Anthony Edward Santasiere (9 December 1904 – 13 January 1977) was an American chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 master. Santasiere was a high school mathematics teacher by profession. His hobbies included creative writing and oil painting.

Chess career

Santasiere wrote extensively on chess in the magazine American Chess Bulletin

American Chess Bulletin

The American Chess Bulletin was a chess periodical that was published monthly and bi-monthly from 1904 to 1963. The editor was Hermann Helms , who founded the magazine and edited it until his death, at which point publication ceased...

. He is the author of the book The Romantic King's Gambit. The chess opening Santasiere's Folly (1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b4) is named for him.

1920s

In 1923, Santasiere tied for 13th/14th place in Lake Hopatcong (Frank Marshall and Abraham Kupchik

Abraham Kupchik

Abraham Kupchik was an American chess master.Abraham Kupchik was born into a Jewish family in Brest . His family emigrated to the USA in 1903....

 won). In 1924, he took third place, behind Marshall and Carlos Torre, in New York. In 1927, he tied for third/fourth in New York (Albert Pinkus

Albert Pinkus

Albert Sidney Pinkus was an American chess master and author. In 1943 and 1944, he published an analysis of the Two Knights Defense in Chess Review.-Chess career:...

 won). In 1927, he tied for fourth through sixth place in Rome ( New York State Championship; Rudolph Smirka won). In 1928, Santasiere won in Buffalo

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

 (New York State Championship). In 1929, he took third place, behind Herman Steiner

Herman Steiner

Herman Steiner was a United States chess player, organizer, and columnist.He won the U.S. Chess Championship in 1948 and became International Master in 1950....

 and Jacob Bernstein

Jacob Bernstein

Jacob Bernstein was an American chess master.Born into a Jewish family, he lived in New York. He won three consecutive New York State Chess Championships , and shared 1st with Herman Steiner in 1929, but lost a tiebreak to him.He also tied for 8-9th at New York 1913 ,tied for 5-6th at New York...

, in Buffalo (New York State Championship). In 1930, he tied for first with Norman Lessing

Norman Lessing

Norman Lessing was an American television screenwriter and producer, playwright, chess master, and chess writer.-Biography:...

 in Utica

Utica, New York

Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....

 (New York State Championship).

1930s

In 1931, he took seventh place in New York (José Raúl Capablanca

José Raúl Capablanca

José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...

 won). In 1931, he tied for third/fourth in Rome (New York State Championship; Fred Reinfeld

Fred Reinfeld

Fred Reinfeld was an American chess master and a prolific writer on chess and many other subjects, whose books are still read today.-Biography:...

 won). In 1934, he tied for ninth/tenth in Syracuse

Syracuse, New York

Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...

 (Samuel Reshevsky

Samuel Reshevsky

Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster...

 won). In 1935, he took seventh in Milwaukee (Reuben Fine

Reuben Fine

Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S...

 won). In 1938, he tied for 10th/11th in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 (second US Championship; Reshevsky won). In 1938, he took fifth in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 (Israel Horowitz and Isaac Kashdan

Isaac Kashdan

Isaac Kashdan was an American chess grandmaster and chess writer. Kashdan was one of the world's best players in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was twice U.S. Open champion...

 won).

1940s

He shared first place with Shainswit at Ventnor City 1943, took second place, behind Reshevsky, at Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 1944 (the 45th US Open

U.S. Open Chess Championship

The U.S. Open Championship is an open national chess championship that has been held in the United States annually since 1900.-History:Through 1938, the tournaments were organized by the Western Chess Association and its successor, the American Chess Federation .The United States Chess Federation ...

), and won at Peoria

Peoria, Illinois

Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...

 1945 (the 46th US Open). In September 1945, he played in a radio match US vs USSR

USA vs. USSR radio chess match 1945

The USA vs. USSR radio chess match 1945 was a chess match between the USA and the USSR that was conducted over the radio from September 1 to September 4, 1945. The ten leading masters of the United States played the ten leading masters of the Soviet Union for chess supremacy. The match was played...

 on tenth board against David Bronstein

David Bronstein

David Ionovich Bronstein was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics...

 and lost both games. In 1949, he took second, behind Sandrin, in Omaha

Omaha

Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...

 (US Open).

1950s

He won a tournament in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 in 1953. In 1957, Santasiere beat young Bobby Fischer

Bobby Fischer

Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...

 in the West Orange Open.

1960s

On Saturday, May 11, 1968, at the Miami Beach Chess Club in Miami Beach, Florida, Santasiere, billed as "The American Chess Champion", competed in a marathon simultaneous exhibition

Simultaneous exhibition

A simultaneous exhibition or simultaneous display is a board game exhibition in which one player plays multiple games at a time with a number of other players. Such an exhibition is often referred to simply as a "simul".In a regular simul, no chess clocks are used...

 versus 21 opponents. Santasiere scored 12 victories (including a victory over Barry Moss), three draws

Draw (chess)

In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...

, four defaults wins, and lost to Hank Bergman

Hank Bergman

Hyman "Hank" Bergman of Baltimore, Maryland, was a U.S. Army combat veteran of World War II, who while serving with the "Blue Devils" of the 88th Infantry Division was awarded the Silver Star for single-handedly destroying a German machine-gun nest, while under enemy fire.-Pre-World War II...

and Irving Lynch.

Books written by Santasiere

• The Futuristic Chess opening: Santasiere's Folly (Paperback) by Anthony E Santasiere
• King’s Gambit - Analysis and Games, Anthony Santasiere

External links