Leontxo García facts for kids

Leontxo García Olasagasti was born on February 12, 1956, in Irún, Guipúzcoa, Spain. He is a well-known Spanish expert in chess. He works as a speaker, TV and radio presenter, commentator, and journalist, all focused on the game of chess.

About Leontxo García

Leontxo García started playing chess a bit later than some. He learned the game at school when he was 13 years old. However, he didn't start playing seriously until he was 17.

From Chess Player to Journalist

In 1975, at the age of 19, Leontxo became the champion of Guipúzcoa, a region in Spain. Six years later, in 1981, he earned the title of FIDE Master. This is a special title given by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). He even achieved two "norms" for the International Master title, which is another high chess rank.

It seemed like he would continue to be a professional chess player. But in 1983, a newspaper called Deia from the Basque Country asked him to report on important chess matches in London. These matches included famous players like Garry Kasparov and Viktor Korchnoi.

This experience made him realize he loved journalism even more than playing chess. Soon after, he stopped competing in chess tournaments to focus on his new career.

His Work in Media

After working for Deia, Leontxo joined other news organizations. He worked for Agence France-Presse and the Spanish news agency EFE. He also wrote for a newspaper called La Gaceta del Norte.

Later, he moved to radio, working for Cadena SER and Radio Nacional de España. In 1985, he became a special reporter for El País, a major Spanish newspaper. He spent two and a half months in Moscow covering the second match between Kasparov and Karpov. Today, he still writes a daily column for El País. He also worked with other media like Radio Moscow and the Argentine newspaper La Prensa.

In 1987, during the World Chess Championship 1987 in Seville, he presented 50 special TV shows about the event on Televisión Española (TVE).

Promoting Chess

Leontxo García was the editor of Jaque magazine for ten years, from 1991 to 2001. He has also given many talks about chess in different countries.

He created and presented a TV series called En Jaque (In Check) on TVE, which had 39 episodes. He also worked with Garry Kasparov to create a series called La pasión del ajedrez (The passion for chess). This project included 64 magazines and 25 videos.

Leontxo has experience teaching chess to children. He worked as a chess instructor for the Basque Government in 1985. He has also taught chess courses to school teachers, helping them learn how to teach the game to their students.

He often comments on major chess tournaments for TV and radio. These include events like the Linares International Chess Tournament and the World Chess Championship.

Beyond Chess

While chess is his main focus, Leontxo also writes about other sports. He was a special reporter for El País at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He also produced and presented a radio series about the 28 Olympic sports for Radio Nacional in 2004. His second favorite sport is handball, and he has covered many World and Europe Championships for various media.

Since 2007, Leontxo has a regular section on Sundays in a popular radio show called No es un día cualquiera on RNE Radio Nacional.

Chess for Everyone

Leontxo is a big supporter of teaching chess to both children and adults. He believes that playing chess regularly can help keep the brain healthy as people get older. He even suggests it might help prevent memory problems like Alzheimer's.

He once said that Spain needs a chess champion as famous as tennis star Rafael Nadal. He noted that Spain has many chess tournaments and teaches chess in over a thousand schools. However, it needs a top champion. He mentioned Francisco Vallejo Pons and Iván Salgado López as strong players.

Leontxo believes that Garry Kasparov is the best chess player of all time. He says Kasparov was the most complete player because of his talent, hard work, and energy. When Kasparov played, his opponents felt like they were facing a powerful force.

Awards and Recognition

Leontxo García has received many awards for his work in chess and journalism:

• Medal of Sporting Merit from the Consejo Superior de Deportes in 2011.
• I National Chess Prize in 2008 for his efforts in spreading chess in 2007.
• Listed in the FIDE Golden Book in 1999 for his great contribution to chess development.
• Awarded by the University of Oviedo for his TV series En Jaque (1990–91). This award recognized his amazing work in spreading culture.
• Awarded for the best coverage of the World Chess Championship 1986 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) by the Sports Committee of the USSR.
• Absolute champion of Guipúzcoa in 1975.

Books by Leontxo García

Leontxo has written or co-written several books:

• Magistral Ciudad de León, 20 años de ajedrez (Magistral Ciudad de León, 20 years of chess). He wrote this book with Paraguayan Grand Master Zenón Franco Ocampos in 2008.
• Radomir Antić: Jaque a la liga (Radomir Antić: Check to the league). This book from 1996 is about the football coach Radomir Antić. It shares his training methods and how he changed Atlético de Madrid.

Famous Quotes

Here are some well-known quotes from Leontxo García:

• "Chess is a gold mine, as yet hardly explored by the press."
• "In chess, beauty is the daughter of error."
• His phrase "Outstanding move" became a popular internet meme. This meme shows a picture of him from a video where he is explaining a winning chess move.

See also

In Spanish: Leontxo García para niños

• Chess