Emory Tate

Emory A. Tate, Jr. (December 27, 1958 - October 17, 2015) was an American International Master of chess. He was born in Chicago, Illinois.

Chess career

"I never saw him study chess books, ever. He also hated chess computers and never used them. He just sat down and played." his oldest son, Andrew, said. Tate's highest FIDE rating was 2413 on the October 2006 rating list, which made him the 72nd highest-rated player in the United States and among the top 2000 active players in the world. His peak USCF rating was 2499 on the April 1997 list.

Tate earned a reputation as a creative and dangerous tactician on the U.S. chess circuit, where he won about 80 tournament games against Grandmasters. Tate won the United States Armed Forces Chess championship five times. He was one of the highest-rated African-American chess players. Fellow Air Force veteran and 2003 United States Armed Forces Chess Champion Leroy Hill said: "All the players had street names. Emory's was "Extraterrestrial" because we thought his play was out of this world."

Biography

Tate was born in Chicago, and learned to play chess from his father Emory Andrew Tate Sr. as a child. He had a gift for languages, and was able to speak Russian and Spanish fluently. He served in the United States Air Force as a staff sergeant, where his language skills were invaluable. His son said, "The military taught him Russian. He picked up Spanish and German by accident."

He had three children by his English wife. His oldest son, Emory Andrew Tate III (known as Andrew) is a notable martial artist.

On October 17, 2015, Tate died after collapsing suddenly during a tournament near San Jose, California.

Representative games

de Firmian-Tate, New Jersey Open 2001 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bd7 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7 10.h3 Ne5 11.Be2 Nbc6 12.Nb3 h5 13.f3 h4 14.Bf2 Ng6 15.O-O Be5 16.Qd2 Qc8! 17.Be3 Bf4 18.Rfe1 Nce5 19.Nd4 Bxh3! 20.gxh3 Qxh3 21.Bb5+ Kf8 22.Bxf4 Nxf4 23.Rf1 a6 24.Bd3 Qg3+ 25.Kh1 h3! 26.Rg1 Qg2+ 27.Rxg2 hxg2+ 28.Kg1 Rh1+ 29.Kf2 Rxa1 30.Nd1 Kg7 31.Ne2 Rc8 32.b3 f6 33.Ng1 Rh8 34.Bc4 Rh1 35.Be2 Rxa2 36.Ne3 Ra1 37.Nd1 Neg6 38.Bc4 Nh4 39.Be2 Rxg1 40.Kxg1 Nh3+ 0-1

Tate-Yudasin, U.S. Masters 1997 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 Nbd7 8.Qe2 Nc5 9.g4!? b5 10.g5 Nfd7 11.Bd5!? Bb7 12.Bxb7 Nxb7 13.a4 bxa4 14.Rxa4 Nbc5 15.Ra3 Qb6 16.O-O Be7 17.Kh1 O-O 18.b4!? Na4 19.Nf5! exf5 20.Nd5 Qd8 21.exf5 Re8 22.Qh5!? Nab6? 23.Rh3 Nf8 24.f6!! Nxd5 25.fxg7 Kxg7 26.Bb2+ Kg8 27.g6! Bf6 28.gxf7+ Kh8 29.Rg1 Re1 30.Rxe1 Bxb2 31.Re8 Nf6 32.Rxd8 Rxd8 33.Qh6 Ne4 34.Qh4! Nf6 35. Rg3 N8d7 36.Qh6 1-0

Tate-Braunlich, U.S. Open 2001 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 Be7 10.Qf3 Qc7 11.O-O-O Nbd7 12.Rhe1 Nc5 13.Nf5! Nxb3+ 14.axb3 exf5 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Nd5 Qd8 17.Nxe7 Kxe7 18.exf5+ Be6 19.fxe6 fxe6 20. Qb7+ Qd7 21. Rxe6+! 1-0 After 21...Kxe6 22.Re1+, White wins Black's queen and checkmates quickly.