Was Wolfgang Unzicker the last Amateur GM?

Question

Wolfgang Unzicker was a German GM, rated about 2550 and worked as a judge. In the sense of holding down a job while playing, he was an "amateur" player.

So was Unzicker, a GM in the 70's, the last amateur GM?

Most GM's have a "real" job, very few make their living solely from chess. — Arlen, Jul 12 '19 at 18:34

Brian Towers · Answer 1 · 2019-07-01T09:14:55.963

So in the sense of holding down a job while playing he was an "amateur" player.

So was Unzicker, a GM in the 70's, the last amateur GM?

No. Here are 4 current British "amateur" grandmasters.

English GM Matthew Turner is a teacher at Millfield School in Somerset.
English GM Matthew Sadler is a computer consultant in the Netherlands.
English GM Luke McShane (currently on 4/7 in the Netanya Masters) is a financial trader in London
Scottish GM Dr. Jonathan Rowson is Director of the Social Brain Centre at the Royal Society of Arts in London

score 17 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 01 '19 at 01:57

17

The economist Ken Rogoff (b. 1953) achieved the GM title in 1978, but was never a "professional" chess player. Rogoff is currently a professor of economics at Harvard University.

answered Jul 01 '19 at 01:57

Mico

286
1
4

2

In the absence of better answers that are true "amateur" GMs I am going to tick this. – Snack_Food_Termite Jul 01 '19 at 07:39

score 12 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 01 '19 at 09:15

12

There are plenty of GMs that do not play professionally, e.g. GM Luke McShane is a financial trader, GM Hou Yifan is a Rhodes scholar. So if your definition of "amateur" is holding down a job while playing occasionally, Wolfgang Unzicker certainly was not the last amateur GM.

edited Jul 01 '19 at 09:15

Brian Towers

96,800
11
239
397

answered Jun 30 '19 at 12:31

Allure

26,534
1
68
146

But I think you have fallen into a subtle trap there. They are GMs whose broad intent is to play chess only. Or to put it another way, their life is variable; Hou Yifan may come back after she does her studies. – Snack_Food_Termite Jun 30 '19 at 12:37
7

@athornton I don't see how that's relevant. They're holding down a job while playing, making them amateurs. – Allure Jun 30 '19 at 12:42
1

Also Georg Meier, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NSzG0BGfO8 (1:45). – Akavall Jul 01 '19 at 02:52
6

I think the more important question is, did they ever play professionally? Do they hold other jobs because chess was never anything more than a serious hobby, or simply because professional chess didn't pay the bills? – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft Jul 01 '19 at 09:15
2

If that's what the OP wants to ask, he/she should clarify that in the question. – Allure Jul 01 '19 at 09:16

Was Wolfgang Unzicker the last Amateur GM?

3 Answers3