Jan Hannelius ( 7 December 1916 Oulu - 7 March 2005 Kangasala ) was an author of chess tasks and a well-known task chess organiser. In 1977 he was awarded the title of International Master. 

Important chess composer 

Jan Hannelius was born in Oulu. His father, Väinö Hannelius, was headmaster of a private Swedish-language school with twelve classes, Svenska Privatskolan i Uleåborg, from 1939 to 1944 and from 1945 to 1949. The young Jan learnt chess moves from his grandmother at the age of 4. Hannelius' cousin Harras Heikinheimo was a moderate chess player. When he was young, Hannelius played against his cousin, but as he failed to beat him, his interest shifted to task chess .

Hannelius enrolled as a high school student in 1935. The following year he moved to Helsinki, where he began studying law at the University of Helsinki . He arrived in Helsinki shortly after becoming a member of Suomen Tehtaväniekko . He also often attended the Suomalainen Chess Club (SSK) game evenings. The outbreak of the Winter War in November 1939 interrupted his studies and Hannelius joined the army. He served as an officer during the war and was taken prisoner of war in Äyräpää on 10 July 1944. After the end of the war, he remained in the Wehrmacht, from which he retired in 1947. His military rank was major. After leaving the army, Hannelius studied economics at Åbo Akademi .

In the course of his long career, Hannelius solved more than 1,000 chess problems.

 In 1932, at the age of 15, he compiled his first chess problems, which were published in Suomen Shaki and Hufvudstadsbladet . Hannelius' production consisted mainly of two- and three-move chess mating problems, and Hannelius was one of the world's best draughtsmen in his day. However, he also prepared multi-layer maths problems, auxiliary and self-matings as well as final problems. He was awarded the title of national chess champion as early as 1951.

His works in the FIDE Album:

 A total of 47 exercises by Hannelius were published in the collections of international chess exercises, the FIDE albums.  On this basis, he was awarded the title of international master of composition in 1977.

In old age, Hannelius suffered a cerebral infarction which led to paralysis.

 However, he made a full recovery and was able to continue writing tasks. Hannelius' last 3-move checkmate was published posthumously in Finnish Chess 4/2005 . 

Jan Hannelius was also active as a task judge in addition to writing tasks. In 1957 he was awarded the title "International Task Judge". He specialised in checkmating tasks with two and three moves.

Organiser 
After Leo Valve, Hannelius became chairman of Suomen Tehtaväniekko in 1953, but only held this position for one year. In 1955, he was elected Foreign Minister of ST. In this position he began to systematically develop the Finnish National Chess Federation's (ST) relations with international institutions in this field. Initially he worked as a mediator at the International Problem Board (IPB).  Through IPB connections he was invited as an observer to the World Chess Congress in Piran in 1958. The Standing Chess Committee (PCCC) of the World Chess Federation FIDE was founded at the Piran Congress. Today the organisation is known as the World Federation for Chess Composers (WFCC). Finland was initially an observer member, but joined as a permanent member in 1966. The very next year, Finland organised the World Chess Congress in Tampere. Hannelius was instrumental in organising the event.

Hannelius' esteem in the world grew steadily. In 1972-1974, he was appointed director of the 1st International Composition Competition.

In 1974, he was elected President of the PCCC (now WFCC) and held this office until 1986. [2] As chairman, Hannelius developed the organisation's activities. At the end of his term of office, he was appointed Honorary Chairman of the organisation.

In 1967, Hannelius was involved in the founding of the Pirkanmaa subdivision of ST. He was its chairman from 1967 until his death (2005).

Hannelius theme 
According to Jan Hannelius, the chess problem is called the Hannelius theme . It was given its name in 1970 when the chess problem magazine Thémes-64 organised an essay competition on this topic. It is one of the best-known chess problem themes. Its première took place in Bruno Sommer's Checkmate in Two Moves in 1929. Hannelius himself used its title theme in 1950.  Problems based on the theme have been systematically prepared since the 1960s. 

Editor and written production 
Hannelius had a long and varied career as a writer and journalist.

From 1949 to 1951 he was editor of Suomen Shaki. In his first tenure as a journalist, he made many international contacts that helped him lay the foundation for his later career in international assignments. Hannelius was later responsible for providing the Suomen chess assignment section between 1972 and 1985. He also edited Aamulehti's chess column after Vilho Somerpuu between 1979 and 1993.

In 1984 Hannelius published the work 100 år finländska miniatyrer .  The work presents miniature puzzles created by Finns in up to 7 pieces. A sequel to the work, 512 Finnish Miniatures, was published in 1992.

Sources 
 Jan Explorer *** Jorma Paavilainen: Obituary of Jan Hannelius *** Helsingin Sanomat 2005 Cited on 24/12/2012
 Kauko Virtanen: Jan Hannelius 7.12.1916-7.3.2005, p. 128, Suomen Chess, 4/2005 Cited on 24.12.2012
 Jan Hannelius in memoriamST 16/3/2005 Cited on 24/12/2012
 Suomen Chess first editions, p. 126, Suomen Chess , 4/2005 Cited on 24/12/2012
 International Labour JudgesST 26.8.2011 Transferred on 24.12.2012
Ylijoki, Marko: Judgement: Jan Hannelius MT, Orthodox Tasks 2006-7 (PDF) 3.12.2007. Suomen Tehtaväniekat. Cited on 24.12.2012.
 Ylijoki (2007)

Source: Wikipedia (FIn)

Others: On Website ARVES.org are 4 original endgame studies by him selected. 

              These studies are of high artistic quality.