Perhaps the first chess club in the Los Angeles/Hollywood area was the Los Angeles Chess and Checker Club, organized in 1910 with a membership of 40 players. It was active until the 1930s.

In the 1920s, the Beverly Hills Chess Club was founded by Dr. Charles L. Lindley. By the 1930s, it was the strongest chess club in Southern California and was attracting some Hollywood celebrities.

In the Los Angeles/Hollywood area was the Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC). It was founded in 1880 and later included a chess room.

In June 1921, Sammy Reshevsky (Rzeschewski) (1911-1992) gave a 20-board simul at the Los Angeles Athletic Club and met several Hollywood stars such as Charlie Chaplin (1899-1977) and 5-year-old Jackie Coogan (1914-1984) at the simul. Reshevsky later gave a 12-board simul at the Hamburger Department Store in Los Angeles, where he lost one game and burst out crying (because it was a boy who won rather than an adult).

In the 1920s, Hollywood was using chess in their movies more often. In 1921, the silent version of The Three Musketeers, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. (1883-1939) was one of the first films to use chess as a crucial part of the narrative in the film. Other silent films, such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Lon Chaney, Sr, had a chess board and pieces in the background.

Herman Steiner (1905-1955), was a very strong chess master (later awarded the title of International Master) who was active in New York. He left New York in 1932 and settled in the Los Angeles area. He traveled to the Chess Congress Masters tournament and decided to stay on the West Coast.

In August 1932, the Olympiad Chess Congress was held, which sponsored the Chess Congress Masters Tournament (played at the Hotel Maryland in Pasadena). The international tournament was promoted by Cecil B. DeMille (1811-1959). The tournament followed the 10th Modern Olympic Games, held in Los Angeles. The Masters tournament was won by Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946).

On November 7, 1932, a new Hollywood Chess Club was opened at 5704 La Mirada Avenue, Hollywood. California State Champion Harry Borochow gave an 18-board simultaneous exhibition (winning 14, drawing 1, and losing 3). The president of the Hollywood Chess Club was Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (1909-2000). The executive board included Lew Ayres (1908-1996), screenwriter Richard Schayer (1880-1956), film director Ernest Laemmle (1900-1950), actor, director, and producer William Wyler (1902-1981), and film director and editor Slavko Vorkapich (1894-1976).

On December 23, 1932, world champion Alexander Alekhine gave a blindfold exhibition at the Hollywood Chess Club, winning 5 and drawing 2.

In January 1933, Herman Steiner formed the International Chess Club (later called the Hollywood Chess Group), first headquartered at the Hollywood Athletic Club at 6521 Sunset Boulevard, where he conducted a weekly chess lecture and chess class. He later formed a chess clubhouse next to his own house, which was located at 108 North Formosa Avenue in West Hollywood.

In February 1933, the Hollywood Chess Club sponsored a movie artists’ concert to raise money for a new house project. The master of ceremonies was Neil Hamilton (1899-1984), best known for his role as Commissioner Gordon on the Batman TV series.

In March 1933, Richard Schayer became the new president of the Hollywood Chess Club (renamed the Hollywood Chess and Bridge Club), which moved to the 6735 Yucca Street in Hollywood.

In May 1933, Jose Capablanca (1888-1942) played 23 boards at the Hollywood Chess and Bridge Club, winning 21 and drawing 2 games (drew with state champion Borochow and Mrs. May Bain of the Hollywood Club). He later played 32 boards at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. The event was coupled with Herman Steiner’s wedding reception where Capablanca was a guest of honor.

In 1933, Herman Steiner became the chess editor of the Los Angeles Times and helped promote chess in the area. The top chess clubs in the area were the Hollywood Chess Club, the Yiddish Chess Club, the Los Angeles Chess and Checker Club, the Los Angeles Athletic Club, and the Caltech Chess Club in Pasadena.

In the 1930s, Herman Steiner gave weekly chess lessons to several Hollywood stars and promising chess players. Jose Ferrer (1909-1992) took lessons from Steiner and remarked what a genius chess teacher Steiner was. Other chess students who took lessons from Steiner included Humphrey Bogart, Billy Wilder, Louis Hayward, Fritz Feld, Rosemary Clooney, Jim Cross and Jacqueline Piatigorsky.

By 1934, the Hollywood Chess Group had about 50 members from the movie industry. In May 1934, Herman Steiner decided to merge his chess classes with the Hollywood Chess Club

In September 1935, the Hollywood Chess Club moved to a new clubhouse in the Lawlor Professionals” School Building at 6107 Franklin Avenue, Hollywood. The club president was LeRoy Johnson.

In 1936, the Hollywood Chess Club drew a short-wave radio match, using Morse Code, with the Hawaii Army Chess Club. This may have been the first overseas radio chess match.

In 1938, the Hollywood Chess Group moved to the same Hollywood Boulevard building as the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Writers Guild. The club was at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Cherokee Avenue (1655 North Cherokee Ave).

In 1939, the Hollywood Chess Group sponsored the California State Championship. The event was won by Philip Woliston (1920- ), age 19. 2nd-3rd place went to Herman Steiner and Harry Borochow (1898-1993). George Koltanowski (1903-2000) took 4th place.

By the 1940s, the Hollywood Chess Group had over 100 members.

In 1941, the Hollywood Chess Group helped raise money for the British War Relief. Herman Steiner played 400 players on 100 boards, winning 83, drawing 11, and losing 6 games in 9 hours and 20 minutes.

In 1942, Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) was active in chess in Hollywood and he played chess with patients in Veterans hospitals. He was also playing correspondence chess with several GIs overseas until he was visited by the FBI in 1943 and was told not to play any more correspondence chess with military members for the duration of the war.

In 1943, the Hollywood Open was held at the Hollywood Chess Club. The tournament was won by Harry Borochow.

In November 1944, the Hollywood Chess Group helped raise money for the Russian War Relief. Herman Steiner gave a number of simultaneous exhibitions.

In July-August 1945, the Hollywood Chess Group and the Los Angeles Times organized the Pan-American International Tournament. Singer and actress Carmen Miranda (1909-1955) was there to open the event and draw the players’ numbers for the pairings. Humphrey Bogart, a tournament director of the U.S. Chess Federation, was selected as the Master of Ceremonies. One of the spectators of the tournament was actress Marlene Dietrich (1904-1992). Samuel Reshevsky won the event and $1,000.

In 1945, Humphrey Bogart and his new wife (they were just married and both were chess players), Lauren Bacall (1924- ), along with Charles Boyer (1899-1978) and Herman Steiner, appeared on the cover of the June-July Chess Review magazine. The shot was taken during the filming of The Confidential Agent.

In 1946, the Beverly Hills Chess Club was organized by Ellis Levy, with about 30 members. Meeting were held at a clubhouse at Roxbury Park on Olympic Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

In 1947, the Hollywood Lasker team won the Los Angeles Metropolitan League Chess Championship.

In 1947, Steiner was the chess adviser for the movie Cass Timberlane, starring Spencer Tracy and Lana Turner. Steiner told Lana Turner, “Don’t play chess. Sitting at a chess board for hours might make you fat and spoil your perfect figure.” There were several chess scenes in the movie.

In 1948, Herman Steiner and Jim Cross (1930- ) tied for 1st in the Hollywood Open.

In 1950, a Hollywood Invitational was held at the Hollywood Chess Club. It was won by Ray Martin (rated 2210), ahead of Herman Steiner (rated 2394) and Jim Cross.

In the 1950s, Humphrey Bogart was a USCF tournament director and active in the California State Chess Association.

In December 1950, the Valley Chess Club was formed, which met at the Recreation Building at Vancwen Park in North Hollywood. It later moved to North Hollywood Park. Charles Boyer was an active member in this club.

In 1951, members of the Capablanca Chess Club in Havana showed up in Hollywood to play the Hollywood Chess Club. The Hollywood team won, scoring 11.5-7.5

In April-May 1952, the Hollywood International tournament (actually played at Mama Weiss’ Czardas Restaurant in Beverly Hills) was held and won by Svetozar Gligoric, followed by Oscar Pomar. Herman Steiner took 3rd place.

In 1953, the USCF awarded the 1954 U.S. Open to Hollywood. A month later, the USCF Tournament Committee rescinded that award. The reason for the change was a fundamental disagreement between the Committee and the Hollywood sponsors. The Hollywood plan was to have the Open in a number of sections. The sponsors were to raise a large prize fund so as to guarantee cash prizes and extra money for the Master Section to attract master chess players. Prizes for the other sections were to be trophies only. The plan was rejected by the USCF, and they awarded the site to New Orleans (won by Larry Evans).

In April, 1954, the Hollywood Chess Group held the California Women’s Championship, organized by Herman Steiner.

In 1954, the Hollywood Chess Group organized the Second Pan-American Chess Congress. It was won by Arthur Bisguier.

In January 1955, the Southern California Chess League was formed. The club members were Hollywood, Beverly Hills, City Terrace, Cosmopolitan, Inglewood, Long Beach, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Van Nuys, Valley, North American Aviation, and Water & Power. Most of the meetings were at the Hollywood Chess Club, which was the strongest club, which included Grandmaster Isaac Kashdan.

When Herman Steiner died in November 1955 (during the California State Championship), the Hollywood Chess Group was headed and managed by Jacqueline de Rothschild Piatigorsky (1911- ), wife of world-renowned cellist Gregor Piatigorsky (1903-1976). The club was renamed the “Herman Steiner Chess Club,” in memory of Herman Steiner.

In 1955, Isaac Kashdan became chess editor of the Los Angeles Times.

In 1956, Samuel Reshevsky gave a simul in Los Angeles. One of the players that got a draw from him was Humphrey Bogart.

In 1956, the Herman Steiner Chess Club held the California Women’s Championship. The tournament was won by Sonja Graf-Stevenson (1908-1965), followed by Lina Grumette (1908-1988) and Jacqueline Piatigorsky.

In 1959, the Herman Steiner Chess Club moved to its third location, 8371 Beverly Blvd, West Hollywood. It was located in a converted upstairs three-bedroom apartment, or “duplex.”

In the 1960s, the Herman Steiner Chess Club were consistent first prize winners in team chess matches for the annual Los Angeles Team Matches. Members of the Steiner Chess Club included club regulars such as Jack Moskowitz, Carl Pilnick (1923- ), Irving Rivise (1918-1976), Morris Gordon, William Addison (1933-2008), Tibor Weinberger (1932- ), and Jim Lazos.

In 1961, the Piatigorskys purchased a property at 8801 Cashio Street. on the Westside of Hollywood, just south of Beverly Hills. They commissioned Frank Loyd Wright, Jr. (1890-1978) to design a chess venue to accommodate chess tournaments of 150 players or more. The place was used for the 1961 Fischer-Reshevsky match (Jose Ferrer was the master of ceremonies) and the 1962 California Junior Championship. The place also put on large simuls by Samuel Reshevsky, Svetozar Gligoric, Larry Evans, and others.

In 1961, the new Herman Steiner Chess Club hosted the Southern California Chess Championship. Tied for first were Ray Martin, Irving Riviese, and Walter Cunningham.

In 1962, the Herman Steiner Chess Club was the host of the California State Championship. Irving Rivise and Tibor Weinberger tied for 1st.

In July 1963, Gregor Piatigorsky sponsored the first Piatigorsky Cup grandmaster tournament in Los Angeles. Tigran Petrosian and Paul Keres tied for 1st Bobby Fischer was invited, but he requested an extra $2,000 appearance fee and the sponsors did not want to pay for that. His invitation went to Pal Benko who placed 7th-8th. One of the spectators at the first Piatigorsky Cup was Frank Sinatra, who took some chess literature home with him.

In 1963, Anthony Saidy won the Herman Steiner Chess Club Championship, followed by William Addison.

By 1964, the Herman Steiner Chess Club on Beverly Blvd ended and players migrated to the site on Cashio St. The winner of the 1964 Herman Steiner Chess Club Championship was William Addison.

In 1964, the Herman Steiner Chess Club sponsored part of Bobby Fischer’s great simul tour of the USA. Fischer played 50 opponents at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Hollywood. The board fee was $3.50 and $1 for spectators. Fischer won 47, drew 2 (Andy Sacks and Nicholas Enequst), and lost one game (Donn Rogozin). These three players were all junior members of the Herman Steiner Chess Club.

In August 1966, Gregor Piatigorsky sponsored the second Piatigorsky Cup in Santa Monica. The tournament was won by Boris Spassky. 2nd place went to Bobby Fischer. The event had over 900 spectators, the largest audience ever to witness a chess tournament in the United States. Some of the spectators included Edward G. Robinson, Henry Fonda, Richard Boone, Joan Blodell, Rhonda Fleming, Van Cliburn, Victor Borge, and Leopold Stokowski.

In 1967, Bobby Fischer stayed at Lina Grumette’s home in West Hollywood. He stayed for several months.

In 1968, the Herman Steiner Chess Club hosted the Interzonal play-off, which was won by Samuel Reshevsky.

In the 1960s, Lina Grumette ran a chess club in her West Hollywood home called The Chess Set.

In the early 1970s, Agustin Eastwood De Mello hosted a chess club (The Hollywood Chess Club) at his own residence in Hollywood. Hollywood also had its coffeehouses, parks, and doughnut shops where chess players could always find a game.

In the 1990s, National Master Robert Snyder ran several tournaments in the area and taught chess to Will Smith and Nicholas Cage and family.

Hollywood is the current home of grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian, who played in this year’s U.S. chess championship.

Over the years, the Hollywood Chess Group and the Herman Steiner Chess Club was visited by many movie stars, including James Arness (1923- ), Lew Ayres (1908-1996), Lauren Bacall, John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Humphrey Bogart, Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), Charles Boyer, J. Edward Bromberg (1903-1951), Nigel Bruce (1895-1953), Charlie Chaplin, Rosemary Clooney (1928-2002), Bill Cowley (1912-1993), Helmut Dantine (1917-1982), Linda Darnell (1923-1965), Henry Darrow (1933- ), Cecil B. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Fritz Feld (1900-1993), Jose Ferrer, Henry Fonda (1905-1982), Sydney Greenstreet (1879-1954), Barbara Hale (1922- ), Louis Hayward, Katharine Hepburn (1909-2003), Louis Jourdan, Duan Kennedy, Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999), Myrna Loy (1905-1993), Ernst Lubitsch, Dean Martin (1917-1995), Walter Matthau (1920-2000), Mitzi Mayfair, Frank Morgan (1890-1949), Kathleen O’Malley, Roy William Neill, Maureen O’Sullivan (1911-1998), Sam Peckinpah, Anthony Quinn (1915-2001), Basil Rathbone (1892-1967), Man Ray (1890-1996), Mike Romanoff (1890-1971), George C. Scott (1927-1999), Zachary Scott (1914-1965), Josef von Sternberg, Shirley Temple (1928- ), Franchot Tone, Jean Trent, Roseanne Murray, John Wayne (1907-1979), Blly Wilder (1906-2002), Bill Williams, and William Windom (1923- ).

– Bill Wall