Josef Krejcik


Josef Emil Krejcik was an Austrian chess master, problemist, journalist and author.
Born in Vienna, he participated in many local tournaments before, during and after World War I. He took 6th in 1908, took 5th in 1909/10, took 8th in 1910, took 6th in 1914/15, tied for 2nd-3rd, behind Józef Dominik, in 1915, won ahead of Schenkein in 1915, took 8th in 1921, shared 1st with Hans Kmoch in 1921, and tied for 10-12th in 1929/30. In 1930, he drew a game with Pál Réthy in a friendly match Budapest vs. Vienna.
Dr. Josef Krejcik published in Vienna's leading chess magazine, the Wiener Schachzeitung, and ran a chess column in the Neues Wiener Tagblatt. He was an author of famous chess books: 13 Kinder Caissens, Artige und unartige Kinder der Schachmuse, and Mein Abschied vom Schach. He was known for his humorous witty remarks.
His name is attached to the Krejcik Gambit in the Dutch Defence.

Notable games

Though not a strong positional player, Dr. Krejcik succeeded at times to defeat some of the strongest players of his time, often with brilliant miniatures.
The following game is known as « The Immortal of Dr. Krejcik »:

Albin Countergambit - 1. d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4. e4 Bc5 5. f4 f6 6. exf6 Nxf6 7. Bd3 Nc6
8. a3 a5 9. Nf3 0-0 10. 0-0 Re8 11. e5 Ng4 12. Re1 Bf5!
13. Bxf5 d3+ 14. Kf1 Qh4!! 15. Qd2 Qxh2!
16. Bxd3 Qh1+ 17. Ke2 Qxg2 18. Kd1 Qxf3 19. Be2 Qb3+ 20. Qc2 Nf2+ 21. Kd2 Be3 mate.