Friedrich Chlubna (* 15 April 1946 in Mattighofen; † 6 January 2005 in Vienna) was an Austrian chess composer.

Chess composition:

Friedrich Chlubna began composing chess pieces at the age of 13. He was initially guided by his father and later by the Austrian composer Josef Halumbirek. In total, he composed around 530 problems in the areas of orthodox more movers, auxiliary and self-mating as well as fairy-tale chess. In the FIDE albums he achieved 58.5 points, i.e. Chlubna had been FIDE International Master of Chess Compositions since 1979.

FIDE had already awarded him the title of International Adjudicator for Chess Composition in 1971. In 1980 he became editor of the "Problem Chess" section of the Austrian magazine Schach-Aktiv. From 1983 to 1986 he was also in charge of the problem section of the German Schachblätter.

In 1994 his books Versunkene Schätze (ISBN 3-9500310-6-5), Dreiklang and Schach für Nußknacker - Eine Einführung in die Welt des Schachproblems (ISBN 3-9500310-0-6) were published. Another important publication is the book "The mate of the white king", in which Chlubna introduces the self-mate genre.

After meeting John Roycroft in Turku in 1995, Chlubna published Deceptive Simplicity for him in 1998, in which he individually inserted copies of Mitrofanov's photographs in each edition. The book is now considered a rarity.

Private and professional life
After finishing school, he became a commercial employee in an electrical company. In 1980 he switched to the music trade. In 1992 he became self-employed and wrote acclaimed reviews of classical music CDs in music catalogues.Chlubna lived as a bachelor in seclusion with his mother in Vienna.

He died in 2005 after a long illness as a result of a tumour.

Other published books:
Chlubna, Friedrich; Wenda, Klaus: Problem Palette, Wiener Schachverlag, Vienna, 1970
Chlubna, Friedrich; Wenda, Klaus: Problem Palette II, Dr K. Wenda Eigenverlag, Vienna, 1991, ISBN 3-9500057-0-6
Hildebrand, Alexander; Chlubna, Friedrich: Paul Keres the Composer, Friedrich Chlubna, Vienna, 1999
Hoch, Yehuda et al.: Endgame virtuosity. A selection of 222 Israeli chess studies, Friedrich Chlubna, Vienna, 1996, ISBN 3-9500310-4-9

The coloured picture: The picture shows Manfred Zucker on the left, Friedrich Chlubna in the centre and Wolfgang Weber on the right. The photo was taken in Dresden in 1980 

Source: German Wikipedia