Erling Tholfsen (12 January 1904 – 6 December 1996) was an American

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player, Chess Olympiad team silver medal winner (

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

Biography

In the 1920s Erling Tholfsen was one of the leading American chess players. He three times won New York City

Marshall Chess Club The Marshall Chess Club, in Greenwich Village, New York City, is one of the oldest chess clubs in the United States. The club was formed in 1915 by a group of players led by Frank Marshall. It is a nonprofit organization and a gold affiliate o ...

Championships (1923, 1924, 1931). Erling Tholfsen played for United States in the Chess Olympiad: * In 1928, as team captain in the

2nd Chess Olympiad The 2nd Chess Olympiad ( nl, De 2e Schaakolympiade), organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

(+4, =5, -4) and won team silver medal. Erling Tholfsen retired from chess tournaments after the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. He worked as a Spanish teacher in the New York City public school system and was very active in the labor movement for many years. Erling Tholfsen was exempt from the WW2 draft due to his age and having two small children. He was placed in charge of the US War Bond drive for James Madison High School. The drive was the most successful school drive in the United States. The school sold enough bonds to purchase a B-24 Liberator bomber. Tholfsen and his team received a presidential award, which was sent to NYC Mayor LaGuardia's office for presentation to the team.

References

External links

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Erling Tholfsen
chess games at 365chess.com 1904 births 1996 deaths People from New York City American chess players Chess Olympiad competitors 20th-century chess players {{US-chess-bio-stub