Emory Tate book of selected games??


Air Force Sergeant Emory A. Tate, Jr., then stationed at Ft. Meade, Maryland accepting the first annual Haskell Small Award for taking individual honors at the 25th Annual Armed Forces Chess Championship Tournament. Tate won the tournament, which was held in Washington, D.C. from September 11-20 (1984), with a score of 8½-3½.

IM Emory Tate has been a fixture of American chess since the 70s. He has provided us an insight to the creative gifts he possesses. While he is entering an advanced stage of his career, he still has quite a story to tell. It is a story that many want to hear.

If one talks to Tate and he is able to establish a comfort zone, one is easily enthralled by his encyclopedic knowledge of various topics and his amazing capacity for vivid descriptions. It is these gifts combined with his talent for playing exciting chess that would make a book a timely addition to the annals of chess history.


IM Emory Tate at 2008 World Open.
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.

Years ago, I told Tate in a conversation that he should consider writing such a book with perhaps 20 of his best games… annotated fully. It would make an instant seller. Being such an enigmatic figure would make this somewhat of a curiosity, but his games would offer an interesting insight into the thought process of a tactician par excellence.

Those who really know Tate’s games will know that he is not merely a tactician, but possesses a treasure trove of chess ideas. Besides the tactical ideas, there are other insights during some of his best performances: opening novelties, queen sacrifices, obscure rook lifts, positional ideas and endgame finesses. It’s time for Tate to tell his story. Following is one such story.

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