Luděk Pachman was a Czech chess grandmaster, writer, and political activist. He was born on May 11, 1924, in Bělá pod Bezdězem, Czechoslovakia, and passed away on March 6, 2003.
On the chess front, Pachman was highly successful, winning the Czechoslovak championship seven times and taking part in multiple Olympiads and Interzonal tournaments. In 1950, he was awarded the title of International Grandmaster by FIDE, the international chess federation. Pachman is also known for his significant contributions to chess literature, including books on opening theory, the middlegame, and the endgame.
Outside of chess, Pachman was an outspoken critic of communism following the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia; his political activism led to his imprisonment in the late 1960s and early 1970s. After his release, he emigrated to West Germany, where he continued both his chess career and political activities, this time focusing on issues of democracy and human rights.
Pachman underwent a significant religious conversion in the 1980s, converting to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and began incorporating his new faith into his writing and philosophy. Despite suffering a stroke in 1986 that left him partially paralyzed and affected his ability to play chess, Pachman continued to contribute to chess literature until his death in 2003.