Oldřich Duras (1882-1957)
On October 30, 1882, Oldrich Duras was born in Humny (Pchery, Bohemia), Austria-Hungary (now the Czech Republic). His father, Adolf, was a former mayor of Humny. In 1890, he went bankrupt and moved to Prague, 20 miles away, where he worked as an insurance clerk. His mother was Frantiska Durasova.
Oldrich had a younger sister, Božena (born in 1885), who became a well-known diva and leading lady at The City Theatre of Prague. She later married Jan Štursa (1880-1925), one of the founders of modern Czech sculpture.
Oldrich attended primary and grammar school in Prague. He later attended the College of Commerce in Prague.
Oldrich learned chess from his uncle, Vojtech Vlk, during holiday visits back in Humny. By 1899 at age 17, Oldrich was regularly beating his uncle.
In September 1899, Oldrich became a member of the Czech chess club Český spolek šachovní (Czech Association of Chess), located in Jedlicka’s Cafe in Prague.
In the 1900-1901 Club Tournament, Oldrich shared 1st place with two strong players, Karl Musil and J. Stefanydes.
In 1902, Duras defeated Jan Kvicala, considered the best chess player of the Cesky chess club.
In 1902, Duras published his first chess manual, Sachy.
In 1903, Duras played in his first foreign chess tournament, held in Hilversum, Netherlands. He took 2nd place.
In 1904, he took 3rd, behind Neumann and Vidmar, at Coburg, Germany.
In 1905, he shared 1st place with Rubinstein at Barman.
In 1905, he took 1st at a tournament organized by the Czech Chess Union.
In September 1905, he won the Bohemian Chess Federation Championship, held in Prague.
In 1906, Duras won a King’s Gambit thematic tournament in Ostende.
In 1906, he took 2nd at Nuremberg, behind Marshall.
In January 1907, he took 2nd place behind Mieses at the Vienna Chess Club Master Tournament.
In September 1907, Duras took 7th at the Carlsbad Tournament. In that tournament, he lost a game to Heinrich Wolf that lasted 168 moves, one of the longest chess games ever.
In the winter of 1907-1908, he won the Dobrusky Club Tournament.
In April 1908, Duras shared 1st place in the tournament at Vienna (shared with Schlechter and Maroczy), winning 3,500 Crowns.
In June 1908, he shared 1st place at the Prague Trade Fair Tournament with Schlechter, winning another 3,500 Crowns.
In 1908, Duras was probably ranked 5th in the world, behind Lasker, Capablanca, Rubinstein, and Schlechter. His estimated Elo rating was about 2580.
In the 1908-09 Winter Tournament of Cesky spolek sacgovini, he took 1st place.
In March 1909, he took 3rd at the Chigorin Memorial Tournament, held in St. Petersburg, won by Emanuel Lasker.
In 1909, he won the Czech chess championship.
In August 1910, he took 2nd at Hamburg, won by Schlechter.
In December 1910, Duras gave7 simultaneous exhibitions in the Netherlands, winning 114, losing 29, and drawing 29.
In February 1911, he won a match against F. Yates at Bradford, England, with three wins and one loss.
In August 1911, he won the Czech chess championship.
In September 1911, he took 8th at the Second International Tournament in Carlsbad, won by Teichmann.
In February 1912, he took 2nd at the Gambit Tournament in Abbazia (now called Opatija in Croatia), behind Rudolf Spielmann.
In March 1912, he took 7th at the Second International Tournament in San Sebastian.
In 1912, he tied for 1st with Akiba Rubinstein.in the German Chess Federation Congress, held in Vratislav (Breslau).
In July 1913, Duras traveled to the United States and took 2nd, behind Capablana, at a tournament held at the Rice Chess Club.
In September 1913, he took 2nd at a tournament held at the Progressive Chess Club in New York, won by Frank Marshall.
In February 1914, Duras left America and returned to Europe.
In the summer of 1914, he played at Mannheim, but the event was unfinished on account of the outbreak of World War I.
On August 15, 1915, Duras was drafted in the Austro-Hungarian army.
During WW I, Duras served in the Austro-Hungarian army as a platoon leader. At the end of the war, he returned to Prague.
After 1918, Duras never played in another international chess tournament.
In 1919, he became a civil servant at the Czechoslovak Ministry of Defense and was in that position until 1939.
From 1922 to 1931, he edited a chess column in the newspaper Ceské Slovo.
On December 30, 1922, Oldrich married Marie Ort (née Koeppel). His son was Oldrich Duras, Jr. (1925-1991) Koeppel was a wealthy widow and Oldrich managed her estates.
In December 1942, a tournament was held in Prague to honor Duras’ 60th birthday. Alexander Alekhine and Klaus Junge tied for 1st place.
In 1950, FIDE awarded him the title of International Grandmaster.
He died in Prague, Czechoslovakia, on January 5, 1957 at the age of 74.
During his lifetime, he had plus scores against Richard Teichman, David Janowski, Carl Schlechter, and Aron Nimzowitsch.
Only twice in his 13 major tournaments did Duras finish out of the prize money.
He had a glass left eye.
The opening 1.e4 f5 2.exf5 Nf6 is known as the Duras Gambit.
Here are some of his short games.
Oldrich Duras - Paul Saladin Leonhardt [C33], Abbazia Abbazia (Opatija) AUH (10), 27.01.1912
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 d5 4.Bxd5 Qh4+ 5.Kf1 Bd6 6.e5 Bxe5 7.Nf3 Qh5 8.Qe2 Nd7 9.d4 Ne7 10.Bxf7+ Qxf7 0-1
Oldrich Duras - S Jes [C36], Pisek, AUH, 31.08.1912
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nc3 Qh5 6.d4 Bg4 7.Bxf4 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Qxf3 9.gxf3 Nc6 10.Bxc7 Nxd4 11.0-0-0 Ne6 12.Bb5+ Ke7 13.Nd5# 1-0
Oldrich Duras - Geza Maroczy [D33], QGD Tarrasch thematic tournament Budapest AUH (2), 06.1912
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 Ne4 8.0-0 h6 9.Ne5 cxd4 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Nxe4 dxe4 12.Bxe4 Qb6 13.e3 Ba6 14.Qxd4 1-0
Oldrich Duras - Fritz Englund [C60], Barmen GER (7), 08.1905
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.exf5 e4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.Bxc6 bxc6 7.Nd4 c5 8.Nb5 d5 9.0-0 Bxf5 10.f3 c6 11.fxe4 Bxe4 12.d3 cxb5 13.dxe4 a6 14.Qh5+ g6 15.Qxd5 Rd8 16.Bg5 1-0
Frank James Marshall - Oldrich Duras [C31], Marshall - Duras New York, NY USA (5), 07.10.1913
1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.Nf3 dxe4 4.Nxe5 Nd7 5.d4 exd3 6.Bxd3 Nxe5 7.fxe5 Bc5 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bxd7+ Qxd7 10.Qxd7+ Kxd7 11.Rf1 f6 12.exf6 Nxf6 13.Rf5 Rae8+ 14.Kf1 Ng4 15.Bf4 Rhf8 16.Rxf8 Rxf8 0-1
Oldrich Duras - Viktor Dyk [C41], Czech Chess Club Championship Prague AUH, 21.01.1903
1.e4 d6 2.d4 e5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Bc5 8.Bxf7+ Kf8 9.Nc3 Ng4 10.Bh5 Qf6 11.Qxb7 Qxf2+ 12.Kd1 Ne3+ 13.Bxe3 Bxe3 14.Qc8+ Ke7 15.Nd5+ Kd6 16.Qxc7+ Ke6 17.Qe7# 1-0
Oldrich Duras - Simek [D00], Simul, 31b Pisek AUH, 31.08.1912
1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 e6 6.Bd3 Bb4 7.0-0 Bxc3 8.bxc3 0-0 9.Ba3 Re8 10.Ne5 Nc6 11.Nxf7 Qd5 12.Nh6+ Kh8 13.Qd2 Ne7 14.Nf7+ Kg8 15.Rxf6 gxf6 16.Qh6 f5 17.Ng5 e5 1-0
Alexander Flamberg - Oldrich Duras [C33], Abbazia (Opatija) AUH (19), 09.02.1912
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.d4 Nf6 5.e5 d5 6.Be2 Ne4 7.Bxf4 f6 8.Nf3 fxe5 9.Nxe5 Nxe5 10.Bxe5 Bb4+ 11.c3 0-0 12.Bf3 Qg5 13.Nd2 Rxf3 14.gxf3 Qh4+ 15.Ke2 Qf2+ 16.Kd3 Nxd2 17.cxb4 Nc4 0-1
Stastny - Oldrich Duras [C42], Club Game Prague -, 01.03.1902
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nf3 Bc5 4.0-0 d6 5.c3 Bg4 6.Qb3 0-0 7.Ng5 Qd7 8.Qxb7 h6 9.Nxf7 Rxf7 10.Bxf7+ Kxf7 11.Qxa8 Bh3 12.Kh1 Qg4 13.Rg1 Bxg2+ 14.Rxg2 Qd1+ 15.Rg1 Qf3+ 16.Rg2 Bxf2 17.h4 Qh3+ 18.Rh2 Qf1# 0-1
Oldrich Duras - Jan Kvicala [C67], Brilliant-Game Contest of Czech Chess Cl Prague AUH, 1902
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 bxc6 7.dxe5 Nb7 8.Nc3 Bc5 9.Ne4 0-0 10.Nfg5 d6 11.Nxh7 Kxh7 12.Bg5 f6 13.Qh5+ Kg8 14.Nxf6+ gxf6 15.Qg6+ Kh8 16.exf6 Qd7 17.Qh6+ Kg8 18.Rae1 1-0
Kurt Petzold - Oldrich Duras [C77], Barmen GER (5), 08.1905
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bc5 6.0-0 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.h3 h6 9.d3 g5 10.Nxg5 hxg5 11.Bxg5 Rg8 12.h4 Nd4 13.Nd5 Rxg5 14.hxg5 Nxd5 15.Bxd5 Qxg5 16.c3 Bh3 17.g3 Ne2+ 18.Kh2 Qh5 0-1
Benjamin Leussen - Oldrich Duras [C49], Scheveningen NED (6), 04.08.1905
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 d6 7.Ne2 Bg4 8.c3 Ba5 9.Ng3 Bb6 10.h3 Bd7 11.Bg5 Ne7 12.Bxf6 Bxb5 13.Nh5 Qd7 14.Nxg7 h6 15.Ng5 Ng6 16.Qh5 Rfb8 17.Qxh6 Kf8 18.Nh7+ 1-0
Oldrich Duras - R K Kieseritsky [B00], Barmen GER (4), 08.1905
1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Nc3 e6 4.Nf3 c5 5.Bf4 cxd4 6.Nb5 Na6 7.Qxd4 Nf6 8.Nd2 d5 9.Qa4 Nd7 10.exd5 exd5 11.0-0-0 Nac5 12.Qd4 Ne6 13.Re1 Be7 14.Rxe6 0-0 15.Bc7 Bf6 16.Bxd8 Bxd4 17.Re7 Bxf2 18.Rxd7 Rfxd8 19.Rxb7 1-0
Oldrich Duras - Kolar [B14], Simul Prague CSR, 1923
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 e6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.Bd3 a6 8.c5 e5 9.dxe5 Ng4 10.Qa4 h5 11.h3 Ngxe5 12.Nxe5 Qe7 13.Bf4 f6 14.Nxd5 Qxc5 15.Nxd7 Bxd7 16.Qe4+ Kd8 17.Rc1 Qa5+ 18.b4 Bxb4+ 19.Qxb4 1-0
Karel Traxler - Oldrich Duras [C54], Veseli-Mezimosti Veseli, 06.08.1902
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2 Nxe4 9.d5 Nxd2 10.Qxd2 Nb8 11.d6 0-0 12.Rc1 Nc6 13.dxc7 Qxc7 14.0-0 Qa5 15.Qd6 Qb4 16.Bxf7+ Rxf7 17.Rxc6 Qxb2 18.Re1 Qf6 19.Qd5 1-0
Oldrich Duras - P Dohnal [C67], Czech Chess Congress, Veseli Veseli-Mezimosti AUH, 05.08.1902
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 bxc6 7.dxe5 Nb7 8.Nc3 Bc5 9.Ne4 0-0 10.Nfg5 h6 11.Qh5 Be7 12.Nf3 d5 13.Ng3 Kh7 14.Nd4 Be6 15.Ngf5 Bxf5 16.Nxf5 Bg5 17.f4 Be7 18.Nxg7 Kxg7 19.f5 Bg5 20.f6+ 1-0
Oldrich Duras - J Brockl [C25], Simul Prague AUH, 1906
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 Bc5 4.Nf3 d6 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.d3 a6 7.f5 Na5 8.Bg5 0-0 9.Nd5 b5 10.Bb3 Nxb3 11.axb3 Kh8 12.Qd2 Bb7 13.Nxf6 gxf6 14.Bh4 d5 15.Nxe5 dxe4 16.Qh6 Be7 17.Ng6+ fxg6 18.fxg6 Bb4+ 19.c3 Qe7 20.cxb4 0-1
Boucek - Oldrich Duras [C55], Prague AUH, 1902
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.d3 d6 6.Bg5 Be6 7.Bb3 Qd7 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.Nh4 Bg4 10.Qd2 0-0-0 11.Kh1 Bh5 12.f4 Qg4 13.g3 Rhg8 14.Qg2 Qxh4 15.gxh4 Rxg2 16.Kxg2 Rg8+ 17.Kh3 Bg4+ 18.Kg2 Be2+ 19.Kh1 Bf3+ 20.Rxf3 Rg1# 0-1
Rudolf Spielmann - Oldrich Duras [C54], Carlsbad AUH, 1907
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Nxe4 8.0-0 Bxc3 9.d5 Bf6 10.Re1 Ne7 11.Rxe4 d6 12.Bg5 0-0 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Nh4 Ng6 15.Qh5 Kh8 16.Rae1 Bd7 17.Bd3 Rg8 18.Re7 Rg7 19.Bxg6 fxg6 20.Nxg6+ Kg8 21.Rxg7+ 1-0
Otto Friedmann - Oldrich Duras [C84], Simul Prague CSR, 1923
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 Bg4 9.d4 Qc8 10.a4 0-0 11.Be3 Na5 12.axb5 axb5 13.Nbd2 c5 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.Nf1 c4 16.Bc2 Rd8 17.Qb1 Bxf3 18.gxf3 Nh5 19.Bb6 Nf4 20.Bxd8 Qh3 21.Ne3 Ra6 0-1
Frederik Benima - Oldrich Duras [D51], Barmen GER (10), 08.1905
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 c6 6.Qc2 Qa5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.0-0-0 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Qxg5 10.Nf3 Qa5 11.Bc4 b5 12.Bb3 Ba3+ 13.Kb1 Qb6 14.Qe4 Nf6 15.Qf4 Nd5 16.Bxd5 cxd5 17.Ne5 0-0 18.h4 b4 19.c4 b3 20.Rd2 bxa2+ 21.Kxa2 Rb8 0-1
Abraham Kupchik - Oldrich Duras [D15], Match New York, NY (2), 19.09.1913
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 b5 6.a4 b4 7.Nb1 Ba6 8.Be2 e6 9.0-0 c5 10.Ne5 cxd4 11.exd4 Bd6 12.Bf3 Nd5 13.Bxd5 exd5 14.Nxf7 Kxf7 15.Qh5+ Kf8 16.Qf5+ Qf6 17.Qxd5 Nc6 18.Bg5 Rd8 19.Bxf6 Bxh2+ 20.Kxh2 Rxd5 21.Bh4 Rh5 0-1
Sergey Nikolaevich von Freyman - Oldrich Duras [C34],Abbazia (Opatija) AUH (2), 16.01.1912
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.e5 Nh5 6.d4 Bb4 7.g4 fxg3 8.Ng5 g6 9.Qf3 Qe7 10.Bc4 f6 11.0-0 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Rf8 13.Ne4 fxe5 14.Qxf8+ Qxf8 15.Rxf8+ Kxf8 16.Bh6+ Ke8 17.Rf1 Nf4 18.dxe5 Nh3+ 19.Kg2 Nc6 20.Nd6+ cxd6 21.exd6 Nf2 22.Re1+ 1-0
Oldrich Duras - Rudolf Johannes Loman [C71], Scheveningen NED (7), 04.08.1905
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.d4 Bd7 6.0-0 b5 7.Bb3 Nxd4 8.Nxd4 exd4 9.c3 dxc3 10.Nxc3 Be7 11.e5 Bf5 12.Qf3 Bg6 13.Bf4 Nh6 14.Qc6+ Kf8 15.Nd5 Nf5 16.Rad1 Ra7 17.g4 Nh4 18.Nxe7 Qxe7 19.Rfe1 d5 20.Bxd5 h5 21.Be3 hxg4 22.Bc5 1-0
Oldrich Duras - Leopold Loewy,Sr [C77], 1st Trebitsch Memorial Vienna AUH (10), 22.01.1907
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 Bc5 6.Be3 Bxe3 7.fxe3 d6 8.0-0 0-0 9.h3 Ne8 10.Qe1 f5 11.exf5 Bxf5 12.Bb3+ Kh8 13.e4 Bd7 14.Nxe5 Rxf1+ 15.Qxf1 Qf6 16.Nxd7 Qxf1+ 17.Kxf1 g6 18.Nf8 Ng7 19.Ne6 Nxe6 20.Bxe6 Nd4 21.Bb3 a5 22.c3 1-0
Oldrich Duras - Gyula Breyer [C68], 18th DSB Kongress Breslau GER (1), 15.07.1912
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d4 exd4 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 Bd6 8.Be3 Nf6 9.Nd2 Ng4 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 Bxh2 12.Rxh2 Nxh2 13.f3 Ng4 14.fxg4 Bxg4 15.Nf5 g5 16.Ne3 Bh5 17.Bg3 0-0-0 18.Be5 Rhe8 19.Bg7 Re6 20.e5 f6 21.Bxf6 Rf8 22.Ndf1 1-0
Oldrich Duras - F Matousek [C41], Simul Prague AUH, 1906
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nc6 4.Bb5 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bd7 6.0-0 Nf6 7.Nc3 Be7 8.Re1 0-0 9.Nf5 Bxf5 10.exf5 a6 11.Bd3 Re8 12.Bg5 Nb4 13.Qd2 Qd7 14.a3 Nxd3 15.Qxd3 c6 16.Re2 Ng4 17.Bxe7 Rxe7 18.h3 Ne5 19.Qd2 Rae8 20.Ne4 Nc4 21.Qg5 Rxe4 22.f6 1-0
Oldrich Duras - Alexander Flamberg [C37], Abbazia (Opatija) AUH (8), 25.01.1912
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0 d5 6.Bxd5 c6 7.Bb3 gxf3 8.Qxf3 Be6 9.Bxe6 Qd4+ 10.Kh1 fxe6 11.Qxf4 Ne7 12.d3 Na6 13.Nc3 Rg8 14.Qf7+ Kd7 15.Qxh7 Bg7 16.Rf7 Raf8 17.Be3 Qxe3 18.Rxg7 Rh8 19.Rxe7+ Kd8 20.Qg7 Rfg8 21.Rxb7 Rxg7 22.Rxg7 Qh6 0-1
Milan Vidmar - Oldrich Duras [D31], 15th DSB Kongress Nuremberg GER (2), 24.07.1906
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bf4 Nf6 7.e3 Bd6 8.Bg5 Ne7 9.Bd3 c6 10.Qc2 Ng6 11.Rc1 0-0 12.Kf1 Re8 13.Ne2 h6 14.Bxh6 Ne4 15.Bf4 Bxf4 16.Nxf4 Nxf4 17.exf4 Qf6 18.g3 Bh3+ 19.Kg1 Qh6 20.Bxe4 Rxe4 21.Qd2 Qh5 22.Ne5 Rxe5 0-1
Three Amateurs - Oldrich Duras [C53], Consultation game Liverpool ENG, 01.1911
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 Bb6 6.Nbd2 0-0 7.h3 d5 8.Bb3 dxe4 9.dxe4 Qe7 10.Qe2 Na5 11.Bc2 Nh5 12.Nb3 Nc6 13.Bg5 f6 14.Bd2 f5 15.exf5 Bxf5 16.0-0-0 Bxc2 17.Kxc2 Rae8 18.Ng5 Nf4 19.Bxf4 exf4 20.Qxe7 Rxe7 21.Rd2 Ne5 22.Re2 Rfe8 23.Rhe1 Nf3 0-1
Sources:
Duras, The Rice Gambit – Supplement to the Fifth Edition, 1914
Fiala, Oldrich Duras, Master of Chess Combination, 2014
Kalendovsky, The Complete Games of Oldrich Duras, 1997
Louma, Podgorny, and Richter, Oldřich Duras, velký mistr šachové kombinace: Životní dílo, 1954
Prokop, Duras vitezi, 1944
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