The Federal Cross of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz) of the Federal Republic of Germany has been bestowed upon Dr. Fritz Baumbach to honour his lifetime achievements. As a player as well as an official, Dr. Baumbach proved to be an outstanding personality. This distinction was conferred upon the proposition of the German Correspondence Chess Federation (BdF).
It is impossible to enumerate all his achievements. Some of them are the following:
- Fritz Baumbach became a grandmaster of correspondence chess in 1973. In 1988, Fritz Baumbach achieved the gold medal as Correspondence Chess World Champion no. 11. Before that, Baumbach already became Vice World Champion no. 9 in 1983.
- The success of the German Olympic Team is also very closely related with Fritz Baumbach. His latest success occurred in the final of the 13th Olympiads in which Germany became the Olympic Champion. Fritz Baumbach performed strongly and finished first at board no. 1.
- Fritz Baumbach and the German team won the Olympic Championship already twice.
- Fritz Baumbach became well known to the general public in Germany in the year 1995, when the team of the former German Democratic Republic achieved a bronze medal in the Final of the 10th Olympiads – more 4 years after the German reunification! The other medallist teams (Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia) did not exist any more, either.
- 18 years –from 1993 – 2010- Dr. Fritz Baumbach was National Delegate to ICCF and President of the German Correspondence Chess Federation BdF. Moreover from 1995 – 1999 he was General Secretary of ICCF. During his tenure as President BdF emerged as a modern sports organization.
- Fritz Baumbach is the author of several books about correspondence chess, chess, and numerous chess articles in chess magazines and newspapers.
- Fritz Baumbach also provided excellent results in over-the-board chess and Fritz has celebrated many tournament victories. In the German Democratic Republic, Fritz was a top player. In 1970, Fritz Baumbach won the Chess Championships of the GDR and he played in the OTB Olympic Chess Team.
- Dr. Fritz Baumbach is Honorary Member of ICCF and of the German Correspondence Chess Federation BdF.
BdF, Dr. Uwe Staroske, 22. February 2012