The Kennedys and Chess

On November 27, 1963, Booby Fischer was to play over 400 opponents at once in an exhibition, but was postponed because of

President Kennedy’s assassination. He was attempting to break Gideon Stahlberg’s record of 400 opponents. Stahlberg played 400 opponents

John E. Donovan, a Marine Lieutenant, also testified that he and Oswald played chess. In 1959, Donovan was the Marine base chess champion in Santa Ana,

and, on occasion, Oswald would beat him.

Mack Osborne and James Botelho, fellow Marines with Oswald, testified that Oswald spent time playing chess.

On May 20, 1964, Richard Dennis Call gave a sworn affidavit to the Warren Commission that Oswald spent a great deal of time playing chess while the two

were station in a Marine Squadron in Santa Ana, California. He stated that “Oswald always chose the red chessmen, making some remark to the effect that

he preferred the ‘Red Army.’”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

John F. Kennedy, Jr. (1960-1999) was a chess player and played in several chess tournaments. According to Josef Vatnikov’s book, Essay on Chess,

JFK, Jr was a very good chess player. In 1975, JFK, Jr. visited the Moscow University chess club. JFK, Jr. and his cousin, Mark Shriver, played chess at the club.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan.

Sirhan is an avid chess player and still plays chess at San Quentin. In the book, Who Really Killed Kennedy, by Jerome Corsi, page 52,

the author quotes one of my articles while making a point about amateurs (Oswald as an amateur sniper) and professionals.

“Typically the transition to world class involves a transformation where the pro learns to see the game differently than the amateur.

Consider the game of chess. Studies have shown chess masters truly see no more moves ahead in a chess game than beginners.