Anthony Santasiere
Anthony (Tony) Edward Santasiere (born December 9, 1904 in New York City , † January 13, 1977 in Hollywood, Florida ) was an American chess player and author.
Life
He was born in New York, the 12th of 13 children of a family with Franco-Italian roots. His youth was marked by great poverty. At the age of 17 he won the championship of the Marshall Chess Club for the first time in 1922 . Frank James Marshall then persuaded a wealthy chess friend named Aldrick Man to finance the talented boy's education. Santasiere first began studying music at the Juilliard School , but then turned to mathematics. In 1923 he took part in a championship tournament in Lake Hopatcong, in which he finished last, but was able to achieve draws against his mentor Marshall and David Janowski . After graduating from college in 1927, Santasiere taught at a school in the Bronx .
From 1930 to 1963 he worked as a commentator for the chess magazine American Chess Bulletin operates. He participated in 34 championships of the Marshall Chess Club in uninterrupted succession, of which he was able to win six. In 1945 he won the US Open and was appointed to the team for a radio match against the Soviet Union , in which, however, he lost both games on board 10 against David Bronstein . In total, Santasiere won the New York State Championship four times in his career and took part in four US state championships. He achieved his best result in 1946 with a third place. He played only one tournament abroad, in Milan in 1953, which he also won. In 1957 he managed to win a game against the emerging talent Bobby Fischer . Until 1960 he played in the Metropolitan League of New York.
He moved to Florida in the mid-1960s and only played in a few smaller local tournaments. Because of a heart disease, he then withdrew from chess and devoted himself to his other interests, which he cultivated all his life: He was a good piano player, painted over 400 pictures and wrote countless poems. Santasiere lived in a homosexual relationship with a younger man, whom he also designated as his heir in his will.
His best historical rating was 2556 in January 1947, making him 63rd in the world.
Works
In his writings he was an advocate of bold gambit playing , although he used a more positional style in his own games . In 1966 he published the brochure Santasiere's folly, or The opening with a future . In it , he analyzes the form he prefers for the Sokolski opening with 1. Ng1 – f3 d7 – d5 2. b2 – b4 ( ECO code A06), which avoids more tactical variants with 1. b2 – b4 e7 – e5 . In 1972 his essay on chess appeared , in which he made general considerations about the game of chess. Two books have been published from his estate: Romantic king's gambit in games and analysis (1992, ISBN 0-87568-215-4 ), a treatise on the king's gambit , and My love affair with Tschigorin (1995, ISBN 0-87568-259- 6 ), a collection of games about Mikhail Chigorin .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Report on the competition (English)
literature
- The poetaster of chess . In: Arnold Denker and Larry Parr: The Bobby Fischer I knew and other stories . Hypermodern Press, San Francisco 1995, ISBN 1-886040-18-4 , pp. 278-292.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Santasiere, Anthony |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Santasiere, Anthony Edward; Santasiere, Tony |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American chess player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 9, 1904 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 13, 1977 |
| Place of death | Hollywood (Florida) |