Yosef Porath (1909–1996)

Yosef Porath was born Heinz Josef Foerder to a Jewish family in Breslau, Germany (present-day Wrocław, Poland). He competed in the Chess Olympiads numerous times. In 1928, he was a member of the German team at the 2nd Olympiad in The Hague, Netherlands. He played several times in the Silesian Chess Congress, sharing 1st place with Ludwig Schmitt at Gleiwitz in 1927; took 2nd, behind Gottlieb Machate, at Reichenbach in 1928; and won at Breslau in 1930. He shared 1st at Bad Salzbrunn in 1931, and again won at Ratibor in 1932. He also won at Bilina in 1930 and took 2nd, behind Gottlieb Machate, at Breslau in 1933.

In 1933, after the Nazi regime came to power, he lost his ability to play chess publicly in Germany and moved to Riga, Latvia. The following year, he emigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine, where he took the Hebrew name Yosef Porath.

In April 1935, Porath tied for 3rd-5th at the 2nd Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv. He represented the Palestine team at first board in the 6th Olympiad at Warsaw in 1935, and at second board in the 8th Olympiad at Buenos Aires in 1939. After World War II, Porath played for the Israeli team in nine consecutive Olympiads from 1952 through 1968. He won the Palestine Championship in 1937 and 1940 (after a play-off), and the Israeli Championship in 1953, 1957, 1959, and 1963. In 1963, he won in Ulan Bator (zonal tournament). He was awarded, along with Moshe Czerniak, the title of International Master in 1952.