 1976) |
Luděk Pachman (German: Ludek Pachmann; 11 May 1924 – 6 March 2003) was a Czech-German chess grandmaster, chess writer, and political activist. In 1972, after being imprisoned and tortured almost to death by the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, he was allowed to emigrate to West Germany. He lived the remainder of his life there, and resumed his chess career with considerable success, including playing in the Interzonal in 1976 and winning the West German Championship in 1978.