Chess Trivia

Haifa, Israel
Sight of the 1976 chess Olympiad. Libya protested and had an olympiad of their own at the same time. The USSR did not play and the United States team won. This was the first time an olympiad was conducted as a Swiss system. Also, there were no medals for board prizes. Instead, there was a miscellany of prizes, only one per board. For example, the best sixth board went to Kim Commons who recieved a copy of Fischer's MY SIXTY MEMORABLE GAMES.

Hall of Fame, US Chess
Formed in the US in 1986. Its members include Berliner, Benko, Bisguier, Robert Byrne, Jack Collins, Denker, Edmondson, Elo, Larry Evans, Fine, Fischer, Gresser, Harkness, Helms, Horowitz, Kashdan, Koltanowski, Loyd, Mackenzie, Marshall, Morphy, Palciauskas, Pillsbury, Reinfeld, Reshesky, Steinitz, and Vukcevich.

Hamburger Schachklub
Oldest chess club in Germany, founded in 1830.

Hanauer, Milton (1909-1988)
Vice President of the Marshall Chess Club where he had been a member for over 60 years.

Handbuch des Schachspiels
Began by von Bilgaer and completed by von der Lasa, it was the first encyclopedic treatment of the chess openings on modern lines.

Harkness, Kenneth (1898-1972)
The first to compile a US Chess Federation rulebook, the first USCF Executive Director, and inventor of the median system tie-breaker.

Hartston, William (1947- )
Bill Hartston won the British men's chess championship while his wife, Jana Malypetrova Hartston (1947- ), won the British women's championship in 1974.

Hastings
The oldest and longest running tournament in the world. First held in 1895, the current series started in 1920.

Havana 1966
The 17th Chess Olympiad was held in Havana. Premier Castro was on the Organizing Committee and showed up for many of the rounds. He played games against Petrosian and Fischer among others. Each team had a chauffer and a car. There were 52 countries out of the 68 FIDE members that participated. Cuba paid for the air expenses of every team. The American chess team was the first American cultural team to visit Cuba since Castro took over in 1958. USSR took first place followed by the USA. There was a tie betwen Hungary and Yugoslavia. The referees decided to give the bronze medal to Hungary, but their tie-break calculations were faulty. Yugoslavia should have been awarded the bronze medal and this has never been corrected. At the end of the Olympiad, a simultaneous exhibition of 6,480 boards was given.

Hawthorne Chess Club
Jack Collins' chess club which coached Fischer, the Byrne brothers, Lombardy, Matera, and Weinstein.

Hazeltine, Milton (1824-1907)
Newspaper chess columnist in the late 19th century. He was the first person to omit the "to" from recorded moves - making "P to K4" into "P-K4."

Heidelburg
Site of the first known chess tournament in 1467.

Helms, Herman (1870-1963)
Dean of American Chess. He wrote a chess column for 62 years, from 1893 to 1955 in the "Brooklyn Daily Eagle." He published "The American Chess Bulletin" from 1904 to 1963, a period of 59 years. He died in Brooklyn, and day after reaching the age of 93. He was instrumental in directing Bobby Fischer to the Brooklyn Chess Club. He was New York state champion in 1906.

Helpmate
A problem in which both White and Black cooperate to find the shortest mate.

Helsinki 1952
Site of the 10th chess Olympiad and the first time the Soviets participated, which they won.

Henry I
King of England who, in 1106, imprisoned his brother Richard, Duke of Normandy, in Cardiff Castle for 28 years. Richar's only activity was playing chess.

Heritage tournament
A chess tournament held for 25 years or more.

Hero of Hastings
Nickname of Henry Pillsbury, who was the unexpected winner of the Hastings 1895 tournament.

Hitech
1986 North American computer champion, programmed by Dr. Hans Berliner, formal world correspondence champion. Prior to winning the XVI North American Computer Championship, it won a Pittsburgh masters' tournament with a performance rating of over 2400. In 1988 Hitech won the Pennsylvania State Chess Championship outright after defeating International Master Ed Formanek (2485) in the last round.

Hodges, Albert Beauregard (1861-1944)
Former U.S. Champion. His first job was a hidden operator of Ajeeb, the Chess Automation. He played chess and checkers. He won the US championship in 1894 after defeating Jackson Showalter. He never defended his title. Pillsbury challenged him in 1895 but Hodges declined for business reasons. He was the only American master to play against 5 world chess champions over a period of 60 years. He played Zukertort, Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, and Alekhine. He won the Manhattan Chess Club Championship and the New York championship.

Hodgson, Julian (1963- )
Winner of the 1992 British Championship with an all-time record of 10 out of 11 points. He was the winner of the 1991 British Championship as well.

Holland, Kirk
Perhaps the oldest active player in the US, who still playing in rated tournaments at age 94.

Hong Kong
The Hong Kong team in the 1974 Students' Chess Olympiad consisted of five brothers aged 8 to 18. In 1990 the Hong Kong Olympiad team consisted of four players from four different countries.

Horowitz, Al (1907-1973)
Won or tied for 1st in 3 US Opens. He founded Chess Review magazazine in 1932, which emerged with Chess Life in 1969.

Hort, Vlatimil (1944- )
One of the top grandmasters in the world. In 1984 he played 663 games in a simultaneous exhibition in 32 and a half hours at Porz, West Germany,

Horwitz, Bernard (1807-1885)
German-born painter and chess study composer. He won the first study-composing tournament in 1862. He worked as a chess professional in England.

House Resolution 545
In 1986 the U.S. House of Representatives passed House Resolution 545 by unaminous consent which stated that the United States Government recognize Bobby Fischer as the World Chess Champion. The resolution then went to the Senate where it was objected by Senator Metzenbaum (D-OH) and died in the Senate's Judiciary Committee a week later. The resolution was drafted by Representative Charles Pashayan (R-CA).

Huebner, Robert (1948- )
Strongest German player since World War II. In 1971 he was playing in a candidates match with Petrosian when he made a mistake in his 7th game, resigned and withdrew from the match. He said he was bothered by street noises. Petrosian merely turned his hearing aid down. Huebner is a papyrologist and has a PhD. He is also a world-class player in Chinese chess.

Hug, Werner (1952- )
World Junior champion in 1971 and Swiss champion in 1975. In 1979 he set a world record, playing 560 simultaneous games, winning 365, drawing 126, losing 49.

Hund, Barbara (1959- )
West Germany's first woman Grandmaster. She was born 13 days after her mother, Juliane, played in the German Women's Chess Championship.

Hungarian Petrosian
Nickname of Lajos Portisch.

Hunter, Charles (1922-1982)
British correspondence champion in 1961 and International Master of Composition (1967). He was also known as the world's fastest speaker.

Huon of Bordeaux
A romance written around 1200 describing a servant who plays chess against a princess for her hand in marriage. If he loses the game, he loses his head. She finally lets him win.