John Broadus Holt, 1948

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September 07 1948

The Tampa Tribune, Tampa, Florida, Tuesday, September 07, 1948

Chess Officials Honor Champion— D. F. Dyal, second from right, is shown receiving the trophy emblematic of the state championship, won during the weekend tournament here, from State Chess Association President James B. Gibson, Tampa. At left is Vice President Bernard Klein, Jacksonville Beach. Next to him is J. B. Holt, Sarasota, state secretary-treasurer.—(Tribune Photo.)

Dyal Takes State Chess Championship
Donald F. Dyal, of Cross City, nosed out Stephen Shaw, of Miami, yesterday for the Florida chess championship.
Dyal drew his match against Shaw and won his other five games for a 5½ to ½ score. Shaw won four, but drew with Maj. J. B. Holt, Sarasota, as well as with Dyal. Score 5-1.
Third place went to R. B. Diaz, Tampa, with a score of 4½-l½.
Tied for fourth with a 4-2 record were Holt, Ramon Robaldo, Tampa; Charles Layng, Orlando; and S. Castro, Tampa.
Others with an advantage in the win column, all tied at 3½-2½, were E. J. Dowling and E. Mailhot, both of St. Petersburg; Bernard Klein, Jacksonville Beach; and three Tampans, W. A. Reynolds, Arthur Montano and E. G. Werber.
The 1947 champion, Gustav Drexel, of Miami, did not compete.
The tournament was played under the Swiss system of pairing winners with winners and losers with losers as the 28 entrants made the field too large for a round robin.
The Florida Chess League, sponsor of the tournament, voted to hold it in St. Petersburg next year, again on the Labor Day weekend.
All officers were reelected. They are James B. Gibson, Jr., Tampa, president; Bernard Klein, Jacksonville Beach, first vice president; Dr. A. B. Ferguson, St. Petersburg, second vice president; Maj. J. B. Holt, Sarasota, secretary-treasurer.

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John Broadus Holt, 1950

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July 01 1950

The Durham Sun, Durham, North Carolina, Saturday, July 01, 1950

Practice Game—Early arrivals engage in and witness a practice game as chess experts from Dixie gathered in Durham last night for the opening of a four-day tournament here today. Around the table, left to right, are George Thomas (seated), tournament director; Paul Barton, president of the Southern Chess Association; Sam A. Agnello, president of the host Durham Chess Club; George Lyle, Annapolis, MD; James McClure, Nashville, Tenn.; Edmund Nash, contributing editor of Chess Life, Washington, D.C.; and Maj. J. B. Holt, (seated), secretary-treasurer of the Southern Association, of Long Beach, Fla.—Sun Staff Photo.

Chess Meet Opens Today
The Southern Chess Association meeting, being held in Durham this week end, got underway this morning with registration of entrants and a preliminary business session at the Washington Duke Hotel.
Basic rules for across-the-board play were discussed and put into effect. There will be two rounds of play each day of the four-day tournament with the first round this afternoon and second this evening.
Arrivals from out of town last night included Paul Barton, president of the Southern Chess Association, from Cordele, Ga., and Major J. B. Holt, secretary-treasurer of the S. C. A., from Long Beach, Fla.
With the Washington, D. C. contingent are Hans Berliner, champion in 1949 of the S. C. A.; Edmund Nash, contributing editor for Chess Life; Don M. Mugridge, former district champion; J. R. Rice, and George Thomas, who will act as tournament director for this tourney.
Ken Smith, Southwestern champion, has probably traveled the farthest to enter this tournament, having come all the way from Dallas, Texas. Also coming from some distance and a hot-bed of chess, New York City, are Eliot Hearst, 1949 winner of the North Carolina Open, Karl Burger and J. Sherwin.
Other states are to be represented by Bill Winston, Geiger, Alabama; Elijah Brown, Atlanta, Ga., Sullivan, both from Knoxville, Tenn.

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John Broadus Holt, 1952

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May 25 1952

The Tampa Tribune, Tampa, Florida, Sunday, May 25, 1952

State Champ In Chess Meet Here—Maj. J. B. Holt, of Long Beach, state chess champion, has entered the international chess tournament here in July.

Cuban Chess Champ Will Play Here
Dr. Juan Gonzalez, champion of Cuba, has entered the international chess tournament at the Floridan Hotel here in July.
James B. Gibson, Jr., director of the tournament which will have many foreign players as well as the top chess stars of the United States, said entries had started to come in and final plans for the event are in the making.
Another foreign star already entered is Rafael Cintron of Puerto Rico. Maj. J. B. Holt of Long Beach, state champion and a widely known promoter of chess events, also has entered.
Gibson said the Tampa Chess Club meets at the YWCA each Tuesday and Thursday night at 7 o'clock and players who want to practice for the tournament and get instruction are invited to attend the meetings.

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John Broadus Holt, 1956

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July 18 1956

The Tampa Times, Tampa, Florida, Wednesday, July 18, 1956

Maj. John Holt, Chess Champion, Dies at 75
Sarasota, July 18 (AP). Maj. John Broadus Holt, Florida's “Mr. Chess,” died yesterday after a long illness. He was 75.
Major Holt, who served in World War I, was a former national amateur chess champion. He organized the Southern Chess Association in 1920 and served as its first president. He was past secretary and life director of the U. S. Chess Federation, secretary of the Florida Chess League and director of the Correspondence Chess League of America.
He leaves his widow, Lillie May; a son, Maj. J. B. Holt Jr. of the Army Engineers, and three daughters, Miss Helen Holt of Long Beach, Cal.; Mrs. Clarence Chachere of New Orleans, La., and Mrs. James H. Whatley of Vicksburg, Miss.

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John Broadus Holt, 1949

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August 21 1949

Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Florida, Sunday, August 21, 1949

Holt Veteran Of Colorful Chess Career
By DR. A. B. FERGUSON
Major J. B. Holt of Long Beach, secretary-treasurer of the Florida Chess League, secretary-treasurer of the Southern Chess Association, president of the Correspondence Chess League of America and its acting secretary-treasurer, will be one of the top players in the upcoming State Championship tournament to be held in the club rooms Sept. 3-5 inclusive.
Major Holt has the longest and most comprehensive chess history of any of the competitors. He learned chess back in 1901 while a student of Vanderbilt University where he was taking a booster course in mathematics from Professor James McClure, CCLA Grand patron. One day Holt saw Professor McClure, deeply interested in a postal card and a set of variously shaped figures on a checkered board. This was his introduction to chess. Later his work as an engineer took him to many places in the United States and wherever there was a chess club, he joined it and resorted to his correspondence chess when unable to find an over-the-board opponent. Back in the old days he belonged to the Rice Progressive Chess Club of New York City and often played with the discoverer of the Rice Gambit who would play only with those who would play at least the first twelve moves of the Rice Gambit.
WHEN, UNCLE SAM sent Holt to the West Indies to help the Philippine government in roads, bridges and irrigation, he played chess with Jose Canno, at that time chess champion of Manila. Nisi, a Bombay Indian Fugihaka, a Japanese, Kong Wand, a Chinese, Dr. Stephans, a British army dentist and Major Grove of the U. S. Army. In Vigan in Northern Luzon, he played chess with Regario Sequa in Spanish since the latter spoke no English, in a private vault where it was cool and where Sequa had all his wealth invested in uncut diamonds. In Bengued, Holt played chess with the chieftain of the cannibal tribe of Igorotes.
World War I saw Holt a captain of engineers at Camp Custer, Mich, then major, and on his return to civil life, his work as engineer has taken him to many cities where he has joined many chess clubs.
In his den are numerous chess trophies — a moonstone chess set and boards from Manila, a head ax and a Filipino hand carved chess box from Vigan, and all through the years Holt has kept going, over one hundred games of correspondence chess with an ever increasing number of chess friends throughout the United States.
K. J. Hermann again holds top position on the ladder with 1084 points, followed by E. W. Sibley 860, Atkins 731, Kaltner 646, McCann 539, Root 404, Presstman 385 and Cassidy 199 points.
The club welcomes as guests George R. Hartson, Chas. H. Bradley, City, and F. L. Stark president of the Lakeland Chess Club.

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