Don Schultz

Welcome to Chess Don!

My name is Don Schultz. I am a retired IBMer. In 1987, at the age of 51, after 30 years with IBM, I retired in order to devote full time to volunteer chess promotions. I’m married, have three daughters and nine grandchildren. Awho has spent the last half century active in chess promotion at the local national and international. While with IBM I travelled extensively. much of my travel was international as I was assigned to IBM’s worldwide marketing center in Brussels for five years and their European headquarters in Paris for another five years. During this time, I served in many chess leadership positions both for the United States Chess Federation and FIDE.

I edited the award winning Chess magazine: floridaCHESS, started both the prestigious Gallery of Distinguished Chess Journalists and the “Cramer Awards” program for excellence in chess journalism. In 1993 and 1994, together with Grandmaster Yaser Seirawan, I managed a ches school for children.

PS: Donald Schultz (May 13, 1936, Woodhaven, Queens, New York – April 20, 2020, New Jersey)

Currently, I represent the US Chess FEderation

For the last 45 years, I  am the US delegate representing the US Chess Federation to FIDE.

In the early sixties, I organized many tournaments including the 1962 NY Open won by Bobby Fischer, the 1963 US 30.30 Championship won by GM Larry Evans and the 1967 US Junior Open won by Alan Rufty. I founded the Poughkeepsie IBM Chess Club and together with John Bischoff of Yorktown Heights founded the Hudson Valley Chess League and I played second Board for the Poughkeepsie team

In 1972, I was an administrative assistant to Bobby Fischer in the Fischer/Spassky World Championship Match. During this period I lived in Brussels and played for the Brussels team and later the Waterloo Chess Club.  

In 1981, I organized in Atlanta, GA., the only FIDE Congress ever held in the USA. From 1980 to !982 together with the President of the USSR Chess Federation, former Cosmonaut Vitaly Sevestianov, I served  as co-chair of FIDE’s Commission to UNESCO.

During the 1990s I organized several major tournaments including the 1990 World Youth Championships in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; the 1991 US Women’s Championship in my hometown of Highland Beach; the 1993 Amateur Team East Final at the Baltimore Yacht Club, the 1994 US Championship in Key West, Florida; and the 1996 New York International in New York City (one of the strongest chess tournaments ever held in the USA). During this period, I organized a tour of seven US cities by a team of ten Israeli chess children where they competed against local chess children,  a match between Florida children and Jamaican children in Orlando, Florida and a telephone match between Florida children and Australian children.

In the mid-nineties, as editor of floridaChess, I won several awards for excellence in chess journalism. As a player, I reached Expert level and am a former North Carolina State Champion. I’ve authored two books about chess politics – “Chessdon” and “Fischer, Kasparov and the Others.” Chessdon won the 1999 Cramer Excellence in Chess Journalism Award for Best Chess Memoirs.

On this site, I will report not only USCF matters and but other chess stories as well. The focus will be on human interest as opposed to news reporting. Emphasis will be placed on photographs and special people articles (contributions are welcome). I invite questions and promise to give candid and prompt answers. The tone will be positive, accurate and informative.

This is my personal website and as do all USCF Board members with websites per USCF EB Motion, I certify that the USCF bears no responsibility, of any nature, in any way for material herein presented.

To see my TOP TEN MOMENTS IN CHESS go to Election 2007

2006 Cramer Awards for Excellence

in Chess Journalism

2006 Chess Journalist of the Year: Pete Tamburro

2006 Best Chess Book: Why Lasker Matters by Andy Soltis

2006 Best State Publication: Chess Horizons

2006 Best Chess Column: Lubosh Kavalek and David Sands

Gallery of Distinguished Chess Journalists

2006 Inductees

George Koltanowski

Irving Chernev

Glenn Petersen

Lubosh Kavalek

USCF Vice President Joel Channing
at 2006 Awards Banquet

Below:  VP of Finance, Joel Channing adds a bit of levity to the ceremonies when he presented and accepted the Palm Beach Gardens, Chess City of the Year award from himself, to himself, on behalf of himself – Pat Knight, USCF Executive Assistant is in hysterics at Joel’s extemporaneous humor.  Special thanks go to Fred Gruenberg, former USCF Vice President for ably serving as Master of Ceremonies.

2016  USA Champion Andrew Tateossian

at his first chessboard

Below: Chessdon with his six-year old grandson Andrew. Andrew is already getting ready for a run at the 2016 US Championship. Other photo shows Andrew giving a lesson to his 21-year old cousin, Laura Jones.