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Jacqueline Piatigorsky celbrated her 98th birthday on Nov. 6. She was the sponsor of the Piatigorsky Cup tournaments held in the US in the 1960's.
Here are some comments posted in rec.games.chess.misc by the one and only Sam Sloan (edited for your reading enjoyment) :-)
".....
Her result in the 1965 US Woman's Championship shows that she was a
strong player, especially since she was 54 years old and the second
oldest player in the tournament. She must have been a master when she
was younger, in an era when there were very few woman chess masters.
However, she played so rarely in tournaments that she is remembered
today almost entirely for being a patron of the game. She is
especially remembered for the 1961 Fischer-Reshevsky Match and its
unfortunate end and for the First and the Second Piatigorsky Cup
tournaments.
......
Jacqueline Piatigorsky is still alive today at age 98. She was born
Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de Rothschild on November 6, 1911 in Paris,
France. She was a member of the Rothschild Banking Family, who owned
Europe and who bought and sold kings the way that we buy and sell
tickets to the Yankees Games.
.......
Jacqueline's future husband, Gregor Piatigorsky, had the opposite
background. While she grew up in great wealth, he grew up in great
poverty. He found a way out of poverty by becoming the world's
greatest player of the cello.
His biography, “GRISHA: The Story of Cellist Gregor Piatigorsky”, ISBN
0976002302, describes his harrowing escape from the Soviet Union.
Gregor escaped along with two other musicians, wading across a river
with his cello held high over his head, while the border guards were
shooting at them. When they finally reached what they thought was the
safety of the other side, they were arrested in what was then Poland
but is now part of the Ukraine. They were taken to a police official,
who deemed them to be Soviet spies disguised as musicians and who
ordered them sent back, where they faced a certain death.
When they arrived at the platform of the train station where they were
to be taken back to the Soviet Union, they took out their instruments
and started playing. A crowd gathered, no doubt believing that they
were street beggars, and not famous and renowned concert performers.
Due to the confusion created by the gathering crowd, they were able to
jump on a train as it pulled out of the station and to escape from
their captors. Soon, they made it to Lvov and not long thereafter to
Warsaw and Berlin, where they were once again acclaimed as famous
concert performers.
Although widely recognized as the world's greatest string instrument
player of any instrument, Gregor did not make that much money playing
the cello. His wealth came primarily from his marriage to Jacqueline.
In her biography, Jacqueline describes how she came to be a chess
player.
When she was six years old, she was in bed for several weeks with a
serious illness. A nurse brought her something to keep her occupied.
It was a chess set.
She played with the nurse until she got well. After the nurse left,
she challenged her father to a game. She beat her father easily, and
he never played her again.
......
Although best known in the world of chess for the disastrous Fischer-
Reshevsky Match and for the two Piatigorsky Cup tournaments,
Jacqueline was also a big organizer and promoter of chess in the
schools. She organized big annual events for school children, where as many as 1200 kids played. Unfortunately, she found that these events disintegrated
and collapsed when she was not personally involved.
Her biography makes no mention of the 1961 Fischer-Reshevsky Match.
Here is how she describes how she came to organize the Two Piatigorsky Cup tournaments.
.....
At the time I was involved in chess tournaments, Grisha said, "You
must do something big-organize an international tournament. It should
be called the Piatigorsky Cup. We must get Bobby Fischer and, from
Russia, the world champion, Tigran Petrosian." Yes, Grisha was always
thinking big. Of course, I knew that would be very costly, but I
thought it was a really good idea. There was no important tournament
held in the United States. The last international tournament had been
held in Dallas in 1957, and the world champion had not been present.
We created a chess foundation, not only to promote the Piatigorsky
Cup, but to encourage chess in public schools and for underprivileged,
crippled, and deaf children.
At one time we were teaching chess in every crippled children's school
in and around Los Angeles. I organized a program to teach in schools
for deaf children. I even learned a little sign language so as to be
able to communicate with them myself. But those schools resented our
interference, and when we got there they made it a point to have the
children out at a ball game. Although the children loved the game, we
were obliged to give up. I organized a club for deaf people, which was
successful as long as I was running it, but when I had to go out of
town for a while, I found the club had disintegrated so I discontinued
it. I worked with the youth center of the public schools to promote
tournaments, one of which was called the Tournament of Champions. The
idea was to encourage schools to hold a chess tournament during the
year. The winner of each school tournament would represent his school
in the Tournament of Champions. Another effort was the Christmas
tournament held during Christmas vacation. When we started, about 125
children entered. We kept building it up every year until we had over
1,200 children. At that point I thought that, as the tournament was so
well liked, the schools' youth center could continue it. I supplied
them with the same amount of funds and the same people who had helped
me to work for them, and I withdrew. Each year there were fewer
entries, until it almost reached the point at which we had started. It
was discouraging to have to discontinue the tournament.
The First Piatigorsky Cup, held in 1963, was an international grand
master event comprising eight players: from the Soviet Union, Keres
and the world champion Petrosian; Najdorf and Panno from Argentina;
Gligoric from Yugoslavia; Olafsson from Iceland; and Benko and
Reshevsky from the United States.
Though Bobby Fischer was not yet world champion, he was a famous star
and probably the greatest player. Naturally, we tried to get him. He
wouldn't appear under the same conditions as the other players-he
wanted more money. I felt that complying with his demands would lower
the standard of the tournament. I was anxious to hold a genuinely high
quality event. I was criticized from all sides. People said, "The
United States has to be represented by the best player"; "We cannot
hold the tournament without Fischer"; "He is a genius; one has to
cater to him." Even my husband disapproved of my views. But I held on
to what I believed.
Until then, the only way the public could follow the games was by
setting up magnetic boards and having youngsters run back and forth,
moving pieces on the board to adjust to each new position. It was
cumbersome. So I invented a new system with overhead projectors and
electric clocks so the public could not only follow the games
comfortably, but also the time control.
Three years later, in the Second Piatigorsky Cup, Fischer played under
the same conditions as everyone else. I think I was the first person
ever to stand up to him.
The invitations to the Second Piatigorsky Cup went out. Everyone
accepted except the Russians. Months went by. We started sending
telegrams: silence from Russia. Six months went by before the phone
rang from the Soviet Embassy, asking for my husband. As I happened to
answer the phone, I could not resist and said, "In Russia they are
really not polite."
"What do you mean?" said an indignant voice.
"We invited Petrosian and Keres to play in the Second Cup. We have
written and wired and we never got an answer. That is rude."
"Oh, I am sorry," said the voice on the telephone, "you will hear from
them right away."
A few days later a telegram came: "Thank you for your invitation." We
waited. Another two weeks went by. Another telegram came that said,
"Sorry, we are not free on that date." Within the hour I invited two
other players. Finally we had eight players. We proceeded with the
arrangements-renting the hall, making room reservations, printing the
programs, and many other commitments.
A few weeks before the tournament, Grisha went to Moscow as a member
of the jury for the Tchaikovsky Competition. After he had been there a
few days I received a telegram: "Could you still arrange to include
Petrosian and Keres in the tournament?" I was stunned. Was he
pressured? Did he want me to say yes? Would he be in any danger if we
refused? Prize money would be doubled, rental of the hall should be
extended if possible, programs reprinted, publicity changed. I tried
to stall, answering that it would be extremely difficult to
incorporate Petrosian and Keres and reorganize the tournament, but
that I would try. A second telegram came, more insistent, so I finally
accepted. During Grisha's stay the players themselves had come to him,
so very unhappy, begging him to help them get into the tournament. As
I said, it was difficult and very costly; nevertheless, we rearranged
the tournament to adjust to ten players. But when I. Kashdan, the
chess editor of the Los Angeles Times and the director of the
tournament, went to meet them on arrival, they weren't on the plane.
No message, no explanation. They missed the introductory meeting night
and they were not there for the draw. Finally, we heard that their
visas had not come through but that they would arrive in time to play.
And they did."
Here are some comments posted in rec.games.chess.misc by the one and only Sam Sloan (edited for your reading enjoyment) :-)
".....
Her result in the 1965 US Woman's Championship shows that she was a
strong player, especially since she was 54 years old and the second
oldest player in the tournament. She must have been a master when she
was younger, in an era when there were very few woman chess masters.
However, she played so rarely in tournaments that she is remembered
today almost entirely for being a patron of the game. She is
especially remembered for the 1961 Fischer-Reshevsky Match and its
unfortunate end and for the First and the Second Piatigorsky Cup
tournaments.
......
Jacqueline Piatigorsky is still alive today at age 98. She was born
Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de Rothschild on November 6, 1911 in Paris,
France. She was a member of the Rothschild Banking Family, who owned
Europe and who bought and sold kings the way that we buy and sell
tickets to the Yankees Games.
.......
Jacqueline's future husband, Gregor Piatigorsky, had the opposite
background. While she grew up in great wealth, he grew up in great
poverty. He found a way out of poverty by becoming the world's
greatest player of the cello.
His biography, “GRISHA: The Story of Cellist Gregor Piatigorsky”, ISBN
0976002302, describes his harrowing escape from the Soviet Union.
Gregor escaped along with two other musicians, wading across a river
with his cello held high over his head, while the border guards were
shooting at them. When they finally reached what they thought was the
safety of the other side, they were arrested in what was then Poland
but is now part of the Ukraine. They were taken to a police official,
who deemed them to be Soviet spies disguised as musicians and who
ordered them sent back, where they faced a certain death.
When they arrived at the platform of the train station where they were
to be taken back to the Soviet Union, they took out their instruments
and started playing. A crowd gathered, no doubt believing that they
were street beggars, and not famous and renowned concert performers.
Due to the confusion created by the gathering crowd, they were able to
jump on a train as it pulled out of the station and to escape from
their captors. Soon, they made it to Lvov and not long thereafter to
Warsaw and Berlin, where they were once again acclaimed as famous
concert performers.
Although widely recognized as the world's greatest string instrument
player of any instrument, Gregor did not make that much money playing
the cello. His wealth came primarily from his marriage to Jacqueline.
In her biography, Jacqueline describes how she came to be a chess
player.
When she was six years old, she was in bed for several weeks with a
serious illness. A nurse brought her something to keep her occupied.
It was a chess set.
She played with the nurse until she got well. After the nurse left,
she challenged her father to a game. She beat her father easily, and
he never played her again.
......
Although best known in the world of chess for the disastrous Fischer-
Reshevsky Match and for the two Piatigorsky Cup tournaments,
Jacqueline was also a big organizer and promoter of chess in the
schools. She organized big annual events for school children, where as many as 1200 kids played. Unfortunately, she found that these events disintegrated
and collapsed when she was not personally involved.
Her biography makes no mention of the 1961 Fischer-Reshevsky Match.
Here is how she describes how she came to organize the Two Piatigorsky Cup tournaments.
.....
At the time I was involved in chess tournaments, Grisha said, "You
must do something big-organize an international tournament. It should
be called the Piatigorsky Cup. We must get Bobby Fischer and, from
Russia, the world champion, Tigran Petrosian." Yes, Grisha was always
thinking big. Of course, I knew that would be very costly, but I
thought it was a really good idea. There was no important tournament
held in the United States. The last international tournament had been
held in Dallas in 1957, and the world champion had not been present.
We created a chess foundation, not only to promote the Piatigorsky
Cup, but to encourage chess in public schools and for underprivileged,
crippled, and deaf children.
At one time we were teaching chess in every crippled children's school
in and around Los Angeles. I organized a program to teach in schools
for deaf children. I even learned a little sign language so as to be
able to communicate with them myself. But those schools resented our
interference, and when we got there they made it a point to have the
children out at a ball game. Although the children loved the game, we
were obliged to give up. I organized a club for deaf people, which was
successful as long as I was running it, but when I had to go out of
town for a while, I found the club had disintegrated so I discontinued
it. I worked with the youth center of the public schools to promote
tournaments, one of which was called the Tournament of Champions. The
idea was to encourage schools to hold a chess tournament during the
year. The winner of each school tournament would represent his school
in the Tournament of Champions. Another effort was the Christmas
tournament held during Christmas vacation. When we started, about 125
children entered. We kept building it up every year until we had over
1,200 children. At that point I thought that, as the tournament was so
well liked, the schools' youth center could continue it. I supplied
them with the same amount of funds and the same people who had helped
me to work for them, and I withdrew. Each year there were fewer
entries, until it almost reached the point at which we had started. It
was discouraging to have to discontinue the tournament.
The First Piatigorsky Cup, held in 1963, was an international grand
master event comprising eight players: from the Soviet Union, Keres
and the world champion Petrosian; Najdorf and Panno from Argentina;
Gligoric from Yugoslavia; Olafsson from Iceland; and Benko and
Reshevsky from the United States.
Though Bobby Fischer was not yet world champion, he was a famous star
and probably the greatest player. Naturally, we tried to get him. He
wouldn't appear under the same conditions as the other players-he
wanted more money. I felt that complying with his demands would lower
the standard of the tournament. I was anxious to hold a genuinely high
quality event. I was criticized from all sides. People said, "The
United States has to be represented by the best player"; "We cannot
hold the tournament without Fischer"; "He is a genius; one has to
cater to him." Even my husband disapproved of my views. But I held on
to what I believed.
Until then, the only way the public could follow the games was by
setting up magnetic boards and having youngsters run back and forth,
moving pieces on the board to adjust to each new position. It was
cumbersome. So I invented a new system with overhead projectors and
electric clocks so the public could not only follow the games
comfortably, but also the time control.
Three years later, in the Second Piatigorsky Cup, Fischer played under
the same conditions as everyone else. I think I was the first person
ever to stand up to him.
The invitations to the Second Piatigorsky Cup went out. Everyone
accepted except the Russians. Months went by. We started sending
telegrams: silence from Russia. Six months went by before the phone
rang from the Soviet Embassy, asking for my husband. As I happened to
answer the phone, I could not resist and said, "In Russia they are
really not polite."
"What do you mean?" said an indignant voice.
"We invited Petrosian and Keres to play in the Second Cup. We have
written and wired and we never got an answer. That is rude."
"Oh, I am sorry," said the voice on the telephone, "you will hear from
them right away."
A few days later a telegram came: "Thank you for your invitation." We
waited. Another two weeks went by. Another telegram came that said,
"Sorry, we are not free on that date." Within the hour I invited two
other players. Finally we had eight players. We proceeded with the
arrangements-renting the hall, making room reservations, printing the
programs, and many other commitments.
A few weeks before the tournament, Grisha went to Moscow as a member
of the jury for the Tchaikovsky Competition. After he had been there a
few days I received a telegram: "Could you still arrange to include
Petrosian and Keres in the tournament?" I was stunned. Was he
pressured? Did he want me to say yes? Would he be in any danger if we
refused? Prize money would be doubled, rental of the hall should be
extended if possible, programs reprinted, publicity changed. I tried
to stall, answering that it would be extremely difficult to
incorporate Petrosian and Keres and reorganize the tournament, but
that I would try. A second telegram came, more insistent, so I finally
accepted. During Grisha's stay the players themselves had come to him,
so very unhappy, begging him to help them get into the tournament. As
I said, it was difficult and very costly; nevertheless, we rearranged
the tournament to adjust to ten players. But when I. Kashdan, the
chess editor of the Los Angeles Times and the director of the
tournament, went to meet them on arrival, they weren't on the plane.
No message, no explanation. They missed the introductory meeting night
and they were not there for the draw. Finally, we heard that their
visas had not come through but that they would arrive in time to play.
And they did."
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