Who’s Who in New England Chess
Adams, Weaver Warren
(1901-1963)
Weaver Warren Adams was born on April 28, 1901 in Dedham Massachusetts. He was an American chess master. He participated in the U.S. Championship in
1936, 1940, 1944, 1946 and 1948. He won
the Massachusetts State Championship in 1937, 1938, 1941 and 1945. He won at Ventnor City
in 1945. In 1948, he won the US Open in Baltimore. He won the New England Open championship five
times (1925-1929). In 1939, he wrote a
book entitled White to Play and Win.
After publication he played in the U.S. Open at Dallas.
He did not win a single game as White (3 losses and 1 draw) and won all
his games (4 games) as Black! Weaver
Adams won the 49th U.S. Open, held in Baltimore, in 1948. He also wrote Simple Chess, How to Play
Chess, and Absolute Chess. He
died on January 6, 1963.
Barry, John Finan (1873-1940)
John Finan Barry was born in Boston, Massachuesetts on December 12, 1873.
He was a Boston
lawyer and strong amateur. He played at Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania
in 1904. He was president of the Boston
Chess Club. He edited a chess column in
the Boston Transcript for 25
years. He died in West Roxbury, Massachusetts on April 9, 1940.
Bolton, James Michael (1928- )
James Michael Bolton was born in New Haven, Connecticut
on June 15, 1928. He is a chess master from Connecticut.
He won the Connecticut
State Championship in
1953, 1957, and 1966.
Bourdon, Eli
(1907-1980)
Eli Bourdon was born in Claremont, New Hampshire
in 1907. In 1951, he started the Western Massachusetts Championship. He won the Western
Massachusetts Championship in 1957 and 1958. He tied for 1st place in 1953,
1963, 1965, and 1970. He was a former
president of the New England Chess
Association. He died on January 6, 1980.
Christiansen, Larry (1956- )
Larry Christiansen was born in Riverside, California
on June 27, 1956. He become
an International Grandmaster without ever being an International Master
first. In 1977 he was awarded the title
after winning an international tournament in Torremolinos, Spain (he took 2nd place
in the same tournament a year before).
He is also the first junior high school player to win the National High
School Championship in 1971. He won it again in 1973. He won the U.S. Junior Championship in 1973,
1974, and 1975. He won the US Chess
Championship in 1980, 1983, and 2002 (defeating Nick deFirmian
in the playoff). He took 2nd
place in the World Junior Championship in 1975 (won by Valery Chekhov). He has been runner-up to the US
championship four times. In the 1980s he
was sponsored by Church’s Fried Chicken to play simultaneous and blindfold
exhibitions throughout the United
States.
He now resides in Cambridge,
Massachusetts
with his wife, Natasha.
Cunningham, George
(1909-1993)
George Cunningham was born in Maine on March 25, 1909. He was a college professor in Maine. In 1978, he was Executive Director for the United States
Chess Federation (USCF). In 1980, he was
the ratings statician for the USCF and
introduced the bonus points, feedback points, and fiddle points. He died in Maine on December 19, 1993.
Curdo, John Anthony (1931- )
John Anthony Curdo was born on November 14, 1931 in Lynn, Massachusetts and
now lives in Auburn, Massachusetts. He is a FIDE master (current Elo rating 2275, maximum Elo
rating 2305). He has won the Massachusetts state
championship 18 times [1948 (age 16), 1949 (tied with Gerhard Katz), 1955,
1957, 1958 (tied with Siff and Popovich),
1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1969 (tied with Ed Formanek),
1970, 1975 (tied with John Peters), 1976, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1985]. He won the New England Open championship in
1956, 1959, 1961, 1966, 1973, and 1976 (losing on tie-break in 1963 and
1974). He was won the U.S. Senior Open
twice (1982 (tied with Larry Evans) and 1986).
He has been one of the top players in the New
England area for over 50 years, winning 795 tournaments in his
career as of September, 2007 (perhaps a world record).
Daly, Harlow Bussey (1883-1979)
Harlow Bussey Daly was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts
on December 2, 1883, He is perhaps the
oldest person to win a state chess championship. In 1959 and 1960, he won the Maine championship. In 1968 he won the Championship of Maine at
age 85. He tied for 1st in
1970 and was 2nd in 1971 and 1972.
He had previously won in 1961 at the age of 77 and in 1965 at the age of
81. He played in the New England Open
every year from 1908 (when he won it) to 1971.
He won the Massachusetts State Championship in 1940 and 1942. He was still playing chess in his late 80s
and early 90s. At 90, in 1973, he won a
New Hampshire Open tournament with a perfect 5-0 score. In 1975, he was designated Master Emeritus by
the USCF. He died on July 8, 1979 in Framington, Massachusetts at the age of 95. He played chess for 75 years (1900 to
1974). He won the championships of Massachusetts, New Hampshire
(1962), Vermont, and Maine (9 times). He competed in 280 tournaments and matches,
not counting correspondence events.
Dann, Stephen
Former Massachusetts Chess Association President, former
editor of Chess Horizons, and
columnist for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Dondis, Harold (1922- )
Harold Dondis was born on October 1, 1922 in Rockland, Maine. He has been a writer for the Boston Globe’s chess column for over 40 years,
first appearing in 1964. On March 2, 1964, he defeated
Bobby Fischer is a simultaneous exhibition.
He is considered the Dean of New England Chess Journalists. He is a former president of the Massachusetts
State Chess Association (MSCA). In 1967,
he co-founded the U.S.
chess Trust with Ed Edmondson. He is a
lawyer, graduating from Harvard
Law School
in 1945.
Foygel, Igor (1947- )
Igor Foygel was born in Kiev in 1947. He represented the republic of Ukraine
in national youth chess competitions. He
became a master in 1974 and later became an International Master of
Correspondence Chess. He immigrated to
the United States
in 1991. He won the championship of Massachusetts
in 1992, 1997, 2000, and 2001. He is an
International Master with a maximum 2483 Elo rating.
Gerzadowicz, Stephan (1945- )
Stephan Gerzadowicz is a correspondence
chess master. He played in five USCF
Absolute Championships and one U.S.
Correspondence Chess Championship. He
has been president of both the Massachusetts
Chess Association (1972-1974) and the New England Chess Association. He is the author of five chess books.
Gilbert, Ellen E. (1837-1900)
American correspondence player from Connecticut, also known
as Mrs. J. W. Gilbert. In 1879
she participated in a U.S.
vs. British correspondence match (International Postal Card Chess Tournament)
with one of the strongest correspondence players in the world, George Gossip,
and announced mate in 21 moves and mate in 35 moves in their two games. Ellen Gilbert (born Ellen Strong) married
John W. Gilbert. From 1875 to 1879, she
was known as the Queen of Chess. She
died at the age of 63.
Gosselin, Gilbert “Gus” F. (1926-2007)
Gus Gosselin was born on November 25, 1926 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was one of the greatest contributers to the promotion of chess in Massachusetts
and the New England area. He was the scholastic coordinator for the Massachusetts
Chess Association (MACA). In 1984, he
was the recipient of the Governor’s Points of Light Award for his volunteer
chess activities, presented to him by governor Mitt Romney. This is the highest honor given to a
volunteer in Massachusetts. He was president of the New
England Chess Association for a number of years. He organized, directed, promoted, and
sponsored more chess events than any individual in New
England. In 2006, he
received the Outstanding Career Achievement Award from the USCF. He died on May 21, 2007, at the age of 80.
Gurevich, Ilya (1972- )
Ilya Mark Gurevich
was born in Kiev
on February 6, 1972. He later moved to Worcester, Massachusetts. He is an American Grandmaster (1986). He was U.S. National Elementary Champion
(1983), World Under-14 Champion (1985), U.S. Junior Champion (1990), and
World Junior Champion (1990). He quit
competitive chess in 1994 and is a stock exchange options trader. He became a chess master at age 12 years, 3
months in 1984. His current Elo rating is 2586.
Harrington, Dan
(1945- )
Dan Harrington was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts
on December 6, 1945. He is lawyer and a former champion backgammon
player (World Cup of Backgammon Champion in 1980), U.S. chess master, and professional
poker player. In 1971 he won the Massachusetts State Chess Championship. He is a former club champion of the Bolyston Chess Club.
Harrow, Martin
Martin Harrow is a PhD, professor, and Director of Psycholgy at the University
of Illinois in Chicago.
In 1967, he won the New England Chess
Championship.
Jones, Stephen L.
(1942- )
Stephen L. Jones was born in Austin, Texas
on September 26, 1942. He is a Los
Angeles attorney and FIDE master and a correspondence
Senior International Master. He had been
a professor of mathematics at the University
of Massachusetts in Amherst.
He has a Ph.D. in mathematics and a law degree. In 1958, he won the Southwest Open at the age
of 15. In 1968, he tied for 1st
in the U.S. Amateur Championship with Michael Shahade. In 1973, he won the Massachusetts Championship. In 2002, he tied for 1st in the U.S. Senior
Open with Anthony Saidy. He won the 9th (1991-1993) and the 11th (1995-1997) U.S. Correspondence Chess
Championship.
Katz, Gerhard S. (1906-1975)
Gerhard Katz was born in Berlin on March 31, 1906.
He won the Massachusetts Championship in 1943, 1946, and 1949 (tied with
John Curdo).
He died on May 7, 1975
in London.
Kaufman, Larry (1947-
)
Larry Kaufman, born in 1947, is an International Master
(1980). Winner of the
American Open in 1966. He has won
state championships in Virginia, Florida, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland,
and Southern California. He is the strongest Shogi
player in the United States. He graduated from M.I.T. with a degree in
Economics and became a successful stock broker and trader. He is the author of Chess Advantage in
Black and White.
Landey, Benjamin M.
(1912-1981)
Benjamin M. Landey, born in 1912, was a former president of the
Massachusetts Chess Association and the New England Chess Association. He was president of the Boylston Chess
Club. He was a pioneer in the promotion
of chess in New England. In the 1960s, he was the first person to lose
a USCF-rated
game to a computer. He lost to the MIT MacHack computer. He
died in 1981.
Lees, David M. (1943-1996)
David M. Lees was born on February 12, 1943 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was a National Master. He won or tied in the Western Massachusetts
Championship five times (1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1967). He won the Central New
England Championship twice.
In 1964, he won the Texas
Junior Championship. In 1965, he won the
Texas State Championship. In 1965, he won the U.S. Armed
Forces Championship (he was an Air Force enlisted person). He won the Connecticut Valley
Championship in 1962, 1963, 1967, 1977, 1987, 1988, and 1989. In 1993, he published The Chess Games of David Lees.
He died on October
19, 1996 at the age of 53.
Lyman, Harry
(1915-1999)
Henry (Harry) Lyman was born on June 15, 1915 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was an accountant for General
Dynamics. He was U.S. Amateur champion in 1957 (winning it 6-0)
and a former New England champion (1965, 1968,
1970). He was
considered the dean of Boston
chess and active in the Boylston Chess Club.
In 1988, he received the Meritorious Services Award from the U.S. Chess
Federation. He was the uncle of Shelby
Lyman. He died of cancer at the age of
84 on September 5, 1999.
Lyman, Shelby (1936- )
Shelbourne (Shelby) Richard Lyman
was born on October 22,
1936 in New York. He graduated from Harvard and was a sociology
teacher. Is is
a USCF chess master. In 1964, he won the
Marshall Chess Club Championship. In
1972, he was a chess commentator on PBS during the Fischer-Spassky
world championship match.
McKelvie, Neil
(1930- )
Played chess on 1st board at Cambridge. Winner of the Connecticut State Championship in 1962. Winner of the Manhattan Chess Club
Championship in 1975. He has a
Ph.D. in Chemistry.
Mirijanian, George
President of the Massachusetts
Chess Association (MACA) and chess columnist.
Morton, Harold (1906-1940)
Harold Morton was born in Providence, Rhode Island
on January 10, 1906. He is a former champion of New England, who
lived in Rhode Island. He won the Massachusetts Chess Championship
in 1933, 1934, and 1935. He played in
the 1936 US Chess Championship, but did poorly.
On February 17, 1940,
he died in a car crash in Iowa
when he hit a truck. His passenger, by
chess master I.A. Horowitz, survived.
The two were giving simultaneous chess exhibitions throughout the
country.
Mugridge, Donald Henry (1905-1964)
Donald Mugridge was born in Chicago, Illinois
on April 23, 1905. He is a former Harvard and District of
Columbia Champion. He won the Massachusetts
Championship in 1932. He died in Washington, D.C.
on November 3, 1964.
Niro, Frank (1948- )
Frank Niro was born in Milford, Massachusetts
on September 28, 1948. In 1973, he won
the American Postal Chess Tournament (APCT) League championship and became a
correspondence master in that organization in 1975. From 1984 to 1986, he was editor of Chess Horizons. He was Executive Director (ED) of the US
Chess Federation (USCF) in 2002 and 2003.
He is board member and CEO of the US Chess Trust. He is an ICCF Master who has represented the United States
in international correspondence chess competition. He is a former hospital administrator,
management consultant and auditor for a national public accounting firm.
Peters, John (Jack) A. (1951- )
John Peters was born in Boston, Massachusetts
on February 10, 1951. He was champion of New
England in 1971, 1974, and 1975.
He was a USCF life master at the age of 22. He was Massachusetts State Champion in 1974
and 1975 (tied with John Curdo). He played in the 1975 U.S. Championship (won
by Browne), tieing for 10th-13th
place.He was the winner of the American Open in
1977. In 1978 he was President of the
Professional Chess Association (PCA).
He was awarded the International Master title in 1979. He was a games editor for Chess Horizons and is a chess columnist
for the Los Angeles Times. His current Elo
rating is 2419. His maximum Elo rating was 2476.
Pillsbury, Harry Nelson (Dec 5, 1872 – Jun 17, 1906)
One of the top four chess players in the
world from 1895 to 1903. He was
born in Somerville, Massachusetts and learned chess in 1888, at
the age of 15. In 1895 he played in his
first major tournament in Hastings
and won it (winning 150 pounds or about $1,200). Up to that time, no other player had ever won
his first major tournament that he participated in. After his win in Hastings,
several newspapers in Boston and New York added chess
columns on page one. He never won
another tournament outright. Pillsbury
(now known as “hero of Hastings”)
would give simultaneous exhibitions playing 10 chess players and 10 checker
players, while playing whist. His feat
of 22 simultaneous blindfolded games was, in his time, judged to be unbeatable. He was given a list to memorize: Antiphlogistine, periosteum, takadiastase, plasmon, ambrosia, Threlkeld, strepococcus, straphylococcus, micrococcus, plasmodium, Mississippi,
Freiheit, Philadelphia,
Cincinnati,
athletics, no war, Etchenberg, American, Russian,
philosophy, Piet Potgelter's
Rost, Salamagundi, Oomisellecootsi, Bangmanvate, Schlechter's Nek, Manzinyama, theosophy, catechism, and Madjesoomalops. After a few minutes he was able to recite the
list forward and backward. He was able
to recall the list the following day. In
1897, he won the U.S. Chess Championship, defeating Jackson Showalter. When Pillsbury won, he refused the title of
American Champion, so Showalter remained U.S. Champion. Pillsbury did not want the title. In 1898, he defeated Showalter again and
accepted the title of U.S. Champion. In
1900 he went on a seven month nation-wide tour in which he gave over 150
exhibitions and traveled 40,000 miles.
From 1890 to 1900 Pillsbury worked the automaton Ajeeb
in New York. In 1905, he tried to commit suicide in a
hospital in Philadelphia. Pillsbury died of syphilis in 1906 at the age
of 33, probably caught in Russia. He was considered one of the top 10 checker
players in the country.
Platz, Joseph (1905-1981)
Joseph Platz was born in Cologne, Germany
on April 11, 1905. He was a USCF Master Emeritus and a medical
doctor. In 1926, he won the championship
of Cologne. In 1928, he won the championship f the Rhine. In 1931, he
won the championship of Hannover. In the 1940s, he won the Bronx Championship
six times. In 1948, he played in the US
Championship, placing 14th out of 20. Between 1954 and 1972, he won the Western
Massachusetts & Connecticut Valley Open Championship 14 times. He won the Connecticut Championship three
times. He tied for the New England
Championship four times. In 1978, he
wrote Chess memoirs: The chess career of
a physician and Lasker pupil. He died on December 30, 1981 in Manchester, Connecticut.
Reubens, Emil
(1886-1973)
Emil Reubens was born in Russia on September 23, 1886. He was a master emeritus and USCF life
director. He was a founding member of
the United States
Chess Federation. In June, 1973, he
received a Master’s degree in business administration from Boston Univeristy in Massachusetts. He was the oldest person in the university’s
history to obtain such a degree at age 86.
He died on August 29,
1973 at the age of 86.
Robertie, William (Bill)
Gerrard (1946- )
Bill Robertie was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts
on July 9, 1946. He is a chess master and former winner of the
U.S.
chess speed championship. In 1965, he
tied for first in the USCF Golden Knights Correspondence Chess Championship,
but lost in a playoff to Brian Owens. He
is considered the world’s best backgammon player and has won the world
backgammon championship twice (1983 and 1987).
He is the author of at least a dozen books on chess, backgammon, and
poker. He graduated from Harvard and is
a systems analyst. In 2003, he wrote Easy Endgame Strategies and Master Checkmate Strategy.
Rubinow, Sol Isaac (1923-1981)
Sol Isaac Rubinow was born in New
York City on November 6, 1923.
In 1943, he was intercollegiate chess champion. He earned a doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania
and moved to Massachusetts
in 1951. He later became a professor of
biomathematics at Cornell. In 1952, he
won the Massachusetts
State Championship. He was a master emeritus with the USCF. He died on February 22, 1981.
Russell, Hanon W.
Hanon Russell is a lawyer and
chess expert (former chess master) from Milford,
Connecticut. He publishes ChessCafe.com, a weekly
publication online. He has been a
translator of Russian chess books. He is
the owner of the Russell Collection, the largest collection of chess letters,
correspondence, and autograph documentation in the world, with over 14,000
items. He is the publisher of the
International Chess Calendar.
Santasiere, Anthony
(1904-1977)
American chess master.
The opening 1.Nf3 c5 2.b4 is known as Santasiere’s
Folly, but was played by Alekhine in 1923. In 1943, he won the New
England Championship. He
won the 46th US Open in 1945 in Peoria, Illinois. He won the New York State
championship (1928, 1930, 1946, 1956) and the Marshall
Chess Club (he was 17 when he won in 1922) six times. He played in four U.S. championships (taking 3rd
place in 1946). He was school teacher in
Manhattan’s
public schools for 35 years, as well as an art and music critic. He wrote books on chess, poetry, and a
children’s novel. He died at the age of
72.
Shapiro, Oscar
(1909-2002)
Oscar Shapiro was born in Boston, Massachusetts
on March 18, 1909. In 1939, he won the Massachusetts State
Championship. He won the Washington, D.C.
Championship several times. In 1951, he
won the Virginia Open Chess Tournament.
He became a USCF master at the age of 74. He died on January 1, 2002 at the age of 92.
Sturgis, George (1891-1944)
George Sturgis was born in Boston, Massachusetts
on May 31, 1891. In 1932, he was elected
president of the Massachusetts State Chess Association (MSCA). He was the first President of the United
States Chess Federation (USCF), elected in 1939. He died on December 20, 1944 in Boston after returning
from his honeymoon.
Strazdins, Arkadijs
Chess expert won the New
Britain, Connecticut
chess club championship for 23 years in a row, from 1952 to 1975. He has also been President of the chess club
for over 25 years. He has won the club
championship 30 times, from 1952 to 1994.
Suesman, Walter Bradford
(1918-1984)
Walter Bradford Suesman was born in Providence,
Rhode Island on September 19, 1918. He won the Rhode Island Championship 14 times
and was co-champion five times. He was New England champion three times. He played in the 1938 (taking last place) and
1946 U.S.
Championship. He died on November 11, 1984.
Trefler, Alan N. (1956- )
Alan N. Trefler was born on March 10, 1956 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is CEO of Pegasystems,
a leader in Business Process Management.
In 1975, as a USCF expert (2075), he tied for 1st place (with
International Grandmaster Pal Benko) in the open
section of the World Open in New York, He holds a degree
in Economics and Computer Science from Dartmouth College.
Weinstein, Norman Stephen (1950- )
Norman Weinstein was born in New York City on October 4, 1950. He was the winner of the 1968 US Junior Open
(with Greg DeFotis), the 1972 Atlantic Open, the 1972
Massachusetts State Championship, and the 1973 US Open (on tiebreak over
Browne, Suttles, DeFotis,
and Rodriquez) in Chicago. He tied for 2nd (behind Walter Browne)
in the 1972 US Open in Atlantic City,
New Jersey. He became an International Master in
1975. He won the Canadian Open in
1976. He attended MIT and went to
graduate school at Brandeis. He was a
computer programmer and now a very successful currency trader (Banker’s Trust).