Emory Tate

This article is about the American chess player. For his son with the same name, see Andrew Tate.
Emory Tate
Tate in 1984
Full nameEmory Andrew Tate Jr.
CountryUnited States
BornDecember 27, 1958
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedOctober 17, 2015(2015-10-17) (aged 56)
Milpitas, California, U.S.
Spouse
Eileen Ashleigh-Tate
​
​
(m. 1985; div. 1997)​
[1]
Children3, including Andrew and Tristan
TitleInternational Master (2007)
Peak rating2413 (FIDE, October 2006)

Emory Andrew Tate Jr. (December 27, 1958 – October 17, 2015) was an American chess player who held the title of International Master. He was the father of the Internet personality Andrew Tate.

Early life and education

Emory Andrew Tate Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 27, 1958.[2] He grew up in a family of nine children. His father, Emory Andrew Tate I, was an attorney, and his mother, Emma Cox Tate, ran a truck-leasing business.[3] Tate II learned to play chess as a child. He served in the United States Air Force as a sergeant, where he "excelled as a linguist."[4] Tate learned Spanish through being an exchange student in Mexico. He was "chosen to participate in the Indiana University Honors Program in Foreign Language, Spanish Division during the summer of 1975" and spent two months living with a Mexican family.[5]

Chess

In 1993, Tate gave chess lessons to elementary school students in Goshen, Indiana, as part of a community school board program.[6]

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.[7] His peak USCF rating was 2508 on December 30, 1996. He received the International Master title in 2007,[8] after earning his third norm at the 2006 World Open.[9]

His oldest son, Andrew, said: "I never saw him study chess books, ever. He also hated chess computers and never used them. He just sat down and played."[4]

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.[10] Tate won the United States Armed Forces Chess Championship five times.[11][12] He won the Indiana state championship six times (1995, 1996, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007) and was inducted into the Indiana State Chess Hall of Fame in 2005. He also won the Alabama state championship in 2010.[13] Fellow Air Force veteran and 2003 U.S. 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."[4]

Personal life

Tate married Eileen Ashleigh, an English woman, in 1985. Together, they had three children, the oldest of whom is controversial social media personality Andrew Tate. The couple divorced in 1997, and his ex-wife returned to Luton, England with their children.[14]

Tate died after suffering a heart attack during a tournament in Milpitas, California on October 17, 2015. After his death, a number of grandmasters and international masters wrote tributes to him.[15][16] In 2016, the Alabama Senate passed a resolution "celebrating [his] life and legacy".[17] Grandmaster Maurice Ashley described Tate as "a trailblazer for African-American chess".[18][19]

References

  1. ^ Warren, Tom; Dahir, Ikran (March 9, 2023). "The Untold Story Of Andrew Tate, The Internet's Most Notorious Influencer". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  2. ^ "Emory Tate | Top Chess Players". Chess.com. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  3. ^ Shabazz 2017, p. 5–7.
  4. ^ a b c Lawrence, Al (January 2016). ""Unmatched Perspicacity" / IM Emory Tate, 1958-2015" (PDF). Chess Life. pp. 41–42. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  5. ^ Shabazz 2017, p. 8.
  6. ^ Stickel, Amy I. (August 30, 1993). "Goshen schools checkmate kids". South Bend Tribune. p. 11.
  7. ^ "Chess Games Database: IM Emory Tate". Chess.com. Archived from the original on January 7, 2023. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  8. ^ Shabazz, Daaim (October 21, 2015). "Emory Tate: chess savant, warrior (1958-2015)". The Chess Drum. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  9. ^ Shabazz, Daaim (July 5, 2006). "2006 World Open: Emory Tate gets 3rd IM Norm!". The Chess Drum. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  10. ^ Shabazz 2017, p. 31.
  11. ^ "Armed Forces Champ & Brilliant Tactician Emory Tate, 1958-2015". October 19, 2015. Archived from the original on June 18, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  12. ^ Klein, Mike (October 18, 2015). "IM Emory Tate, 1958-2015". Chess.com. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  13. ^ Shabazz, Daaim (May 2016). "Triple Exclam!!! The winning ways of Emory Tate, 1958-2015" (PDF). Chess Life. pp. 36–40. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 11, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  14. ^ Shabazz 2017, p. 26, 38.
  15. ^ Shabazz 2017, p. 73–77.
  16. ^ "Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #724". Mechanics' Institute. October 30, 2015. Archived from the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  17. ^ Shabazz 2017, p. 74.
  18. ^ Shabazz 2017, p. iv.
  19. ^ Klein, Mike (October 18, 2015). "IM Emory Tate, 1958-2015". Chess.com. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2022.

Bibliography