Oldrich Duras, born on 30 October 1882 in Pchery, died on 5 January 1957 in Prague. Duras began his international career as a player in Hilversum in 1903 (2nd place) and after numerous good tournament results he was one of the ten best players in the world until the beginning of the First World War in 1914. At the tournament in Karsbad in 1907, he fought off defeat against Heinrich Wolf for 168 moves and 22 hours, albeit in vain - a record at the time. A civil servant by profession, Duras retired from tournament chess after the First World War. He became editor of the Czech chess newspaper and devoted himself to composing studies. Duras published about 50 problems and studies. In 1950 he was one of the first players to be officially awarded the grandmaster title by FIDE.
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