Loading AI tools
American chess player (1947–2013) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Alan Grefe (September 6, 1947 – December 22, 2013) was an American International Master of chess.[1]
John Grefe | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Born | Hoboken, New Jersey | September 6, 1947
Died | December 22, 2013 66) San Francisco, California | (aged
Title | International Master (1975) |
Peak rating | 2470 (May 1974) |
Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, his best result was a tie for first with Lubomir Kavalek in the 1973 U.S. Championship. FIDE awarded him the title of International Master in 1975. Grefe and Stuart Rachels are the only players since 1948 to have won or shared the U.S. Championship without already having, or having later achieved, the title of International Grandmaster. Grefe, at the time he shared the championship, lived in Berkeley, California, and was a follower of the Guru Maharaj Ji. For that reason and also because of his hippyish appearance, Grefe was affectionately known as "Gandalf" amongst chess friends.
Before his success in the U.S. Championship, Grefe had been fairly successful in Swiss system tournaments in the United States. He tied for eighth in the 1969 and 1971 U.S. Open, tied for first in the 1971 National Open, finished sixth at Lone Pine 1971,[2] tied for fourth through sixth at Lone Pine 1973, and finished sixth in the 1973 U.S. Open.
Grefe died of liver cancer on December 22, 2013, in San Francisco, California.[3]
His decisive win over Walter Browne, later a six-time winner of the U.S. Championship himself, in the 1973 championship:
A brilliancy against veteran grandmaster Miguel Najdorf:
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.