George Koltanowski, 1942

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1942

Estimated 1942, George Koltanowski, Military Registration Card

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George Koltanowski, 1960

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1960

George Koltanowski, estimated 1960

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George Koltanowski, 1938

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September 17 1938

September 17, 1938, George Koltanowski, Canadian Border Pass

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Georges Gustave Koltanowski, Blindfold Chess Champion and syndicated Chess Columnist

Celine Esther Koltanowski, wife of Georges Gustave Koltanowski

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George Koltanowski, 1932

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1932

The Daily Telegraph, London, Greater London, England

Koltanowski plays blindfold against 10 opponents at Whiteley's department store, in 1932.

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George Koltanowski, 2005

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April 13 2005

The Reporter, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Madame Liane C. Kuony (First wife of George Koltanowski)
Madame Liane C. Kuony, of Fond du Lac, Wis., passed away on Thursday, April 7, 2005.
Madame Kuony was the proprietor of the Postilion Restaurant, School of Culinary Arts and Studio of Interior Design. She was renowned for her unwavering high standards, sense of style and her ever-present hat. Madame Kuony's energetic spirit and passion for life, coupled with heartfelt appreciation for family, friends, students, artisans, nature and animals are how she will be most remembered. The pioneer of organic cooking, her commitment to educate all on the necessity of using only organic unadulterated foods was her life-long mission. Madame Kuony's dedication to assist the disadvantaged was evident through her contributions to the Broken Bread program, Salvation Army and the Fond du Lac Humane Society. A cherished mother, grandmother, teacher and friend to the community, this Wisconsin icon's sense of purpose will live on in the many lives she has touched.
Madame Kuony was born in Antwerp, Belgium. Having completed her schooling in Switzerland, where she majored in interior decorating and the culinary arts, she made her way to the United States in 1937. A merchandising position brought her to Milwaukee, where she met and married her late husband, John H. Kuony, Jr.
Appropriately, Madame Kuony fell in love with Fond du Lac, as it was reminiscent of the French countryside of her youth. She and her husband moved to the area in 1947 and opened an antique shop on Merrill Avenue, bringing a European flavor to the community.
Upon the purchase of the Darling home at South Park Avenue in 1949, Madame Kuony set her sights on and was successful in bringing unique dining experiences to the people of the community through the opening of the Postilion Restaurant. Other business ventures over the years included the Postilion line of gourmet prepared foods, condiments and compotes, in addition to the Four Winds Restaurant in Greenbush, Wis. Between 1980 and 1984, the Postilion expanded to include the Postilion II School of Culinary Art and supply shop along with the Great House Restaurant in Milwaukee, Wis.
Madame Kuony is survived by her two children, a daughter, Suzanne (Hilton) Smack of Santa Ana, Calif.; and a son, John (Jeanine) Kuony of Pleasanton, Calif. She was a grandmother to Jennifer (Jonathan) Senften of Santa Ana, Calif., and Stephen Casey of Tustin, Calif.; and a sister-in-law to Frank (Mary Jane) Kuony of Pleasanton, Calif.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John H. Kuony, Jr. Services: A private family service is being planned.
In lieu of flowers, memorials in Madame Kuony's name may be directed to: The Fond du Lac Humane Society, 173 W. Pioneer Road, Fond du Lac, Wis., 54935,
The Historic Third Ward Association, Milwaukee Public Market, The Madame Kuony Demonstration Kitchen, 219 N. Milwaukee St., Seventh Floor, Milwaukee, Wis. 53202, or
The Fond du Lac Area Foundation, 384 N. Main St, Fond du Lac, Wis. 54935.

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George Koltanowski, 1947

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September 26 1947

The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, California, Friday, September 26, 1947

World Chess Ace Feature Here Today

CHESS, MEMORY CHAMP IN DESPAIR—George Koltanowski, recognized world's champion blindfold chess player and memory wizard, had difficulty concentrating on the game when attractive Misses Bora Laken (left) and Barbara Brown, Santa Rosa's own queen, helped with moves. Koltanowski will demonstrate his unique ability this evening at 8 o'clock in Native Sons' hall, Mendocino avenue. He will play eight games of chess simultaneously while blindfolded, aided only by an assistant calling competitive moves. (Staff Photo).

World Chess Champ Feature Here Today
More Neighboring Communities to Be Feted As Open House Goes Into Sixth Day
A man who has baffled psychologists with his memory and concentration wizardry will be featured here today as Santa Rosa's weeklong Open House program goes into its sixth day.
He is George Koltanowski, world's champion blindfold chess champion and memory expert, who will play eight chess games simultaneously against crack teams from Santa Rosa, Ukiah, Vallejo, Petaluma and San Rafael while blindfolded.
The unique demonstration will be staged tonight at 7:30 o'clock in Native Sons' Hall, Mendocino avenue, and will be open to the public free of charge.
Especially invited to today's festivities will be delegates from Sonoma, Sebastopol, Guerneville, Jenner and Bodega—city and community officials and their beauty queens, who will be honored at a noon program in the courthouse plaza.

Shows Continue
Also in progress will be the weeklong exhibits the art show in Native Sons' Hall, the major appliance exhibit at 507 Fourth street, where visitors are interviewed before a wire recorder and hear their own words played back to them immediately, the industrial exhibit at 524 Fourth street, where scores of articles from gloves to fine wines, made in Santa Rosa, are interestingly displayed.
Throngs of visitors from throughout the northbay streamed into this city yesterday as guests of Santa Rosa.

Open House Lauded
Biggest crowd of the week filled the courthouse plaza for noonday ceremonies, KSRO broadcast and the open-air show. They heard William Deiss, city councilman of Petaluma, who represented that city's Mayor Jasper S. Woodson, declare:
“This Open House Week is a fine gesture of community friendship which should be repeated, in other cities. We are all dependent upon one another and should know one another better. I should like to see events like this all over the country.”
Deiss escorted Miss Jacque Rupe, 18-year-old senior at Petaluma High School, who is “Miss Petaluma.” Mayor Obert Pedersen and Barbara Brown, “Miss Santa Rosa,” greeted them at the courthouse steps. “Queen Barbara” arrived in her victoria, with the color guard of the Sonoma County Driving and Riding Club as escort, and wearing her scarlet Spanish gown and mantilla.
The noonday ceremonies took place in the midst of the Farm Machinery Exhibit which lined the courthouse plaza with bright banners flying over approximately $200,000 worth of newest type tractors, cultivators, spray machines, deep-well and surface pumps, milkers and other agricultural equipment.

Chess Demonstration
In his chess demonstration tonight, Koltanowski will listen to each move of his opponents as announced by an official teller, and will order his own corresponding moves on each board all this while blindfolded.
He also will perform his sensational “Knight's Tour,” a seemingly impossible memory feat.
Playing against Koltanowski tonight on the Santa Rosa teams will be Judge B. C. Jenkins, Thomas Shoemaker, Walter Sherman, Glen Watson, John Boschen; Frank Schneider, Alan Kelly, Mrs. Barbara Summerville and John Vanderkwast.
Other teams playing tonight will be: Ukiah—Irving Brazier, Lloyd Bittenberger, Bill Bittenberger, Charles Bradford, V. Andrews; Petaluma—Harold Jaroske, Gus Wollman, Brand Johnson, Lionel Wolfson, A. Eisenstein; San Rafael—Bob Upham, Bob Allison, Allen Atkins, Bill Knowlton, Frank Sutherland, Wagner de Alessi, William Howe. Vallejo also will send a team.

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George Koltanowski, 2000

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February 08 2000

Thousand Oaks Star, Thousand Oaks, California, Tuesday, February 08, 2000

Chess Grandmaster, Columnist, Dies at 96
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Chess grandmaster George Koltanowski who wrote more than 19,000 columns on the game for the San Francisco Chronicle is dead. He was 96.
Koltanowski died Saturday in a San Francisco hospital after a brief illness.
Koltanowski's column ran every day without a break for 52 years, a feat the newspaper said makes it the longest-running daily chess column in newspaper history.
“Chess is an international language,” he once said. “Everyone in the world can understand it, appreciate it and enjoy it.”
In a career that spanned 10 decades Koltanowski was an international grandmaster, one of only 200 in the world and the former chess champion of his native Belgium.
Koltanowski learned the game while watching his father play his older brother taking up the game in earnest at the age of 14. Three years later he was Belgium's champion.
He served a short stint in the Belgian army. He immigrated to the United States after a chess-playing consul in Cuba enjoyed one of his demonstrations.
He met his wife, Leah, in New York City in 1944. The couple moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1947.
Koltanowski was former president of the US Chess Federation.
Koltanowski is survived by his wife, four nieces and two nephews.
Plans for a memorial service in San Francisco are pending.

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February 09 2000

The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, Wednesday, February 09, 2000

George Koltanowski; Chess Columnist
George Koltanowski, 96, San Francisco chess grandmaster who wrote the longest-running daily chess column in newspaper history. Known as “Kolti,” Koltanowski began his column in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1948 and continued it daily for more than 50 years, a total of more than 19,000 columns. “Chess is an international language,” he once said. “Everyone in the world can understand it, appreciate it and enjoy it.” The Belgian-born writer learned chess at an early age and took up the game in earnest at the age of 14. By 17, he was champion of his country. Koltanowski even credited chess for saving his life-explaining that when the Nazis invaded Belgium, he was on a chess tour in Central America. He came to the United States after an American consul in Cuba enjoyed one of his demonstrations. In 1960, the Chronicle sponsored an exhibition in which Koltanowski set a world's record by playing 56 opponents consecutively while blindfolded. Merely relying on his memory of the moves, he did not lose any of the games. His wife, Leah, however, once joked that he couldn't remember her requests to bring home so much as a loaf of bread from the supermarket. A national chess tournament was named for Koltanowski, and in 1994, players at the National Open in Las Vegas dubbed him a “National Chess Treasure.” He earned his title as international master in 1950 and honorary grandmaster in 1988. On Saturday in San Francisco.

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February 13 2000

Santa Cruz Sentinel, Santa Cruz, California, Sunday, February 13, 2000

George Koltanowksi, 96, wrote Chronicle chess column
The New York Times
George Koltanowski, an international chess master and author who excelled at beating opponents without looking at the board, died Feb. 5 in a hospital in San Francisco. He was 96.
Koltanowski, known as Kolti, won several chess titles in Europe in the 1920s and 30s but was best known for his skill at blindfold chess, in which a player never looks at the board but makes his moves after being told of his opponent's.
He sometimes used a blindfold for stage effect and often played against more than one nonblindfolded opponent at the same time. In 1937 he defeated 34 players simultaneously without looking at any of the boards, setting a world record. In 1960 he set another world record by defeating 56 opponents simultaneously while blindfolded.
Koltanowski attributed his skill at blindfold chess to memory games he played as a boy and to what he called “the gramophone” in his head. “I record everything I hear,” he told The San Francisco Chronicle, where he was chess columnist for the last 52 years. “I repeat the moves to myself, and they come back to me, like in football an instant replay.”
Koltanowski is survived by his wife, Leah, who never learned to play chess.

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February 18 2000

The Daily Telegraph, London, Greater London, England, Friday, February 18, 2000

George Koltanowski
Chess Phenomenon who played 34 opponents at once blindfold without losing a game
Caption: Koltanowski plays blindfold against 10 opponents at Whiteley's department store, in 1932.
GEORGE “KOLTY” KOLTANOWSKI, the Grandmaster who has died aged 96, was famed for feats of blindfold chess.
Koltanowski was a phenomenon, more of a showman in the world of chess than a tournament player. On September 20, 1937, in Edinburgh he broke the world record for a blindfold simultaneous display. His feat stands to this day in The Guinness Book of Records. Over a period of nearly 14 hours he played 34 games winning 24 and drawing 10 without sight of the board.
The Guinness Book of Records later rejected rival claims by the Argentine Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf and the Hungarian Grandmaster Janos Flesch because they were not strictly monitored.
Koltanowski broke another world record in San Francisco in 1960 when he was already 57, by playing 56 opponents consecutively while blindfolded without defeat. It took nine and three quarter hours at a rate of only 10 seconds a move.
One of his celebrated memory feats was the “Knight's Tour.” In this astonishing trick information such as names and telephone numbers would be supplied by the audience and written in the 64 squares of a giant chessboard. In seconds Koltanowski would commit them all to memory.
While blindfolded he would then call out the intricate path required for a chess knight to make a series of L shaped hops around the board without revisiting the same square while recalling the scraps of information in order.
His wife was known to complain that although he could perform the Knight's Tour he could not be sent to the corner shop without forgetting what he was supposed to buy.
George Koltanowski was born in Antwerp on September 17 1903. His parents were Jews from Eastern Europe. In his book Chessnicdotes he says that he learned Flemish and French at school, implying that these languages were not spoken at home.
He learned to play chess at 14 by watching his father play his elder brother. Three years later, in 1923, he was champion of Belgium, a title he was to win again in 1927, 1930, and 1936.
He served briefly in the Belgian Army and while dutifully peeling potatoes would stave off boredom by solving chess problems in his head at the same time “Soldiers were going hungry” he recalled “as I peeled potatoes into smaller and smaller cubes.”
His international career started at the age of 21 in the international tournament at Meran in Italy where he drew against the great chess thinker Siegbert Tarrasch. His best performances in tournament play came in the 1930s. At Barcelona he tied in 1934 with Andor Lilienthal and Savielly Tartakower and in 1935 with Salo Flohr. He also drew with world champion Alexander Alekhine at Hastings 1936-7 and defeated Akiba Rubinstein at Antwerp in 1931.
Like many Jewish players, Koltanowski found himself stranded by the Nazi invasion. He emigrated to the United States while on a chess tour in Central America and later said that chess saved his life. He was admitted to the country only because a chess-playing consul in Cuba was amazed by his feats.
In the 1960s after a successful radio series, Koltanowski presented the first chess television programmes. Koltanowski on Chess was broadcast across America.
He had become an American citizen and served as President of the US Chess Federation during the boom that followed Bobby Fischer's victory over Boris Spassky in 1972. He was given the title “Dean of American Chess” and was one of first three to be inducted into the US Chess Federation Hall of Fame. In 1988 Fide the world chess federation made him an honorary Grandmaster on the basis of his pre-war results.
He was active in the chess world up to his death occasionally appearing at tournaments and writing a column in the San Francisco Chronicle. His work appeared there every day without interruption for 50 years in a total of 19,980 columns. It was the longest-running daily chess column in history. He wrote 18 books on chess in four languages.
He is survived by his wife Leah.

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Jonathan Berry, 1974

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June 29 1974

The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Saturday, June 29, 1974

Jonathan Berry… regaining chess form. Original b/w photo, Brian Kent

Former chess master 'coming back' at 20
By Roger Smith
Two years Berry was ranked internationally as a chess master.
Under a complex system set up by the World Chess Federation, Berry had accumulated the 2,200 points necessary for that ranking. But then things began to slide.
“My last published rating wasn't at a master's level,” he said. “I had a period of regression when I played poorly.
“But now I'm coming back up to that level.”
At age 20, Berry has played chess for 12 years and was recently elected president of the B.C. Chess Federation, the youngest person ever to hold that position.
But he does not think it extraordinary that someone his age should hold the position, explaining that the majority of the federation's members are under 28 or over 50.
“Chess is both a young man's game and an old man's game — a young man's because he has the energy to play and an old man's because he has the time.”
Berry takes over the federation, a group of 250 to 300 tournament chess players, at a time when worldwide interest in chess is on the upswing, mainly due to the publicity surrounding the 1972 world championship match between Bobby Fischer of the U.S. and Boris Spassky of Russia.
“Publicity of any type will help,” he said, “and Fischer, even though he gave what I consider bad publicity to chess, made people want to play.” [Overly ambitious news reporters out for a quick buck from a sensational headline, spun via collaborations with Soviet machinery, really didn't need any help from Fischer to twist the narrative! Americans were pleased knowing Soviet arrogance was taken down a notch. Still are.]
The membership of the United States Chess Federation has increased sevenfold to 70,000 in the last six years, but Berry said a Harris poll revealed that more than 30 million Americans know how to play chess.
“In Russia, it's even bigger. There are probably over one million hard-core chess players, as well as two million school children who go to tournaments.”
A “hard-core” player, he explained, is one who plays regularly and competes in tournaments.
The Canadian federation has 1,200 members.
Berry, who has completed three years of a mathematics program at the University of B.C., took the past year off to compete in tournaments. He took an eight-week hitchhiking trip to Mexico, during which he captured the Mexican Open Championship and competed in a tournament for masters in California.
He is also one of the three players left in the Vancouver Closed Championship. The winner of the 24-match tourney will travel to the Canadian Open to be held in Montreal in July.
Berry refers to chess as a “sport,” describing the physical fitness and stamina needed to endure the pressure of a tournament. It has been estimated, he said, that a grandmaster, during a five-hour match, expends as much energy as a boxer during a fight.
Admitting many people don't enjoy the competitive, element in chess, Berry pointed out several other aspects of the game.
He spoke of people who do nothing but create and work on chess problems.
“They are the real artists. Once you understand the parameters of chess, you can understand the beauty in it.”
He said an Argentinean once played 45 games simultaneously while sitting on a stage, blindfolded, listening to announcements of his opponents' moves.
He said computers are poor chess players because they lack imagination.
“When you hear of someone beating a computer, he's probably only an average player.”
Berry plans to return to school in September, and says this will adversely affect his game.
“Doing any other intellectual pursuit hurts your chess because you drain intellectual energy and imagination.”
The B.C. federation hopes to sponsor a tournament next spring with up to 1,000 players from around the world. It will also sponsor 10 smaller tournaments and step up its campaign to promote chess in schools and clubs.

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Jonathan Berry, 1990

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October 04 1990

The Times, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada · Thursday, October 04, 1990

Checkmate!
Writer Proves King of the Board
By Christi Lapi
You'll never make a living playing chess.
That was the advice given Jonathan Berry by his father, as Berry was pondering such a future when he was a University of B. C. student.
Maybe his dad underestimated Berry's passion for the game.
“It's thoughtful. Imaginative. Precise. Beautiful,” says the Nanaimo resident. Beautiful, he says, like the movement and progression of music and mathematics.
“It's an art that requires a lot of technique. There are points where you can't just figure out what's going to happen. you have to use your intuition. There's an element of creativity.”
Berry, 37, hasn't made a living playing chess—exactly. He's made a living writing about chess, managing chess organizations, and building computer programs.
Since 1978 Berry has written a chess column for The Globe and Mail, which runs in the Saturday edition with a Nanaimo, B.C. placeline.
He also spent about nine years, until 1984, as business manager of Chess Federation of Canada. He was also chief editor of Canada's national chess magazine En Passant during most of that time.
But don't figure Berry as a fellow perpetually buried in books and computer programs. He's also a spokesperson for the Ladysmith Nanaimo Greens, a newly-formed chapter of the Green Party.
“The earth is a big pie, and you can only cut it so many ways,” says Berry.
He says the mainstream parties all support unlimited growth. “We can't afford it,” he says. “But the other parties are acting as though we can.”
Perhaps like eyeing a chess board, Berry tends to look at the larger picture. Take, for example, the inner route—and the Greens' call for an environmental assessment.
Can the environment, he asks, sustain more use of the automobile? Supplies of gasoline are finite and demand is increasing. Consider acid rain, toxic emissions, and greenhouse gases caused by automobile use. While public transport is a less expensive alternative, current renewable energy vehicles don't travel at highway speeds.
Has the automobile reached its peak? Check. Do we need a new highway? Checkmate.
And his lifestyle reflects his views. “I've always been a frugal person,” says Berry. “I don't drive a car and never have.”
But his chess work has taken him traveling. He won the 1974 Mexican Open, and the 1990 Paul Keres Memorial in Vancouver and B. C. Open in Victoria. In 1988 he was chief arbiter at world championship events in New Brunswick and Mexico.
But his main kudos come from correspondence chess, where players send their moves by mail. He's twice been Canadian champion and once North American champion.
Born in Chilliwack, Berry, the son of an army officer, was raised in Winnipeg, Ottawa and Vancouver.
When he was about eight years old his brother taught him chess. “We played a little bit, one a month,” says Berry. “I really got interested once I was in high school.”
One advantage of the game: “It was dry,” he said with a chuckle. “I'd been playing touch football, and it started to rain.
“I wandered into the chess club. It was all downhill from there.”
He continued his interest in chess while at UBC, taking a year off to play in chess tournaments in the Pacific Northwest.
“I broke even monetarily,” says Berry. “But it didn't seem to offer a lot of potential as a player.”
He graduated from UBC in 1975 with a degree in mathematics, and plenty of courses in creative writing, Russian and physics. He decided to teach English to Spanish-speaking people in Honduras, but changed his mind when he was offered a position as business manager of the chess federation.
In his nine years there, he built up the organization until it was secure and saw its membership grow.
But in 1984 the urge to travel hit again, and Berry headed off to visit his parents in Mexico, where they now live, and play in various chess tournaments.
He later became office manager for a small computer software company in Vancouver. It specialized in programs for monitoring the stock markets.
In 1987 he escorted a chess tour to the Soviet Union.
Also in 1987 Berry began to look for a home in an area less urban than Vancouver. He settled on Nanaimo, which he'd visited before at chess tournaments.
“I'd always liked Nanaimo,” he says. “And I could afford it. There's a bit too much traffic—but you never get anything that is perfect.”
Now he lives with an artist Lorraine Joyal, who enjoys pottery and bonsai. He continues his chess columns; contributes regularly to En Passant; and serves on the editorial board of Inside Chess, a magazine published in Seattle.
His passion for chess continues—and he's a patient man. A grandmaster of correspondence chess, he's competing in the finals of the XIII World Correspondence Championship. Even after nine months of play, it's too early to pick a winner out of the 17 hopefuls. Competition, he says, take about four years.

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Jonathan Berry, 2006

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April 22 2006

Harbour City Star, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, Saturday, April 22, 2006

Chess Master Plays 12 Games at Once
by Mark Corbett/The Star
Imagine the skill it would take to play 12 games of chess simultaneously. Sounds pretty tough, right? Now imagine doing it blindfolded.
Not only has Nanaimo chess grand master, Jonathan Berry, done just that, but he won 10 of those games to boot. Now before you ask “how can that be?” keep in mind the Master of Ceremonies called out his opponents' moves. Still, it would take an incredible amount of cognitive thinking to keep track of 384 chess pieces without the aid of sight.
Berry, who has won the Mexican Open, the B. C. Chess Championships and the North American Correspondents Championships, says his feat actually tied a world record for anyone 50 years or older.
“To become good at chess, you need to be able to recognize and recall patterns, as well as have patience, perseverance and logical thinking,” said Berry. “And when you play 12 games at once you have to think 12 times as fast as your opponents.”
Berry, who has been playing chess since he was eight years old and writing about it for the last 26 years for the Globe and Mail, won't get blindfolded for his upcoming Chess Fest at Port Place Shopping Centre on the weekend of April 28, but he is planning to take on all challengers and will play up to 12 games simultaneously on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
With an average of 40 per game, he'll have to make nearly 500 moves in total.
Besides playing chess against a dozen opponents at the same time, Berry will be giving a lecture to elementary students on chess strategy on Friday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to noon in the food court area of the mall. Following the lecture, Berry will then supervise the kids and provide feedback as they play some chess on their own.
Invented more than 1,400 years ago, most likely in Central Asia, chess is still popular as ever with children, says Berry. So far, 30 students have signed up for his Chess Fest.
Pre-registration and more information is available at the Port Place administration office, and a $5 donation, to be given to Literacy Nanaimo, will be accepted from each of Berry's challengers and then matched by the mall.

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William Albert Fairhurst, 1923

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February 17 1923

Manchester Evening News, Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, Saturday, February 17, 1923

MEN I HAVE MET.
(By THE SCRIBE.)
No. 1: Mr. W. A. Fairhurst.
I first met Mr. Fairhurst when he joined the Manchester Chess Club two or three years ago, and quickly discovered his marvelous knowledge of the openings. He was placed in the second class, which is very unusual for a young player, hut he quickly “earned his spurs” by winning “the Dust Memorial Cup” from a field of 167 competitors. Promoted to first-class he promptly annexed the Cup for the second time, when there were 92 competitors, also winning other club prizes.
Although Mr. Fairhurst has only taken part in serious chess for about three years he has already earned considerable distinction in the chess world. Last year he won the championship of Cheshire and is well in the running this year. Competing at the British Chess Federation Malvern Congress in 1921 he tied for second prize in the First-class Tourney (Section B).
Mr. Fairhurst has now won the championship of the Manchester Chess Club with a score of 9½ out of a possible 11. The only loss he sustained was against Mr. H. B. Lund, who is runner-up and was holder two years ago. Born at Alderley Edge, August 21, 1903, the champion is under 20 years of age and is youngest champion of the club since Mr. J. H. Blackburne took the championship from Pindar 63 years ago, being then 18 years old.

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George Emmett Croy, 1955

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August 1955

U.S. Open Chess Championship, California Chess Reporter, August 1955. 1955 Pasadena “A” Team (left to right) Dr. R. O. Wilson, George Croy, E. B. Adams and W. Miller.

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George Emmett Croy Sr. and (friend) Mary Maud. Estimated circa 1955

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Adolph Chern, 1936

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April 05 1936

Greater Hollywood Tournament 05 Apr 1936, Sun The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.com

The Hollywood Chess Club announces a tournament for the championship of Greater Hollywood to be held in its club-rooms, 6107 Franklin avenue. Play will begin Wednesday, April 15, and will continue each Wednesday thereafter. Any player living in Hollywood or its environs is invited to enter this interesting event. Application may be made to Adolph Chern, secretary, Hollywood Chess Club at the above address.

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July 13 1936

Chess Matches By Short Wave Are Postponed 13 Jul 1936, Mon The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii) Newspapers.com

Chess Matches By Short Wave Are Postponed
Island-Coast Competition Now Set for July 19; Odds Declined
On radio advices received from Los Angeles last night the scheduled Island-Coast chess match which was to have been played over radio last night has been postponed until Sunday, July 19, at 5:00 p.m., Hawaii time. The postponement was made at the request of the Southern California players.
The radio message received last night revealed that the Los Angeles team will have Dr. Robert Griffith as team captain. Dr. Griffith is one of the strongest players on the west coast and has won many tournaments. Player number two will be Henry MacMahon, secretary of the NACCL and leading player of the Beverly Hills Chess club. Boards number three and four will be played by LeRoy Johnson and Adolph Chern, members of the Hollywood Chess club, and known here to be outstanding chess players.
The Los Angeles team in asking for the postponement offered the Hawaii team odds of one board in the five-board match. The local players declined the odds but accepted the necessary postponement.
The Hawaii team expects to be fortified by the addition of Robert L. MacConel of American Factors who is one of the best players to play in match competition in the islands. Other team members will be Sgt. James L. Huth, Third Engineers, who has been state champion in Indiana; Cpl. Griffith T. Roberts, Thirteenth Field Artillery; and T. Sarraela of the Twenty-Seventh infantry. All are outstanding players of the Schofield Chess club. The fifth member of the local team will be a civilian from Honolulu.
The match will last three hours and will start at 5 p.m. Radio station WLXB/W6EWQ, amateur station of Sgt. Bunn R. Mills and J. J. O'Connor, Twenty-first Brigade at Schofield Barracks, station WLMI/W6GXM, owned and operated by Lieut. Donald M. Draper of the Los Angeles Police department, will be the medium of play transmission. Operators of both stations have had considerable experience in sending receiving chess moves, but this the first time that a five-board team match has been handled in the islands.

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July 20 1936

Chess Signals Cross Pacific 20 Jul 1936, Mon The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii) Newspapers.com

Chess Signals Cross Pacific
Amateur Radio Stations Used for Game
A battle of wits was flashed back and forth between Schofield Barracks and Los Angeles via radio for five hours last night.
Starting at 7:30 p.m., the Island-Coast chess match between the two teams waged until after midnight. The Hawaii team was composed of Robert L. MacConel, of American Factors; Sgt. James L. Huth, Third Engineers, former champion of Indiana; Corp. Griffith T. Roberts, Thirteenth Field Artillery, and T. L. Sarraela, Twenty-seventh Infantry. The Los Angeles team was composed of Dr. Robert Griffith, winner of many West Coast tournaments; Henry McMahon, secretary of the NACCL and leading player of the Beverly Hills Chess club; LeRoy Johnson and Adolph Chern, outstanding players of the Hollywood Chess club.
Radio station WLXB/W6EWQ, amateur station of Sgt. Bunn R. Mills and J. J. O'Connor, Twenty-first Brigade at Schofield Barracks, and station WLMI/W6GXM, owned and operated by Lt. Donald M. Draper of the Los Angeles police department, were the mediums of play transmission.
Results of the play had not yet been determined at a late hour last night.

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Radio Chess Games End In Tie For Hawaii, California 20 Jul 1936, Mon Honolulu Star-Bulletin (Honolulu, Hawaii) Newspapers.com

Radio Chess Games End In Tie For Hawaii, California
Transmitting chess moves by radio, a picked team of islanders and four outstanding players of southern California ended their play 1 to 11 Sunday evening after five hours and 45 minutes of play.
The first game started at 5:15, Honolulu time, and went to the Californians, LeRoy Johnson and Adolph Chern of the Hollywood Chess club, on a quick decision when Pfc. T. L. Saarela, 27th Inf., and Cpl. Griffith T. Roberts, 13th F. A., attempted the Evans Gambit maneuver.
The following game was an upset because Dr. Robert Griffith, one of the participants, is one of the leading players of southern California. His partner was Henry MacMahon, also an outstanding player. The game was played from this end by Sgt. James Huth, 3rd Eng., assisted in the earlier part by Robert L. Macconel of Honolulu. Sgt. Huth and Mr. Macconel adopted the Steinitz defense against the Ruy Lopez tactics of the Californians and successfully withstood the opening maneuvers of the Californians. Sgt. Huth obtained a passed pawn late in the game which ultimately succeeded in getting through to the queen row, practically deciding the outcome 20 moves before the end of the game. The game ended on the 58th move.
Instead of the five individual matches originally planned, it was decided to play two games because of limited space at the radio station in Los Angeles. No time limit was observed.
Pvt. John J. O'Connor, 21st Brig., transmitted most of the plays to Los Angeles over station WXB-W6EWQ, with the assistance of Sgt. Bunn R. Mills. Lt. Donald Draper of the Los Angeles police force transmitted the Los Angeles moves from his amateur station WMI-W6EXM.
The night's games provided a total of 132 messages.

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Adolph Chern, 1938

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May 01 1938

Hollywood Chess Club Annual Tournament 01 May 1938, Sun The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.com

Hollywood Chess Club Annual Tournament
The Hollywood C. C. recently held its annual tournament, with Secretary Adolf Chern garnering first honors and possession for one year of the championship trophy. The winner was defeated only once by Weisburg, who tied for second with Whipple.

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Frank Fillery, 1920

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August 08 1920

William Edmund Frank Fillery, Passenger List, August 08, 1920

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Frank Fillery, 1937

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January 02 1937

Edmonton Journal, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Saturday, January 02, 1937

Man Plays Chess By Remote Control 02 Jan 1937, Sat Edmonton Journal (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) Newspapers.com

Man Plays Chess By Remote Control
VANCOUVER, Jan. 2. —Frank Fillery, who plays chess with opponents as far as 6,500 miles away, sat down today and figured out the next moves in the 33 games he is now playing simultaneously with others in widely-scattered parts of the globe.
It takes a lot of patience and a thorough knowledge of the game to play chess by remote control as does Fillery, secretary of the Vancouver Chess club and Canadian secretary of the League of Pawns of England.
At present, Frank is playing with opponent in Jonsered, Sweden, another in Wales and several in the United States and England.
“I had a game once with a convict in San Quentin penitentiary, California, who had plenty of time to figure out the moves,” Fillery said. The match went on for 18 months and the convict won.
In correspondence chess one player writes his move in a letter to his opponent, keeping a record of it in a file. The opponent writes back his move and so on.
Fillery has some trouble with his Swedish opponent, who writes his moves in Swedish, but a chess book giving the foreign equivalents for names of English chessmen helps.
Fillery, who has won nine gold, silver and bronze medals, is one of many who keep correspondence games going all the time. Two of the present matches are being played as part of the “America versus Great Britain 1,000-board match.”

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Frank Fillery, 1951

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February 12 1951

The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Monday, February 12, 1951

Fillery—Passed away in Vancouver, Feb. 10, 1951, William Edmund Filler, of 4039 Miller St., Vancouver. Survived by his loving wife and one son, W. E. Frank Fillery and two grandchildren, of Vancouver, and one brother and two sisters in England. Deceased was a member of the Canadian Order of Foresters and Sons of England. Funeral service Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 2 p.m., from the Chapman Funeral Home Ltd., 802 West Broadway at Willow, Rev. J. W. Ellis officiating. Burial at Mountain View Cemetery.

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Charles Merrill Dowden, 1953

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June 25 1953

The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, Thursday, June 25, 1953

CHESS MASTER John Bloomer, left, winner of the 1953 Kentucky Chess Tournament, is presented The Courier-Journal Showalter Trophy by Merrill Dowden, Indiana editor and chess columnist for the newspaper. Bloomer lives in Louisville and attends the University of Louisville.

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Charles Merrill Dowden, 1950

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1950

Charles Merrill Dowden, estimated 1950.

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Charles Merrill Dowden, 1991

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April 06 1991

The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, Saturday, April 06, 1991

Merrill Dowden, former editor, chess columnist for C-J, dies

Merrill Dowden, retired Indiana editor and chess columnist for The Courier-Journal, died of pneumonia yesterday at Hillcreek Manor Nursing Home. He was 88.
Dowden was the newspaper's Indiana editor from 1945 until his retirement in 1967.
He worked for the old Louisville Herald-Post after graduating from the University of Kentucky, and he joined the C-J staff in 1926 as a police reporter. He also worked for the sports department, as a general-assignment reporter, features reporter and copy editor before becoming Indiana editor.
Dowden started his chess column, “The King's Men,” in 1945, and he continued to write it after his retirement. He also worked as a freelancer for various national publications, including Parade magazine.
Dowden helped reorganize the Louisville Chess Club in the mid-1940s, and he was a member of the Douglass Boulevard Chess Club, which was later renamed the Merrill Dowden Chess Club.
He was elected to the board of directors of the United States Chess Federation in 1947 and was Louisville's city chess champion in 1956.
Survivors include two sons, Donald S. Dowden of Islip, N.Y., and Carroll V. Dowden of Saddle River, N.J.; eight grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
The funeral will be 10 a.m. Monday at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 1960 Bardstown Road, with burial in Calvary Cemetery.
Visitation at Highlands Funeral Home, 3331 Taylorsville Road, is from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow.
The family requests that memorial gifts go to the church.

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