Bruno Rueger

Bruno Rüger (July 14, 1886 in Radebeul (near Dresden) - September 24, 1972 in Dresden) was a Go teacher and writer, publisher of the German Go magazine (Deutsche Go-Zeitung).

One of the most important Go propagators before World War II. 1912 he learned Go from an introduction by Leopold Pfaundler. Conscripted, but not sent to the front, he taught Go among his fellow soldiers. Rüger wrote an introduction to Go in 1916, which was published in an edition of 10000, the positive feedback encouraged him to produce games with stones from cardboard. In 1920, with the help of a sponsor, he started publishing the Deutsche Gozeitung again (a first short-lived attempt to start a periodical by this name was made by Pfaundler in 1909).

In 1922, he, himself secretary of the chess club in Dresden, learns about the Emanuel Laskers enthusiasm for Go and offers him 20 Mark for a game, as Rüger wins Lasker refuses the money.

After the war, he lived in Eastern Germany, for years being the strongest player. Author of a Go column in the chess association's magazine SCHACH.

Awarded with the Okura prize for his contribution to the spreading and growth of Go, November 22, 1971.

Class system

In 1922 Rüger invented a rank scale of 50 classes, which was later expanded to 120 classes by the Leipzig Go teacher Erwin Parchwitz. This class system was in use until about 1977 in Eastern Germany, in Western Germany change to japanese style dan/kyu ranks had begun a decade earlier. The class system allowed for finer grained strength differences. Handicap was calculated as (class difference + 1)*0.5, where "half a handicap stone" was represented by a komi of 5 points.

The same class system has survived much longer, although with adapted komi of 6, in form of the Dutch class system.

• Das Go-Spiel, 1920
• Interessante Go-Partien, Berlin 1925
• Anleitung zur Eröffnung von Go-Spielen, 1928
• Wichtige Joseki beim Vorgabespiel, 1929
• Das Vorgabespiel beim Go. Behandlung der wichtigsten Joseki und ausführliche Beschreibung von Vorgabe-Eröffnungen, 1930
• Das Go-Spiel, 1937/38, 4 volumes, with Dr. Eduard Nonnenmacher

• German wikipedia article: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Rüger