List of mathematicians who studied chess
Encyclopedia
Chess
and mathematics
have been pursued intellectually for centuries by many researchers and scientists, especially mathematician
s. Naturally, the logic
and symmetry
in chess appeal to mathematicians. The following mathematicians either played or studied chess in their life:
Many researchers who had some interest in chess did not have formal training in mathematics. However, they either contributed to mathematics or used mathematics in their profession. They were philosophers, physicists, chemists, engineers, etc. Here is a partial list:
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...
and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
have been pursued intellectually for centuries by many researchers and scientists, especially mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
s. Naturally, the logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
and symmetry
Symmetry
Symmetry generally conveys two primary meanings. The first is an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance; such that it reflects beauty or perfection...
in chess appeal to mathematicians. The following mathematicians either played or studied chess in their life:
- George Airy (July 27, 1801 – January 2, 1892)
- Conel Hugh O'Donel AlexanderConel Hugh O'Donel AlexanderConel Hugh O'Donel Alexander, CMG, CBE was an Irish-born British cryptanalyst, chess player, and chess writer. He worked on the German Enigma machine at Bletchley Park during World War II, and was later the head of the cryptanalysis division at GCHQ for over 20 years...
(19 April 1909 – 15 February 1974) - Adolf AnderssenAdolf AnderssenKarl Ernst Adolf Anderssen was a German chess master. He is considered to have been the world's leading chess player in the 1850s and 1860s...
(July 6, 1818 – March 13, 1879) - Henry Ernest AtkinsHenry Ernest AtkinsHenry Ernest Atkins was a British chess master who is best known for his unparalleled record of winning the British Chess Championship nine times in eleven attempts. He won every year from 1905 to 1911, and again in 1924 and 1925...
(20 August 1872 – 31 January 1955) - George AtwoodGeorge AtwoodGeorge Atwood was an English mathematician who invented a machine for illustrating the effects of Newton's first law of motion...
(October, 1746 – July 11, 1807) - Charles BabbageCharles BabbageCharles Babbage, FRS was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer...
(26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) - Walter William Rouse Ball (August 14, 1850 – April 4, 1925)
- Harry BatemanHarry BatemanHarry Bateman FRS was an English mathematician.-Life and work:Harry Bateman first grew to love mathematics at Manchester Grammar School, and in his final year, won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge. There he distinguished himself in 1903 as Senior Wrangler and by winning the Smith's Prize...
(May 29, 1882 – January 21, 1946) - Max BlackMax BlackMax Black was a British-American philosopher, who was a leading influential figure in analytic philosophy in the first half of the twentieth century. He made contributions to the philosophy of language, the philosophy of mathematics and science, and the philosophy of art, also publishing studies...
(February 24, 1909 – August 27, 1988) - Ludwig BledowLudwig BledowDr Ludwig Erdmann Bledow was a German chess master and chess organizer ....
(July 27, 1795, Berlin – August 6, 1846) - Richard BorcherdsRichard BorcherdsRichard Ewen Borcherds is a British mathematician specializing in lattices, number theory, group theory, and infinite-dimensional algebras. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1998.- Personal life :...
(b. November 29, 1959) - Jacob BronowskiJacob BronowskiJacob Bronowski was a Polish-Jewish British mathematician, biologist, historian of science, theatre author, poet and inventor...
(January 18, 1908 – August 22, 1974) - Sylvain CappellSylvain CappellSylvain Edward Cappell , a Belgian American mathematician and former student of William Browder at Princeton University, is a topologist who has spent most of his career at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at NYU, where he is now the Silver Professor of Mathematics.He was born in...
(born 1946) - Gerolamo CardanoGerolamo CardanoGerolamo Cardano was an Italian Renaissance mathematician, physician, astrologer and gambler...
(September 24, 1501 – September 21, 1576) - Lewis CarrollLewis CarrollCharles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
(January 27, 1832 – January 14, 1898) - D. G. ChampernowneD. G. ChampernowneDavid Gawen Champernowne was an English economist and mathematician.After academic work at Cambridge and the London School of Economics, he worked at the London School of Economics and Cambridge University...
(9 July 1912 – 19 August 2000) - Nathan DivinskyNathan DivinskyNathan Joseph Divinsky is a Canadian mathematician, chess master, and chess writer, who is also known for being the former husband of the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, Kim Campbell. Divinsky and Campbell were married from 1972 to 1983....
(born October 25, 1925) - Henry DudeneyHenry DudeneyHenry Ernest Dudeney was an English author and mathematician who specialised in logic puzzles and mathematical games. He is known as one of the country's foremost creators of puzzles...
(April 10, 1857 – 24 April 1930) - Noam ElkiesNoam ElkiesNoam David Elkies is an American mathematician and chess master.At age 14, Elkies received a gold medal with a perfect score at the International Mathematical Olympiad, the youngest ever to do so...
(born 1966) - Leonhard EulerLeonhard EulerLeonhard Euler was a pioneering Swiss mathematician and physicist. He made important discoveries in fields as diverse as infinitesimal calculus and graph theory. He also introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, particularly for mathematical analysis, such as the notion...
(April 15, 1707 – September 18, 1783) - Max EuweMax EuweMachgielis Euwe was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion . Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.- Early years :Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam...
(May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) a World Chess Champion - Karl FabelKarl FabelKarl Fabel is considered to have been one of the most ingenious chess composers. He was born in Hamburg, Germany. Fabel received a doctorate in chemistry and worked as a mathematician and civil judge....
(October 20, 1905 – 3 March 1975) - Edward W. Formanek
- Fred GalvinFred GalvinFrederick William Galvin is a mathematician, currently a professor at the University of Kansas. His research interests include set theory and combinatorics.His notable combinatorial work includes the proof of the Dinitz conjecture...
- Martin GardnerMartin GardnerMartin Gardner was an American mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature , philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion...
(October 21, 1914 – May 22, 2010)) - Carl Friedrich GaussCarl Friedrich GaussJohann Carl Friedrich Gauss was a German mathematician and scientist who contributed significantly to many fields, including number theory, statistics, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, geophysics, electrostatics, astronomy and optics.Sometimes referred to as the Princeps mathematicorum...
(30 April 1777 – 23 February 1855) - J.W.L. Glaisher (5 November 1848 – 7 December 1928)
- Richard K. GuyRichard K. GuyRichard Kenneth Guy is a British mathematician, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Calgary....
(born 1916) - G. H. HardyG. H. HardyGodfrey Harold “G. H.” Hardy FRS was a prominent English mathematician, known for his achievements in number theory and mathematical analysis....
(February 7, 1877 – December 1, 1947) - David HilbertDavid HilbertDavid Hilbert was a German mathematician. He is recognized as one of the most influential and universal mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas, including invariant theory and the axiomatization of...
(January 23, 1862 – February 14, 1943)
- Kurt HirschKurt HirschKurt August Hirsch was a German mathematician. He studied at the University of Berlin where he was taught by Bieberbach, von Mises, Schmidt, and Schur. Although most influenced by Schur, his doctoral dissertation was on the philosophy of mathematics. The thesis examines the 1920s dispute between...
(January 12, 1906 – November 4, 1986) - Charles KalmeCharles KalmeCharles Ivars Kalme was an American International Master of chess recognized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and a mathematician.Kalme was born in Riga, Latvia on November 15, 1939...
(November 15, 1939 – March 20, 2002) - Andrew KalotayAndrew KalotayAndrew Kalotay is a Hungarian-born finance professor, Wall Street quant and chess master. He is best known as an authority on fixed income valuation and institutional debt management...
(born 1941) - Miroslav KatětovMiroslav KatetovMiroslav Katětov |Chembar]], Russia – December 15, 1995) was a Czech mathematician, chess master, and psychologist. His research interests in mathematics included topology and functional analysis. He was an author of the Katětov–Tong insertion theorem. From 1953 to 1957 he was rector of Charles...
(March 17, 1918 – December 15, 1995) - Maurice KendallMaurice KendallSir Maurice George Kendall, FBA was a British statistician, widely known for his contribution to statistics. The Kendall tau rank correlation is named after him.-Education and early life:...
(September 6, 1907 – March 29, 1983) - Paul KeresPaul KeresPaul Keres , was an Estonian chess grandmaster, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s....
(January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975) Grandmaster of world class - Martin KreuzerMartin KreuzerMartin Kreuzer , is a German Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess and a Mathematics professor.Kreuzer did his undergraduate studies in Mathematics at the University of Regensburg, located on the Danube River in Bavaria. He moved to the United States and completed his doctorate at Brandeis University...
(b. 1962) Correspondence Grandmaster - Omar KhayyámOmar KhayyámOmar Khayyám was aPersian polymath: philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet. He also wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, mineralogy, music, climatology and theology....
(May 18, 1048 – December 4, 1131) - Robion KirbyRobion KirbyRobion Cromwell Kirby is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley who specializes in low-dimensional topology...
(born 1938)
- Ľudovít LačnýLudovít LacnýĽudovít Lačný is a Slovak chess problem composer and judge.He was born in Banská Štiavnica and studied mathematics, working as a teacher, and as a computer programmer....
(b. December 8, 1926) - Edmund LandauEdmund LandauEdmund Georg Hermann Landau was a German Jewish mathematician who worked in the fields of number theory and complex analysis.-Biography:...
(February 14, 1877 – February 19, 1938) - Emanuel LaskerEmanuel LaskerEmanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
(December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) A World Chess Champion - Adrien-Marie LegendreAdrien-Marie LegendreAdrien-Marie Legendre was a French mathematician.The Moon crater Legendre is named after him.- Life :...
(September 18, 1752 – January 10, 1833) - François Le LionnaisFrançois Le LionnaisFrançois Le Lionnais was a French chemical engineer and mathematician, perhaps best known as a founder of the literary movement Oulipo....
(October 3, 1901 – March 13, 1984) - Barbara LiskovBarbara LiskovBarbara Liskov is a computer scientist. She is currently the Ford Professor of Engineering in the MIT School of Engineering's Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department and an Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.-Life and career:She earned her BA in...
(born 1939) - Sam LoydSam LoydSamuel Loyd , born in Philadelphia and raised in New York, was an American chess player, chess composer, puzzle author, and recreational mathematician....
(January 31, 1841 – April 10, 1911) - Roberto Magari (December 7, 1934 – March 5, 1994)
- Jonathan MestelJonathan MestelAndrew Jonathan Mestel is Professor of applied mathematics at Imperial College London who works on magnetohydrodynamics and biological fluid dynamics...
(b. 13 March 1957) Grandmaster - Abraham de MoivreAbraham de MoivreAbraham de Moivre was a French mathematician famous for de Moivre's formula, which links complex numbers and trigonometry, and for his work on the normal distribution and probability theory. He was a friend of Isaac Newton, Edmund Halley, and James Stirling...
(May 26, 1667 – November 27, 1754) - Theodor MolienTheodor MolienTheodor Molien or Fedor Eduardovich Molin was a Baltic-German mathematician. He was born in Riga, Latvia, which at that time was a part of Russian Empire. Molien studied associative algebras and polynomial invariants of finite groups.-Youth in Riga:Theodor Molien's father Eduard Molien was a...
(September 10, 1861 – December 25, 1941) - Frank MorleyFrank MorleyFrank Morley was a leading mathematician, known mostly for his teaching and research in the fields of algebra and geometry...
(September 9, 1860 – October 17, 1937) - Marston MorseMarston MorseHarold Calvin Marston Morse was an American mathematician best known for his work on the calculus of variations in the large, a subject where he introduced the technique of differential topology now known as Morse theory...
(24 March 1892 – 22 June 1977) - Harold James Ruthven MurrayHarold James Ruthven MurrayHarold James Ruthven Murray , was an English educationalist, inspector of schools, and prominent chess historian. He was the first to publish the theory that chess originated in India...
(June 24, 1868 – May 16, 1955)
- John Forbes Nash, Jr. (b. June 13, 1928)
- Crispin St. J. A. Nash-WilliamsCrispin St. J. A. Nash-WilliamsCrispin St. John Alvah Nash-Williams was a British and Canadian mathematician. His research interest was in the field of discrete mathematics, especially graph theory....
(December 19, 1932—January 20, 2001) - John von NeumannJohn von NeumannJohn von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...
(December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) - Simon NewcombSimon NewcombSimon Newcomb was a Canadian-American astronomer and mathematician. Though he had little conventional schooling, he made important contributions to timekeeping as well as writing on economics and statistics and authoring a science fiction novel.-Early life:Simon Newcomb was born in the town of...
(March 12, 1835 – July 11, 1909) - Maxwell Newman (February 7, 1897 – February 22, 1984)
- Emmy NoetherEmmy NoetherAmalie Emmy Noether was an influential German mathematician known for her groundbreaking contributions to abstract algebra and theoretical physics. Described by David Hilbert, Albert Einstein and others as the most important woman in the history of mathematics, she revolutionized the theories of...
(March 23, 1882 – April 14, 1935) - John NunnJohn NunnJohn Denis Martin Nunn is one of England's strongest chess players and once belonged to the world's top ten. He is also a three times world champion in chess problem solving, a chess writer and publisher, and a mathematician....
(b. April 25, 1955) Grandmaster - Luca PacioliLuca PacioliFra Luca Bartolomeo de Pacioli was an Italian mathematician, Franciscan friar, collaborator with Leonardo da Vinci, and seminal contributor to the field now known as accounting...
(1445–1514 or 1517) - Roger PenroseRoger PenroseSir Roger Penrose OM FRS is an English mathematical physicist and Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College...
(b. 8 August 1931) - Grigori PerelmanGrigori PerelmanGrigori Yakovlevich Perelman is a Russian mathematician who has made landmark contributions to Riemannian geometry and geometric topology.In 1992, Perelman proved the soul conjecture. In 2002, he proved Thurston's geometrization conjecture...
(b. 13 June 1966) - Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro (30 Mar 1929 – 21 Feb 2009)
- Henri PoincaréHenri PoincaréJules Henri Poincaré was a French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and a philosopher of science...
(April 29, 1854 – July 17, 1912) - Richard RétiRichard RétiRéti composed one of the most famous chess studies, shown in this diagram. It was published in Ostrauer Morgenzeitung 4 December 1921. It seems impossible for the white king to catch the advanced black pawn, while the white pawn can be easily stopped by the black king...
(28 May 1889 – 6 June 1929) - John RiordanJohn RiordanJohn Riordan was an American mathematician and the author of major early works in combinatorics, particularly Introduction to Combinatorial Analysis and Combinatorial Identities.- Life :...
(1902 – August 28, 1988) - Jakob RosanesJakob RosanesJakob Rosanes was a German mathematician who worked on algebraic geometry and invariant theory. He was also a chess master....
(August 16, 1842 – January 6, 1922) - Jan RusinekJan RusinekJan Rusinek is a Polish mathematician and chess composer, particularly noted for his brilliant endgame studies.He was editor of the study section of Szachy from 1971 to the magazine's closure in 1990. Rusinek became an International Judge of chess composition in 1983, and a Grandmaster of chess...
(b. 1950) - George SalmonGeorge SalmonThe Reverend George Salmon was an Irish mathematician and theologian. His publications in algebraic geometry were widely read in the second half of the 19th century, but he devoted himself mostly to theology for the last forty years of his life...
(September 25, 1819 – January 22, 1904) - Richard SchroeppelRichard SchroeppelRichard C. Schroeppel is an American mathematician born in Illinois. His research has included magic squares, elliptic curves, and cryptography...
(b. 1948) - Claude E. Shannon (April 30, 1916 – February 24, 2001)
- Raymond SmullyanRaymond SmullyanRaymond Merrill Smullyan is an American mathematician, concert pianist, logician, Taoist philosopher, and magician.Born in Far Rockaway, New York, his first career was stage magic. He then earned a BSc from the University of Chicago in 1955 and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1959...
(born 1919) - Aleksandr SolzhenitsynAleksandr SolzhenitsynAleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was aRussian and Soviet novelist, dramatist, and historian. Through his often-suppressed writings, he helped to raise global awareness of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system – particularly in The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of...
(December 11, 1918 – August 3, 2008) - Kannan SoundararajanKannan SoundararajanKannan Soundararajan is an Indian mathematician. He currently is a professor of mathematics at Stanford University. Before moving to Stanford in 2006, he was a faculty at University of Michigan where he pursued his undergraduate studies...
- Jonathan Speelman (b. 2 October 1956) Grandmaster
- Norman SteenrodNorman SteenrodNorman Earl Steenrod was a preeminent mathematician most widely known for his contributions to the field of algebraic topology.-Life:...
(April 22, 1910–October 14, 1971) - Duncan SuttlesDuncan SuttlesDuncan Suttles is an International Grandmaster of chess who was the strongest Canadian player between the eras of Abe Yanofsky and Kevin Spraggett. He is one of the few over-the-board grandmasters who also holds the title of Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess. Suttles has been inactive in...
(b. 21 December 1945) Grandmaster and Correspondence Grandmaster - Thorvald Thiele (December 24, 1838 – September 26, 1910)
- Leonardo Torres y QuevedoLeonardo Torres y QuevedoLeonardo Torres y Quevedo was a Spanish civil engineer and mathematician of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.- Biography :Torres was born on 28 December 1852, on the Feast of the Holy Innocents, in Santa Cruz de Iguña, Molledo , Spain...
(December 28, 1852 – December 18, 1936) - Alan TuringAlan TuringAlan Mathison Turing, OBE, FRS , was an English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of "algorithm" and "computation" with the Turing machine, which played a...
(June 23, 1912 – June 7, 1954) - Alexandre-Théophile VandermondeAlexandre-Théophile VandermondeAlexandre-Théophile Vandermonde was a French musician, mathematician and chemist who worked with Bézout and Lavoisier; his name is now principally associated with determinant theory in mathematics. He was born in Paris, and died there.Vandermonde was a violinist, and became engaged with...
(28 February 1735 – 1 January 1796) - Norbert WienerNorbert WienerNorbert Wiener was an American mathematician.A famous child prodigy, Wiener later became an early researcher in stochastic and noise processes, contributing work relevant to electronic engineering, electronic communication, and control systems.Wiener is regarded as the originator of cybernetics, a...
(November 26, 1894 – March 18, 1964) - Jean-Christophe YoccozJean-Christophe YoccozJean-Christophe Yoccoz is a French mathematician. He was awarded a Fields Medal in 1994, for his work on dynamical systems.-Biography:...
(b. May 29, 1957) - Ernst ZermeloErnst ZermeloErnst Friedrich Ferdinand Zermelo was a German mathematician, whose work has major implications for the foundations of mathematics and hence on philosophy. He is known for his role in developing Zermelo–Fraenkel axiomatic set theory and his proof of the well-ordering theorem.-Life:He graduated...
(July 27, 1871 – May 21, 1953)
Many researchers who had some interest in chess did not have formal training in mathematics. However, they either contributed to mathematics or used mathematics in their profession. They were philosophers, physicists, chemists, engineers, etc. Here is a partial list:
- Friedrich AmelungFriedrich AmelungFriedrich Ludwig Balthasar Amelung was a Baltic German chess player, endgame composer, and journalist.Amelung was born at Võisiku manor in Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire . He played a few games with Adolf Anderssen, Gustav Neumann, Carl Mayet, Emil Schallopp, Andreas Ascharin,...
(23 March 1842 – 21 March 1909) - Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
(c. January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) - Hans BerlinerHans BerlinerHans Jack Berliner , a Professor of , is a former World Correspondence Chess Champion, from 1965–68. He is a Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess, and an International Master for over-the-board chess. He directed the construction of the chess computer HiTech. Berliner is also a chess writer.-Life...
(b. January 27, 1929) World Correspondence Chess Champion - Ottó BláthyOttó BláthyOttó Titusz Bláthy was a Hungarian electrical engineer. In his career, he became the co-inventor of the modern electric transformer, the tension regulator, , the AC watt-hour meter, the single-phase alternating current electric motor, the turbo generator, and the high efficiency turbo...
(August 11, 1860 – September 26, 1939) - Eero BöökEero BöökEero Einar Böök was a Finnish chess player and engineer.A six-time Finnish champion who represented his country six times in the Chess Olympiad, he was awarded the International Master title in 1950 and became an honorary Grandmaster in 1984...
(February 9, 1910 – January 7, 1990) - Mikhail BotvinnikMikhail BotvinnikMikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while...
(17 August 1911 – May 5, 1995) a World Chess Champion - Francesco CalogeroFrancesco CalogeroFrancesco Calogero is a distinguished Italian physicist, active in the community of scientists concerned with nuclear disarmament.-Biography:...
(born February 6, 1935) - Albert EinsteinAlbert EinsteinAlbert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
(March 14, 1879 – April 18, 1955) - Arpad EloÁrpád ÉloArpad Emrick Elo is the creator of the Elo rating system for two-player games such as chess. Born in Egyházaskesző, Austro-Hungarian Empire, he moved to the United States with his parents as a child in 1913.Elo was a professor of physics at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was...
(August 25, 1903 – November 5, 1992) - Richard FeynmanRichard FeynmanRichard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
(May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) - Reuben FineReuben FineReuben 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...
(October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) world-class Grandmaster - Benjamin FranklinBenjamin FranklinDr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
(January 17, 1706 – April 17, 1790) - George GamowGeorge GamowGeorge Gamow , born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov , was a Russian-born theoretical physicist and cosmologist. He discovered alpha decay via quantum tunneling and worked on radioactive decay of the atomic nucleus, star formation, stellar nucleosynthesis, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, cosmic microwave...
(March 4, 1904 – August 19, 1968) - Werner HeisenbergWerner HeisenbergWerner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
(December 5, 1901 – February 1, 1976) - Lancelot HogbenLancelot HogbenLancelot Thomas Hogben FRS was a versatile British experimental zoologist and medical statistician. He is best known for developing Xenopus laevis as a model organism for biological research in his early career, attacking the eugenics movement in the middle of his career, and popularising books on...
(9 December 1895 – 22 August 1975) - Edward LaskerEdward LaskerEdward Lasker was a leading German-American chess and Go player. He was awarded the title of International Master of chess by FIDE. Lasker was an engineer by profession, and an author.-Background:...
(December 3, 1885 – March 25, 1981) - Claude Lévi-StraussClaude Lévi-StraussClaude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist, and has been called, along with James George Frazer, the "father of modern anthropology"....
(28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) - Géza MaróczyGéza MaróczyGéza Maróczy was a leading Hungarian chess Grandmaster, one of the best players in the world in his time. He was also a practicing engineer.-Early career:...
(3 March 1870 — 29 May 1951) world-class Grandmaster - Vladimir NabokovVladimir NabokovVladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...
(April 22, 1899 — July 2, 1977) - Robert OppenheimerRobert OppenheimerJulius Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Along with Enrico Fermi, he is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II project that developed the first...
(April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) - William PollockWilliam Pollock (chess player)William Henry Krause Pollock was an English chess master, and a surgeon.Pollock was born in Cheltenham, England, the son of the Rev. William J. Pollock. He was educated at Clifton College. He studied for the medical profession in Dublin, Ireland from 1880–82, at which time he was a member of the...
(February 21, 1859 – October 5, 1896) - Vasik RajlichVasik RajlichVasik Rajlich is an International Master in chess and the author of Rybka, one of the strongest chess playing programs in the world. Rajlich is a dual Czechoslovakian-American citizen by birth; he was born in the United States of America to Czech parents, at that time graduate students, but grew...
(b. 1971) - Peter Mark Roget (January 18, 1779 – September 12, 1869)
- Jonathan SarfatiJonathan SarfatiJonathan D. Sarfati is a former New Zealand national chess champion and creationist author with a PhD in chemistry. Sarfati works for Creation Ministries International , formerly part of Answers in Genesis , a non-profit Christian Apologetics ministry specialising in Young-Earth creationism...
(b. October 1, 1964) - Milan VidmarMilan VidmarMilan Vidmar was a Slovene electrical engineer, chess player, chess theorist, philosopher, and writer. He was a specialist in power transformers and transmission of electric current.- Biography :...
(June 22, 1885 – October 9, 1962) Grandmaster - Milan VukcevichMilan VukcevichMilan Radoje Vukcevich was a Yugoslav scientist, chess International Master, Grandmaster chess problem composer, and writer....
(March 11, 1937 – May 10, 2003) World-class chess problemist - Ludwig WittgensteinLudwig WittgensteinLudwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He was professor in philosophy at the University of Cambridge from 1939 until 1947...
(April 26, 1889 – April 29, 1951) - Erich ZeplerErich ZeplerErich Ernest Zepler , later known as Eric, was a German-born electronics expert and chess problem composer....
(January 27, 1898 – May 13, 1980) - Konrad ZuseKonrad ZuseKonrad Zuse was a German civil engineer and computer pioneer. His greatest achievement was the world's first functional program-controlled Turing-complete computer, the Z3, which became operational in May 1941....
(June 22, 1910 – December 18, 1995)
See also
- José Capablanca (November 19, 1888 – March 8, 1942) attended engineering school
- Che GuevaraChe GuevaraErnesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
(June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967) medical doctor - Gata KamskyGata KamskyGata Kamsky is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and the current World Rapid Chess Champion. He is also the current United States Chess Champion. As of September 2011, he is rated No. 1 in the United States and No...
(born June 2, 1974) attended medical school