United States Armed Forces Chess

United States Armed Forces Chess refers to the annual Armed Forces Chess Championship, also known as the "Inter-Services Chess Championship, or ISCC, held annually since 1960 by the United States Department of Defense and the United States Chess Federation. It also refers to the study of the game of chess by the United States Armed Forces for military applications.

Armed Forces Chess Championship

The first tournament was held in 1960, and continued uninterrupted until 1993, when the support of the United States Department of Defense was withdrawn. The United States Chess Federation and the US Chess Center supported the tournaments until 2001, when the support of the US Department of Defense was resumed. Emory Tate won the Armed Forces Chess Championship five times, in 1983, 1984, and three times in a row from 1987-1989, was an unequaled record.[1] In 2018, Larry Larkins won his sixth Armed Forces Chess Championship.[2]

The tournaments were:

1960, the first U.S. Armed Forces Chess Championship (USAFCC) was held at the American Legion Hall of Flags in Washington, D.C. There were 12 invited participants. Air Force Captain John Hudson and Army SP4 Arthur Feuerstein tied for 1st place. Feuerstein was four times New York state champion. Hudson was a bombardier-navigator on B-52 bombers and a former US Amateur champion.

1961, Captain John Hudson won the 2nd US Armed Forces championship. The tournament was sponsored by the US Chess Federation, the American Chess Foundation, and the USO.

1962, SP4 Roy Mallett won the 3rd US Armed Forces championship.

1963, Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Irwin Lyon won the 4th US Armed Forces championship. This was the first year that the Coast Guard was represented in this annual event.

1964, Air Force 1st Lieutenant Donato Rivera de Jesus won the 5th US Armed Forces championship. He played for Puerto Rico in the Varna Chess Olympiad in 1962.

1965, Air Force Airman David Lees (1943-1996) won the 6th US Armed Forces championship. He also won the Texas State Championship in 1965. The event was held at the American Legion's Hall of Flags in Washington, D. C.

1966, Army SP4 Chester Wozney won the 7th US Armed Forces championship.

1967, Army SP4 Michael Senkiewicz won the 8th US Armed Forces championship. He was also a world class Scrabble player, backgammon player, and poker player. He played for the British Virgin Islands in the 1988 chess Olympiad, scoring 9 out of 12. He was once ranked 35th in the nation in chess.

1968, Army Private First Class Charles "Charlie" Powell (1944-1991) won the 9th US Armed Forces championship. He was 7-time Virginia champion and beat Bobby Fischer in a simul.

1969, Army PFC Steven Hohensee won the 10th US Armed Forces championship.

1970, Air Force Major John Hudson won the 11th US Armed Forces championship.

1971, Air Force 1st Lieutenant Brendan Godfrey won the 12th US Armed Forces championship. Now Dr. Godfrey is Director of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

1972, Coast Guard Lieutenant Zaccarias Chavez won the 13th US Armed Forces championship. He appeared on the front cover of the December 1972 issue of Chess Life & Review.[3]

1973, Air Force Sergeant Don Sutherland won the 14th US Armed Forces championship. He won the California State Chess Championship in 1965 and Colorado Championship in 1973.

1974, Air Force Sergeant Richard Bustamante won the 15th US Armed Forces championship.

1975, Air Force Sergeant Charles Unruh won the 16th US Armed Forces championship.

1976 Army E4 Russell Garber won the 17th US Armed Forces championship.

1977, Air Force Captain Robert Bond won the 18th US Armed Forces championship.

1978, Air Force Captain Robert Bond won the 19th US Armed Forces championship. The event was held at the American Legion Hall of Flags in Washington, D.C. The event was sponsored by the American Chess Foundation.

1979, Army SP4 Michael Fletcher won the 20th US Armed Forces championship. He is a national master.

1980, Army SP4 Michael Fletcher won the 21st US Armed Forces championship.

1981, Airman 1st Class Timothy Brown won the 22nd US Armed Forces championship. He won the Arizona championship in 1976.

1982, Air Force Sergeant Timothy Brown won the 23rd US Armed Forces championship.

1983, Air Force Senior Airman Emory Tate, Jr. won the 24th US Armed Forces championship.

1984, Air Force Sergeant Emory Tate won the 25th US Armed Forces championship.

1985, Army SP4 Roberto Rodriquez and Air Force Sergeant Bobby Moore tied for 1st in the 26th US Armed Forces championship.

1986, Army Private Richard Russell won the 27th US Armed Forces championship.

1987, Air Force Staff Sergeant Emory Tate won the 28th US Armed Forces championship.

1988, Air Force Staff Sergeant Emory Tate won the 29th US Armed Forces championship.

1989, Air Force Staff Sergeant Emory Tate won the 30th US Armed Forces championship.

1990, Mario Murillo (Navy) won the 31st US Armed Forces championship.

1991, Mario Murillo (Navy) won the 32nd US Armed Forces championship.

1992, Donato Lacno (Navy) won the 33nd US Armed Forces championship.

1993, Air Force Sergeant Elvin Wilson won the 34th US Armed Forces championship.

1994, Robert Holling (Navy) won the 35th US Armed Forces championship.

1995, John Hanson and Brian Richardson tied for 1st in the 36th US Armed Forces championship.

1996, Army Captain David Hater won the 37th US Armed Forces championship.

1997, Army Major David Hater and Dwaine Roberts (Marines Corps) tied for 1st in the 38th annual U.S. Armed Forces Championship.

1998, Air Force Sergeant Elvin Wilson and Air Force Sergeant Peter Kurucz ties for 1st in the 39th US Armed Forces championship.

1999, Air Force Sergeant Robert Keough won the 40th annual U.S. Armed Forces Championship.

2000, Air Force Sergeant Robert Keough won the 41st annual U.S. Armed Forces Championship.

2001, Sgt Rudy Tia and Joseph Kruml tied for 1st in the 42nd annual U.S. Armed Forces Championship held at Ft. Meyer. In 2001, the US Armed Forces Chess Championship (USAFCC) was renamed the U.S. Interservice Chess Championship (ISCC).

2002, Sgt Rudy Tia won the 43rd annual U.S. Armed Forces Championship. The event took place in San Diego, CA.

2003, Air Force Sergeant Leroy Hill won the 44th annual U.S. Armed Forces Championship. The tournament was held at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas.

2004, Narcisco Victoria and West Point Cadet David Jacobs tied for 1st in the 45th annual U.S. Armed Forces Championship.

2005, West Point Cadet David Jacobs won the 46th annual U.S. Armed Forces Championship. The tournament was held in Arlington, Virginia.

2006, West Point Cadet David Jacobs won the 47th annual U.S. Armed Forces Championship.[4] The tournament was held at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, DC. As a special special speaker retired USAF Lt. General William Earl Brown,[5] a chessplayer who was in one of the Tuskeegee Airman graduating classes in the late 1940s.[6]

2007, Navy retiree Larry Larkins won the 48st annual U.S. Armed Forces Championship. The tournament was held in Arlington, Virginia.

2008, Army Specialist Jhonel Baniel won the interservice U.S. Armed Forces Championship. The tournament was held in Tucson, Arizona.[7] Navy retiree Larry Larkins won the 49st annual U.S. Armed Forces Championship in 2008. The tournament was held in Bethesda, MD.

2009, Army PFC Pieta Garrett won the 50th annual U.S. Armed Forces Championship. The games were held at Fort Benning, Georgia.

2010, Navy retiree Larry Larkins won the 51st annual U.S. Armed Forces Championship. The tournament was held at Joint Base Andrews MD.

2011, the 52nd U.S. Armed Forces Open, held in Arlington, Virginia, was won by Air Force retiree Dan Ranario. The top active duty player was Air Force Senior Airman Kiel Russell. The Air Force Academy won the Commander-in-Chief trophy as the top academy team.

2012, the 53rd U.S. Armed Forces Open Chess Championships was held on board of the USS Wasp in Norfolk, Virginia. This was the first time the event was held on a ship. Dan Ranario (2128) won the event.

2013, the 54th U.S. Armed Forces Open Chess Championships was held at the U.S. Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Dan Ranario, Robert Keough, Gordon Randall, and Jon Middaugh tied for 1st place.

2014, US Army Nicholas Oblak won the 55th U.S. Armed Forces Open Chess Championships held at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.[8]

2015, Navy retiree Larry R. Larkins won the 56th U.S. Armed Forces Championship held at Fort Belvoir, Virginia USO Center.[9]

2016, Navy retiree Larry Larkins won the 57th U.S. Armed Forces championship held at US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD.[10]

2017, the 58th U.S. Armed Forces Open Chess Championship was hosted at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and sponsored by the US Chess Trust and US Chess president, Mike Hoffpauir, a former US Army brigade commander. US Air Force Technical sergeant Leroy Hill, Jr., won the event. Hill also won the Inter-Service Championship in 2003.[11]

2018, Navy retiree Larry Larkins won on tiebreaks the 59th U.S. Armed Forces Championship held at Joint Base Andrews,MD.[12]

Armed Forces Chess Research

The United States Armed Forces has studied chess in a number of different applications, from the understanding of psychology, game theory, problem solving, tactical decision making, risk taking and leadership, not to mention in computer programs, artificial intelligence and algorithms.[13]

The Defense Technical Information Center lists over 1,500 civilian, contractor and military reports dealing with chess, chess theory and other applications of chess research.[14]

References
  1. Hater, David A. 2016. "Officers Pay Double: Larry Larkins wins 56th Armed Forces Championship, and our correspondent examines how Chess helped our overseas forces." January 2016. Pages 39, 41.
  2. Major Kinney, Zack USAF Retired. Record Set At US Armed Forces Open: Larry Larkins wins his sixth title at the 59th annual event. Chess Life. March 2019 pg 34-35.
  3. United States Chess Federation. Chess Life. New Windsor, N.Y.: United States Chess Federation. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5885790.
  4. "West Point Cadet pulls a threepeat." By Michael Atkins. October 16, 2006. US Chess Federation. http://www.uschess.org/content/view/6293/157/
  5. Brown, William Earl. A Fighter Pilot's Story. Washington: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, 1992.
  6. USCF Politics Blog March 17, 2010.
  7. "Baniel is Champion, Dulger Makes History." By Andres D. Hortillosa. June 13, 2008. US Chess Federation. http://www.uschess.org/content/view/8499/463.
  8. http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201410133432-12847369
  9. Hater, David A. 2016. "Officers Pay Double: Larry Larkins wins 56th Armed Forces Championship, and our correspondent examines how Chess helped our overseas forces." January 2016. Pages 39, 41.
  10. http://www.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?201610102272.1)
  11. Lawrence, Al. 2018. "Hill and Watters Top Guns at 58th Armed Forces Chess Championship: Navy Top Service Team; West Point Top U.S. Military Service Academy." Chess Life. New Windsor, NY: US Chess, 1987. February 2018. Pages 30-35.
  12. Major Kinney, Zack USAF Retired. Record Set At US Armed Forces Open: Larry Larkins wins his sixth title at the 59th annual event. Chess Life. March 2019 pg 34-35.
  13. Wilkins, David Edward. www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a076872.pdf Using Patterns and Plans to Solve Problems and Control Search. Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Memo AIM-329. July 1979.
  14. [DTIC.mil Search:"Chess Theory"]

Bibliography
  • "Check Chess Out." Army Times. October 1990. Volume 51 (9), page 2.
  • Accession Number: ADA225613. The Game of Chess. Descriptive Note : Technical rept. Corporate Author : CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIV PITTSBURGH PA ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PSYCHOLOGY PROJECT. Personal Author(s) : Simon, Herbert A.; Schaeffer, Jonathan. Full Text: http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA225613. Report Date : 17 DEC 1990. Pagination or Media Count: 21. Abstract : We have seen that the theory of games that emerges from this research is quite remote in both its concerns and its findings from the von Neumann Morgenstern theory. To arrive at actual strategies for the play of games as complex as chess, the game must be considered in extensive form, and its characteristic function is of no interest. The task is not to characterize optimality or substantive rationality, but to define strategies for finding good moves—procedural rationality. What is emerging, from research on games like chess, is a computational theory of games: A theory of what it is reasonable to do when it is impossible to determine what is best—a theory of bounded rationality. The lessons taught by this research may be of considerable value for understanding and dealing with situations in real life that are even more complex that the situations we encounter in chess—in dealing, say, with large organizations, with the economy, or with relations among nations. The game of chess has sometimes been referred to as the Drosophila of artificial intelligence and cognitive science research - a standard task that serves as a test bed for ideas about the nature of intelligence.
  • Larkins Wins 56th Armed Forces Open.
  • Hater, David A. 2016. "Officers Pay Double: Larry Larkins wins 56th Armed Forces Championship, and our correspondent examines how Chess helped our overseas forces." January 2016. Pages 38–42.
  • Kmoch, Hans. Chess Games of the First Thomas Emery Armed Forces Tournament; An Analysis and Study. New York: American Chess Foundation, 1961. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7081745.
  • Newell, Allen and Herbert A. Simon. 1964. Accession Number: AD0619386. Title: AN EXAMPLE OF HUMAN CHESS PLAY IN THE LIGHT OF CHESS PLAYING PROGRAMS. Corporate Author: CARNEGIE INST OF TECH PITTSBURGH PA. Personal Author(s): Newell, Allen; Simon, Herbert A. Full Text: http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=AD0619386. Report Date: AUG 1964. Pagination or Media Count: 92. Abstract: This paper is concerned with the use of chess programs to study human thinking. The work on chess programs has produced a collection of mechanisms sufficient to play chess of modest caliber. Independently of their detailed characteristics, they help understand what must be done in order to play chess. The approach used was to examine in some detail the behavior of a man deciding what move to make in a specific middle game position. Having available a protocol, a transcript of the verbal behavior of the man while he is analysing the board and making his decision. Previous work with protocols in other tasks (proving theorems, guessing sequences, learning concepts) has aimed at constructing computer programs that match the behavior in detail. In this paper the authors undertake only the first stages of such an analysis, laying bare the reasoning the subject employed, by examining his protocol in detail. The analysis draws upon ones general knowledge about reasoning mechanisms and how to organize
  • United States, and National Audiovisual Center. USAF Sports and Recreation 1964. U.S. Dept. of the Air Force, 1965. Reviews Air Force team and individual 1964 tournament championships, including bowling, volleyball, basketball, bobsledding, curling, chess, judo, track and field, tennis, softball, golf, and model airplane flying. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5597606.
  • Wilkins, David Edward. [www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a076872.pdf Using Patterns and Plans to Solve Problems and Control Search.] Stanford Artificial Intelligrance Laboratory. Memo AIM-329. July 1979. Abstract: The type of reasoning done by human chess masters has not been done by computer programs. The purpose of this research is to Investigate the extent to which knowledge can replace and support search In selecting a chess move and to delineate the issues involved. This has been carried out by constructing a program, PARADISE (PAttern Recognition Applied to Directing SEarch), which finds the best move in tactically sharp middle game positions from the games of chess masters.
  • Young, Franklin Knowles. Chess Strategetics; Illustrated. Military Art and Science Adapted to the Chessboard. Boston: Little, Brown and Co, 1900. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/3259721.
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