Louis Russell Chauvenet (February 12, 1920 – June 24, 2003) was a champion

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 dist ...

player and one of the founders of

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

Biography

Chess

Chauvenet was the U.S. Amateur Champion in 1959, as well as state champion for Virginia in 1942 through 1948 and for Maryland in 1963, 1969 and 1976. He also wrote columns for ''

Chess Life The monthly ''Chess Life'' and bi-monthly ''Chess Life Kids'' (formerly ''School Mates'' and ''Chess Life for Kids'') are the official magazines published by the United States Chess Federation (US Chess). ''Chess Life'' is advertised as the "most ...

''. Chauvenet reached the level of Expert, a rating better than nine out of 10 chess players involved in tournament play.Kennedy, Rick,
Chessville.com Silent Knight
" ''Deaf Life'', June 1990. In 1991, Chauvenet won the fourth National Deaf Championship, in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. In 1992, at

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Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, the International Committee of Silent Chess awarded him its Grandmaster title. Chauvenet represented the US at the World Individuals four times: Amsterdam in 1980, Washington, D.C. in 1984 where he won the Silver medal, Stockholm in 1988 where he won an additional Silver medal, and in Edinburgh in 1992. Chauvenet also won three National Tournaments of the Deaf, at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1980,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1983 and

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

in 1987.

Fandom

Chauvenet was a founder of Boston's The Stranger Club (the members of which were guests of honor at the 47th World Science Fiction Convention), and hosted its first meeting at his home in 1940. He also co-founded the

National Fantasy Fan Federation The National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F or NFFF) is one of the world's oldest science fiction fandom organizations. The organization was founded in April 1941 when all science fiction, horror, and fantasy literature was lumped into one category ca ...

, with

Damon Knight Damon Francis Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002) was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He is the author of " To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for ''The Twilight Zone''.Stanyard, ''Dimensions Behind t ...

and Art Widner, and was a member of

First Fandom First Fandom is an informal association of early, active and well-known science fiction fans. In 1958 a number of fans at Midwestcon realized amid table-talk that they all had been active in fandom for more than 20 years. This inspired the creati ...

. He coined the word '' fanzine'' in the October 1940 issue of his fanzine ''Detours'' and was for many years a member of the

Fantasy Amateur Press Association The Fantasy Amateur Press Association or FAPA ("FAP-uh") is science fiction fandom's longest-established amateur press association ("apa"). It was founded in 1937 by Donald A. Wollheim and John B. Michel. They were inspired to create FAPA by the ...

(FAPA). He later coined '' prozine,'' Warner, Harry, Jr., All Our Yesterdays a term for professionally published magazines containing

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

stories.

Other avocations

Chauvenet was also an enthusiastic

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

, who built his own Windmill class

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and participated in regattas, as well as a medal-winning runner. He served as editor of the Windmill Class Association newsletter in addition to other positions and is one of 5 individuals names as honorary members of the class.

Early and family life

Chauvenet was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. He became completely

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

in 1930 at age 10, after suffering cerebro-spinal meningitis. He attended

Central Institute for the Deaf Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) is a school for the deaf that teaches students using listening and spoken language, also known as the auditory-oral approach. The school is located in St. Louis, Missouri. CID is affiliated with Washington Univ ...

and Wright Oral School, before graduating from Belmont Hill Preparatory School. He went on to Harvard, Boston College and the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

, receiving a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

in 1943 and a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

in chemistry in 1948 from Virginia. From 1943-1946 he was employed by the Calco Chemical Company in New Jersey, after which he worked with computers as a civilian employee of the

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

from 1948 until his retirement. His wife, Jane, was a teacher. Their son, Allen, is a pediatric

oncologist Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...

; in 1963, son and father respectively won the Maryland junior chess championship and the state title.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chauvenet, Louis Russell 1920 births 2003 deaths Harvard University alumni Boston College alumni University of Virginia alumni American chess players Science fiction fans People from Silver Spring, Maryland 20th-century chess players