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{{Short description|German chess grandmaster (1948–2025)}}
{{About|the German chess grandmaster|American scientist|Robert Huebner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox chess biography
| name        = Robert Hübner
| image       = Dhr. Robert Hübner, Bestanddeelnr 932-7315.jpg
| caption     = Hübner in 1983
| country     = Germany
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1948|11|06|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Cologne]], Germany
| death_date  = {{death date and age|2025|01|05|1948|11|06|df=y}}
| death_place = Cologne, Germany
| title       = [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] (1971)
| peakrating  = 2640 (July 1981)
| peakranking = No. 3 (July 1981)
| FideID      = 4600010
}}

'''Robert Hübner''' (6 November 1948 – 5 January 2025) was a German [[chess grandmaster]], chess writer, and [[papyrologist]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fide.com/news/2725 |title=Robert Huebner turns 75 |publisher=FIDE |access-date=14 April 2024}}</ref> He was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s.

==Chess career==
At eighteen, Hübner was joint winner of the West [[German Chess Championship]].

In 1965 he won, together with [[Hans Ree]], the [[European Junior Chess Championship|Niemeyer tournament for European players under 20]].

His [[International Master]] (IM) title was awarded in 1969 and his Grandmaster (GM) title in 1971.<ref name="Gaige">{{Cite book|last=Gaige |first=Jeremy |author-link=Jeremy Gaige |year=1987 |title=Chess Personalia, A Biobibliography |publisher=McFarland |isbn=0-7864-2353-6 |page=181}}</ref> He reached third place in the [[FIDE]] world ranking list in 1980.

Between 1971 and 1991 (loss to [[Jan Timman]]), Hübner played in four [[Candidates Tournament]]s for the [[World Chess Championship|World Championship]]. Three ended in controversial circumstances:
* In [[World Chess Championship 1972|1971]], he forfeited a closely contested quarter final to [[Tigran Petrosian]], after blundering a piece in the 7th game in a drawn position.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=84954|title = Petrosian - Huebner Candidates Quarterfinal (1971)}}</ref>
* In [[World Chess Championship 1981|1980–81]], his best result, after winning the quarter and semi final (against the Hungarian players [[Andras Adorjan|Adorjan]] and [[Lajos Portisch|Portisch]]), he reached the final before losing to [[Viktor Korchnoi]]. Hübner forfeited the match after 10 games when he was down 1 point.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=83607|title = Korchnoi - Huebner Candidates Final 1980/81}}</ref>
* In [[World Chess Championship 1984|1983]], he lost a quarter final to [[Vasily Smyslov]] in unique circumstances: with the match tied after the original 10 games plus 4 further games, the tie was resolved (in Smyslov's favour) by a spin of a roulette wheel.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/08/arts/chess-should-chance-decide-the-outcome-of-a-match.html CHESS; SHOULD CHANCE DECIDE THE OUTCOME OF A MATCH?], [[Robert Byrne (chess player)|Robert Byrne]], [[New York Times]], 9 May 1983</ref>
[[File:Robert Hübner-edit.jpg|thumb|upright|Hübner in 1993]]
At his [[Glossary of chess#Strength|strongest]] in the mid-seventies to mid-eighties, Hübner participated in many of the elite tournaments of the day, and was invited at [[Montreal]] 1979 (The Tournament of Stars), playing alongside [[Anatoly Karpov]], [[Mikhail Tal]], and [[Jan Timman]]. His most notable tournament victories were at [[Houston]] 1974, [[Munich]] 1979 (shared with [[Ulf Andersson]] and [[Boris Spassky]]), [[Rio de Janeiro]] [[Interzonal]] 1979 (shared with [[Lajos Portisch]] and [[Tigran Petrosian]]),<ref>{{cite book | author=[[David Vincent Hooper|Hooper, David]] and [[Kenneth Whyld|Whyld, Kenneth]] | title=The Oxford Companion To Chess | publisher=Oxford University | year=1984 | isbn= 0-19-217540-8 | pages=147, 148}}</ref> [[Chicago]] 1982, [[Biel chess tournament|Biel]] 1984 (equal with [[Vlastimil Hort]]), [[Linares chess tournament|Linares]] 1985 (shared with [[Ljubomir Ljubojević]]), and [[Tilburg chess tournament|Tilburg]] 1985 (shared with [[Tony Miles|Anthony Miles]] and [[Viktor Korchnoi]]).

He served as a [[Glossary of chess#Second|second]]  to [[Nigel Short]] in the [[World Chess Championship 1993|1993 world championship match against Garry Kasparov]].

In 2000 he won, with the German team, a silver medal in the [[34th Chess Olympiad]] in [[Istanbul]].

He remained active on the international circuit into the 2000s but was never a full-time chess professional due to his academic career.

==Playing style==
[[File:Robert Hübner 1966 Porz.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Hübner at Porz in 1966]]
Over the chessboard, Hübner's technique has been described as efficient and ruthless. According to [[William Hartston|Bill Hartston]]—"His perfectionist and rather pessimistic approach, however, prevented him from reaching the very top."<ref>{{cite book | author=[[William Hartston|Hartston, William]] | title=The Guinness Book of Chess Grandmasters | publisher=Guinness Publishing Ltd. | year=1996 | isbn=0-85112-554-9 | page=200}}</ref>

==Other contributions==
{{algebraic notation|pos=section}}
His contributions to chess literature include the study of the playing careers of world champions and the extensive analysis of 19th-century chess brilliancies. According to renown chess historian [[Edward Winter (chess historian)|Edward Winter]], Hübner's great strength as a player and analyst should not cause his legacy as a chess historian and critic to be overlooked.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/index.html#12082._When_did_Steinitz |title=Note 12088. Robert Hübner (1948-2025)|last=Winter |first=Edward |author-link=Edward Winter (chess historian) |date=5 January 2025 |website=Chess Notes |access-date=1 August 2025}}</ref> 

The variation 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bxc3+ in the [[Nimzo-Indian Defence]] is named after Hübner.<ref name="hansen">{{cite book | author=Hansen, Carsten | title=The Nimzo-Indian: 4 e3 | publisher=Gambit Publications Ltd | year=2002 | isbn=1-901983-58-7}}</ref>

When [[anti-doping]] tests were introduced into international chess, Hübner declared his withdrawal from the German national team. He viewed these tests as bureaucratic-power displays that degrade the individual. In his opinion, doping in chess cannot improve the true abilities of a player, only their application to the game. "I am always happy if my opponent's abilities can fully unfold, because then I learn more," he has said.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://de.chessbase.com/post/robert-hbner-von-der-willkr-der-dopingkontrollen-|title=Robert Hübner: 'Von der Willkür der Dopingkontrollen'|language=German|trans-title=Robert Hübner: 'On the arbitrariness of doping controls' |last=Hübner|first=Robert|date=10 December 2008|website=ChessBase Schach Nachrichten|access-date=1 August 2025}}</ref>

In addition to chess, Hübner was known as one of the world's best [[xiangqi]] players not from China.<ref>Chinese Chess for Beginners by Sam Sloan (1989) {{ISBN|0-923891-11-0}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Hübner was born in [[Cologne]] on 6 November 1948, and died in a hospital in Cologne on 5 January 2025, at the age of 76. Two years prior to his death, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer and underwent a difficult operation.<ref>{{cite web|last=Schulz|first=André|date=5 January 2025|title=Robert Hübner has passed away|url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/robert-huebner-has-passed-away|website=[[ChessBase]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250616105314/https://en.chessbase.com/post/robert-huebner-has-passed-away|archive-date=16 June 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>

He spoke a dozen languages.<ref>{{cite web|first=Leonard|last=Barden|author-link=Leonard Barden|date=13 January 2025|title=Chess: Robert Hübner, four-time world title candidate, dies at 76|url=https://www.ft.com/content/0956ebb7-0152-42cd-b80c-bc5d7d2841ca|website=[[Financial Times]]|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250616110411/https://www.ft.com/content/0956ebb7-0152-42cd-b80c-bc5d7d2841ca|archive-date=16 June 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Notable games==
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044306 Robert James Fischer vs. Robert Hübner, Palma de Mallorca iz 1970, Caro-Kann defense: King’s Indian attack, ½–½] A dramatic game with central pawn attacks against the GM [[Robert James Fischer]].
*[http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1071332 Robert Hübner vs. Raymond Keene, Vienna (Austria) 1972, Modern Defense: King Pawn Fianchetto (B06), 1–0] After a long series of manoeuvres the White pressure on the Black king position peaks in a winning combination.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{Cite book
 |last=Golombek | first=Harry |author-link=Harry Golombek 
 |year=1977 
 |title=Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess 
 |publisher=Crown Publishing 
 |isbn=0-517-53146-1  
 }}

==External links==
{{commons category|Robert Hübner}}
* {{IMDb name| 2065116}}
* {{Fide|name=Dr. Robert Huebner}}
* {{chessgames player|id=14098|name=Robert Huebner}}
* [https://en.chessbase.com/post/happy-birthday-robert-huebner-turns-75/ Robert Hübner turns 75! ]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hubner, Robert}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:2025 deaths]]
[[Category:Chess Grandmasters]]
[[Category:Chess Olympiad competitors]]
[[Category:20th-century German chess players]]
[[Category:German papyrologists]]
[[Category:German chess writers]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Cologne]]
[[Category:Chess theoreticians]]
[[Category:German male non-fiction writers]]