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World Chess Hall of Fame

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World Chess Hall of Fame
World Chess Hall of Fame Logo
Street view
World Chess Hall of Fame is located in St. Louis
World Chess Hall of Fame
Location within St. Louis
Former name
U.S. Chess Hall of Fame
World Chess Hall of Fame and Sidney Samole Museum
Established1984 (1984)
LocationCentral West End, St. Louis Missouri
Coordinates38°38′39″N 90°15′40″W / 38.644301°N 90.261153°W / 38.644301; -90.261153
TypeHall of Fame
Art museum
Public transit accessBus interchange MetroBus
Websiteworldchesshof.org

The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) is a nonprofit collecting institution in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1984, it features chess exhibits, engages in educational outreach, and maintains a list of inductees to the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame and World Chess Hall of Fame.

Formerly located in New Windsor, New York; Washington, D.C.; and Miami, Florida, it moved to St. Louis on September 9, 2011.[1] It is run by the United States Chess Trust.

The World Chess Hall of Fame is located across the street from the Saint Louis Chess Club, with which it collaborates on programming, instruction, and outreach.

The museum's permanent collection and temporary exhibitions highlight the great players, historic games, and cultural history of chess. Rotating exhibitions feature items from the permanent collection, including a 500-year-old[citation needed] piece from an Egyptian game called senet, the earliest known board game; a custom-made set of chess furniture that belonged to Bobby Fischer; and the first commercial chess computer. The museum also displays two temporary exhibitions per year.

History

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Logo used from 2011 to 2013

Steven Doyle, president of the United States Chess Federation from 1984 to 1987,[2] founded the World Chess Hall of Fame in 1986 as the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame.

It opened in 1988 in the basement of the Federation's then-headquarters in New Windsor, New York.[1] The museum's small collection included a book of chess openings signed by Bobby Fischer;[3] a silver set awarded to Paul Morphy, American chess player and unofficial World Champion; and cardboard plaques honoring past grandmasters.

In 1992, the U.S. Chess Trust purchased the museum and moved its contents to Washington, D.C., where it featured America's "big four" chess players: Paul Morphy, Bobby Fischer, Frank Marshall, and Samuel Reshevsky.[4] It displayed the World Chess Championship trophy won by the United States team in 1993 as well as numerous chess boards and chess pieces. The museum gave visitors the opportunity to play against a chess computer. By 2001, the collection had grown to include numerous chess sets and boards and plaques commemorating inductees to the U.S. and World halls of fame.[4]

In the late 1990s, Sidney Samole, former owner of Excalibur Electronics, proposed to move the hall of fame to Miami, where it would be located in a rook-shaped building constructed by Excalibur. Although Samole died in 2000, the U.S. Chess Trust accepted the proposal the following year.[1] Reopened in 2001, it was renamed the World Chess Hall of Fame and Sidney Samole Museum.[1][5] The museum continued collecting chess sets, books, tournament memorabilia, advertisements, photographs, furniture, medals, trophies, and journals until it closed in 2009.

Soon afterward, billionaire Rex Sinquefield agreed to pay to move the museum to St. Louis and renovate its new building.[1]

Hall of Fame

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There are 73 members in the U.S. Hall of Fame, including Bobby Fischer, Benjamin Franklin, and Paul Morphy.

There are 43 members in the World Hall of Fame, including José Raúl Capablanca, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, and Boris Spassky. The winner of the first Women's World Chess Championship, Vera Menchik, was the first woman to be inducted into the WCHOF in 2011.[6]

U.S. Chess Hall of Fame inductees

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The U.S. Chess Federation Recognitions Committee considers candidates for the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame and sends its nominations to the U.S. Chess Trust annually. The trustees of the U.S. Chess Trust vote on who should be inducted. The induction itself takes place at the U.S. Chess Federation Awards Luncheon during the U.S. Open or at the World Chess Hall of Fame itself. The induction is almost always performed by the chairman of the U.S. Chess Trust or the chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee.

2017 members of the committee included John McCrary (chair), Frank Camaratta, John Crumiller, William John Donaldson, John Hilbert, Randy Hough, Alexey Root, Sophia Rohde, Andrew Soltis, Peter Tamburro, and Fred Wilson.[7]

Count Inductee Induction year
1 Reuben Fine 1986
2 Robert Fischer 1986
3 Isaac Kashdan 1986
4 George Koltanowski 1986
5 Frank Marshall 1986
6 Paul Morphy 1986
7 Harry Pillsbury 1986
8 Sammy Reshevsky 1986
9 Sam Loyd 1987
10 Wilhelm Steinitz 1987
11 Arpad Elo 1988
12 Hermann Helms 1988
13 Al Horowitz 1989
14 Hans Berliner 1990
15 John W. Collins 1991
16 Arthur Dake 1991
17 Arnold Denker 1992
18 Gisela Gresser 1992
19 George MacKenzie 1992
20 Pal Benko 1993
21 Victor Palciauskas 1993
22 Arthur Bisguier 1994
23 Robert Byrne 1994
24 Larry Evans 1994
25 Ed Edmondson Jr. 1995
26 Fred Reinfeld 1996
27 Kenneth Harkness 1997
28 Milan Vukcevich 1998
29 Benjamin Franklin 1999
30 Edmar Mednis 2000
31 Lubomir Kavalek 2001[8]
32 Lev Alburt 2003
33 Walter Browne 2003
34 Donald Byrne 2003
35 Anatoly Lein 2004
36 Leonid Shamkovich 2004
37 Yasser Seirawan 2006
38 Irving Chernev 2007
39 Jeremy Gaige 2007
40 Joel Benjamin 2008
41 Larry Christiansen 2008
42 Nick de Firmian 2008
43 John Fedorowicz 2009
44 Burt Hochberg 2009
45 Diane Savereide 2010
46 Jackson Showalter 2010
47 Herman Steiner 2010
48 Boris Gulko 2011[9]
49 Andy Soltis 2011[9]
50 Alex Yermolinsky 2012
51 Gregory Kaidanov 2013
52 Mona May Karff 2013
53 Abraham Kupchik 2014[10]
54 Jacqueline Piatigorsky 2014[10]
55 Alexander Shabalov 2015
56 Gata Kamsky 2016[11]
57 Maurice Ashley 2016[11]
58 Edward Lasker 2017[11]
59 Bill Goichberg 2018
60 Alex Onischuk 2018
61 Max Judd 2019
62 Susan Polgar 2019
63 William Lombardy 2019
64 Rex Sinquefield 2020
65 Jeanne Sinquefield 2020
66 James Sherwin 2021
67 Frank Brady 2021
68 Daniel Willard Fiske 2022
69 James Tarjan 2022
70 John Watson 2022
71 Yury Shulman 2023
72 Lisa Lane 2023
73 William Shinkman 2023

World Chess Hall of Fame inductees

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The World Chess Hall of Fame inductees are nominated by representatives of the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

Count Inductee Induction year
1 Jose Raul Capablanca 2001[8]
2 Robert Fischer 2001[8]
3 Emanuel Lasker 2001[8]
4 Paul Morphy 2001[8]
5 Wilhelm Steinitz 2001[8]
6 Mikhail Botvinnik 2003
7 Tigran Petrosian 2003
8 Vasily Smyslov 2003
9 Boris Spassky 2003
10 Mikhail Tal 2003
11 Alexander Alekhine 2004
12 Max Euwe 2004
13 Anatoly Karpov 2004
14 Garry Kasparov 2005
15 Siegbert Tarrasch 2008
16 Vera Menchik 2011[9]
17 Elisaveta Bykova 2013
18 Mikhail Chigorin 2013
19 Nona Gaprindashvili 2013
20 Maia Chiburdanidze 2014[10]
21 Paul Keres 2014[10]
22 Olga Rubtsova 2015
23 Lyudmila Rudenko 2015
24 Carl Schlechter 2015
25 David Bronstein 2016[12]
26 Sonja Graf 2016[12]
27 Howard Staunton 2016[12]
28 Johannes Zukertort 2016
29 Paula Kalmar-Wolf 2017
30 Viktor Korchnoi 2017
31 Alla Kushnir 2017
32 Aron Nimzowitsch 2018
33 Richard Réti 2018
34 Kira Zvorykina 2018
35 Akiba Rubinstein 2019
36 Mark Taimanov 2019
37 Xie Jun 2019
38 Miguel Najdorf 2021
39 Judit Polgár 2021
40 Eugene Torre 2021
41 Jorgen Bent Larsen 2023[13]
42 Lajos Portisch 2023[14]
43 Susan Polgár 2023[15]

Exhibitions

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The World Chess Hall of Fame moved to St. Louis in 2011. Its permanent collection includes historical chess artifacts, as well as art and artifacts on loan from various artists and collectors.

OUT OF THE BOX: Artists Play Chess

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Out of the Box was a contemporary art exhibition displayed from September 9, 2011, to February 12, 2012, and was curated by Bradley Bailey, assistant professor of modern and contemporary art history at Saint Louis University. It featured artworks that consider chess both at the formal level and at the level of actual play. The artists featured in this exhibition were Tom Friedman, Barbara Kruger, Liliya Lifanova, Yoko Ono, Gavin Turk, Diana Thater, and Guido van der Werve.[9] On the exhibit's opening night, Dutch contemporary artist Guido van der Werve performed on a chess piano that he built. The piano sounded a note as each chess piece was played, while nine string musicians from the Saint Louis Symphony played van der Werve's score. On closing night, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis hosted an event featuring Liliya Lifanova's performance art piece Anatomy is Destiny, one of the pieces in the exhibition.

Chess Masterpieces: Highlights from the Dr. George and Vivan Dean Collection

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On view from September 9, 2011, to February 12, 2012, this show celebrated the Deans' 50th year of collecting; it featured works that illustrated the development of the game of chess and the design of fine chess sets from the tenth to the early twentieth century.[9] Sets came from Austria, Cambodia, China, England, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Kashmir, Morocco, Persia, Russia, Syria, and Turkey. Among the works displayed were pieces owned or commissioned by Catherine the Great, Napoleon, Czar Nicolas II, and the British royal family.[citation needed]

Marcel Dzama: The End Game

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On view from March 9, 2012, to August 12, 2012, the exhibition showed Marcel Dzama's artistic works, including films, related drawings, paintings, sculptures, and dioramas. Dzama's references and artistic influences include Dada and Marcel Duchamp. His film features characters based on chess. Dressed in geometrically designed costumes of papier-mâché, plaster, and fiberglass and wearing elaborate masks (including a quadruple-faced mask for the King), the figures dance across a checkered board to challenge their opponents in fatal interchanges.[16]

BOBBY FISCHER: Icon Among Icons

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On view from March 9, 2012, to October 7, 2012, this show featured photographs by Harry Benson, the only person to have private access to Bobby Fischer during the entire 1972 World Chess Championship match in Reykjavík, Iceland. Benson, who captured intimate images of Fischer, and delivered the news to the grandmaster that he had won the match.[17]

Screwed Moves

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On view from September 13, 2012, to February 10, 2013, this chess-inspired, site-specific wall drawing was executed by nine St. Louis artists known as The Screwed Arts Collective.[18]

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On view from October 18, 2012, to April 14, 2013, this show explored how chess is represented in contemporary culture: magazine advertisements, rock music and movie posters, and other forms.[19]

Power in Check: Chess and the American Presidency

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On view from October 18, 2012, to April 21, 2013, this show explored how chess has influenced American presidents since George Washington.[20]

Bill Smith: Beyond the Humanities

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On view from March 7, 2013, to August 25, 2013, this show featured the work of Bill Smith, which explores how rules guide the creation of our world's structure and behavior. Smith used videos and constructions to show the underlying similarities of chess, nature, life, and all things—the ubiquitous patterns and interactions common to music, games, technology, animals, molecules, and the galaxy.[21]

Prized and Played: Highlights from the Jon Crumiller Collection

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On view from May 3, 2013, to September 15, 2013, this event showed more than 80 antique chess sets and other artifacts.[22]

A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes, Fashion and Chess

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On view from October 19, 2013, to April 19, 2014, this show curated by Sofia Hedman and Serge Martynov explored the archetypes of a queen in fashion and storytelling.[23]

Jacqueline Piatigorsky: Patron, Player, Pioneer

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On view from October 25, 2013, to July 13, 2014, this show featured Jacqueline Piatigorsky, one of the best female chess players of the 1950s and 1960s, and a noted patron of the game.[10]

Cage & Kaino: Pieces and Performances

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On view from May 8, 2014, to September 21, 2014, this exhibition curated by Larry List included live performances of the work of 20th-century composer John Cage and contemporary multimedia artist, Glenn Kaino.[10]

Strategy by Design: Games by Michael Graves

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On view from May 8, 2014, to September 28, 2014, this exhibition curated by Bradley Bailey focuses on the games designed by the Michael Graves Design Group.[10]

A Memorable Life: A Glimpse into the Complex Mind of Bobby Fischer

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On view from July 24, 2014, to June 7, 2015, this exhibition explored the career of Fischer, considered one of the greatest American chess players of all time.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Dondis, Harold; Patrick Wolff (14 June 2010). "The Chess Hall of Fame is saved". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  2. ^ Harold Dondis, Harold; Patrick Wolff (17 September 2001). "Chess Notes". Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. p. D6. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  3. ^ Hill, Michael (9 April 1991). "Sparking Interest: Chess Hall of Fame celebrates game's longevity". The Item. New Windsor, New York. p. 6A. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  4. ^ a b Danilov, Victor J. (1997). Hall of Fame Museums: A Reference Guide. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. p. 104. ISBN 0-313-30000-3.
  5. ^ Kurzdorfer, Peter (2003). The Everything Chess Basics Book. Avon, Massachusetts: Adams Media. p. viii. ISBN 158062586X.
  6. ^ "Vera Menchik Becomes First Woman to Join World Chess Hall of Fame". US Chess Federation. September 20, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  7. ^ "Halls of Fame". World Chess Hall of Fame. February 21, 2017.
  8. ^ a b c d e f Lubomir Kavalek (December 31, 2011). "CB News - Kavalek in Huffington: The World Chess Hall of Fame". chessbase.com. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d e Laura High (September 11, 2011). "CB News - World Chess Hall of Fame opens in St. Louis". achessbase.com. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Brian Jerauld (May 8, 2014). "On Chess: New Shows At World Chess Hall of Fame Include Burning Boards". News.stlpublicradio.org. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  11. ^ a b c "US Chess Hall of Fame – World Chess Hall of Fame". worldchesshof.org. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  12. ^ a b c "World Chess Hall of Fame Brochure" (PDF). worldchesshof.org. Retrieved January 21, 2017.
  13. ^ "Bent Larsen". worldchesshof.org.
  14. ^ "World Chess Hall of Fame". World Chess Hall of Fame.
  15. ^ "Susan Polgar". worldchesshof.org.
  16. ^ "Marcel Dzama: The End Game". Worldchesshof.org. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  17. ^ "BOBBY FISCHER: Icon Among Icons, Photographs by Harry Benson CBE". Worldchesshof.org. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  18. ^ "Screwed Moves". Worldchesshof.org. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  19. ^ "Everybody's Game: Chess in Popular Culture". Worldchesshof.org. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  20. ^ "Power in Check: Chess and the American Presidency". Worldchesshof.org. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  21. ^ "Bill Smith: Beyond the Humanities". Worldchesshof.org. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  22. ^ "Prized and Played: Highlights from the Jon Crumiller Collection". Worldchesshof.org. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  23. ^ "'A Queen Within' tells its story with show stoppers". Stltoday.com. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  24. ^ Shannon Bailey (July 23, 2014). "On Chess: Hall Of Fame Exhibit Peeks Inside The Complex Mind Of Bobby Fischer". News.stlpublicradio.org. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
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