Hrtha: Spotlight on Jacqueline Piatigorsky
Her League member and Her News columnist, Hrtha Rajiv, spotlights Jacqueline Piatigorsky’s career, a woman of many talents, represented the USA in the first Women’s Chess Olympiad in 1957.
By Hrtha Rajiv - Great Valley Middle School - HL Member & HN COLUMNIST
Jacqueline Piatigorsky
Born on November 6th, 1911, Jacqueline Piatigorsky grew up in a wealthy family of bankers in Paris by the name of Jacqueline de Rothschild. In 1940, due to World War II, she and her husband moved to New York. After moving to the U.S., she decided to pursue a childhood hobby of hers, which was chess.
One of her motivations to pursue chess was her competitive nature and a desire to feel accomplished in an activity of her choice. Piatigorsky even represented the US at the first Women’s Olympiad in 1957 located in Emmen, Netherlands. After this accomplishment, she would finish second at the 1965 US Women’s Championship. In addition, she organized tournaments, including a match between Samuel Reshevsky and Bobby Fischer in 1961. Her most famous tournament that she organized, the Piatigorsky Cup, had a field of ten grandmasters in 1966. That same event broke a record for spectators at 1,300 people at the event. The winner of the event was "Boris Spassky," with Bobby Fischer in second place.
In addition to chess. Mrs. Piatigorsky learnt to play the bassoon and played for an amateur orchestra. Another amazing feat of her's was learning to fly a plane. She also won the National Senior's Tennis Championship at some point in her 70's. Piatigorsky even made sculptures as a hobby when she was not pursuing other opportunities. While Jacqueline Piatigorsky’s career was extensive, she was most involved in chess in the 1950s and 60s. She passed away in 2012 at 100 years old.
Game link: https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1802305
Jacqueline Piatigorsky