Lajos Steiner


Lajos Steiner was a Hungarian–born Australian chess master.
Steiner was one of four children of Bernat Steiner, a mathematics teacher, and his wife Cecilia,, and a younger brother of Endre Steiner. He was educated at the Technical High School, Budapest, and gained a diploma in mechanical engineering from the Technikum Mittweida, Germany.
In 1923, he tied for 4-5th in Vienna. In 1925 he took 2nd, behind Sándor Takács, in Budapest. In 1927, he won in Schandau and tied for 2nd-3rd in Kecskemét. In 1927/28, he took 2nd. In 1929, he took 2nd in Bradley Beach. In 1931, he won in Budapest, took 5th in Vienna, and tied for 5-6th in Berlin. The event was won by Herman Steiner. In 1932/33, he tied for 3rd-4th in Hastings. In 1933, he tied for 2nd-3rd in Maehrisch-Ostrau. The event was won by Ernst Grünfeld. In 1933, he took 4th in Budapest.
In 1934, he tied for 1st-2nd with Vasja Pirc in Maribor. In 1935, he tied for 1st-2nd with Erich Eliskases in Vienna. In 1935, he tied for 5-6th in Łódź and took 4th in Tatatovaros. In 1936, he won, with Mieczysław Najdorf, in Budapest. In 1937, he took 2nd in Brno, and took 3rd in Zoppot. In 1937/38, he won in Vienna. In 1938, he tied for 3rd-4th in Ljubljana. The event was won by Borislav Kostić. In 1938, he tied for 8-9th in Łódź where Pirc won.
Lajos Steiner played a few matches. In 1930, he lost to Isaac Kashdan. In 1934, he won against Pál Réthy. In 1935, he won vs Henri Grob.
He played for Hungary in four Chess Olympiads:
He won individual bronze medal in Prague, and team gold medal and individual silver medal in Munich.
Steiner emigrated to Australia in 1939. He won the Australian Chess Championship four times in 1945, 1946/47, 1952/53, and 1958/59. He also won nine of his ten attempts at the New South Wales title. He took 3rd in Karlovy Vary – Mariánské Lázně in 1948. The event was won by Jan Foltys. He took 19th at the 1st Interzonal Tournament in Saltsjöbaden in 1948. The event was won by David Bronstein.
He was awarded the International Master title in 1950.