The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) is a
nonprofit, collecting institution situated
in the Central West End neighborhood of St.
Louis, Missouri, United States.
The WCHOF is the only institution of its kind
and offers a variety of programming to explore
the dynamic relationship between art and chess,
including educational outreach initiatives
that provide context and meaning to the game
and its continued educational impact.
Founded in 1984, it is run by the United States
Chess Trust.
Formerly located in New Windsor, New York;
Washington, D.C.; and Miami, Florida, it moved
to St. Louis on September 9, 2011.
== History ==
The brainchild of Steven Doyle, USCF president
from 1984 to 1987, the World Chess Hall of
Fame was created in 1986 as the U.S. Chess
Hall of Fame.
Opened in 1988 in the basement of the Federation's
then-headquarters in New Windsor, New York,
the small museum contained a modest collection,
including a book of chess openings signed
by Bobby Fischer; a silver set awarded to
Paul Morphy, American chess player and unofficial
World Champion; and cardboard plaques honoring
past grandmasters.
In 1992, the U.S. Chess Trust purchased the
museum and moved its contents to Washington
D.C.
At its Washington D.C. location from 1992
to 2001, the hall featured America's "big
four" chess players: Paul Morphy, Bobby Fischer,
Frank Marshall, and Samuel Reshevsky.
It displayed the World Chess Championship
trophy won by the United States team in 1993
as well as numerous chess boards and chess
pieces.
The museum gave visitors the opportunity to
play against a chess computer.
By 2001, the collection had grown to include
numerous chess sets and boards and plaques
commemorating inductees to the U.S. and World
halls of fame.In the late 1990s, Sidney Samole,
former owner of Excalibur Electronics, proposed
to move the hall of fame to Miami, where it
would be located in a rook-shaped building
constructed by Excalibur.
Although Samole died in 2000, the U.S. Chess
Trust accepted the proposal the following
year.
Reopened in 2001, it was renamed the World
Chess Hall of Fame and Sidney Samole Museum.
The museum continued collecting chess sets,
books, tournament memorabilia, advertisements,
photographs, furniture, medals, trophies,
and journals until it closed in 2009.
Philanthropist Rex Sinquefield soon afterward
agreed to pay for moving the museum to St.
Louis and renovating its new building.The
World Chess Hall of Fame is located across
the street from the Chess Club and Scholastic
Center of Saint Louis in the city's Central
West End neighborhood.
It displays artifacts from the museum's permanent
collection and temporary exhibitions highlighting
the great players, historic games, and rich
cultural history of chess as well as the U.S.
and World Chess Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame collaborates with the Chess
Club and Scholastic Center to provide programming,
instruction, and outreach to an international
audience of novices and experts alike.
Its collection includes pieces such as a 500-year-old
piece from an Egyptian game called senet,
the earliest known board game; a custom-made
set of chess furniture that belonged to Bobby
Fischer, and the first commercial chess computer.
Rotating exhibitions feature items from the
permanent collection; the museum also mounts
two temporary exhibitions per year.
The Hall of Fame also commemorates the careers
of its members.
== Hall of Fame ==
There are 52 members in the U.S. Hall of Fame,
including Bobby Fischer, John W. Collins,
Larry Evans, Benjamin Franklin, George Koltanowski,
Sammy Reshevsky, Paul Morphy, and Arnold Denker.
There are 19 members in the World Hall of
Fame, including José Raúl Capablanca, Anatoly
Karpov, Garry Kasparov, and Boris Spassky.
The winner of the first Women's World Chess
Championship, Vera Menchik, was the first
woman to be inducted into the WCHOF in 2011.
The 2011 inductions took place on September
8 as part of the World Chess Hall of Fame
Grand Opening celebration.
=== U.S. Chess Hall of Fame inductees ===
The U.S. Chess Federation Hall of Fame Committee
considers candidates for the U.S. Chess Hall
of Fame and sends its nominations to the U.S.
Chess Trust each year.
The trustees of the U.S. Chess Trust vote
on who should be inducted.
The induction itself take place either at
the U.S. Chess Federation Awards Luncheon
during the U.S. Open or at the World Chess
Hall of Fame, which is now located in Saint
Louis, Missouri.
The induction is almost always performed by
either the Chairman of the U.S. Chess Trust
or the Chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee.
Current members of the committee are Harold
Winston (Chairman), John Donaldson, John McCrary,
Al Lawrence, GM Joel Benjamin, GM Arthur Bisguier,
John Hilbert, Jennifer Shahade, and Shane
Samole.
McCrary and Donaldson are former Chairs of
the Hall of Fame Committee.
Both Bisguier and Benjamin are members of
the Hall of Fame.
Samole was in charge of the Hall of Fame when
it was located in Miami, Florida from 2001-2009.
=== World Chess Hall of Fame inductees ===
The World Chess Hall of Fame inductees are
nominated by representatives of the World
Chess Federation (FIDE).
== Exhibitions ==
Upon its move to St. Louis in 2011, the World
Chess Hall of Fame not only features chess
artifacts from throughout history in its permanent
collection, but also art and artifacts on
loan from various artists and collectors.
=== OUT OF THE BOX: Artists Play Chess ===
On view from September 9, 2011 to February
12, 2012, this contemporary art exhibition
was curated by Bradley Bailey, assistant professor
of modern and contemporary art history at
Saint Louis University, It featured artworks
that consider chess both at the formal level
and at the level of actual play.
The artists featured in this exhibition were
Tom Friedman, Barbara Kruger, Liliya Lifanova,
Yoko Ono, Gavin Turk, Diana Thater, and Guido
van der Werve.
On the exhibit's opening night, Dutch contemporary
artist, Guido van der Werve, performed on
a one-of-a-kind chess piano that he built.
The piano sounded a note as each chess piece
was played, while nine string musicians from
the Saint Louis Symphony played van der Werve's
score.
On closing night, the Contemporary Art Museum
St. Louis hosted an event featuring Liliya
Lifanova's performance art piece Anatomy is
Destiny, one of the pieces in the exhibition.
=== Chess Masterpieces: Highlights from the
Dr. George and Vivan Dean Collection ===
On view from September 9, 2011 to February
12, 2012, this show celebrated the Deans'
50th year of collecting together and featured
selected works to trace the development of
the game of chess and the design of fine chess
sets from the tenth to the early twentieth
century.
Sets came from Austria, Cambodia, China, England,
France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Kashmir,
Morocco, Persia, Russia, Syria, and Turkey.
Among the works displayed were pieces owned
or commissioned by Catherine the Great, Napoleon,
Czar Nicolas II, and the British royal family.
=== Marcel Dzama: The End Game ===
On view from March 9, 2012 to August 12, 2012,
Marcel Dzama's artistic works were on display,
including films, related drawings, paintings,
sculptures, and dioramas.
Dzama's work draws from a diverse range of
references and artistic influences, including
Dada and Marcel Duchamp.
His film features characters based on the
classic game of chess.
Dressed in geometrically designed costumes
of papier-mâché, plaster, and fiberglass
and wearing elaborate masks (including a quadruple-faced
mask for the King), the figures dance across
a checkered board to challenge their opponents
in fatal interchanges.
=== BOBBY FISCHER: Icon Among Icons ===
On view from March 9, 2012 to October 7, 2012,
this show featured photographs by Harry Benson,
the only person to have private access to
Bobby Fischer during the entire 1972 World
Chess Championship match in Reykjavík, Iceland.
Benson captured intimate images of Fischer
and was the first person to deliver the news
to Fischer that he had won the match.
=== Screwed Moves ===
On view from September 13, 2012 to February
10, 2013, this show featured nine of Saint
Louis' most recognized artists, known as The
Screwed Arts Collective, who worked together
over a two-week period to produce a one-of-a-kind,
site-specific wall drawing inspired by chess.
=== Everybody's Game: Chess in Popular Culture
===
On view from October 18, 2012 to April 14,
2013, this show took a playful look at how
the ancient sport is represented in our contemporary
culture by showcasing the game of chess as
it has been featured in such mass media as
magazine advertisements, rock music and movie
posters, and other popular venues.
=== Power in Check: Chess and the American
Presidency ===
On view from October 18, 2012 to April 21,
2013, this show explored how chess has influenced
the American presidency since the administration
of George Washington.
=== Bill Smith: Beyond the Humanities ===
On view from March 7, 2013 to August 25, 2013,
this show featured the work of Bill Smith,
which explores how rules guide the creation
of our world's structure and behavior.
In order to highlight the intersection of
art, chess, and nature, Smith used art to
show the underlying similarities of all things.
His videos and constructions gave a holistic
view of the world by presenting the ubiquitous
patterns and interactions common to music,
games, technology, animals, molecules, and
the galaxy.
=== Prized and Played: Highlights from the
Jon Crumiller Collection ===
On view from May 3, 2013 to September 15,
2013, this event showcased over eighty beautiful,
antique chess sets from across the centuries
and around the world, as well as many interesting
artifacts related to the history of chess.
=== A Queen Within: Adorned Archetypes, Fashion
and Chess ===
On view from October 19, 2013 to April 19,
2014, this show explored the archetypes of
a queen.
Works from experimental designers highlighted
the queen archetypes in fashion and identified
the relationships with the cultural collective
unconscious and traditions of storytelling.
Curated by independent curators, Sofia Hedman
and Serge Martynov.
=== Jacqueline Piatigorsky: Patron, Player,
Pioneer ===
On view from October 25, 2013 to July 13,
2014, this show explored Jacqueline Piatigorsky's
position as one of the best female chess players
of the 1950s and 1960s, as well as her support
of the game as a patron.
It featured artifacts from her personal archive.
Highlights included the Piatigorsky Cup, photos
from the 1963 and 1966 Piatigorsky Cup tournaments,
and artifacts and photos related to Piatigorsky's
impressive career in women's chess.
=== Cage & Kaino: Pieces and Performances
===
On view from May 8, 2014 to September 21,
2014, this exhibition is accompanied by live
performances of the work of 20th-century composer,
John Cage, and contemporary multimedia artist,
Glenn Kaino.
Curated by independent curator, Larry List.
=== Strategy by Design: Games by Michael Graves
===
On view from May 8, 2014 to September 28,
2014, this exhibition focuses on the games
designed by the Michael Graves Design Group.
Curated by independent curator, Bradley Bailey.
=== A Memorable Life: A Glimpse into the Complex
Mind of Bobby Fischer ===
On view from July 24, 2014 to June 7, 2015,
this exhibition explores the career of Bobby
Fischer, considered one of the greatest American
chess players of all time
