Kurt Ewald (* Friday 27.03.1931 in the zodiac sign Aries   -   † Tuesday 14.01.2025 in Starnberg) Chess player and chess composer of chess problems

"Problemschachliche Angaben: Bin in erster Linie Löser, betätige mich aber auch als Komponist. Von bisher 4o Problemen sind 11 im "Schach-Echo" in der "Schwalbe" und im "Feenschach" erschienen. 9 erscheinen in nächster Zeit, 6 sind zur bay. Problemmeisterschaft eingesandt und 9 liegen zur Prüfung bei verschiedenen Zeitungen. Ich bevorzuge vorallem Vierzuger, Selbstmatt und Längstzüger im Selbstmatt. In geringer Anzahl habe ich auch Zweizüger, Dreizüger, Hilfsmatt und Hilfspatt gebaut." Kurt Ewald

Multi-functionary and problem chess composer lived to the age of 93
Kurt Ewald is no longer alive. The problem chess composer and for decades a DSB delegate of the Schwalbe problem chess association died on January 14, 2025, in his hometown of Starnberg from the effects of pneumonia following a coronavirus infection. The Essen native was 93 years old.

After an eventful youth chess career in and around Bonn, Ewald moved to Bavaria. There, he tried to share his passion for problem chess with others, serving as the problem chess warden of the Upper Bavaria District Association from 1971 to 1973. He received numerous awards for his diverse activities in various chess clubs and associations:

Silver and Gold Honorary Pins of the Upper Bavaria Chess District
Silver (2002) and Gold (2013) Honorary Pins of the German Chess Federation
Silver Honorary Pin of the Schwalbe (Swallow)
Honorary Member of SC Starnberg, the Upper Bavaria Chess District (2011), and the Schwalbe (Swallow)
Honorary President of the Bavarian Chess Federation
Below is an overview of the other positions Kurt Ewald held:

Period Position
1952-1956 Youth Leader of the Essen-Steeler Chess Society and the Bonner Schachfreunde Association
1952-1959 Youth Leader of the Middle Rhine Chess Association, which was later divided into North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, and Rhineland-Palatinate
1954 Organizer of the German Youth Championship in Traben-Trarbach
1955 Delegate of the Middle Rhine at the Federal Congress in Cologne
1971-1973 Chairman of the Chess Circle Zugspitze
1991-1995 Vice Chairman of SC Starnberg 1920
1995-2000 First Chairman of SC Starnberg 1920
2000-2004 Second Chairman of SC Starnberg 1920
1991-2014 First Chairman of the Zugspitze Chess Association
1996 Chairman of the Arbitration Court of Upper Bavaria
1993-1995 Secretary of the Bavarian Chess Federation
1995-2000 Vice President of the Bavarian Chess Federation
1992-2020 Schwalbe Delegate to the German Chess Federation (DSB)
1992-2005 Secretary of the AKLV
1992-2019 Treasurer of the AKLV

Recipient of the DSB Gold Badge of Honor
Kurt Ewald was active in chess from an early age in various roles. From 1952, he was a youth leader in clubs in Essen and Bonn, and in the Middle Rhine Chess Association. At the age of 30, he first encountered problem chess when, plagued by boredom during a spa stay, he began solving the 16 chess problems on the last page of the magazine "Schach-Echo." He succeeded surprisingly quickly, and by 1962, he had published his first problems in "Schach-Echo" and "Feenschach."

In the years that followed, Ewald moved from the Ruhr region to Bavaria. It was here that his career as an official began in the 1970s, with numerous positions – in a club (SC Starnberg), in the Zugspitze Chess Club, and in the Bavarian Chess Federation. He was also active in the Schwalbe problem chess association, representing it as a delegate to the German Chess Federation for 28 years from 1992 to 2020. He received numerous awards for his decades of commitment, including the Silver Badge of Honor from the German Chess Federation in 2002 and the Gold Badge of Honor in 2013. He was an honorary member of his club, Schwalbe, and the Upper Bavaria Chess District, and honorary president of the Bavarian Chess Federation.

With Kurt Ewald, the German Chess Federation and German chess have lost a tireless official and organizer, as well as a composer of problem chess artworks, who left his mark on the chess world with around 400 art works.

The funeral will be held within the next three to four weeks. Ewald's circle of friends expressed the wish that his chess companions be invited to attend. The Starnberg Chess Club is planning an obituary, which will surely also include details of the funeral.

Memories

"Born in the hometown of Schwalbe in 1931, Kurt Ewald took up chess at a young age and became a strong player with an Elo rating of around 2,100.
chess at a young age and became a strong player with an Elo rating of around 2,100.
before his 20th birthday, he took on the role of youth leader in his chess clubs, first in Essen
in Essen, then in Bonn and in the Middle Rhine Chess Association.

At the age of 30 he came into contact with problem chess through the study of the Schach-Echo, and this
bacillus never left him throughout his life.
his whole life. After moving to Bavaria
Bavaria, he also took on numerous club and association tasks there, was Vice President of the Bavarian Chess Federation for five years and was involved in the German Chess Federation, especially in the working group of the regional associations
(AKLV), which he played a major which was largely shaped by him. This commitment and his corresponding network in the German Chess Federation Kurt Ewald also made intensive use of this interests of problem chess:

For over 28 years, he was the Schwalbe delegate to the DSB (and thus a member of the Schwalbe board). His significant achievements include the still valid agreement with the DSB regarding Schwalbe membership fees, the DSB's fixed annual subsidy for the Schwalbe "state association," and the generous subsidies from the DSB and AKLV for the 60th WCCC 2017 in Dresden.
He has received numerous honors for his commitment to chess at all levels: In 2013, he received the DSB's Golden Badge of Honor, was an honorary member of the Upper Bavaria Chess District, and was an honorary president of the Bavarian Chess Federation.
The Schwalbe general meeting in Traunstein awarded Kurt Ewald honorary membership in 2012 on the occasion of his 20th anniversary as our DSB delegate. And even after retiring from this position at the age of 89, his interest in problem chess and the swallow remained undiminished – at the end of last year, he discussed our anniversary congress in his hometown with his successor and with me.

On January 14, 2025, Kurt Ewald died at the age of 93 in his hometown of Starnberg. At his funeral, swallows from southern Germany also paid their last respects.

As a composer, Kurt Ewald was particularly fond of self-mates, which did not preclude excursions into direct checkmate problems and fairytale chess." by Thomas Brand, Bornheim

Obituary for Kurt Ewald

"We learnt of the death of our long-time Honorary President Kurt Ewald at the weekend. The Bavarian Chess Federation extends its sincere condolences to his family and friends. Kurt was an institution in Bavarian chess. In his long life, he held a wide variety of honorary positions. It would go beyond the scope of this article to list them all. 

I would just like to refer to his many years of service as Vice President and long-standing Chairman of the Bavarian Chess Federation. He was a chess friend who always enriched us with his personality and expertise.
We mourn the loss of a man who rendered outstanding services to chess in Bavaria."

Ingo Thorn
President of the Bavarian Chess Federation e.V.

The urn burial will take place on 10 February 2025 from 10:00 a.m. at the cemetery at Hanfelder Straße 46. Please note that this is the cemetery at Hanfelder Straße, as there are two cemeteries in Starnberg.

About his problem chess book                                                                                                                                                     At the Schwalbetagung four years ago in Güstrow, Kurt Ewald surprised the delegates with his own book ‘Some of my chess problems’. On 207 pages, 200 diagrams are immortalised, probably including many of the 400 or so problems published in chess magazines.

Source: Die Schwalbe (chess magazine) No 332, April 2025