The U.S. Chess Trust

US Chess Hall of Fame

2021 U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Inductees

James Sherwin

U.S. Chess
Hall of Fame
Inducted 2021

Born in New York, International Master James Sherwin was one of the most successful U.S. Chess Championship participants of the 1950s and 1960s. Competing in eight events, several of which included Bobby Fischer, he finished third or fourth on six separate occasions. Sherwin’s third-place finish in the 1957-8 U.S. Championship qualified him for the Interzonal where he scored 50% against the six qualifiers for the Candidates Tournament. New York State champion at 17, Sherwin represented the U.S. in the 1953 World Junior Championship. In 1956 Sherwin shared top honors in the U.S. Open with U.S. Chess Hall of Fame inductee Arthur Bisguier. Sherwin served as president of the American Chess Foundation from 1979 to 1990, when it provided critical financial support for top U.S. players.

Frank Brady

U.S. Chess
Hall of Fame
Inducted 2021

Born in New York, Frank Brady has made a lasting impact on the chess world through his literary and organizational efforts. His books on Bobby Fischer—two editions of Profile of a Prodigy and Endgame—are the most acclaimed biographies ever written about a chess player. He oversaw the transition of the US Chess publication Chess Life from newspaper to magazine, which he edited for several years. He also edited and published the short-lived but critically acclaimed Chessworld. Brady has performed many significant organizational functions in American chess for over half a century. He served as a member of the Executive Board of the US Chess Federation and was its business manager and ratings director in its early years. An International Arbiter for F.I.D.E., he conducted national and international tournaments. Brady was also President of the legendary Marshall Chess Club, and is now its President Emeritus.In 2008, Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield founded the Saint Louis Chess Club (STLCC) with her husband, Rex, and they later provided the funding to move the World Chess Hall of Fame to Saint Louis. Through the STLCC, they have helped to bring the benefits of chess to thousands of students throughout the Saint Louis metropolitan area and revitalized chess throughout the country. Passionate about the Scouts BSA, Jeanne instigated the creation of its chess merit badge, which has now been earned by over 225,000 scouts. With fellow scouts, she created Chess2Go, a compact portable chess set in 2012. In 2019, Jeanne wrote a book about chess notation, Learn to Read and Write Chess. The same year, she established the Cairns Cup, a world-class women’s chess tournament that was held again in 2020.

2020 U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Inductees

Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield

U.S. Chess
Hall of Fame
Inducted 2020

In 2008, Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield founded the Saint Louis Chess Club (STLCC) with her husband, Rex, and they later provided the funding to move the World Chess Hall of Fame to Saint Louis. Through the STLCC, they have helped to bring the benefits of chess to thousands of students throughout the Saint Louis metropolitan area and revitalized chess throughout the country. Passionate about the Scouts BSA, Jeanne instigated the creation of its chess merit badge, which has now been earned by over 225,000 scouts. With fellow scouts, she created Chess2Go, a compact portable chess set in 2012. In 2019, Jeanne wrote a book about chess notation, Learn to Read and Write Chess. The same year, she established the Cairns Cup, a world-class women’s chess tournament that was held again in 2020.

Rex Sinquefield

U.S. Chess
Hall of Fame
Inducted 2020

Raised in Saint Louis, lifelong chess player Rex Sinquefield has transformed his hometown into the Chess Capital of the United States. In 2008, he founded the Saint Louis Chess Club (STLCC) with his wife, Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield, and they later provided the funding to move the World Chess Hall of Fame to Saint Louis. The STLCC has become home to championship chess in the U.S., hosting numerous national tournaments, in addition to bringing the benefits of chess to over 60,000 students. Rex has also made history through the creation of the Sinquefield and Cairns Cups, the strongest ever tournament and strongest women’s tournament held on American soil. His efforts, including supporting the U.S. national team and creating tournaments that allow new chess talents to grow, have attracted top players and revitalized chess in the United States.

2019 U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Inductees

William Lombardy

(1937-2017)
U.S. Chess Hall of Fame
Inducted 2019

Born in New York City, William Lombardy helped bring four world championship titles to the United States. Lombardy placed first in the 1957 World Junior Chess Championship, winning all 11 games. Three years later, he led the U.S. team to first place in the World Student Team Chess Championship (1960), scoring 11 wins and two draws. Lombardy also played a critical role as one of Bobby Fischer’s seconds in the 1972 World Chess Championship. He won three U.S. Open Chess Championships in 1963, 1965, and 1975 and played on seven U.S. Chess Olympiad teams between 1958 and 1978, including on the 1976 gold medal winning-team. Lombardy wrote nine chess books, including Understanding Chess: My System, My Games, My Life (2011).

Susan Polgar

(b. 1969)
U.S. Chess Hall of Fame
Inducted 2019

Born in Budapest, Hungary, Susan Polgar immigrated to the United States in 1994. The top-ranked woman in the world at 15, in 1991, she became the first to earn the grandmaster title by norms and rating. Polgar won the Women’s World Rapid and Blitz Championships in 1992. Her victory in the 1996 Women’s World Championship also made her the first triple crown winner. Polgar won 12 Olympiad medals (five gold, four silver, three bronze) and led the U.S. to second place in 2004. She was undefeated in 56 games played on Board One. Polgar has coached men’s college division I teams at Texas Tech University (2011-2012) and Webster University (2012-2018) to a record seven consecutive national championships.

Max Judd

(1851-1906)
U.S. Chess Hall of Fame
Inducted 2019

Born Maximilian Judkiewicz in present-day Tenczynek, Poland, Max Judd and his family came to the United States in 1862, living in several states before settling in Saint Louis, Missouri, in 1873. In his adopted hometown, he made his mark as a promoter and player. One of the strongest American players between Paul Morphy and Harry Nelson Pillsbury, Judd’s tournament successes included first place in the 1903 Western Chess Association Championship, second place in the 4th American Chess Congress of 1876, and second place in the 7th American Chess Congress of 1904. In match play, he defeated Albert Hodges (+5 -2 =2) in 1888, and two years later, he beat Jackson Showalter (+7 -3 =0).

2018 U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Inductees

Alex Onischuk

(b. 1975)

United States—Inducted 2018

Born in Ukraine, Alex Onischuk immigrated to the United States in 2001. One of only six American players to have attained a FIDE rating of 2700, he has competed in every U.S. Chess Championship since 2004. In 2006, Onischuk won the U.S. Chess Championship, and he has either tied for or taken second or third place seven times (2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2017). He has represented the United States in six Chess Olympiads (2004-2014) and six World Team Championships (2005-2017). Onischuk also played Board One on the U.S. gold medal-winning team at the 2013 Pan-American Team Championship. In 2012, he became the Head Coach and Director of the nationally-recognized chess program at Texas Tech University.

Bill Goichberg

(b. 1942)

United States – Inducted 2018

A great innovator in American chess, Bill Goichberg pioneered in holding rated scholastic tournaments (1966) and originated the National High School Championship (1969), the National Junior High School Championship (1973), the National Elementary (K-6) Championship (1976), and the National (K-12) Championship (1991). Goichberg originated non-smoking events (1973), the Grand Prix (1979), and Rated Beginner Opens (1990). He also ran many GM/IM swiss norm events to help American players earn FIDE titles and popularized sudden death time controls and the Quad format. Goichberg organized thousands of tournaments, including the World Open (1973-), the world’s largest chess tournament for most of the past 45 years.

2017 U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Inductees

Edward Lasker
(1885-1981)
United States—Inducted 2017

In 1914, Edward Lasker emigrated from Germany to the United States, where he soon became one of America’s top early 20th-century players. Lasker won five U.S. Open Chess Championships (1916, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1921), which were then known as the Western Open. In 1923, he challenged Frank Marshall to a match for the U.S. Chess Championship and narrowly lost, 8.5-9.5. Lasker popularized chess through his books, including Chess for Fun & Chess for Blood (1942), Chess Secrets I Learned from the Masters (1951), and The Adventure of Chess (1959). His Schachstrategie (1911), later published in English as Chess Strategy (1915), was an influential primer on the game that went through many editions.

2016 U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Inductees

Maurice Ashley
(b. 1966)
United States – Inducted 2016

Maurice Ashley is not only the first African-American player to achieve the title of grandmaster, but one of the greatest ambassadors and promoters the game has ever known. Ashley is a world-class commentator who has covered many major competitions including the 1995 Kasparov-Anand World Championship match as well as the 2013-2016 Sinquefield Cups. He has also organized some of the highest-stakes open tournaments worldwide, the HB Global Challenge (2005) and Millionaire Chess Open (2014, 2015), which featured record-setting prize funds. Formerly a Joint Fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center and MIT’s Media Lab, Ashley is at the forefront of bringing the benefits of chess to a wider educational audience through the innovative use of technology. He is the author of the bestseller Chess for Success: Using an Old Game to Build New Strengths in Children and Teens (2005).

GATA KAMSKY
(b. 1974)
United States – Inducted 2016

Gata Kamsky is one of the greatest chess players to represent the United States. He is a five-time U.S. Chess Champion (1991, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014) and a six-time U.S. Olympiad team member (1992, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014). Kamsky also played board one on the only American team to win the World Team Chess Championship (Lucerne 1993). He has been ranked number three in the chess world twice (1996, 2009) and is the only American after Bobby Fischer to compete in a match for the FIDE World Chess Championship (losing to Anatoly Karpov 7 ½ – 10 ½ in 1996). Kamsky is also the only U.S. player to win the FIDE World Cup, finishing ahead of 128 players at Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia (2007).

ALEXANDER SHABALOV
(b. 1967)
United States—Inducted 2015

Noted for his sharp and uncompromising style, Alexander Shabalov learned to play chess in his native Latvia. He immigrated to the United States in 1992, and since his arrival, he has won the U.S. Chess Championship four times (1993, 2000, 2003, and 2007). He also represented his new homeland in four Chess Olympiads, including in 1998 when the team finished second. Shabalov has won many major open tournaments in the United States. These victories include first place finishes in the 1993 and 2003 U.S. Opens and ties for first in the 1999, 2007, and 2009 U.S. Opens, among triumphs in many other competitions. The opening sequence 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 is named after him.

2014 U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Inductees

Abraham Kupchik
(1892–1970)
United States – Inducted 2014

Born in Brest, then a part of Russia, Abraham Kupchik immigrated to the United States in 1903 and was one of the strongest American players from 1914 to 1940. In 1923 he shared first place with U.S. champion Frank Marshall at the 9th American Chess Congress. Three years later, Kupchik earned second place at the Lake Hopatcong chess tournament behind José Raúl Capablanca and ahead of Géza Maróczy, Frank Marshall, and Edward Lasker. In the 1935 Chess Olympiad, Kupchik earned team gold and individual bronze medals playing Board 3 for the United States. His accomplishments also included playing Board 9 in the famed 1945 U.S.A.-U.S.S.R. radio match and winning the prestigious Manhattan Chess Club Championship a record 13 times between 1913/14 and 1936/1937.

JACQUELINE PIATIGORSKY
(1911–2012)
United States – Inducted 2014

A woman of many talents and with a strong devotion to chess, Jacqueline Piatigorsky transformed American chess through her efforts as an organizer, philanthropist, and player. She also represented the United States in the first Women’s Chess Olympiad in 1957, winning an individual bronze medal on Board 2. However, Piatigorsky is best remembered for organizing two of the greatest American chess tournaments, the 1963 and 1966 Piatigorsky Cups. Committed to promoting youth chess, she created scholastic programs in southern California in the early 1960s through the Piatigorsky Foundation decades before they became common. She also initiated the U.S. Junior Closed Chess Championship and provided support for the U.S. and U.S. Women’s Chess Championships.

2013 U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Inductees

Gregory Kaidanov
(1959–Present)
United States—Inducted 2013

Born in Berdychiv, Ukraine, USSR, Gregory Kaidanov learned chess from his father at the age of six. In the 1980s, he won many international tournaments while playing for the Soviet Union, and he earned the title of Grandmaster in 1988. Three years later, he and his family immigrated to the United States, settling in Lexington, Kentucky. In 1992, he had an impressive string of victories, tying for first in the Chicago Open, before winning the top prizes in the World Open and the United States Open Championship.

Kaidanov also scored many great successes while playing for American teams. He played in the Olympiads six times between 1996 and 2006, winning a team bronze in 1996, a team silver in 1998, an individual silver in 2004, and a team bronze in 2006. Kaidanov also competed in the World Team Championships three times between 1993 and 2005, winning a team gold and an individual silver in 1993, and a team silver and individual gold in 1997. His major tournament victories include the 1992 World Open, 1992 U.S. Open, 2002 Aeroflot Open, and the 2008 Gausdal Classic. Kaidanov, who is one of the most active Grandmaster teachers in the U.S., also coached the 2008 U.S. Women’s Olympiad Team to third place.

Mona May Karff
(1912–1998)
United States—Inducted 2013

Born in Bessarabia, Romania, Mona May Karff began playing in chess tournaments after her family moved to Palestine. She represented Palestine in the 1937 Women’s World Championship tournament, where she finished in seventh place. Karff soon moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and quickly began representing the United States in chess tournaments. She played for the United States in the 1939 Women’s World Championship, where she placed fifth. Karff, along with Gisela Gresser, would go on to dominate women’s chess in the United States from the late 1930s to the 1960s. She was victorious in the U.S. Women’s Open four times between 1938 and 1950, and the U.S. Women’s Championship seven times between 1938 and 1974. FIDE recognized her excellence in chess in 1950, when she was one of the first four recipients of the organization’s newly created Women’s International Master title.

Karff was very passionate about chess, once telling a friend, “I was born with chess in my blood.” She moved to New York City by the 1940s, and was a regular at the Marshall Chess Club. Karff was respected for her intelligence and sophistication, as well as her skill at chess. She knew six languages, loved to travel, and amassed an impressive collection of art. She also held a degree in international affairs.

2012 U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Inductees

Alex “Yermo” Yermolinsky
(1958–Present)
United States – Inducted 2012

Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg, Russia), Yermolinsky immigrated to the United States in 1989 and became a grandmaster in 1992. He went on to share the title of U.S. Chess Champion with Alexander Shabalov in 1993 and was the sole champion in 1996. He has won countless other titles and was the Grandmaster-in-Residence at the Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club in San Francisco from 1999-2007.

Yemolinsky is a noted chess writer and instructor. He has authored two books: The Road to Chess Improvement (winner of the Cramer Award for best instructional chess book and the British Chess Federation’s Book of the Year award) and Chess Explained: The Classical Sicilian. He broadcasts on the Internet Chess Club website and was instrumental in the development of the website ChessKid.com, which teaches the game to children in a fun, safe, and secure online environment.

Alex and his wife, Women’s Grandmaster Camilla Baginskaite, live with their two children in South Dakota, where he works with the South Dakota Chess Association as an instructor, lecturer, and tournament director.

2011 U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Inductees

GM Andrew Soltis
(1947-Present)
United States – Inducted 2011

Though a skilled chess player, Andy Soltis made his true mark on the chess world as an author. Born in Hazleton, Penn., he became an international master in 1974 and achieved grandmaster status in 1980. A win at Reggio Emilia in 1971-72 and an equal first finish at New York 1977 are among his notable tournament results; however, he stopped playing competitive chess in the 2002.

Where he left off as a player, however, he resumed as a writer, becoming of one of the late 20th century’s most prolific chess authors. His writing career began in the mid-1970s with the publication of books like The Great Chess Tournaments and Their Stories in 1975 and Pawn Structure Chess in 1976. Since that time, he was written or contributed to more than 100 books on subjects that range from history to strategy to game collections and analysis. In addition to his books, Soltis is also an active journalist, penning “Chess to Enjoy,” one of the longest-running columns in Chess Life, as well as a weekly column in the New York Post. He was named Chess Journalist of the Year by the U.S. Chess Federation in 1988.

Boris Gulko
(1947-Present)
United States – Inducted 2011

The son of a Red Army soldier, Boris Gulko was born in East Germany in the years after World War II. He returned to the USSR as a young child and lived there until the mid-1980s, when he immigrated to the United States. While in the Soviet Union, he won the USSR Chess Championship in 1977, a year after attaining GM status. Shortly afterward, Gulko—a staunch anti-communist—and his wife, Anna, were denied permission to leave the country. Gulko himself was once arrested and beaten by KGB agents, and following their failed petition, both he and Anna, who held the title of woman grandmaster, were banned from chess competition until 1986, when they arrived in the United States following glasnost, a period of greater transparency within the Soviet government.

While he called his years away from the game “a serious blow” to his career, he found success in his new country, winning the U.S. Championship in 1994 and 1999. After qualifying for the 2004 World Championship, which was held in Libya, the country’s organizing committee stated that they would not extend invitations to Jewish players. As a result, several Jewish competitors from Israel and the United States, including Gulko, withdrew from the tournament. Gulko also sent a scornful letter to FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, for the organization’s alleged capitulation to the Libyan policy. Though he rarely competes in tournaments, Gulko remains an active chess player, making his home in Fair Lawn, N.J.

Robert (Bobby) Fischer (Mar. 9, 1943 – Jan. 17, 2008)
Country: United States, Iceland
World Chess Champion: 1972 – 1975

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1986

Reuben Fine (Oct. 11, 1914 – Mar. 26, 1993)
Country: United States
U.S. Open Champion: 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1939, 1940, 1941

Isaac Kashdan (Nov. 19, 1905 – Feb. 20, 1985)
Country: United States
U.S. Open Champion: 1938, 1947

George Koltanowski (Sept. 17, 1903 – Feb. 5, 2000)
Country: Belgium, United States

Frank James Marshall (Aug. 10, 1877 – Nov. 9, 1944)
Country: United States
U.S. Chess Champion: 1909–1936
In 1915, Marshall opened the Marshall Chess Club in New York.

Paul Morphy (Jun. 22, 1837 – Jul. 10, 1884)
Country: United States
Unofficial World Chess Champion

Harry Nelson Pillsbury (Dec. 5, 1872 – Jun. 17, 1906)
Country: United States
U.S. Chess Champion: 1897 – 1906

Samuel Herman Reshevsky (Nov. 26, 1911 – Apr. 4, 1992)
Country: Poland, United States
U.S. Chess Champion: 1936, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1969

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1987

Sam Loyd (Jan. 30, 1841 – Apr. 10, 1911)
Country: United States
Chess Composer

Wilhelm (William) Steinitz (May 17, 1836 – Aug. 12, 1900)
Country: Prague, Czech Republic, United States
World Chess Champion: 1886 – 1894

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1988

Arpad Emrick Elo (Aug. 25, 1903 – Nov. 5, 1992
Country: Hungary, United States
Creator of the Elo Rating System. The new rating system was approved by the United States Chess Federation in 1960. In 1970, FIDE, the World Chess Federation, adopted the Elo Rating System. Currently the U.S. Chess Federation does not use Dr. Elo’s rating system, although, the World Chess Federation (FIDE) still uses it and his rating system is the most popular in the world.

Hermann Helms 1870 – 1963
Country: United States
Herman Helms was a Chess Journalist. He was the chess reporter for the New York Times for over fifty years, until 1962. He founded the American Chess Bulletin in 1904, and published and edited this journal until his death in 1963. Helms wrote chess columns for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper from 1893 until 1955. Helms was called “the most important journalist in American chess history” by Arnold Denker and Larry Parr.

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1989

Israel Albert Horowitz (Nov. 15, 1907 – Jan. 18, 1973
Country: United States
U.S. Open Champion: 1936, 1938, 1943
New York Times Chess columnist for ten years. Owner and Editor of Chess Review magazine from 1933 until it was bought by the United States Chess Federation in 1969.

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1990

Hans Berliner (Jan. 27, 1929)
Country: Germany, United States
5th World Correspondence Chess Champion: 1965

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1991

Arthur William Dake (Apr. 8, 1910 – Apr. 28, 2000
Country: United States
Arthur learned chess at age seventeen, and within 3 years was one of the best players in the world. He defeated the World Chess Champion, Alexander Alekhine, at a tournament in Pasadena, California in 1932. Dake played at the master level into the last decade of his life. In 1992, he played in his last tournament at the U.S. Senior Open, where he took 2nd place in an event for those 50 years of age and older.

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1992

Arnold Sheldon Denker (Feb. 20, 1914 – Jan. 2, 2005)
Country: United States
U.S. Chess Champion: 1944 – 1946
Arnold Denker was an important chess organizer, serving on the Board of the American Chess Foundation, the United States Chess Federation, and the U.S. Chess Trust, the driving force behind the prestigious Denker Tournament of High School Champions (which was named in honor of Denker).

Gisela K. Gresser (Feb. 8, 1906 – Dec. 4, 2000)
Country: United States
U.S. Women’s Chess Champion: 1944, 1948, 1955, 1957, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969 (at age 63)
U.S. Women’s Open Champion: 1954
One of the first two female chess players in the United States. She is the first American woman to be inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame. She was the first woman in the United States to gain a master title.

George Henry Mackenzie (Mar. 24, 1837 – Apr. 14, 1891)
Country: Scotland, United States
U.S. Chess Champion by acclamation: 1871 – 1889
Mackenzie won the 2nd, 3rd and 5th American Chess Congress

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1993

Pal Benko (Born Jul. 14, 1928)
Country: Hungary, United States
U.S. Open Chess Champion: 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1974, 1975
Canadian Open Chess Champion: 1964
He was awarded the title of International Master of Chess Composition by FIDE

Victor Palciauskas (Vytas Palciauskas) (Born Oct. 3, 1941)
Country: Republic of Lithuania, United States
Victor is the tenth ICCF World Champion in correspondence chess between 1978 and 1984

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1994

Arthur Bernard Bisguier (Born Oct. 8, 1929)
Country: United States
U.S. Junior Champion: 1948, 1949
U.S. Open Chess Champion: 1950, 1956, 1959
U.S. Chess Champion: 1954

Robert E. Byrne (Born Apr. 20, 1928)
Country: United States
U.S. Champion: 1972
Robert was a chess columnist for the New York Times from 1972 to 2006.

Larry Melvyn Evans (Mar. 22, 1932 – Nov. 15, 2010)
Country: United States
U.S. Chess Champion: 1951, 1952, 1961–62, 1967–68, 1980
U.S. Open Chess Champion: 1951, 1952, 1954
In 1956 the U.S. State Department appointed him a “chess ambassador”

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1995

Edmond Broadley Edmondson Jr. (Aug. 13, 1920 – Oct. 21, 1982)
Country: United States
U.S. Chess Federation President (1963-1966)
U.S. Chess Federation Executive Director (1966-1977)
He negotiated on behalf of Bobby Fischer his participation in the World Championship cycles.
In 1969, he arranged the merger of Chess Life and Chess Review magazines to form Chess Life & Review.

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1996

Fred Reinfeld (Jan. 27, 1910 – May 29, 1964)
Country: United States
New York State Champion: 1933
Fred Reinfeld is remembered today as one of the most prolific authors in history. He wrote or co-wrote over 100 books, most about chess. He was also one of the strongest players in the United States. He was ranked 6th in the country on the first rating list issued by the United States Chess Federation in 1950.

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1997

Kenneth Harkness (Nov. 12, 1896-Oct. 4, 1972)
Country: Scotland, United States
Kenneth Harkness is the creator of the Harkness rating system, which was a precursor to the Elo rating system. He was Business Manager of the United States Chess Federation from 1952 to 1959. The Harkness rating system was used by the US Chess Federation from 1950 to 1960, they then adapted the ELO rating system, only to return to the Harkness rating system, which is currently used by the U.S. Chess Federation. For his services, Harkness is in the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame.

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1998

Milan Vukcevich (Mar. 11, 1937 – May 10, 2003)
Country: Belgrade, Serbia, United States
U.S. Open Chess Champion: 1969
Vukcevich is better known as an author of chess problems. He was awarded the title of International Composition Grandmaster by FIDE. Milan Vukcevich decided on a career in science rather than chess. In the year he moved to the United States he entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was considered for a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 1999

Benjamin Franklin (Jan. 17, 1706 – Apr. 17, 1790)
Country: United States
Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. Franklin was an avid chess player. He was playing chess since about 1733, which made him the first chess player known by name in the American colonies. His essay on the “Morals of Chess” in Columbian magazine, published in December 1786 is the second known writing on chess in America.

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 2000

Edmar Mednis (Mar. 22, 1937 – Feb. 13, 2002)
Country: Latvia, United States
Edmar Mednis is best known as a chess author. He was the first player to beat Bobby Fischer in a US Championship. Mednis wrote 26 chess books

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 2001

Lubomir Kavalek (Born Aug. 9, 1943)
Country: Czech Republic, United States
U.S. Chess Champion: 1973, 1978
Kavalek is a chess coach, organizer, teacher, commentator, author and award-winning columnist. He was the chess columnist for the Washington Post from 1986 to 2010. In May 2010 he became the chess columnist for The Huffington Post.

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 2003

Lev Alburt (Born Aug. 21, 1945)
Country: Russia, United States
U.S. Chess Champion: 1984, 1985, 1990
Ukrainian Chess Champion: 1972 – 1974
Alburt served three years, 1985–1988, on the Board of Directors of the United States Chess Federation (USCF).

Walter Shawn Browne (Born Jan. 10, 1949)
Country: Australia, United States
U.S. Junior Champion: 1966
Australian Chess Champion: 1969
U.S. Chess Champion: 1974, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1983

Donald Byrne (Jun. 12, 1930 – Apr. 8, 1976) (Wiki shows induction 2002)
Country: United States
U.S. Open Chess Champion: 1953

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 2004

Anatoly Lein (Born Mar. 28, 1931)
Country: Russia, United States
U.S. Open Champion: 1976
World Open Champion: 1976

Leonid Shamkovich (Jun. 1, 1923 – Apr. 22, 2005)
Country: Russia, United States
Canadian Chess Champion: 1975
Leonid became a Grandmaster in 1965 and was a chess writer.

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 2006

Yasser Seirawan (Born Mar. 24, 1960)
Country: Syria, USA
World Junior Chess Champion: 1979
U.S. Chess Champion: 1981, 1986, 1989, 2000
Seirawan is also a respected chess author and commentator.

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 2007

Irving Chernev (Jan. 29, 1900 – Sept. 29, 1981)
Country: Russia, United States
Irving was a prolific Russian-American chess author.

Jeremy Gaige (Oct. 9, 1927 – Feb. 19, 2011)
Country: United States
Jeremy Gaige was an American chess archivist and journalist.

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 2008

Joel Benjamin (Born Mar. 11, 1964)
Country: United States
U.S. Junior Champion: 1980, 1982
U.S. Open Chess Champion: 1985
U.S. Chess Champion: 1987, 1997, 2000
Joel Benjamin is the youngest person to be inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame

Larry M. Christiansen (Born Jun. 27, 1956)
Country: United States
U.S. Junior Champion: 1973, 1974, 1975
U.S. Chess Champion: 1980, 1983, 2002

Nick E. de Firmian (Born Jul. 26, 1957)
Country: United States
U.S. Chess Champion: 1987, 1995, 1998

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 2009

John Fedorowicz (Born 1958)
Country: United States
American International Grandmaster and chess writer. Fedorowicz has captained the U.S. Olympiad team on two occasions. He has written or co-written a number of chess books and many articles.

Burt Hochberg (1933 – May 13, 2006)
Country: United States

In 1966, Burt was named Editor of Chess Life by Ed Edmondson and remained there until 1979 at which time he submitted his resignation. In 1972 Burt wrote his first book ever, a chess book for the USCF entitled, “Title Chess.” It covered the 1972 United States Chess Championship and Zonal Qualifier. His Technical Consultant was Jeffrey Kastner. The book was copyrighted in 1972 with the Second edition out in January, 1974. All pictures of the players were taken by Burt.

In the early 70’s, Burt was asked by Sidney Fried to create a Chess Publishing House called RHM Press. Burt was named Editor-in-Chief. One of the first books under Burt’s editorship was, “How to Open a Chess Game” with the following Grandmasters, each writing a different chapter. Larry Evans, United States, Svetozar Gligoric, Yugoslavia, Vastimil Hort, Czechoslovakia, Lajos Portisch, Hungary, Tigran Petrosian, U.S.S.R., Bent Larsen, Denmark, and Paul Keres, U.S.S.R. The Introduction was written by Larry Evans and the Glossary, by Larry Evans and Burt Hochberg. In the Ackowledgments, Burt expressed his gratitude to those who assisted in the preparation of the book. They were: Frank Krcmar, who translated the Hort chapter; Endre Boer, who translated the Portisch chapter; Hanon Russell, who translated the Petrosian chapter; George Mirijanian, who translated the Keres chapter, as well as Chris Reid, whose editing and proofreading skills were invaluable; and Scott Knoke, who contributed long and unusual hours of his time to solve many difficult technical problems.

Burt was hired by David McKay/Random House to bring in chess authors. He did so by introducing among many, Bruce Pandolfini, Susan Polgar and Pal Benko. In 1991, Pal Benko, International Grandmaster and Burt co-authored a book entitled, “Winning with Chess Psychology” for David McKay. While with McKay he edited an exceptionally fine book under, Time Books, a division of Random House entitled, “The 64-Square Looking Glass” the great game of chess in world literature. The anthology consisting of about 40 writers was reviewed to great acclaim. Among a few of the writers included were Nabokov, Ezra Pound, Stefan Zweig, Woody Allen, Kurt Vonnegut, Anne Bronte.

Burt wrote a few books for Sterling Publication. Among them, “Mensa Guide to Chess” and “Sit & Solve Chess Problems.” His expertise went beyond the game of chess, however, to other strategy games and puzzles. After leaving Chess Life, a few years later he went to work at Games Magazine. He started as a fill-in, part time editor working himself up to Editor, Emeritus, until his death in 2006. He loved the challenge of creating puzzles and riddles which were as new to him then as editing a chess magazine back in 1966. It was Ed Edmondson who gave him a start as an editor of Chess Life, and Wayne Schmittberger who recognized the name, Burt Hochberg, who told Ronnie Shushan interviewing Burt at Games Magazine, who the man was whom she was interviewing. Burt loved all the work he did throughout his career, but Chess Life and Edmondson as well as Games Magazine and Wayne Schmittberger, always held a special place in his heart.

Burt is remembered as a tireless chess promoter, who throughout his career, devoted time and energy to encouraging new authors and young editors in the field of chess and games. In 2009, his contributions to the field of chess earned him induction into the World Chess Hall of Fame, located in St. Louis, Missouri.

Inducted Into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame – 2010

Diane Savereide (Born 1954)
Country: United States
U.S. Women’s Chess Champion: 1975, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1984

Jackson W. Showalter (Feb. 5 1860 – Feb. 5, 1935)
Country: United States
U.S. Chess Champion: 1890, 1892, 1892–1894, 1895-1896, 1906–1909

Herman Steiner (Apr. 15, 1905 – Nov. 25, 1955)
Country: Austria-Hungary, United States
U.S. Chess Champion: 1948