IM Emory Tate has passed away at 56

Emory Andrew Tate Jr.

(December 27, 1958 – October 17, 2015)

The Internet has ignited with the news of IM Emory Tate’s confirmed passing. A tactician par excellence, Tate was participating in the Sam Shankland Open tournament in California when he fell ill and collapsed. After receiving first aid, he was taken to a local hospital where he was attended to, but later passed away. Tate died doing what he did best and doing what he loved to do.

Air Force Sergeant Emory A. Tate, Jr., stationed at Ft. Meade, Maryland accepts 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.

Air Force Sergeant Emory A. Tate, Jr., stationed at Ft. Meade, Maryland accepts 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. Taken from U.S. Chess Life, January 1985.

FM Emory Tate at 2001 World Open. Copyright ©, Daaim Shabazz.
This was Tate’s favorite chess photo… the look of a predator gazing at his prey.
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.


IM Emory Tate vs. IM Marani Venkatesh
at 2008 World Open (Philadelphia, USA)
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.

Tate had a penchant for the melodramatic and if anyone had studied his games or saw him analyze a position, there was certainly an impression made. His creative ideas never failed to stun even the most skeptical of minds as he would fancy rook lifts and dashing sacrifices.

The Emory Tate Variation… 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. a4!? a5 5. Ra3!? has scored some sensational victories. (story)

He was proud to say that he was a five-time Armed Forces Champion and personally told me years ago that his GM scalps were around 80. He was the most selfless and giving master I knew and often gave suggestions upon passing by a game analyzed by beginners. His analysis sessions were legendary and people stood on chairs to catch a glimpse of his entertaining commentary.

There will be more details as they come available, but please post your stories here. A full obituary will be forthcoming as well as funeral arrangements. Below are a few of his gems and an instructional video that he left for us to enjoy!

* * *

Selection of IM Emory Tate’s Noted Games

FM Emory TateGM Gennadi Sagalchik (New York PCA, 1995), 1-0
FM Emory Tate – FM Maurice Ashley (New York Open, 1993), 1/2-1/2
FM Emory TateGM Leonid Yudasin (U.S. Masters, 1997), 1-0
IM Larry KaufmanFM Emory Tate (Virginia Open, 1999), 0-1
GM Nick deFirmianFM Emory Tate (New Jersey Open, 2001), 0-1
GM Sergey KudrinFM Emory Tate (World Open, 2001), 0-1
GM Sipke ErnstFM Emory Tate (Zwolle Windsheim Open), 0-1
IM Emory TateGM Varuzhan Akobian (U.S. Championship, 2006), 1-0
IM Emory TateIM Saljivus Bercys (World Open, 2007), 1-0
IM Emory TateGM Arthur Chibukhchian (North American Open, 2013), 1-0


Tate demonstrating his first-round win against GM Varuzhan Akobian
from the 2006 U.S. Chess Championship.


IM Emory Tate conducting a 30-board simul.
He dedicated his entire life to chess.
Photo by Chris Torres

* * *

Read the dozens of articles on this site
about Emory “ET” Tate!

OBITUARY
Emory Tate: chess savant, warrior (1958-2015)

https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2015/10/21/emory-tate-chess-savant-warrior-1958-2015/

FUNERAL
IM Emory Tate laid to rest… legacy lives on!

https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2015/10/27/im-emory-tate-laid-to-rest-legacy-lives-on/

62 Comments

    1. Emory gave a lecture at the Los Angeles Chess Club a few years
      back. He went over his win agains Varuzh Akobian in a
      San Diego Tournament. I will always remember him
      discussing how he beat someone with a little known line
      of the Nardorf Sicilian where he plays an early Nbd7 and
      figured he didnt know how to play against it and would beat him.

      1. I learned many sacrificial themes from Emory when we played a set of blitz games when he was 1700. The bishop sacks on e6 and b5 and the knight sacks with Nd5 and Nf5 were some of the ones that he championed. He used many in his famous game against Yudasin.

  1. Attempts to revive him did not succeed – this is an inaccurate statement. Please know that he was alive when paramedics took him and he passed away later in the hospital.
    Thank you for remembering Emory!
    Judit from BayAreaChess

    1. We call him Dennis. The Church is located on Bullock County Road Highway 14 or Smuteye Road Smuteye, Alabama. I live next door My address is 2557 Smuteye Rd postal code is Banks Al 36005. His mother was with her 90 year old brother having surgery about the same time. I can’t even think of him gone. Dennis is my cousin. I beat him back in 1977, he gave me his board. His brother John beat him many times. Auburn University has a tournament every year and he would come and see Aunt Bird his mom then and pick up a little pocket change. I have been reading a lot of the post on-line and I new he was good but to hear and read from the Chess Community I respect his skills even more. Come to Smuteye for his last move He’s Going Home. Hobson Cox -Hop

  2. Pleasant, entertaining, and very generous with his talent and ideas. That was my experience of Emory Tate. RIP.

  3. Emory was and will always be a friend and mentor, his impact on chess will never be duplicated and his impact on the African American chess community will live forever, B.F.O.C. the baby pincher!

  4. I met IM Emory Tate when he came to Sunrise,Florida for the Senior Open. He came to McDonald’s and played blitz with the Black Knights of South Florida and later even gave a simul with us. He was an awesome down to earth player and the first chess master I ever talked to in a conversational tone. He will be sorely missed and I will treasure the board he signed while he was down here. He was a real inspiration to me as a black chess player and to a protegee’ of mine who is now one of the few black masters around but was only 1800 when he won his game in the simul. I remember Tate leaving for the airport and turning to my protegee’ after the simul and tipping his cowboy hat and he said”Good game kid.” and wishing it was me but I had got annihilated by a series of rook sacs. Nevertheless, I fondly remember that moment and that night as very special to me and the fellow black knights. He was respectful of us and we really didn’t pay him that much, maybe $80, but he was just so cool and wanted to kind of give us a push. I will miss him. I looked up many of his games and played them out and I was very proud when I would hear he had won. I somehow know we would have been great friends had he lived in Florida and wished we would have got to to be friends. To his family, I offer my sincere condolences and thoughts of peace to one of the greatest black players ever and a great ambassador of chess.

  5. Sad and shocking news indeed, and a great loss for the chess community and coming generations of youth.

    I spent part of Saturday afternoon one week ago with Emory at Dr. Alan Kirshner’s Weibel school’s National Chess Day youth event, and he was his usual energetic, open, giving and irascible self.

    One memorable thing he told me is worth mentioning here. As you described, Daaim, he has scalped many GMs with his fierce will to win and attacking creativity. Describing some of those encounters as White against one recently arrived former Soviet GM after another, as overwhelmed their well-prepared Sicilians, he said:

    “I taught a lot of those Russian Grandmasters to play the Caro Kann.”

    We’ve lost an American Original, and way too soon. RIP, Emory. The chess scene will not be the same without you.

  6. Wow, sad news indeed……. as Hal Bogner said, the chess scene won’t be the same. My condolences to his family.

    RIP Emory Tate and thanks for the memories…..

  7. Baltimore -1985.

    There was a new chess club created by an black owner called the Touch and Move chess club that was located on Greenmount Avenue. There were not that many opportunities for a 15 year old inner city kid to play in the Baltimore area during the winter so the club appeared at a great time for someone trying to figure the game out.

    I noticed a slightly inebriated player walking around the club. He saw me playing someone and right in the middle of this skittles game he walks up to me, looks me in the eye, extends his hand, and says,

    “Hello, my name is Emory Tate, the greatest chessplayer in the World.”

    With my jaw on the floor, I shake his hand. “DAAMMMN!” I’m thinking to myself. “This guy must be the truth!!” And as an IM he surely was -and more. Rest easy my friend.

    (More stories to come. I’m still in a state of disbelief…)

  8. Very sad news. Condolences from the Jamaican Chess fraternity to his family and friends. Let us celebrate his life and legacy to which his brilliant games bear eloquent testimony.

  9. Being a non-competitive chess player I have several memories of Emory beyond his chess accomplishments. I did a favor for him and in return he open up about his trial and tribulations of life, family and military career. His life experiences were both rich and brutal to a great extent. Unfortunatley, it is only wishful thinking that it should have been recorded. I had not seen Emory in a year or so but the photo above indicates a man who has found piece with himself. Rest in peace.

  10. It is with our sincere sympathy that we will pray for his family. He was local and we feel especially connected with him. May he rest in peace.

  11. I never was fortunate enough to meet IM Emory Tate over the board, but I attended many tournaments where he participated. They always took on an extra special “feel”. Emory could ignite a tournament like no other player with his sparkling play. Even if you needed to know other results, you always made the time to check out his games. He never failed to entertain!

  12. It was a privilege to know Emory as a friend for the last three years of his life and do whatever little I could to help him keep doing what he loved above everything else – crushing overrated patzers. I will always remember those Vegas nights when after losing the last few dollars he had in his name in a round of Blackjack or a sports bet, he would lie on the couch in my casino hotel room and after a couple of hours of sleep and very little food, would go on to beat two super GMS in a row. Would always remember his smile when while analyzing a game, it would require Houdini a few minutes to discover the incredible move he had come up with instantaneously. His depth of vision was pure neural genius, not programmable, at least not yet.
    He was a sad man towards the end of this life – saddened not by how life treated him as regards his legacy, a lack of GM title, loss of virtually all material possessions, but by what computers, cheating, poor administration and super GM exclusive tournaments had done to chess, how racist and paranoid American establishments have destroyed human lives and families all over the world, and above all, how he was not allowed by the system to do the best he could for his family. His children were everything for him and as proud as he was of his own abilities, that was nothing compared to how proud he was of his children’s achievements – Andrew winning kickboxing world championship and Janine going to law school. In a perfect universe, he would be running it and we would just watch him — too dazzled to do anything else.

      1. I’m so sorry to hear about Tate, as I use to call him….We go way back to the Arm Forces Championship(1985-89) and before that Chicago.
        I was the Sea Services Champion and he the Air Force Champion, and we always meet in D.C like clockwork. Air Force, Sea Services, Army. All playing against each other(Round Robin). We became friends again. Many nights playing speed, hanging out and just talking. One year I managed a Draw at the Tourney,(I just knew I had him) we left together hung out, looked forward to the following year. Tate was something else. I always thought of him as one of the best! He will be missed.(John 5:28,28)

        1. I remember you going off to the service after being at Chicago State with me. I learned about Tate in the late 70s when we were in high school at the tournaments at the Palmer House. Marvin Dandridge would tell me about him.

  13. Emory Tate will go down as one of the strongest Black players in history. He has a brilliant mind with a deep understanding of tactics. He can stir up tactics in any position. I remember playing Tate blitz as a young upstart in Chicago in 1979-80. We had the wildest games with several pieces en prise!! The games were usually in the Najdorf Sicilian. At the time, Emory was rated 1797, but was already master strength.

    There are many stories concerning Tate and he is sometimes bemoaned for his outward confidence. Marvin Dandridge told me a story in which Tate was offered a draw by Brent Chromczak, a strong Chicago player. He refused a draw offer by saying, “Are you out of your mind?” After Brent got a good position, he positioned a knight that was headed to King six square in Tate’s camp. Tate went on to lose the game and told Marvin, “Man… when I saw that knight going to King-six, I almost cried.” He said pride wouldn’t let him ask if the draw offer was still open. Funny!

    Tate had a unique chess lingo with term like “zeitnot,” “thunk,” and “triple exclam”.

  14. Emory Tate is well known to our Twin Ports Chess Club through games played and conversations following analysis of games..
    One time in Chicago he and I were chatting .. He said.. You must have driven a VW Bus .. I said you got that wrong I drove a Beetle.. ( just an indication of the flavor of irreproducible chat..

  15. Emory was a national treasure. He was generous with his time and deep insights into complex chess positions. We spent many a late night at the old Chess House in Washington, D.C….exclam, double exclam…”no, triple exclam!!!” Rest in peace dear friend

    1. Greg, I was shocked to hear of Emory’s passing, but wasn’t surprised it was at a tourney. The first time I saw Tate was while he was showing some of his games to a few guys. I watched in amazement at the sharpness and depth of his analysis. I faced him over the board at least three times, losing twice and winning once. Sadly I no longer have the games. The game I won put me over master rating and I remember the final combination vividly. After the game, he mentioned to me jokingly that I should be prepared to be a “cow” at our next meeting “ready for the slaughter”. Last time I saw him was at a World Open (maybe 10 years ago). I shook his hand as his opponent was thinking over how to meet his last move. I always had great respect for the way he played and still remember the advice he gave to me if I ever had to just study one chess book – Vukovic’s “The Art of Attack”. I see from reading other people’s comments that I wasn’t the only one to receive this piece of advice. Anyway, the chess tourney scene will be much more boring without his presence, as a fearsome chess player and as very memorable person. Whenever, there was a large list of games to go over in a tournament, I ALWAYS went over his games first and laughed in wonderment at his brilliant moves.

  16. { Glenn Bady vs Emory Tate, NJ Open round 6,
    board 3. Sept 4, 2006, 1/2 – 1/2 }
    1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 Be6 8.Nc4 Rc8 9.Nd5 Bxd5 10.exd5 Nce7 11.Be3 Nf5 12.Bb6 Qh4 13.Qd3 Ngh6 14.g3 Qg5 15.h4 Qg6 16.Qb3 Be7 17.Qa4+ Kf8 18.Qd7 Re8 19.O-O-O Ng4 20.Bd3 Qh6+ 21.Kb1 g6 22.h5 Nf6 23.Qxb7 e4 24.Be2 g5 25.g4 Nh4 26.Ne3 Kg8 27.Bxa6 Qf8 28.h6 Rb8 29.Qc7 Ra8 30.Qb7 Rb8 31.Qc7 Ra8 32.Qc4 Nf3 33.Nf5 Ne5 34.Qc7 Nfd7 35.Bb5 Bd8 36.Qc3 Nxb6 37.Rhe1 Rc8 38.Qb3 Rb8 39.Rxe4 Nbd7 40.Rb4 Ba5 41.Qe3 Qd8 42.Rc4 Nxc4 43.Bxc4 Ne5 44.Bb3 Bb6 45.Qd2 f6 46.f4 gxf4 47.Qxf4 Kf7 48.g5 Rg8 49.Ng7 Rxg7 50.hxg7 Kxg7 51.Rh1 Rb7 52.gxf6+ Kh8 53.c3 Qg8 54.Bc2 Rf7 55.Qf5 Nd7 56.Qe6 Bc7 57.a4 Nxf6 58.a5 Bxa5 59.Qxd6 Qd8
    R.I.P Tate. A brilliant person and chess player!
    *

  17. Dear Emory,
    I’m totally bummed out. It was an honor knowing you and playing you. RIP. I was winning in 2 of the 3 games we played (remember when you offered a draw that I declined) but we all know what that was worth in the end…na da!
    [Event “World op”]
    [Site “Philadelphia”]
    [Date “1989.??.??”]
    [Round “7”]
    [Result “1-0”]
    [White “Emory A Tate”]
    [Black “Thomas J Beckman”]
    [ECO “A43”]
    1.d4 c5 2.d5 g6 3.e4 d6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Be2 Nf6 6.Bg5 O-O 7.Qd2 a6
    8.a4 Qa5 9.Ra3 e6 10.Qf4 exd5 11.Bxf6 d4 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.Qxd6
    Nc6 14.Nf3 dxc3 15.Rxc3 Qxa4 16.O-O Qxe4 17.Re1 Nd4 18.Qxc5
    Nxe2+ 19.Kf1 b6 20.Qc7 a5 21.Nd2 Qb4 22.Qe5+ Kg8 23.Ne4 Qd4
    24.Nf6+ Kh8 25.Rxe2 Qxe5 26.Rxe5 Ba6+ 27.Kg1 Ra7 28.h4 h6
    29.Rc6 Rb8 30.h5 Kg7 31.hxg6 fxg6 32.Nd5 1-0

  18. I had the pleasure to meet Emory Mate in Mallorca (one of the Spanish islands) this May. He came directly from Rotterdam where he I think won the tournament.
    I didn’t know him at all and we were one of the first to arrive at the venue.
    He was quite a character and full of enthusiasm, anecdotes and always had a kind word ready.
    A sad loss for the chess world!!!
    May he rest in peace!!

  19. Every Tate was one of a kind. Extraordinary talent, exceptional tactician, mentor and friend. He will be sorely missed .

  20. I think I understand why Daim Shabazz (and many others) feel the need to make sure that exceptional peoples of multiple ethnic backgrounds must be honored and remembered for their far far above excellence, although it will be (and others) a life long battle to eradicate the need to see only mirrors but to see the windows.

    Without Daim Shabazz’s site and (I remember he was around since the 80’s) documentation of people’s lives, Paige Wilbur, Mark Meeres, Livermore, Ronald Simpson, Cecil “Everton”, Lil’ Daddy, Clayton, may very well have been swept under the carpet, in written word. However, we are all warriors of life, what is not written in word, the ones who fought the battles, lived through the times, good and bad. There is no written word to express the debt this circle of true warriors, true friends, who made choices to fight against iniquity and inequality by living a daily life free of Babylon and exceeding to excellence.

    When Marlon informed me, my initial response was anger. That is misinformed emotion. ET paved a path which many other will one day walk, they will go further and our passed mentors and fathers and big brothers will always smile at us and say “keep going! There he/she goes! Never give up, we are all one and shall be returned to as such.”

  21. As someone here suggested there should be memorial tournament for Emory Tate
    We had one” TPCC Emory Tate Memorial tournament”
    which can be found at USCF site… 10/19/2015
    we are ‘Twin Ports Chess Club’
    we are a small club and would like to see a much bigger tournament for the same purpose.
    As remote as we are from most chess activity , four of our members remember well Emory Tate.

  22. I am stunned at this early passing of a great passionate chessplayer. I remember a blitz game I was playing against him in the early 90’s. I felt I was winning on the board and even on the clock since he was taking an inordinate amount of time and so I just knew I had him. Finally he moved a knight onto an unexpected square and I had no reply. My sincere condolences to his family.

  23. Emory was my friend. He was an inspiration to me- whenever I played in chess tournaments, I would always get up from my own game and watch Emory. I wasn’t the only one. Even in the biggest tournaments, Emory was the one who always drew a crowd. He had style, charisma, intellect, and, unlike most in the chess world, kindness. We used to analyze games together back in the 1990’s. We’d be at the New York Open, the World Open, or the Chicago Open- he’d show me his games and make commentary in his usual, dynamic style. Then, he’d analyze my games and make his best suggestions- those were special times that I will never forget. He spent time with me for nothing in return, didn’t charge me a dime. That’s how much Emory loved the game, and it showed. Everyone who was a fan could “feel” Emory’s love of chess. Everyone knew that Emory never did earn his GM title, but that’s because he played every game to win- and everyone knew that Emory played like a GM- no doubt about it. I used to joke with him and call him a “tortured genius”- I think he liked that title. He was a special man and will be missed by many, but his legend and legacy will live on.

  24. Tate, with that circus energy, like a clown on the high wire with no net underneath, laughing fearlessly at the crowd for refusing his invitation to join him, suffered never for a gentle smile, reassuring that we act by gift of our own wonder. And that Rolls Royce of a brain he carried, thundering down the slop of an unjust society, surely will find respite in the place where all like Socrates must go. But should his ghost decide to linger…our swords will sharpen…and our friendships will grow…in unpredictable ways. And now an anecdote: It was in the winter of Obama’s inauguration, at the Liberty Bell Open in Philly, when my first surprise was to find out that Obama was staying at the hotel, but it was hushed for security reasons. (The person who told me was a teacher who had students who went to school with his kids, who himself was a chess player who had students in the tourney.) My next surprise was after searching for Tate’s name in the Open Section, and not finding. The next day, in mid-game, I went to smoke, and who was coming up the steps…Tate. I was overjoyed, so as soon as my game was over, I shot to the skittles room, and their he was, analyzing a game with a bunch of old heads, from this quirky position in the Sicilian. Afterwards, the guy who’s game it was, put the pieces back to the initial position, except, one piece was on the wrong square, and no one noticed except Tate, who then called it to everyone’s attention. In a strange mass hallucination, they all agreed with the player, and Tate, looked around in disbelief, and said: “I remember the first steps I took when I first walked, do you think I can’t remember what was on the chessboard a few minutes ago?” If you had seen the look on their faces as they stared at the board, and all of a sudden, they remembered the initial position, which because of his 20 min analysis, had somehow gotten discombobulated in their mind’s eye. I went back to my game, lost, then saw Sherman, a life master from DC, and asked him who’s he playing, he said, “Tate, but I’ve never won a game against him.” Went back, won my next game, saw Sherman, and giddily asked, “what happened?” Of course he said, “he did it to me again, shit!” Stellar, but one more anecdote: Some patzer who Tate was digging too deep into his pockets kept wanting better odds, a rook and a pawn, a knight and a bishop was useless, so Tate said, “fuck it, I’ll give you all eight pawns!” He fell for it, who in their right mind would let a tactical genius have free reign of all heavy pieces unobstructed? He is a legend in DC.

  25. Angelo Young hosted Emory Tate for a time at the Touch Move Chess Center in Chicago. Tate wrote this promotion for the club.

    * * *

    A unique opportunity presents itself for Andersonville Scholastic kids to learn the royal game of chess. There are two International Masters in the area now, 7-time Illinois State Champion Angelo Young and 6-time Indiana champion plus 5-time U.S. Armed Services Champion, Emory A. Tate Jr.!

    IM Young operates the Touch Move Chess Center at 5639 N Ashland Ave and is looking to bring chess knowledge to where it will do the most good, i.e., into the local schools. This letter serves as an invitation to have your school’s kids trained by the highly professional duo of Tate and Young. This is to be a grass-roots effort, without corporate sponsorship or grants, at least for now.

    We propose that parents be given a chance to enroll their child in a structured program to be accomplished on a schedule determined by school officials. This can be an after-school program, or a lunchtime session, or perhaps during a free-study hour during the day. This, naturally, will vary depending on each school’s circumstances, but the key point is that this is being done on a first-come first-served basis.

    The school along with parents and PTA organizations will be asked to subsidize the program and the fee for each child will be quite small indeed. In cases of financial hardship on the part of a parent, no child will be excluded, and this will be clear enunciated in any permission form sent to parents. A fee ranging from 5-10 dollars should easily cover the costs of the chess session conducted by the professional instructors. By way of comparison, these International Masters regularly collect 50 dollars per hour and more for private chess lessons in the Chicago Area.

    Feel free to search the names of these two masters on the internet for resume information and history. All that remains is to contact Mr. Young 773 6272759 or tmchesscenter@hotmail.com as soon as is convenient. The ultimate goals include improving cognitive and decision-making skills of our youth. Ideally, a team from each school will be sent to the Super Nationals Chess Tournament in Nashville Tennessee from 3-5 April 2009, an annual event where the best and brightest chess kids in the nation fight for the ultimate trophy, both individual and school!

    Mr. Tate can be reached at Emorytate@hotmail.com. Both professionals stand ready to meet and discuss this exciting project. The application process will be suspended by Halloween so as to leave time for a full program and meet the goals of national competition and the recognition for the kids that comes with it. Thank you in advance and feel free to share this information with other educators in the Chicagoland area.

    * * *

    He wrote this letter while staying at TMCC .. but we never got a chance to work together.

    A nice guy and a good friend, You will surely be missed my friend E. Tate.

    ~IM Angelo Young

  26. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    Contact: Daaim Shabazz, The Chess Drum
    P.O. Box 7663
    Tallahassee, FL 32314-7663 USA
    webmaster@thechessdrum.net
    (850) 296-9494

    Tallahassee, USA – 11 March 2017 – Emory Tate’s biography Triple Exclam!!! The Life and Games of Emory Tate, Chess Warrior has finally arrived and is available for purchase. The book details the life of one of the most colorful figures on the U.S. chess circuit. Tate’s death on October 17, 2015 brought an end to the adventurism and sense of wonderment he found in chess.

    In just over a year, his biography has been published by The Chess Drum after finishing production in March 2017. Release was delayed for months by a number of technical issues. The book covers his exciting 56-year journey and life as a chess artist. His passion for chess was truly inspiring. Triple Exclam was the culmination of an intense research effort on the life of Tate.

    The following blurb appears on the inside flap of the dust jacket:


    ISBN-10: 0998118001
    ISBN-13: 978-0998118000
    Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
    Publisher: The Chess Drum, LLC
    Retail Price: $40.00 (full color, hard back)

    TO ORDER NOW… CLICK HERE!

    In the annals of attacking chess players, International Master Emory Tate built up a collection of stunning gems. Tate also showed his passion in describing these exciting battles as if acting in a stage play. With his clear, accelerated speaking style, melodramatic portrayals, quick wit and creative word play, he intrigued audiences and showed unequivocally that chess is not merely a game to be played, but an art form to be expressed. This book details the life and games of Tate over the course of his 56 years.

    His contribution to chess lies not merely in his level of play, or even his scintillating victories, but in his creation of unique ideas and inspiring dreams. Somewhere on that chess board was beauty to behold, a new story to be told, and perhaps an idea that would touch the soul. Tate told many stories, many of which would reflect an adventurous, purposeful, yet troubled life. This story is of beautiful games, life lessons, mind-boggling conflicts and celebration of a man whose contributions will live on!

    The Book

    Triple Exclam is a hardback, full-color edition that includes 280 pages in 12 chapters and seven appendices surveying the life of Tate. It includes 35 of his games (all annotated) and vintage photos at various stages of his life. The book also includes chapter notes and is fully-indexed. If you are not a chess-player but enjoy biographies, you will appreciate his story.

    The Foreword of the book was done by GM Maurice Ashley with annotations by GM Yasser Seirawan, GM Alejandro Ramirez, GM Pontus Carlsson, GM Amon Simutowe, GM Kenny Solomon, IM Malcolm Pein, FM William Morrison, FM Todd Andrews, FM Jimmy Canty and National Masters Ernest Colding, Glenn Bady and Dr. Okechukwu Iwu. Two games feature transcribed annotations from Tate’s famous post-mortems.

    Triple Exclam: The Life and Games of Emory Tate, Chess Warrior
    (Previews)

    Order Details

    The highly-anticipated book can be purchased by following the Paypal button below. A Paypal account is not needed. Buying in bulk cuts per unit and mailing costs, so for groups of friends, chess clubs, and vendors seeking volume discounts (for the purchase of five or more), click here!

    International rates are currently prohibitive unless ordering quantities in multiples of five (U.S. Postal Service flat rate box). The Chess Drum is looking for international distributors to make the book accessible to a wider audience. An e-book version of Triple Exclam is forthcoming.

    Some customers many be skittish about ordering online. In that case, contact me at webmaster@thechessdrum.net with number of copies needed and I’ll send an invoice. Also available for book signings. Make sure you add this handsome book to your collection!

    FOR PURCHASING 1-4 COPIES


    FOR PURCHASING 5 OR MORE COPIES, click here!

    # # #

    The Chess Drum, LLC is a publisher of chess news content and literature. The organization’s website has continued to demonstrate the universality of chess by covering a variety of topics through news stories, essays, interviews, and photos since 2001. Visit The Chess Drum at thechessdrum.net and follow the beat on Facebook and Twitter!

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