Chess Trivia

Chess Trivia Manuel Aaron (born in 1935) is India’s first International Master, in 1961. He won the championship of India 9 times. Viswanathan Anand is India’s first Grandmaster, in 1987. There are now 26 Indian Grandmasters, 12 Women Grandmasters and 68 Indian International Masters and 17 Women International Masters. In 1995, Robert Smeltzer (born in 1930) of Dallas played the most USCF games in one year – 2,266 games. Michael Adams (born in 1971) is the youngest player to win the British Chess Championship at 17. His wife is a British actress. Bobby Fischer was the youngest player to win the US Chess Championship at 14 in 1957-58. Hikaru Nakamura was the 2nd youngest player to win the US Chess Championship at 16 in 2004. Utat Adianto (born in 1965) was the first Indonesian Grandmaster, in 1986. He became a GM at age 21. The youngest Indonesian GM is Susanto Megaranto, who became a GM at age 17. Simen Agdestein (born in 1967) was Norway’s first Grandmaster, in 1985. He won the championship of Norway 7 times. He was Norwegian champion at 15, International Master at 16, and GM at 18. He was once a professional soccer player. He was an early coach of Magnus Carlsen, the world’s highest rated player. In 1967, Bent Larsen (1935-2010) won the first chess Oscar informally. In 1968, it was formally won by Spassky. Kasparov has won the chess Oscar the most, 11 times. In 1920, Alexander Alekhine won the first Soviet Chess Championship. There have been 58 Soviet championships from 1920 to 1991. Botvinnik and Tal have each won it 6 times. The first Russian Chess Federation formed in 1914. It had 865 members. It was first called the All-Russia Chess Union, then renamed the All-Russia Chess Society. Chess was first mentioned in America in 1641 in a book called “Dutch New York” by Esther Singleton. It described that “cards, chess, backgammon, dice-throwing, were among the pleasures of the age” of the Dutch in New York. In 1786, Benjamin Franklin published the first chess writing in America with his “The Morals of Chess,” first drafted in 1732 for his Philadelphia Junto discussions and his own newspaper. In his essay, he attributed chess being introduced into America by the Spaniards. In 1839, the New York Chess Club was formed by James Thompson. The first American chess tournament may have been held in 1843 in New York. In 1857, Paul Morphy won the first American Chess Congress. It was the only tournament he ever won. Adolf Anderssen (1818-1879) won the first international chess tournament in London in 1851. He didn’t have the money for the travel costs, so Howard Staunton offered to pay for Anderssen’s travel expenses out of his own pocket. Anderssen accepted, won the tournament, and paid Staunton back for his travel expenses. Maurice Ashley (born 1966) of New York (born in Jamaica) was the first Black grandmaster, in 1999. He once appeared on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Jonathan Penrose (born in 1933) has won the British chess championship the most. He won it 10 times between 1958 and 1969. He was given the GM title, although he was strong enough, but he became a GM in Correspondence chess in 1983. Wolfgang von Kempelen’s (1734-1804) “The Turk” was the first chess automaton, in 1769. It was destroyed by fire in 1854. It defeated Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin. Baden-Baden 1870 was the first strong international tournament. It was the first tournament to introduce chess clocks. It was the first tournament that draws counted as ½ points. Adolf Anderssen won the event. BELLE was the first computer built for the sole purpose of playing chess. In 1980, it won the world computer chess championship. In 1983, BELLE became the first computer to be awarded the title of US Chess Master. Caissa is the goddess or muse (dryad or tree nymph) of chess, from a poem by Hieronymus Vida in 1527. In 1763, Sir William Jones re-used Vida’s character Caissa in his own poem, written in Latin, and later published in English. St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) is the patron saint of chess. In the 16th century, she was proclaimed patroness of chess players by the church authorities in Spain. She used chess as a metaphor in her classic work “the Way of Perfection.” The longest running annual match in chess is the annual Cambridge vs. Oxford match, starting in 1873. As of 2012, there have been 130 matches between the two. Cambridge has won 57, Oxford has won 53, with 20 draws. The World Chess Federation (FIDE) estimates that there are over 600 million chess players in the world, with a potential global audience of 1 billion chess players. In 1977 Larry Christiansen became a Grandmaster without ever being an International Master. The first chess club was organized in Italy in 1550. The first newspaper column was published in 1813 in the Liverpool Mercury. The first computer program to play a proper game of chess was in 1959, at MIT. KAISSA of the USSR won the first world computer championship, held in Stockholm in 1974. Nathaniel Cook and John Jacques designed the first Staunton pattern chess set in 1835. In 1981 Cray Blitz won the first state championship, when it won the championship of Mississippi. Arthur Dake (1910-2000) was the oldest competitive grandmaster, still playing in his late 80s. Cecil de Vere was the first official British chess champion, in 1866. Charles Stanley was the first US chess champion, in 1845. He defeated Eugene Rousseau. FIDE, the World Chess Federation, was founded in 1924 by Pierre Vincent of France. Alexandre Rueb was the first FIDE president. He was president from 1924 to 1949. The record for the most games played simultaneously blindfolded in 52 games, by Janos Flesch in 1960. The Fredkin Prize was a $100,000 prize for the first computer to beat a reigning world champion. The inventors (Hsu, Campbell, and Hoane) of Deep Blue won the Fredkin Prize in 1997. In 1978, Nona Gaprindashvili was the first woman to achieve the men’s grandmaster title. In 1977, Nona Gaprindashvili tied for 1st place at Lone Pine. In 1914 the Russian Czar gave the title of grandmaster to Lasker, Alekhine, Capablanca, Tarrasch, and Marshall. Gisela Gresser (1906-2000) was the first U.S. woman to achieve a master’s rating. The first major tournament after WW II was Groningen, in 1946. It was won by Botvinnik. Boris Gulko won the USSR championship in 1977 and the US championship in 1994 and 1999. In 1963, Walter Harris became the first African-American master. Hasting is the oldest and longest running tournament in the world. It was first held in 1895. In 1981, Rea Hayes won the first US Senior Open, held in Sun City, Arizona. Hermann Helms (1870-1963) was the first Dean of American Chess. Iceland has the highest per capita chess population in the world. Borislav Ivkov of Yugoslavia won the first World Junior Chess Championship, held in England in 1951. Anatoly Karpov has won more chess tournaments (over 160 tournaments) than any other person. Raymond Keene was the first British player to achieve a FIDE Grandmaster norm in over-the-board chess. In 1947, George Koltanowski introduced the Swiss System at the 1947 US Open in Corpus Christi, Texas. In 1982, Vasily Smyslov qualified for the Candidates match by taking 2nd at the Palma Interzonal at age 61. In 1976 Tony Miles became the first British Grandmaster in OTB play. The USCF formed in 1939 from the merger of the American Chess Federation and the National Chess Federation. Geller, Tal, and Janosevic have all defeated Fischer more times than they have lost to him. Edward Lasker won Paris in 1912, London in 1914, New York in 1915, and Chicago in 1916. Le Palamede was the first magazine devoted entirely to chess. It ran from 1836 to 1839, then 1842 to 1847. Vladimir Liberzon was the first grandmaster to immigrate to Israel, in 1973. The Liverpool Mercury was the first English newspaper to publish a chess column, in 1813. Bill Lombardy was the first American to win an official world chess championship, the World Junior Ch in 1957. Johann Lowenthall invented the demonstration chess board in 1857. The Manchester Chess Club was the oldest chess club in Britain, formed in 1817. Sergio Mariotti was the first Italian Grandmaster, who gained his title in 1974. Frank Marshall was the first American to defeat a Soviet player in international competition, New York 1924. Edgar McCormick played in more US Opens than any other player, playing in 37 US Opens. The New York State Championship is America’s longest running tournament, which began in 1878. Alberic O’Kelly de Galway became the first GM of OTB and correspondence chess. Oxford was the first university to have a chess club. Bulgaria issued the first chess stamp, in 1947, on the occasion of the Balkan games. In 1845, Dr. Peter Mark Roget (Roget’s Thesaurus) devised the first pocket chess set. Judith Price was the oldest person to win a national championship when she won the British Ladies Ch at age 76. Cecil Purdy won the first world correspondence chess championship (1950-1953). The 1945 USA-USSR Radio Chess Match was the first international sports event after World War II. The first international rating list appeared in 1969. Fischer topped the list at 2720. Keith Richardson was the 1st British player to be awarded the Grandmaster title, for Correspondence Chess, in 1975. Alexander Rueb was the first president of FIDE. He was president from 1924 to 1949. The first Interzonal tournament was held in Saltsjobaden, Sweden in 1958 and won by David Bronstein. Lothar Schmid has the largest private chess library in the world with over 30,000 chess books and magazines. Yassar Seirawan was the first American to beat a reigning world champion when he beat Karpov in 1982. Nigel Short was the youngest to qualify for the British Championship, at age 11. Jackson Showalter was the first official US Chess Champion, in 1890. George Sturgis was the first President of the US Chess Federation, in 1939. The first telegraph match was played in 1844, between Washington DC and Baltimore. The first telephone chess game was played in 1878, between two players is Derbyshire, England. –Bill Wall Be Sociable, Share!

Chess Trivia

Chess Trivia Manuel Aaron (born in 1935) is India’s first International Master, in 1961. He won the championship of India 9 times. Viswanathan Anand is India’s first Grandmaster, in 1987. There are now 26 Indian Grandmasters, 12 Women Grandmasters and 68 Indian International Masters and 17 Women International Masters. In 1995, Robert Smeltzer (born in 1930) of Dallas played the most USCF games in one year – 2,266 games. Michael Adams (born in 1971) is the youngest player to win the British Chess Championship at 17. His wife is a British actress. Bobby Fischer was the youngest player to win the US Chess Championship at 14 in 1957-58. Hikaru Nakamura was the 2nd youngest player to win the US Chess Championship at 16 in 2004. Utat Adianto (born in 1965) was the first Indonesian Grandmaster, in 1986. He became a GM at age 21. The youngest Indonesian GM is Susanto Megaranto, who became a GM at age 17. Simen Agdestein (born in 1967) was Norway’s first Grandmaster, in 1985. He won the championship of Norway 7 times. He was Norwegian champion at 15, International Master at 16, and GM at 18. He was once a professional soccer player. He was an early coach of Magnus Carlsen, the world’s highest rated player. In 1967, Bent Larsen (1935-2010) won the first chess Oscar informally. In 1968, it was formally won by Spassky. Kasparov has won the chess Oscar the most, 11 times. In 1920, Alexander Alekhine won the first Soviet Chess Championship. There have been 58 Soviet championships from 1920 to 1991. Botvinnik and Tal have each won it 6 times. The first Russian Chess Federation formed in 1914. It had 865 members. It was first called the All-Russia Chess Union, then renamed the All-Russia Chess Society. Chess was first mentioned in America in 1641 in a book called “Dutch New York” by Esther Singleton. It described that “cards, chess, backgammon, dice-throwing, were among the pleasures of the age” of the Dutch in New York. In 1786, Benjamin Franklin published the first chess writing in America with his “The Morals of Chess,” first drafted in 1732 for his Philadelphia Junto discussions and his own newspaper. In his essay, he attributed chess being introduced into America by the Spaniards. In 1839, the New York Chess Club was formed by James Thompson. The first American chess tournament may have been held in 1843 in New York. In 1857, Paul Morphy won the first American Chess Congress. It was the only tournament he ever won. Adolf Anderssen (1818-1879) won the first international chess tournament in London in 1851. He didn’t have the money for the travel costs, so Howard Staunton offered to pay for Anderssen’s travel expenses out of his own pocket. Anderssen accepted, won the tournament, and paid Staunton back for his travel expenses. Maurice Ashley (born 1966) of New York (born in Jamaica) was the first Black grandmaster, in 1999. He once appeared on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Jonathan Penrose (born in 1933) has won the British chess championship the most. He won it 10 times between 1958 and 1969. He was given the GM title, although he was strong enough, but he became a GM in Correspondence chess in 1983. Wolfgang von Kempelen’s (1734-1804) “The Turk” was the first chess automaton, in 1769. It was destroyed by fire in 1854. It defeated Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin. Baden-Baden 1870 was the first strong international tournament. It was the first tournament to introduce chess clocks. It was the first tournament that draws counted as ½ points. Adolf Anderssen won the event. BELLE was the first computer built for the sole purpose of playing chess. In 1980, it won the world computer chess championship. In 1983, BELLE became the first computer to be awarded the title of US Chess Master. Caissa is the goddess or muse (dryad or tree nymph) of chess, from a poem by Hieronymus Vida in 1527. In 1763, Sir William Jones re-used Vida’s character Caissa in his own poem, written in Latin, and later published in English. St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) is the patron saint of chess. In the 16th century, she was proclaimed patroness of chess players by the church authorities in Spain. She used chess as a metaphor in her classic work “the Way of Perfection.” The longest running annual match in chess is the annual Cambridge vs. Oxford match, starting in 1873. As of 2012, there have been 130 matches between the two. Cambridge has won 57, Oxford has won 53, with 20 draws. The World Chess Federation (FIDE) estimates that there are over 600 million chess players in the world, with a potential global audience of 1 billion chess players. In 1977 Larry Christiansen became a Grandmaster without ever being an International Master. The first chess club was organized in Italy in 1550. The first newspaper column was published in 1813 in the Liverpool Mercury. The first computer program to play a proper game of chess was in 1959, at MIT. KAISSA of the USSR won the first world computer championship, held in Stockholm in 1974. Nathaniel Cook and John Jacques designed the first Staunton pattern chess set in 1835. In 1981 Cray Blitz won the first state championship, when it won the championship of Mississippi. Arthur Dake (1910-2000) was the oldest competitive grandmaster, still playing in his late 80s. Cecil de Vere was the first official British chess champion, in 1866. Charles Stanley was the first US chess champion, in 1845. He defeated Eugene Rousseau. FIDE, the World Chess Federation, was founded in 1924 by Pierre Vincent of France. Alexandre Rueb was the first FIDE president. He was president from 1924 to 1949. The record for the most games played simultaneously blindfolded in 52 games, by Janos Flesch in 1960. The Fredkin Prize was a $100,000 prize for the first computer to beat a reigning world champion. The inventors (Hsu, Campbell, and Hoane) of Deep Blue won the Fredkin Prize in 1997. In 1978, Nona Gaprindashvili was the first woman to achieve the men’s grandmaster title. In 1977, Nona Gaprindashvili tied for 1st place at Lone Pine. In 1914 the Russian Czar gave the title of grandmaster to Lasker, Alekhine, Capablanca, Tarrasch, and Marshall. Gisela Gresser (1906-2000) was the first U.S. woman to achieve a master’s rating. The first major tournament after WW II was Groningen, in 1946. It was won by Botvinnik. Boris Gulko won the USSR championship in 1977 and the US championship in 1994 and 1999. In 1963, Walter Harris became the first African-American master. Hasting is the oldest and longest running tournament in the world. It was first held in 1895. In 1981, Rea Hayes won the first US Senior Open, held in Sun City, Arizona. Hermann Helms (1870-1963) was the first Dean of American Chess. Iceland has the highest per capita chess population in the world. Borislav Ivkov of Yugoslavia won the first World Junior Chess Championship, held in England in 1951. Anatoly Karpov has won more chess tournaments (over 160 tournaments) than any other person. Raymond Keene was the first British player to achieve a FIDE Grandmaster norm in over-the-board chess. In 1947, George Koltanowski introduced the Swiss System at the 1947 US Open in Corpus Christi, Texas. In 1982, Vasily Smyslov qualified for the Candidates match by taking 2nd at the Palma Interzonal at age 61. In 1976 Tony Miles became the first British Grandmaster in OTB play. The USCF formed in 1939 from the merger of the American Chess Federation and the National Chess Federation. Geller, Tal, and Janosevic have all defeated Fischer more times than they have lost to him. Edward Lasker won Paris in 1912, London in 1914, New York in 1915, and Chicago in 1916. Le Palamede was the first magazine devoted entirely to chess. It ran from 1836 to 1839, then 1842 to 1847. Vladimir Liberzon was the first grandmaster to immigrate to Israel, in 1973. The Liverpool Mercury was the first English newspaper to publish a chess column, in 1813. Bill Lombardy was the first American to win an official world chess championship, the World Junior Ch in 1957. Johann Lowenthall invented the demonstration chess board in 1857. The Manchester Chess Club was the oldest chess club in Britain, formed in 1817. Sergio Mariotti was the first Italian Grandmaster, who gained his title in 1974. Frank Marshall was the first American to defeat a Soviet player in international competition, New York 1924. Edgar McCormick played in more US Opens than any other player, playing in 37 US Opens. The New York State Championship is America’s longest running tournament, which began in 1878. Alberic O’Kelly de Galway became the first GM of OTB and correspondence chess. Oxford was the first university to have a chess club. Bulgaria issued the first chess stamp, in 1947, on the occasion of the Balkan games. In 1845, Dr. Peter Mark Roget (Roget’s Thesaurus) devised the first pocket chess set. Judith Price was the oldest person to win a national championship when she won the British Ladies Ch at age 76. Cecil Purdy won the first world correspondence chess championship (1950-1953). The 1945 USA-USSR Radio Chess Match was the first international sports event after World War II. The first international rating list appeared in 1969. Fischer topped the list at 2720. Keith Richardson was the 1st British player to be awarded the Grandmaster title, for Correspondence Chess, in 1975. Alexander Rueb was the first president of FIDE. He was president from 1924 to 1949. The first Interzonal tournament was held in Saltsjobaden, Sweden in 1958 and won by David Bronstein. Lothar Schmid has the largest private chess library in the world with over 30,000 chess books and magazines. Yassar Seirawan was the first American to beat a reigning world champion when he beat Karpov in 1982. Nigel Short was the youngest to qualify for the British Championship, at age 11. Jackson Showalter was the first official US Chess Champion, in 1890. George Sturgis was the first President of the US Chess Federation, in 1939. The first telegraph match was played in 1844, between Washington DC and Baltimore. The first telephone chess game was played in 1878, between two players is Derbyshire, England. –Bill Wall Be Sociable, Share!

Chess Trivia

Chess Trivia Manuel Aaron (born in 1935) is India’s first International Master, in 1961. He won the championship of India 9 times. Viswanathan Anand is India’s first Grandmaster, in 1987. There are now 26 Indian Grandmasters, 12 Women Grandmasters and 68 Indian International Masters and 17 Women International Masters. In 1995, Robert Smeltzer (born in 1930) of Dallas played the most USCF games in one year – 2,266 games. Michael Adams (born in 1971) is the youngest player to win the British Chess Championship at 17. His wife is a British actress. Bobby Fischer was the youngest player to win the US Chess Championship at 14 in 1957-58. Hikaru Nakamura was the 2nd youngest player to win the US Chess Championship at 16 in 2004. Utat Adianto (born in 1965) was the first Indonesian Grandmaster, in 1986. He became a GM at age 21. The youngest Indonesian GM is Susanto Megaranto, who became a GM at age 17. Simen Agdestein (born in 1967) was Norway’s first Grandmaster, in 1985. He won the championship of Norway 7 times. He was Norwegian champion at 15, International Master at 16, and GM at 18. He was once a professional soccer player. He was an early coach of Magnus Carlsen, the world’s highest rated player. In 1967, Bent Larsen (1935-2010) won the first chess Oscar informally. In 1968, it was formally won by Spassky. Kasparov has won the chess Oscar the most, 11 times. In 1920, Alexander Alekhine won the first Soviet Chess Championship. There have been 58 Soviet championships from 1920 to 1991. Botvinnik and Tal have each won it 6 times. The first Russian Chess Federation formed in 1914. It had 865 members. It was first called the All-Russia Chess Union, then renamed the All-Russia Chess Society. Chess was first mentioned in America in 1641 in a book called “Dutch New York” by Esther Singleton. It described that “cards, chess, backgammon, dice-throwing, were among the pleasures of the age” of the Dutch in New York. In 1786, Benjamin Franklin published the first chess writing in America with his “The Morals of Chess,” first drafted in 1732 for his Philadelphia Junto discussions and his own newspaper. In his essay, he attributed chess being introduced into America by the Spaniards. In 1839, the New York Chess Club was formed by James Thompson. The first American chess tournament may have been held in 1843 in New York. In 1857, Paul Morphy won the first American Chess Congress. It was the only tournament he ever won. Adolf Anderssen (1818-1879) won the first international chess tournament in London in 1851. He didn’t have the money for the travel costs, so Howard Staunton offered to pay for Anderssen’s travel expenses out of his own pocket. Anderssen accepted, won the tournament, and paid Staunton back for his travel expenses. Maurice Ashley (born 1966) of New York (born in Jamaica) was the first Black grandmaster, in 1999. He once appeared on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Jonathan Penrose (born in 1933) has won the British chess championship the most. He won it 10 times between 1958 and 1969. He was given the GM title, although he was strong enough, but he became a GM in Correspondence chess in 1983. Wolfgang von Kempelen’s (1734-1804) “The Turk” was the first chess automaton, in 1769. It was destroyed by fire in 1854. It defeated Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin. Baden-Baden 1870 was the first strong international tournament. It was the first tournament to introduce chess clocks. It was the first tournament that draws counted as ½ points. Adolf Anderssen won the event. BELLE was the first computer built for the sole purpose of playing chess. In 1980, it won the world computer chess championship. In 1983, BELLE became the first computer to be awarded the title of US Chess Master. Caissa is the goddess or muse (dryad or tree nymph) of chess, from a poem by Hieronymus Vida in 1527. In 1763, Sir William Jones re-used Vida’s character Caissa in his own poem, written in Latin, and later published in English. St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) is the patron saint of chess. In the 16th century, she was proclaimed patroness of chess players by the church authorities in Spain. She used chess as a metaphor in her classic work “the Way of Perfection.” The longest running annual match in chess is the annual Cambridge vs. Oxford match, starting in 1873. As of 2012, there have been 130 matches between the two. Cambridge has won 57, Oxford has won 53, with 20 draws. The World Chess Federation (FIDE) estimates that there are over 600 million chess players in the world, with a potential global audience of 1 billion chess players. In 1977 Larry Christiansen became a Grandmaster without ever being an International Master. The first chess club was organized in Italy in 1550. The first newspaper column was published in 1813 in the Liverpool Mercury. The first computer program to play a proper game of chess was in 1959, at MIT. KAISSA of the USSR won the first world computer championship, held in Stockholm in 1974. Nathaniel Cook and John Jacques designed the first Staunton pattern chess set in 1835. In 1981 Cray Blitz won the first state championship, when it won the championship of Mississippi. Arthur Dake (1910-2000) was the oldest competitive grandmaster, still playing in his late 80s. Cecil de Vere was the first official British chess champion, in 1866. Charles Stanley was the first US chess champion, in 1845. He defeated Eugene Rousseau. FIDE, the World Chess Federation, was founded in 1924 by Pierre Vincent of France. Alexandre Rueb was the first FIDE president. He was president from 1924 to 1949. The record for the most games played simultaneously blindfolded in 52 games, by Janos Flesch in 1960. The Fredkin Prize was a $100,000 prize for the first computer to beat a reigning world champion. The inventors (Hsu, Campbell, and Hoane) of Deep Blue won the Fredkin Prize in 1997. In 1978, Nona Gaprindashvili was the first woman to achieve the men’s grandmaster title. In 1977, Nona Gaprindashvili tied for 1st place at Lone Pine. In 1914 the Russian Czar gave the title of grandmaster to Lasker, Alekhine, Capablanca, Tarrasch, and Marshall. Gisela Gresser (1906-2000) was the first U.S. woman to achieve a master’s rating. The first major tournament after WW II was Groningen, in 1946. It was won by Botvinnik. Boris Gulko won the USSR championship in 1977 and the US championship in 1994 and 1999. In 1963, Walter Harris became the first African-American master. Hasting is the oldest and longest running tournament in the world. It was first held in 1895. In 1981, Rea Hayes won the first US Senior Open, held in Sun City, Arizona. Hermann Helms (1870-1963) was the first Dean of American Chess. Iceland has the highest per capita chess population in the world. Borislav Ivkov of Yugoslavia won the first World Junior Chess Championship, held in England in 1951. Anatoly Karpov has won more chess tournaments (over 160 tournaments) than any other person. Raymond Keene was the first British player to achieve a FIDE Grandmaster norm in over-the-board chess. In 1947, George Koltanowski introduced the Swiss System at the 1947 US Open in Corpus Christi, Texas. In 1982, Vasily Smyslov qualified for the Candidates match by taking 2nd at the Palma Interzonal at age 61. In 1976 Tony Miles became the first British Grandmaster in OTB play. The USCF formed in 1939 from the merger of the American Chess Federation and the National Chess Federation. Geller, Tal, and Janosevic have all defeated Fischer more times than they have lost to him. Edward Lasker won Paris in 1912, London in 1914, New York in 1915, and Chicago in 1916. Le Palamede was the first magazine devoted entirely to chess. It ran from 1836 to 1839, then 1842 to 1847. Vladimir Liberzon was the first grandmaster to immigrate to Israel, in 1973. The Liverpool Mercury was the first English newspaper to publish a chess column, in 1813. Bill Lombardy was the first American to win an official world chess championship, the World Junior Ch in 1957. Johann Lowenthall invented the demonstration chess board in 1857. The Manchester Chess Club was the oldest chess club in Britain, formed in 1817. Sergio Mariotti was the first Italian Grandmaster, who gained his title in 1974. Frank Marshall was the first American to defeat a Soviet player in international competition, New York 1924. Edgar McCormick played in more US Opens than any other player, playing in 37 US Opens. The New York State Championship is America’s longest running tournament, which began in 1878. Alberic O’Kelly de Galway became the first GM of OTB and correspondence chess. Oxford was the first university to have a chess club. Bulgaria issued the first chess stamp, in 1947, on the occasion of the Balkan games. In 1845, Dr. Peter Mark Roget (Roget’s Thesaurus) devised the first pocket chess set. Judith Price was the oldest person to win a national championship when she won the British Ladies Ch at age 76. Cecil Purdy won the first world correspondence chess championship (1950-1953). The 1945 USA-USSR Radio Chess Match was the first international sports event after World War II. The first international rating list appeared in 1969. Fischer topped the list at 2720. Keith Richardson was the 1st British player to be awarded the Grandmaster title, for Correspondence Chess, in 1975. Alexander Rueb was the first president of FIDE. He was president from 1924 to 1949. The first Interzonal tournament was held in Saltsjobaden, Sweden in 1958 and won by David Bronstein. Lothar Schmid has the largest private chess library in the world with over 30,000 chess books and magazines. Yassar Seirawan was the first American to beat a reigning world champion when he beat Karpov in 1982. Nigel Short was the youngest to qualify for the British Championship, at age 11. Jackson Showalter was the first official US Chess Champion, in 1890. George Sturgis was the first President of the US Chess Federation, in 1939. The first telegraph match was played in 1844, between Washington DC and Baltimore. The first telephone chess game was played in 1878, between two players is Derbyshire, England. –Bill Wall Be Sociable, Share!

Chess Trivia

Chess Trivia Manuel Aaron (born in 1935) is India’s first International Master, in 1961. He won the championship of India 9 times. Viswanathan Anand is India’s first Grandmaster, in 1987. There are now 26 Indian Grandmasters, 12 Women Grandmasters and 68 Indian International Masters and 17 Women International Masters. In 1995, Robert Smeltzer (born in 1930) of Dallas played the most USCF games in one year – 2,266 games. Michael Adams (born in 1971) is the youngest player to win the British Chess Championship at 17. His wife is a British actress. Bobby Fischer was the youngest player to win the US Chess Championship at 14 in 1957-58. Hikaru Nakamura was the 2nd youngest player to win the US Chess Championship at 16 in 2004. Utat Adianto (born in 1965) was the first Indonesian Grandmaster, in 1986. He became a GM at age 21. The youngest Indonesian GM is Susanto Megaranto, who became a GM at age 17. Simen Agdestein (born in 1967) was Norway’s first Grandmaster, in 1985. He won the championship of Norway 7 times. He was Norwegian champion at 15, International Master at 16, and GM at 18. He was once a professional soccer player. He was an early coach of Magnus Carlsen, the world’s highest rated player. In 1967, Bent Larsen (1935-2010) won the first chess Oscar informally. In 1968, it was formally won by Spassky. Kasparov has won the chess Oscar the most, 11 times. In 1920, Alexander Alekhine won the first Soviet Chess Championship. There have been 58 Soviet championships from 1920 to 1991. Botvinnik and Tal have each won it 6 times. The first Russian Chess Federation formed in 1914. It had 865 members. It was first called the All-Russia Chess Union, then renamed the All-Russia Chess Society. Chess was first mentioned in America in 1641 in a book called “Dutch New York” by Esther Singleton. It described that “cards, chess, backgammon, dice-throwing, were among the pleasures of the age” of the Dutch in New York. In 1786, Benjamin Franklin published the first chess writing in America with his “The Morals of Chess,” first drafted in 1732 for his Philadelphia Junto discussions and his own newspaper. In his essay, he attributed chess being introduced into America by the Spaniards. In 1839, the New York Chess Club was formed by James Thompson. The first American chess tournament may have been held in 1843 in New York. In 1857, Paul Morphy won the first American Chess Congress. It was the only tournament he ever won. Adolf Anderssen (1818-1879) won the first international chess tournament in London in 1851. He didn’t have the money for the travel costs, so Howard Staunton offered to pay for Anderssen’s travel expenses out of his own pocket. Anderssen accepted, won the tournament, and paid Staunton back for his travel expenses. Maurice Ashley (born 1966) of New York (born in Jamaica) was the first Black grandmaster, in 1999. He once appeared on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? Jonathan Penrose (born in 1933) has won the British chess championship the most. He won it 10 times between 1958 and 1969. He was given the GM title, although he was strong enough, but he became a GM in Correspondence chess in 1983. Wolfgang von Kempelen’s (1734-1804) “The Turk” was the first chess automaton, in 1769. It was destroyed by fire in 1854. It defeated Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin. Baden-Baden 1870 was the first strong international tournament. It was the first tournament to introduce chess clocks. It was the first tournament that draws counted as ½ points. Adolf Anderssen won the event. BELLE was the first computer built for the sole purpose of playing chess. In 1980, it won the world computer chess championship. In 1983, BELLE became the first computer to be awarded the title of US Chess Master. Caissa is the goddess or muse (dryad or tree nymph) of chess, from a poem by Hieronymus Vida in 1527. In 1763, Sir William Jones re-used Vida’s character Caissa in his own poem, written in Latin, and later published in English. St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) is the patron saint of chess. In the 16th century, she was proclaimed patroness of chess players by the church authorities in Spain. She used chess as a metaphor in her classic work “the Way of Perfection.” The longest running annual match in chess is the annual Cambridge vs. Oxford match, starting in 1873. As of 2012, there have been 130 matches between the two. Cambridge has won 57, Oxford has won 53, with 20 draws. The World Chess Federation (FIDE) estimates that there are over 600 million chess players in the world, with a potential global audience of 1 billion chess players. In 1977 Larry Christiansen became a Grandmaster without ever being an International Master. The first chess club was organized in Italy in 1550. The first newspaper column was published in 1813 in the Liverpool Mercury. The first computer program to play a proper game of chess was in 1959, at MIT. KAISSA of the USSR won the first world computer championship, held in Stockholm in 1974. Nathaniel Cook and John Jacques designed the first Staunton pattern chess set in 1835. In 1981 Cray Blitz won the first state championship, when it won the championship of Mississippi. Arthur Dake (1910-2000) was the oldest competitive grandmaster, still playing in his late 80s. Cecil de Vere was the first official British chess champion, in 1866. Charles Stanley was the first US chess champion, in 1845. He defeated Eugene Rousseau. FIDE, the World Chess Federation, was founded in 1924 by Pierre Vincent of France. Alexandre Rueb was the first FIDE president. He was president from 1924 to 1949. The record for the most games played simultaneously blindfolded in 52 games, by Janos Flesch in 1960. The Fredkin Prize was a $100,000 prize for the first computer to beat a reigning world champion. The inventors (Hsu, Campbell, and Hoane) of Deep Blue won the Fredkin Prize in 1997. In 1978, Nona Gaprindashvili was the first woman to achieve the men’s grandmaster title. In 1977, Nona Gaprindashvili tied for 1st place at Lone Pine. In 1914 the Russian Czar gave the title of grandmaster to Lasker, Alekhine, Capablanca, Tarrasch, and Marshall. Gisela Gresser (1906-2000) was the first U.S. woman to achieve a master’s rating. The first major tournament after WW II was Groningen, in 1946. It was won by Botvinnik. Boris Gulko won the USSR championship in 1977 and the US championship in 1994 and 1999. In 1963, Walter Harris became the first African-American master. Hasting is the oldest and longest running tournament in the world. It was first held in 1895. In 1981, Rea Hayes won the first US Senior Open, held in Sun City, Arizona. Hermann Helms (1870-1963) was the first Dean of American Chess. Iceland has the highest per capita chess population in the world. Borislav Ivkov of Yugoslavia won the first World Junior Chess Championship, held in England in 1951. Anatoly Karpov has won more chess tournaments (over 160 tournaments) than any other person. Raymond Keene was the first British player to achieve a FIDE Grandmaster norm in over-the-board chess. In 1947, George Koltanowski introduced the Swiss System at the 1947 US Open in Corpus Christi, Texas. In 1982, Vasily Smyslov qualified for the Candidates match by taking 2nd at the Palma Interzonal at age 61. In 1976 Tony Miles became the first British Grandmaster in OTB play. The USCF formed in 1939 from the merger of the American Chess Federation and the National Chess Federation. Geller, Tal, and Janosevic have all defeated Fischer more times than they have lost to him. Edward Lasker won Paris in 1912, London in 1914, New York in 1915, and Chicago in 1916. Le Palamede was the first magazine devoted entirely to chess. It ran from 1836 to 1839, then 1842 to 1847. Vladimir Liberzon was the first grandmaster to immigrate to Israel, in 1973. The Liverpool Mercury was the first English newspaper to publish a chess column, in 1813. Bill Lombardy was the first American to win an official world chess championship, the World Junior Ch in 1957. Johann Lowenthall invented the demonstration chess board in 1857. The Manchester Chess Club was the oldest chess club in Britain, formed in 1817. Sergio Mariotti was the first Italian Grandmaster, who gained his title in 1974. Frank Marshall was the first American to defeat a Soviet player in international competition, New York 1924. Edgar McCormick played in more US Opens than any other player, playing in 37 US Opens. The New York State Championship is America’s longest running tournament, which began in 1878. Alberic O’Kelly de Galway became the first GM of OTB and correspondence chess. Oxford was the first university to have a chess club. Bulgaria issued the first chess stamp, in 1947, on the occasion of the Balkan games. In 1845, Dr. Peter Mark Roget (Roget’s Thesaurus) devised the first pocket chess set. Judith Price was the oldest person to win a national championship when she won the British Ladies Ch at age 76. Cecil Purdy won the first world correspondence chess championship (1950-1953). The 1945 USA-USSR Radio Chess Match was the first international sports event after World War II. The first international rating list appeared in 1969. Fischer topped the list at 2720. Keith Richardson was the 1st British player to be awarded the Grandmaster title, for Correspondence Chess, in 1975. Alexander Rueb was the first president of FIDE. He was president from 1924 to 1949. The first Interzonal tournament was held in Saltsjobaden, Sweden in 1958 and won by David Bronstein. Lothar Schmid has the largest private chess library in the world with over 30,000 chess books and magazines. Yassar Seirawan was the first American to beat a reigning world champion when he beat Karpov in 1982. Nigel Short was the youngest to qualify for the British Championship, at age 11. Jackson Showalter was the first official US Chess Champion, in 1890. George Sturgis was the first President of the US Chess Federation, in 1939. The first telegraph match was played in 1844, between Washington DC and Baltimore. The first telephone chess game was played in 1878, between two players is Derbyshire, England. –Bill Wall Be Sociable, Share!

Chess Addict

Addicted to Chess You are addicted to chess if: • you bump into someone or something and say “J’adoube.” And you don’t even know French. • you set up a chess set with salt and pepper shakers and food items when you sit at a checkered tablecloth. • you calculate 8×8 faster than 7×7. • navigate like a knight on the sidewalk – one block up and two blocks over. • you have more chess clocks than watches or normal clocks. • you use the chess clock as a kitchen timer. • you buy the biggest, fastest, most expensive computer and monitor just to play blitz chess. • mate, mating positions, exposed bishops, and forking the queen have nothing to do with sex. • you take a chess set and chess book to the bathroom, and forget to go to the bathroom. And if you do go, you count all 32 pieces on your magnetic chessboard before flushing and panic if you flushed, then discover a piece missing. • you meet someone, your first question is, “What’s your rating?” • every week you downloaded every game from The Week in Chess • you buy a newspaper only if it has a chess column in it. • you still think Bobby Fischer alive and well • you have more chess books than any other book or magazine combined. • the Olympics has always been every two years. • you spot the chessboard set up wrong in every movie with a chess scene. • you name any of your pets Fischer, Tal, Karpov, Kasparov, Fritz, Chess (not Checkers) or Alekhine. • your favorite movie is “Searching for Bobby Fischer” or “Knight Moves.” • you have checkered underwear with “It’s your move” on the front. • your spouse has a t-shirt that says “Fool’s Mate.” • have a crush on Irina Krush. • your favorite snack is Pepperidge Farm’s Chessmen cookies and chess pie. • you have the “Chessplayers make better mates” bumper sticker on your car. • you know what BCO, ECO, MCO, NCO, PCO, UCO all mean and have all these books. • you ask an attractive (or any) girl if she plays chess and what her rating is before you ask her out for a date. And if it didn’t work out, you explain the two of you were “like bishops of opposite color.” • you end your letters and email with “P.S. 1.e4″ hoping to start a game. • you take a test, and 5 minutes before you run out of time, you mentally tell yourself that your flag is about to fall on your analog clock, • you vacation in St Louis just to see the chess hall of fame. • you go to any Barnes & Noble in the world and know exactly where all the chess books are located. • when the cashier says, “Check?” you wink and say “mate.” • you have a chess logo on your letterhead or shirt. • you play cards blindfolded. • you use chessboard cufflinks and tie clips or have a chess-theme tie that you wear. • you only vote in USCF elections. • you have a coffee mug that has chess pieces on it. • you go to a chess tournament and can’t wait in saying “Look at those chess nuts boasting by an open foyer.” • you look for three other friends to play bug-house. • you have used any of these aliases while on the Internet: Buttvinik, Caissa, Gata, Bobby Fischer, Fritz 2000, IvanCheck, Polgar, Jadoube, Kapablanca, KnightStalker, KibitzandBlitz, KnightRider, Pawnographer, Philidork, Queenforker, Rookie Player, Roy Lopez, Topalove, TarraschCan, Zukertort, KillerMate, the Turk • you have played the ghost of Geza Maroczy or challenged God with pawn odds. • you own a Harry Potter or Civil War chess set. • you have played in over 100 chess tournaments all your life and have almost made $100 in return. But you still enter the next chess tournament. • you have played over 1,000 blitz games of chess online. • you stayed up all night playing blitz chess online, and was too tired to go to school or work the next day. • all of your browser bookmarks are chess servers and chess sites • when someone looks at your car and asks you what engine you got, you reply “Rybka or Fritz or Stockfish.” • when asked what other languages you can read, you say you are fluent in descriptive, algebraic, and figurine algebraic notation, with some knowledge in Forsythe. • you think chess is a sport. (Come on – if Stephen Hawking can do it, it’s not a sport). • you play blitz chess or blindfold chess with yourself. • when asked who your favorite composer is, you respond “Pal Benko or Alexei Trotsky, although Cheron and Cook were not bad.” • you have read all of this. And didn’t laugh! -Bill Wall (chess addict) Be Sociable, Share!

Chessplayer's Widow

I Am Just a Chessplayer’s Widow Chess is too boring for me. It’s too complicated. I have to shut up when I am playing chess and can’t gossip like I can when I am playing cards and other board games. That clock with the tick, tick, tick gets on my nerves. My husband’s chess friends are just too nerdy and smart for me. They may be geniuses at the chess table, but they all seem weird. They have no social graces. If I invite then over for lunch or dinner, they start playing chess with the salt and pepper shakers and bits of food on my checkerboard table cloth. I think I am clever and have Pepperidge chess cookies for snacks. But they all just chow down on them and never notice. In fact, they never notice anything I cook or that I spent all day preparing a good meal. I once put out dog biscuits in a snack bowl, and they ate that while playing blitz chess! And there are never any women chess players to socialize with. If a chess player is lucky enough to have a girl friend or wife, they are usually not invited to tournaments or chess clubs or chess socials. At least I don’t have to worry about my husband flirting at a chess tournament. There are no women there to flirt with. Occasionally, there might be oneor two, but they are too smart to engage on conversation with a male chess player. My husband can remember every chess game, every chess opponent, every chess tournament, every chess trivia, but he can’t remember to take out the trash on Tuesdays and Fridays. I have to do that. He forgot. He can remember a chess conversation, but he can’t remember me taking to him just a few minutes ago asking if he wants to go to the movies. And I don’t want to see Searching For Bobby Fischer or Knight Moves again.I want to go see Sleepless in Seattle and not some stupid movie about a crazy chess player. He only likes movies with chess scenes in it and tries to find mistakes with the chess scenes, like an illegal position or the board set up wrong (“White to the Right”). I want to be romantic. He wants to mate in other ways. I want flowers. He want chess books. My house is full of chess things. I hate dusting chess trophies and sets, picking up chess magazines from the floor, dropping a magnetic set and unable to find a lost piece, or putting chess books away on the book shelves where they belong. I put the chess books up anywhere, but my husband has to have all the books in order, by alphabetical order according to author. Who cares? I have nice guest rooms, and my husband has to use the space to store more chess books or chess sets. I like the Civil War chess set, but my husband thinks it is impractical and wants to display some nice Staunton set, or whatever it is called. And those chess trophies just have to be displayed. They are cheap. The fall apart. The plaque falls off and I have to glue it back on. And they are so hard to move around. And, of course, my husband wants to have a display case to display them. I would rather use my display case to show off my Gone With The Wind plate collection. I want $35 worth of flowers to display around the house. My husband wants a $35 new chess book from Amazon. And most of the famous chess players are boring or can’t speak English. The only exciting chess player was Bobby Fischer, and he no longer alive. And why did they arrest the guy for playing chess in the first place. They should have left him alone. Fischer was exciting and the women loved him. Now he is gone and we have to watch a boring Anand-Gelfand world championship match. Chess takes too long to play. Sure, you can speed it up with a chess clock, but that rushes me and makes me nervous. And I still can’t gossip, share recipes, talk about my favorite movies or TV shows, or take a break for a snack. If I talk, some rude person has to say “BE QUIET!” I want to slug him. It’s not like we are at the movies. I want to vacation to some exotic place like Hawaii or Rome, or a cruise in the Caribbean. My husband wants his vacation at the same time as the U.S. Chess Open or go visit the Chess Hall of Fame (boring!). I don’t want to be writing all those moves down. Who cares? That’s just another distraction. Let me move my horsey the way I want to move it. And what’s all these extra rules like en passant or castling but not if you moved your king or rook first, or moving into check, but not in check when you finished castling. Too many rules. And then if I lose, I have to be told where I went wrong and what defense I should have used. Who wants to hear that and be told every move was wrong? And if my husband does well in a chess tournament, he wants to show me the game and all the brilliant moves, or if he lost, what he could have done different to win the game. Who cares? Do you think I really am listening to all those variations and paying attention. I just smile and say, “Yes, dear.” My husband has too many chess books and magazines anyway. Sometimes I try to give them away to friends and relatives. I hope he doesn’t notice. When he is at a chess tournament and wants me to sell some chess books he has written, but can’t sell them himself because he is playing, it’s up to me to try and sell them. I usually give them away instead. If someone wants one of his chess books and are that desperate, I usually give them the book. I’ll even autograph it with his name to make it look important. Chess players never have any money anyway. Look at their clothes they wear. Chess tournaments are just too expensive to play in anyway. With hotel/motel costs and high entry fees, a chess player spends several hundred dollars to tie for 3rd-7th place and get $33.33. If I go to a chess tournament at a hotel, there better be a swimming pool, shopping, and lots of site-seeing to do before I tag along. The tournaments are so boring. It’s not like there is a Bobby Knight in basketball getting everyone excited. For once, I would like to see a chess player lose and throw his chair like in a basketball game. And you should be allowed to talk and root for the chess player of your choice. We should see cheerleaders yelling, “Push that Pawn. Push that Pawn.” Instead, I am told to shut up, be quiet, don’t make any noises, don’t disturb the players, don’t pose and take flash pictures with the players when a game is going on. Boring. My husband says if he dies first, he wants a headstone in the shape of a rook and some witty chess saying. Like that’s going to happen. He gets a plot (no chessboard) and an obituary that does not mention chess. He’s done other things. Physicist with a major in astrophysics. Electrical Engineer. Air Force officer for 25 years. Four years combat duty flying in Vietnam. Served in the Gulf War. Assigned to NASA. Worked on the Space Shuttle. Intelligence officer who has briefed the President and Secretary of Defense. Big shot computer security guy at a big company doing DoD, NASA, and NOAA security projects. Travels around the world for his company. Interviewed by all these technical magazines. Very good at tennis and tennis instructor to dozens of players. And all he wants to be remembered is for his chess. And he is not that good at it. No grandmaster or international master title. Not even a master any more. Not even an expert any more. As he gets older, he gets slower and slower. He should be spending more time with me and romancing me and checking me out, his mate. He wants me to play chess with him. I just don’t want to. Besides, if I started taking up chess, I might get good at it, and start beating him. Then he would have to give it up. His ego wouldn’t be able to take it. He would probably then turn to something even worse. Golf! I am just a poor, depressed chess widow. And my husband isn’t even dead yet! I am just a pawn forever, not even the Queen. – Lois Wall Be Sociable, Share!

Athletes who play ches

Athletes who play chess Former NBA basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1947- ) is a chess player. At the Bonnaroo music festival in 2011, he spent some time reading Chess Tactics for Champions by Susan Polgar. WNBA basketball star Svetlana Abrosimova (1980- ), who played for the Minnesota Lynx, Connecticut Sun, and Seattle Storm, is an avid chess player. Norwegian Grandmaster Simen Agdestein (1967- ) was once a professional soccer player and played for his national team. Former NFL running back Shaun Alexander (1977- )plays and promotes chess through the America Foundation for Chess (AF4C). His Shaun Alexander Foundation offers a $7,500 grant to inspire kids for educational excellence and career planning. He has given over $25,000 to AF4C for chess programs. Ossie Ardiles (1952- ) was one of the top soccer players in the world. He was a midfielder for Argentina when they won the 1978 World Cup. He describes himself as a chess fanatic who spends 10 hours a week studying chess. Former NFL linebacker LaVar Arrington (1978- ) is a chess addict. He has a whole room in his house devoted to chess and he occasionally mentions chess in his sports column in the Washington Post. Seve Ballesteros (1957-2011) was a Spanish professional golfer, former World No. 1 player (5-times golf major winner), and a chess player. He was described as a fine chess player. Former NBA player Dick Barnett (1936- ) was an avid chess player who played correspondence chess. Boris Becker (1967- ) was one of the greatest tennis players, winning at Wimbledon at age 17 and winning 6 grand slams of tennis. He played an exhibition match against Kasparov ”live” on CNN for one hour in 2000. Kasparov was in New York and Becker was in Munich. He once said that his experiences with chess influenced his playing style in tennis. In December 2011, he opened the London Chess Classic, making the ceremonial first move for Magnus Carlsen. He then played GM Nigel Short in a game. Former NBA star Larry Bird (1956- ) plays chess online, but I don’t think his favorite opening is 1.f4. Former baseball outfielder Barry Bonds (1964- ) is a chess player. Former Major League Baseball pitcher and author (Ball Four) Jim Bouton (1939- ) is a chess player. The boxer and former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon “the Cannon” Briggs (1971- ) used to hustle chess games in New York City parks. In 2010, before the WBO world championship challenge against fellow chess player and heavyweight boxer Vitali, Klitschko, both wanted to play each other in chess. Briggs told Klitschko, “Whether or not we fight, I want to play you in chess.” Former NFL running back Jim Brown (1936- ) is a chess player. He has collected several fine chess sets. The tennis doubles partners and twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan (both born in 1978) are chess players. Mike Bryan has been quoted as saying “I have to play tennis like a chess game.” NBA star Kobe Bryant (1978- ) was quoted as saying “These young guys are playing checkers. I’m out there playing chess.” A 2009 basketball ad showed Kobe Bryant playing chess with LeBron James. Anson Carter (1974- ), retired professional hockey player, plays chess. He made the ceremonial first move in game 2 of the Kasparov –X3D Fritz match in New York in 2003. Former NBA basketball player and assistant coach Bill Cartwright (1957- ) plays chess. Basketball great Wilt Chamberlain (1936-1999) played chess. He once phoned Bobby Fischer to come over his house to have dinner and play chess, but Bobby declined the invitation because there would be other people there. There are several photos of Wilt playing chess during his college days. Former Cincinnati Bengal wide receiver Cris Collinsworth plays chess and has sponsored scholastic chess tournaments as part of his Cris Collinsworth ProScan Fund. Retired tennis player Elena Dementieva, once ranked No. 3 in the world, plays chess. She used to play chess in the players’ lounge with her brother or any other chess player. He has played and lost chess to Max Mirnyi, a fellow tennis professional. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale (1936-1993) was a chess player. Tennis great Roger Federer plays chess. In his early days, he would lose a game to his father and knock all the pieces off the board. Yankee pitching star Ron Guidry (highest lifetime winning percentages in major league baseball) plays chess and appeared on the cover of the September 1983 issue of Chess Life, making a pitch for chess. In the 1980s Guidry was playing a game of chess with Bruce Pandolfini when Billy Martin came by, telling Pandolfini that the Yankee locker room was no place to play chess. Guidry once beat Pandolfini. Former NFL running back Priest Holmes is an avid chess player who has founded and sponsored chess clubs. He sponsors chess tournaments through his Priest Holmes Foundation, encouraging education and enhancing the lives of children. When he retired from football, he said he enjoyed three things – playing chess, bass fishing, and riding motorcycles. Former Eagles and Bengals linebacker Dhani Jones plays chess. Boxing champion Vitali Klitschko is an avid chess player and a friend of GM Vladimir Kramnik. Tennis great Ivan Lendl plays chess. His father, Jiri Lendl, was a chess master, Czech junior champion and played in the Czechoslovakian chess championship. Heavyweight boxer and ex-world champion Lennox Lewis plays chess. He urges kids to take up chess, saying “If you teach a kid chess, you tech him to sit down and think.” He funded an after-school chess program for disadvantaged youths, one of whom earned a university chess scholarship. German soccer coach Felix Magath is a strong chess player. Professional basketball coach Jim O’Brien has been a longtime chess player. NBA center David Robinson is a chess player. He played chess at the Naval Academy where he graduated, before going to the San Antonio Spurs. Former tennis professional Greg Rusedski is an avid chess player. He was at the opening ceremony of the Braingames World Chess Championships between Kasparov and Karpov at London in 2000. NBA player Bill Walton plays chess. –Bill Wall Be Sociable, Share! inShare 2 Comments