Steiner

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame

     Even among chess aficionados, Herman Steiner is not a household name.
     This wasn't always true.  At one time his name was spelled out in lights on the American chess marquee among the likes of  Fine, Reshevsky, Kashdan or Horowitz. 

      The Steiners emigrated from the predominantly Hungarian town of Dunaszerdahely in 1921 following the post-WWI  creation of Czechoslovakia. Herman was 16 at the time. He was a person of diverse interests, a trait he would embrace during his entire short life. Upon arriving in NYC, he took up boxing and chess, playing the latter both at the Hungarian Chess Club on 351 East 78th street and the Stuyvesant Chess Club on 241 E. 14th St. How his boxing went isn't known but he excelled in chess, improving incrementally until in 1927 he placed 3rd in the New York State Championship. Around this time, he stepped up his game, playing in a wide variety of tournaments. Then in 1929 he shared first place with Jacob Bernstein in the NY state championship.

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame
Steiner tied for 3rd-5th place behind Norman Whitaker and Abraham Kupchik

     In 1928 Steiner was selected to play in the 2nd official Chess Olympiad (then called the International Team Tournament). His teammates were Isaac Kashdan, Samuel Factor, Milton Hanaeur and Erling Tholfsen.  Although the USA only won the Silver, Kashdan had the highest score of any player. Steiner earned the more-than-respectable result of 6 wins, 9 draws and only 1 loss.
     Steiner participated in the 3rd Olympiad in Hamburg in 1930 (+7=2-9) ; the 4th Olympiad at Prague in 1931 (+7=3-3) ;  the 9th Olympiad play in Dubrovnik in 1950 (as team captain) - the first Olympiad since Germany invaded Poland- (+3=1-3).

4th Olympiad, Prague: Dake, Kashdan, Marshal, Horowitz, Steiner

     A draw against the Swedish Champion, Gideon Ståhlberg, in the 1928 Olympiad:

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame
Reshevsky, Dake and Steiner receiving their $50 prize at Pasadena in 1932

    In 1932 Steiner played in the Pasadena International, an event that included Fred Reinfeld, Harry Borochow, A.J. Fink, Reuben Fine, Jacob Bernstein, Samuel Reshevsky, Alexander Alekhine, Isaac Kashdan, Capt. J.J. Araiza, Arthur Dake, and Samuel Factor. Alekhine won the event followed by Kashdan.  Steiner, Dake and Reshevsky shared 3rd-5th, winning $50 each. One unexpected occurrence was that Steiner decided to remain in California.

"Chess Review," Feb. 1933

     The "BCM" added: Herman Steiner has opened at the Hollywood Athletic Club an "international chess club and college."

Hollywood Athletic Club
(from that period)

     In early 1933 Herman married Selma Siegelman, a concert pianist

USC "Daily Trojan," 2-5-1932

USC "Daily Trojan," 2-9-1932

 

Photo, courtesy of the UCLA Library, licensed by Creative Commons for free usage
Newlyweds - Feb. 1933

    The couple had two children, Armin Frank Steiner, born around 1934  and Eugene Bernard Steiner, born around 1939. Armin, like his mother, was musically gifted, in fact he was a violin prodigy playing in orchestras at a very early age.  But he also was influenced by his father.  Herman had many interests such as designing chess pieces, boards and tables.
     According to Paul Mentzer, "Herman Steiner had designed the player's set to only hit in one place if it was knocked over and basically it is similar to the Staunton set except for the knight which is unique. Herman had also designed chess tables, clocks and was preparing to go into market when he died November 25, 1955." 
     But Herman Steiner's hobbies also included recording Hungarian Gypsy music and, by giving Armin a tape recorder on his 11th birthday, motivated the same interest in his son.  Armin gave up a career as a professional violinist in his teens to become an award-winning sound engineer for albums, films and television.
     Eugene, on the other hand, seems to have been less influenced by his father and mainly recalls his father's many absences, adding that they were starting become closer when his father died.

"L.A. Herald," March 28, 1921

An example of Steiner's Chess Column in the LA "Times."

    Steiner started his chess column for the LA "Times" in July of 1933.  Kerry Lawless, historian and archivist for California chess (whose work preserved much of what can be used to understand the chess development in California) called Steiner's column the "gold standard" that the subsequent LA "Times" chess columnists followed.

     "Historic Hotels of Los Angeles and Hollywood"  by Linda McCann, Dace Taube and Claude Zachary offers the following:

     At one point, Steiner started using his residence at 108. N. Formosa Ave., West Hollywood which had a large adjoining studio for his chess club:

108 N. Formosa Ave., West Hollywood

     Capablanca also moved temporarily to Hollywood around the same time as Steiner, acting as a chess instructor, particularly to starlets. He gave several simuls as well .  He and Steiner put on a rather famous Living Chess exhibition on April 11, 1933. Capablanca won the game which he had prearranged.  The stature of these chess players is reflected in the fact that Cecil B. DeMille acted as the referee for the game, announcing the moves.

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame

Original caption: 
"Friendly Enemies. Jose R. Capablanca of Cuba (left), former world champion chess player, and Herman Steiner (right), third ranking player in the United States, meet for a friendly game in Los Angeles."
         Photographed on April 6, 1933,  Cecil B. DeMille oversees the game

 

 

 

      Steiner started gaining more exposure in the 1940s.
 

"Chess Review" Dec. 1941

     Steiner and Abe Yanofsky shared 1st place at the U.S.C.F. Open Championship, played at the Baker Hotel in Dallas, Texas on Aug. 22-30. "Chess Review had this to say about Steiner:

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

     1945, which marks the beginning of the last decade of Herman Steiner's life, proved to be one of his finest.   

     In 1944 Steiner started planning for a pan-American congress to be held in Hollywood.  After a lot of politicking, negotiating and hard work, everything started to come together.  Herman focused the drawing power of his celebrity chess entourage as well as the financial and promotional strength of the LA "Times" and the publicity to the chess community through "The American Chess Bulletin" (Herman Helms was the Tournament Director) and "Chess Review" on his event.  (More detailed coverage of the event itself can be found in a previous article, The Day the Stars Came Out ). 
     One thing this tournament, which included players from Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba and the U.S., accomplished was to highlight how many famous film stars embraced chess.  Before the event, "Chess Review" featured Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and Charles Boyer on its cover and Bogart was promoted to be the master of ceremonies (although he doesn't seem to have made it).

    


"Chess Review" June 1945

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame


Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame
Steiner with Lilli Palmer and Gary Cooper, same staging location as above

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame
Hector Rossetto, actor John Payne and Herman Steiner

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame
Svetozar Gligoric, actor Stewart Granger, Herman Steiner

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame
Unknown female, Steiner, Rossetto and Carmen Miranda

 

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame
Hector Rossetto, Walter Cruz, Herman Steiner
Herman Pilnik,  actor  Zachary Scott

 

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame
Walter Cruz, Hetor Rossetto, Herman Pilnik, Herman Steiner, Charles Boyer

     Following on the heels of the Pan-Am Congress, played July 29-Aug. 12, was the infamous USSR-USA Radio Match, played Sept. 1-4.  The infamy of the match lies in the fact that the US was expecting a good fight, but what they got was a rout.  Of the 20 games played, the Soviet team won 13 and drew 5.  The US only won 2.  Al Horowitz and Herman Steiner were the only two American players able to win a game. Horowitz lost his other game while Steiner drew his, making Steiner the only US player with a plus score in that fiasco.

Steiner receiving his citation of participation from Carrie Marshall

  

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

     Steiner won against a strong field in the London International Masters Tournament in January 1946.

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame
Steiner, Pomar, Euwe - London 1946

  In their match for the US Championship, played May 14-18, 1946, in the Griffith Auditorium, Hollywood,  Steiner lost  to Arnold Denker 6-4.

Steiner vs Denker, May 1946

Concert violinist Cyril Towbin, (standing) president of the sponsoring Los Feliz Chess Club (Nancy Roos was a member)  announced the moves. 
Reuben Fine served as referee.

     Denker started off with 3 wins and a draw in the first 4 games. Steiner made a comeback that proved to be too little too late.


     The 1946 U.S. Open was played at the Hotel Roosevelt in Pittsburgh, Pa. from July 8-20.  With 58 entrants, "Chess Review" called it the largest and strongest open to date. Steiner won a full point ahead of second-placed Herbert Seidman.  Earlier that month, the US Junior Championship was held in Chicago.  Steiner, a strong supporter of young players, attended. 
     Below is a photo of Steiner observing a game between Don Kilgore of Dallas (L) and James Cross (R), a protégé of Steiner and a member of his Hollywood Chess Group. At this time, 16 year old Cross had only been playing a year.  Four years later, Cross would win the Junior Championship.

Another photo of Steiner in Chicago 1946

     In the fall of 1947 Steiner lost a match with Fine by the decisive result of 5-1.  Fine was preparing for the World Champion (which he ultimately declined to enter).  Fine also had dominated their previous matches (1933 +4-3=3 and 1944 +3=1).

"Chess Review"  Dec. 1947

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

 

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame

This photo  from 1947 shows Lana Turner playing Spencer Tracy  on the set of
"Cass Timberlane." Steiner is coaching while Director George Sidney adds his 2 cents.

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

     1948 was a banner year for Steiner. He finally won the U.S. Championship played at the community center of South Fallsburg, N.Y. from Aug. 10-31.

As with the above cover from September "Chess Review," the blurb below comes from a brief bio in the same issue:
     According to rumor when Herman Steiner returned to California after winning the U. S. title, he was greeted at the station by a brass band. The truth of this report is immaterial for the breezy, irrepressible chessmaster is his own best publicity agent. Easy to spot thanks to an unruly lock of hair which hangs over his forehead, Steiner is a hard man to ignore whether his topic is chess, California or his violin virtuoso son. He is an active promoter of chess through his column in The Los Angeles Times and his own organization, the Hollywood Chess Group.

     The US Championship was tightly contested up to the last game with Steiner edging out Kashdan by a half point.

"Chess Review"  Dec. 1948

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame
This same photo appeared in "Chess Review" March 1949

     Around this time, Steiner made the acquaintance of Jacqueline Piatigorsky, already a decent player bu one without tournament experience.
"When things seemed difficult, chess was always there. I started to solve the weekly problems from the Los Angeles "Times" and sent in the results. The chess editor then was Herman Steiner, who had been the United States champion in 1948.
     At an auction, Grisha [Gregor Piatigorsky] and I were bidding for a garnet pin, and it turned out that our opponents were Herman and Selma Steiner. We started to talk, and Herman remembered that I had been solving the paper’s chess problems. Then he took us to his home where he was running a chess club above the garage. "Sit down and play a game,” he offered, and introduced me to a tall young man, a very heavy stutterer. I played and lost. As I got up from the table, Herman Steiner caught me by surprise when he said, “You have just played your first tournament game.” Though my mind was far away from tournaments, I remained in this first one. I finished somewhere in the middle, but as I had a natural ability for combinations, I won the brilliancy prize. - "Jump in the Waves" by Jacqueline Piatigorsky

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame
Jackie Piatigorsky and Steiner in 1953

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame

Gligoric playing Steiner while Gregor Piatigorsky (r) and Mrs. Philip C. McKenna (Broadway/film producer) observe.

     In June of 1952, Steiner also played a match with Larry Evans for the US Championship. Quite oddly, there was little coverage of the match.  The upcoming US Open gathered all the attention. The match was played in Los Angeles, Reno and San Francisco.  In July, Evans was leading 10-4 and because both Evans and Steiner planned to play in the Open, the match was reported to have been adjourned until Fall, but Evans was given the title which ended the match, scheduled to resume in New York City.  On his was to the Interzonal in Stockholm in September (where he tied for 11th-13th), Steiner paused in Dallas to win the Southwest Open (which was given more press than the US Championship match).  In that article, Steiner was referred to as the former US Champion.

In 1953, Steiner wrote a series for Chess Life:

. . . and stayed busy:

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

. . . staying busy into 1954:

 

 

He organized the less spectacular 2nd Pan Am Congress

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

     1955 was simply a bad year for Steiner.  He was unable to reproduce his accomplishment in the USA-USSR Radio Match a decade earlier when The US team visited Russia.

     But when he was attempting to defend his California State Championship title, he suffered a heart attack and died on Friday, November 25, 1955.

"Chess Life" published this brief obituary in its December 5th issue:

 

The December issue of "The California Chess Reporter" (archived by Kerry Lawless of ChessDryad) gives tributes to Steiner by various personages. Below are some excerpts:

     Completely enamored of chess, an optimist never so content as when engaged in play, fearing no one as an opponent, and a never-say-die fighter, Herman Steiner was a picturesque and friendly personality in the realm of international chess. He will be missed in many circles, but mostly in California, where his unrelenting efforts over the years left a permanent mark.  —Herman Helms (originally from the "American Chess Bulletin")

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

 

    Herman believed the future of American chess was in the development of chess interest in the youth of this country. True to his beliefs, he spent countless hours at tournaments for junior players, instructing, encouraging, and in no small measure some of his bubbling enthusiasm for chess is reflected in the spirit and style of play of many of our young masters throughout the nation.
     As a teacher he was extremely successful in imparting his accumulative knowledge to others. Over the years he had developed a system of instruction that was most effective. So much so that leading chess periodicals had eagerly availed themselves of the opportunity to publish portions of this text. Herman was busily engaged in arranging for publication of a book incorporating his teaching methods at the time of his death.
      His contagious laughter and infectious good humor will be sorely missed. —Irving Revise

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

 

     Herman called himself a professional chess player, although everybody knew that he was losing money on chess. Perhaps he meant that chess was his vocation. It is very seldom that chessmasters admit this, and I know of only two chessmasters who were proud of their profession besides Herman: William Steinitz, who in his International Chess Magazine claimed that a chessmaster can be as proud of his profession as any other professional man; and Alexander Alekhine, who when middle-aged became a doctor at law at the Paris Sorbonne, yet remained true to himself as a chess player. Even Dr. Lasker, the greatest figure in chess, was proud of his achievements in philosophy and other fields, rather than of his prowess as a chess player.
     In style Herman Steiner belonged to the romantic school, of which in this century only Spielman and Mieses were left. He recognized no laws over the chess board except those of the imagination. With a wealth of ideas, full of fight, he achieved comparatively great successes even when he was near 50 at Saltsjobaden, 1952; after a bad start he held his own against the Russian grandmasters and still scored 50%. Imagine the odds of a Robin Hood fighting with arrows against modern scientific weapons! —Imre Konig

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

from the Chess Bulletin of the Steiner Chess Club:
Herman Steiner's immense love for the game spread a spark which brought chess to life in California. he made chess alive for thousands of school children; he created a woman's field for chess in ti part of the country. He taught; several of today's masters studied with him for endless hours.  He organized activities finding against all odds the necessary funds for local tournaments, as well as for international master tournaments. He gave without reserve of his dynamic personality, spreading warmth, hope, enthusiasm and new ideas. Regardless of appreciation or recognition he unconditionally came back ready to help; gave strength and pushed forward everyone he encountered. —Jacqueline Piatigorsky

Photo, courtesy of the Piatigorsky Family and the World Chess Hall of Fame

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Herman traps a Queen:

    One of Steiner best known games:

Dedicated
to Jeremy Silman and to Emily Allred of the World Chess Hall of Fame