Weaver W. Adams
Weaver Warren Adams ( born April 28, 1901 in Dedham, Massachusetts, † January 6, 1963 in Cedar Grove, New Jersey) was an American chess player and author.
Life
Weaver Adams grew up as the son of a commercial agent Frank H. Adams on in middle-class family. The game of chess, he learned at the age of 12 years. After graduating from high school, he began studying engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which he, however, could not finish successfully, because he mainly devoted himself to chess. His teacher was the Boston lawyer John F. Barry, who had counted at the beginning of the 20th century to the best players in the United States. 1922 Adams won the championship of the Boston Chess Club and in 1924 a competition win against Harold Morton the championship of New England. This title he held until 1929 when he lost a rematch against Morton. In 1936, Adams participated in the national championship of the USA in New York City, but only got to the shared last place. Also in the U.S. Championships in 1940, 1944, 1946 and 1948, he did not on top positions. Profits he could on the other hand the championship of Massachusetts in the years 1937, 1938, 1941 and 1945 and the U.S. Open Championship in 1948 in Baltimore. His only tournament abroad, he played at the turn of 1950/51 in Hastings, ranked there but only the penultimate place.
Since Adams could not live from chess, he tried his hand at times, with modest success as a chicken farmer. Since 1949 he was a member of the Log Cabin Chess Club in West Orange, whose founder Elliot Forry Lauck he was also financially supported. Adams was homosexual.
His best historical Elo rating was 2560 in December 1945, that he was number 50 of the unofficial world rankings.
Contributions to opening theory
Adams was convinced that the move advantage in chess was a crucial factor, and tried to demonstrate this in numerous analyzes. As he held the opening moves 1.e4 e5 for the best, they were the starting point of his inquiries. At first, he dealt with the runner game and gave the variation 1.e4 e5 3.d3 Nf6 2.Lc4 Bc5 4.Nc3 d6 5.f4 as profitable. Later he held the Vienna Game for better. In practice, he was able to achieve with its variants, to which his opponents were able to prepare well, no particular success. Grandmaster Larry Evans criticized in 1962 in the chess magazine Chess Life dogmatism of Adams. Positive about Adams commented on the other hand, Hans Berliner, who is also of the opinion that White has to come in crucial advantage for optimal play, but 1.d4 holds for the best train.
After Weaver Adams two opening variations are named: The Sicilian Defence by the Bobby Fischer played 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 move order with success d6 3.d4 cxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 4.Nxd4 6.h3 and in the Vienna Game, the Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Lc4 Nxe4 6.d4 Nc6 4.Dh5 Sd6 5.Lb3.
Works
- White to play and win (1937, 1939)
- Simple chess (1946, 1952, 1958)
- How to play chess (1958 )
- Absolute Chess (1959 )