Richard Gilmartin

Does anyone know Richie? We used to play chess at Washington Square Park some time ago. He was a chess coach and he taught me how to play. Just wanted to know if anyone knew him now or in the past.

He was mentioned in a NY Times article some time ago at http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/04/nyregion/neighborhood-report-washington-square-park-day-life-soul-mates-checkmates-play.html

Richard Gilmartin, wearing a shirt with a hole in the armpit, is playing an untimed match. He charges a dollar for a pair of games, cutting into Mr. Zamora's business. Some call Mr. Gilmartin, 55, a genius, but he says his true talent lies in languages. He knows two dozen and offers a sampling of the most exotic: Serbian, Swahili, Malaysian. He theorizes that languages with the most vowels are the most primitive. A former watch-delivery man, he will make his mark with a book on the origin of language, he says. "So far I haven't."

Any news about him would be appreciated. 

I am the youngest brother of Richard (Richie) Gilmartin.  He passed away 2 weeeks short of his 69th birthday in on June 16 2009.  I was with fami,y yesterday and my grandkids googled Richie and found your post.  His movie the chessmaster by MR Reyes is classic my brother.  Im glad it's still on YouTube .  You can call me on my cell once I have a private link to send it to you.  Richie had 2 loves chess and language.  He had a great impact on the game and the NYC people who got to know him during his 52 years of playing the game!  Regards

I just saw your response to my  post about your brother Ritchie.  I am sorry to hear that he passed away. When I first met Richie I was playing chess in Washington Square Park. I knew a little about chess having read some of Fred Reinfeld's book and having practiced on a chess computer I had gotten from Radio Shack. In those days there was no such thing as the internet. I was very unhappy in those days because I was in a bad situation in my life. In the process of teaching me how pros played chess he made me feel better and rekindled by interest in chess in general. I tried to find the movie you mentioned by MR Reyes so maybe you could send me the link. A while back there was a short video called "Dinosaur eyes" about Richie which is no longer on YouTube. You said I could call you on your cell but you don't give your number. I know you don't want to give out your phone number on the internet. If you like you can email me the link you wanted to send me. My email address is: frank124c@gmail.com. Richie did have a positive impact on all who knew him and now that he is gone I sincerely miss him.

I, too, knew Richie, and learned from another chess-playing friend that he had died. Needless to say, that news saddened me.  He was one of the better players in Washington Square Park during the 1980s, when I was a homeless guy in NYC, and met him through my interest in chess.  I once saw him playing a match with Theo, the loud-mouthed Greek millionaire.  In stark contrast to most of Theo's games, there was no name-calling and/or "razzing" of the opponent.  To me, this is a mark of the great respect in which he was held among the chess players who knew him.  I, too, would like to see the movie THE CHESSMASTER by RM Reyes.  Can someone send me a link ??  My email address is  mark.creekwater@gmail.com.  Our mutual friend Damon was quite a character, and of almost equal strength to Richard as a chess-player.  Does anyone remember him ??

Ahhh, Ritchie Gilmartin. I will never forget the way he would screw the piece into the board after making a good move saying "Squoim ya woim." I used to hang out at the Chess Shop in the late seventies/early eighties where Richie was a fixture. RIP Ritchie.

Thanks.  He was a character even as a kid.  I’m glad to be his kid brother and that he still is remembered for the one thing in his life he loved to do  play chesd

I knew Ritchie very well from Washington Square and Thompson Street--I can still hear the Brooklyn accent. He was a terrific player and advertised himself as a grandmaster. He had a theory that all languages were connected to a "root language" originally spoken by the lost civilization of Atlantis. He memorized countless words in many exotic languages. One day at the club he was bragging about his immense vocabulary when an old NYC professor said, "Yes, but how many ideas can you express in those languages?" I first met him at the chess place in Central Park. I was with a terrific player named Barry, also from Brooklyn, who knew the King's Gambit very well. They played a game and Gilmartin destroyed him while eating from a bag of peanuts and discarding the shells on the floor. Gilmartin was very eccentric and was prone to fits of temper--I had the impression he was a little imbalanced. But he was a fascinating character in the old Village and I remember him with great affection. I can tell you many anecdotes as we spent much time together back in the day. 

Thanks for your comments.  Richie was a genius and did speak over 20 languages.  He grew up in the Bronx and was always taking me around the Bronx as he had to watch me. He knew Bobby Fisher and used to spar with him in St James park.  Me and my other 2 brothers always got along with him.  He was unconventional and went through life doing what he wanted.  It’s 11 years since his death and I often laugh at the things he did as a kid!  In an earlier post I mentioned his video by RH Reyes. It’s called the CHESS LESSON. I had previously wrote the wrong title.  It’s on the internet.  Thanks again 

Must have been a great person

 Sorry fr your loss @Fuza104

Plato wrote about Atlantis with no evidence. It was not clear whether Atlantis is real or just a myth.

I’m not inclined to comment on someone’s posts. My brothers papers on language roots do not mention Atlantis.  His root language location is elsewhere.   

Funny you mention "papers" because Richard often carried a notebook. Atlantis was certainly one of his theories. To be more specific, he believed in aliens who had colonized the planet and in some way were connected to the mythical Atlantis. I had plenty of opportunity to hear about all this over the years. Absolutely he had this idea of a root language from which all other languages descended, even very primitive ones. Of course the NYU people dismissed all this as complete nonsense. I was always a little uncomfortable with Richard because he had a ferocious temper and was also interested in martial arts at which is was not very proficient. Once in Washington Square he flew into a rage at an old patzer for a trifling thing. I was able to walk him back to Thompson Street and calm him down without further incident. My favorite recollection is that Richard was playing a fellow who had an annoying habit of holding his arm above the board for an extended period of time prior to moving. Richard did the same thing so they were both sitting there for quite a while frozen into position. I never saw Richard play a clock game or any form of speed chess. Anyhow, Richard was one of those remarkable people who lacked a formal education  and opportunities but nevertheless got by well enough to successfully pursue his interests. Richard was one of the Village's great characters and there should be an article on him somewhere so all this is not forgotten. 

All right, I have to tell this story, the last one, I promise. Richard seemed to be fascinated with all sorts of exotic tribal cultures, I gather because he encountered them in his linguistic explorations. One day we were in Washing Square and an unusually tall Black fellow walk by. Richard got very excited and ran up to the fellow and said, "Excuse me but are you related to the Watusi tribe?" I thought this was going to be our last day on earth because the Square was rough back then, but the guy responded quite nicely and they had a conversation. Richard was very guileless and disarming sometimes, and people saw this in him.  He had an unusually varied personality. Also I am interested to know he was from the Bronx--his accent was very thick and coming from PA seemed pure Brooklyn. He never, ever talked about his upbringing, but I presumed he was Irish Catholic. I'd love to know more about him because it was always a mystery. 

Thanks.  I should gather all these comments and recollections and start documenting his early years. I know he used to go to the clubs on 42nd street early on.  He did some college but was bored at the teaching so he quit. Drfrank124c can get in touch if you ever have additional information.

You really should make a biography of him--Richard was too good to forget and he is a major part of NYC chess lore. He was certainly my favorite character from that circle. 

I have just now seen all these recent replies to my initial posting. I only knew Ritchie for less than a year but he managed to rekindle my interest in chess which continues to exist to this day. I never knew him to have a temper even though some of the other posters say he had one, to me he was a very nice person. He had a very good sense of humor and he made me laugh and feel good at the time, even though I was homeless. I finally managed to get a job as a salesman that paid a good wage and tried to interest him in joining me since I felt he would make a good salesman but he was more interested in staying in the park and playing chess. 

Yes. He did everything his way!  Thanks for the info,

I also "studied" under Ritchie. I was a high school student on Long Island who got interested in chess after seeing the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer. On weekends my father used to drive me into the city and I would play games against the guys in Washington Square Park. I can't remember exactly how it happened but I ended up playing with / or "studying under" Ritchie for a summer. My father would drive me into the city on weekends, to play games against Ritchie for an hour or so. I think my dad gave him some money each time, and Ritchie and I would play and he talked me through games, explained to me what I was doing wrong, and explained to me other ways to think through games. The other players at the park got to recognize me as the guy who played a lot with Ritchie, and there were times when they would decline to play me because they thought I was better than I actually was. Ritchie actually gave me a gift: a pretty beaten up hardcover copy of the 1949 edition of The Fireside Book of Chess. I have it and cherish it to this day. He was a true original.

Richie was a good man and even after all these years I still remember him as a friend.