Ignacy Kopa

Ignacy Kopa (born 9 January 1875 in Trzcielin, died April 20, 1929) is a Polish chess player, chess activist, engineer.

He came from a family of small landowners. Chess interest probably came from the family home, and he developed it in Berlin and Aachen. In Aachen he chaired an academic chess club. He published chess compositions in the writings "Polska Illustration" and "Deutsche Schachzeitung", took part in competitions for solving chess tasks. In 1905 he made his debut as a tournament player, invited to the "B" championship of the German Chess Federation in Barmen. At 18 players ranked 9th, earning 9 points. He defeated. Aron Nimzowitsch, Augustin Neumann and Rudolph Spielmann, and among the six rivals with whom he drew the lead were David Quail. The tournament was won by Leo Fleischmann.

In the first years after returning to Wielkopolska, Kopa was an active participant in chess life. In the years 1907-1909 he was president of the Poznan Chess Club. Then he devoted himself to professional work, was a co-owner of the melioration company and an activist of the technical association. Apart from chess, another sports discipline, which he devoted his attention to, was rowing (he worked in the Poznan club). In the mid-1920s he achieved some significant chess achievements, first of all reaching the Poznan championship in 1926 - he scored 14 points out of 15 possible. His health condition did not allow him to participate in the first individual championships of Poland in which he was invited. In 1929 he represented Poznań in the first team championships in Poland (on the first chessboard), but he did not make much successes. Lost among others. parties with Abram Blass and Theodore Regedzinski.

In 1927, in the tournament of the Poznań Chess Club, he was divided into 4-5 divisions. place. In the same year he met with Przepiórka in the same show in Poznan - the party ended in a draw - and in the meeting with Wrocław he defeated the leading players of the Silesian Chess Federation Kramer and Sikorski. In April 1929 the Poznań club organized the duel of Kopy with Antoni Wojciechowski, his successor with the title of city champion. Kopa started the match more than a quarter century, winning three of the first four. The match remained unresolved because of the sudden death of Ignacy Kopy. Bibliography

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