Jacqueline Piatigorsky
Jacqueline Rebecca Louise Piatigorsky ( born November 6, 1911 in Paris as Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de Rothschild, † July 15, 2012 in Los Angeles ) was a French- American chess player, tennis player, sculptress and patron.
Childhood and escape from Europe
Jacqueline Rebecca Louise de Rothschild grew up as the daughter of Jewish origin Rothschild banking family in the Chateau de Ferrieres on, but expressed later negatively about her childhood and thus feeling misunderstood by their parents.
In 1937 she married, after a failed first marriage to another man, the cellist Grigory Piatigorsky / Gregor Piatigorsky. In World War II they were threatened by the invasion of the Wehrmacht disaster, which is why the couple fled, and finally in 1949 settled in Los Angeles. In 1976, she widowed by the death of her husband Gregory.
Check in the United States
Jacqueline Piatigorsky himself was a strong player, so she reached the bronze medal on the second board with 7.5 / 11 points in the first Chess Olympiad Women 1957. However, your team only reached the tenth place. She participated in several national championships for women and remained in 1965 only half a point behind the winners.
She organized the controversial battle between Bobby Fischer and Samuel Reshevsky in 1961 and the Grandmaster tournament Piatigorsky Cup, which was played in 1963 and 1966. The two tournaments are considered to be very influential for the game of chess in the United States. Also for other tournaments and chess school she worked as a patron and organizer.
Their coach was Herman Steiner, after his death in 1955, she took over he had founded Chess Club in Los Angeles and umwidmete in Herman Steiner Chess Club. Later, however, he was renamed Hollywood Chess Club.
Tennis player and sculptor as a widow
As a widow, she turned away from the game of chess and from the tennis game, where she also achieved success. They also began to hew sculptures.
On July 15, 2012, she died at the age of 100 years. She left behind five children and ten grandchildren.