Jacqueline Piatigorsky

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Jacqueline Rebecca Louise Piatigorsky (born November 6, 1911 in Paris as Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de Rothschild , † July 15, 2012 in Los Angeles ) was a Franco-American chess player , tennis player , sculptor and patron .

Childhood and escape from Europe

Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de Rothschild grew up as the daughter of the Jewish banker Édouard de Rothschild in the Château de Ferrières , but later made negative comments about her childhood and felt therefore misunderstood by her parents.

In 1937, after a failed first marriage to another man, she married the cellist Gregor Piatigorsky . During the Second World War they were threatened with disaster by the invasion of the Wehrmacht , which is why the couple fled and finally settled in Los Angeles in 1949. In 1976 she widowed Gregor through the death of her husband.

Chess in the United States

Jacqueline Piatigorsky was a strong player herself, so she achieved the bronze medal on the second board with 7.5 points from 11 games at the first women's chess Olympiad in 1957 . However, your team only reached tenth place. She took part in several US women's championships and in 1965 was only half a point behind the first-placed.

She organized the controversial duel between Bobby Fischer and Samuel Reshevsky in 1961 as well as the Piatigorsky Cup grandmaster tournament , which was played in 1963 and 1966. The two tournaments are considered very influential on the game of chess in the United States. She was also active as a patron and organizer in other tournaments and in school chess.

Her coach was Herman Steiner , after whose death in 1955 she took over the chess club he founded in Los Angeles and rededicated it to the Herman Steiner Chess Club . However, it was later renamed the Hollywood Chess Club .

Tennis player and sculptor as a widow

As a widow, she turned away from the game of chess and the game of tennis, where she also achieved success. She also began to make sculptures.

She died on July 15, 2012 at the age of 100. She had five children and ten grandchildren.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Randy Hough: Chess Benefactor Jacqueline Piatigorsky Dies at 100 . United States Chess Federation, July 19, 2012 (Eng.)
  2. ↑ Batgirl ( pseudonym ): Jackie P . Weblog on chess.com, March 31, 2011 (English)
  3. ↑ Elaine Woo: OBITUARIES: JACQUELINE PIATIGORSKY, 1911 - 2012 . Los Angeles Times, July 22, 2012 (English)
  4. ↑ Jacqueline Piatigorsky's results at the women's chess Olympiads on olimpbase.org (English)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Piatigorsky, Jacqueline
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Piatigorsky, Jacqueline Rebecca Louise; Rothschild, Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Franco-American chess player, tennis player, sculptor and patron
DATE OF BIRTH November 6, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris , France
DATE OF DEATH July 15, 2012
Place of death Los Angeles , United States