Emory Tate

Emory Andrew Tate Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 27, 1958.{{Cite web |title=Emory Tate |url=https://www.chess.com/players/emory-tate |access-date=September 26, 2022 |publisher=Chess.com |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111010617/https://www.chess.com/players/emory-tate |url-status=live }} He grew up in a family of nine children. His father, Emory Andrew Tate Sr., was an attorney, and his mother, Emma Cox Tate, ran a truck-leasing business.{{Sfn|Shabazz|2017|p=5–7}} Tate Jr. learned to play chess as a child. He served in the United States Air Force as a sergeant, where he "excelled as a linguist."{{cite magazine |last=Lawrence |first=Al |author-link=Al Lawrence (chess writer) |date=January 2016 |title="Unmatched Perspicacity" / IM Emory Tate, 1958-2015 |url=http://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/CL-AND-CR-ALL/CL-ALL/2016/2016_01.pdf |magazine=Chess Life |pages=41–42 |access-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707011650/http://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/CL-AND-CR-ALL/CL-ALL/2016/2016_01.pdf |url-status=live }} Tate learned Spanish as 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.{{Sfn|Shabazz|2017|p=8}}

In 1993, Tate gave chess lessons to elementary school students in Goshen, Indiana, as part of a community school board program.{{Cite news |last=Stickel |first=Amy I. |date=August 30, 1993 |title=Goshen schools checkmate kids |pages=11 |work=South Bend Tribune}}

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.chess.com/games/search?fromSearchShort=1&p1=Emory%20Tate&playerId=31531&page=3/ |title=Chess Games Database: IM Emory Tate |website=Chess.com |access-date=January 7, 2023 |archive-date=January 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107233539/https://www.chess.com/games/search?fromSearchShort=1&p1=Emory%20Tate&playerId=31531&page=3/ |url-status=live }} His peak USCF rating was 2508 on December 30, 1996. He received the International Master title in 2007,{{cite web |last=Shabazz |first=Daaim |url=https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2015/10/21/emory-tate-chess-savant-warrior-1958-2015/ |title=Emory Tate: chess savant, warrior (1958-2015) |website=The Chess Drum |date=October 21, 2015 |access-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-date=July 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705002913/https://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2015/10/21/emory-tate-chess-savant-warrior-1958-2015/ |url-status=live }} after earning his third norm at the 2006 World Open.{{cite web |last=Shabazz |first=Daaim |url=https://www.thechessdrum.net/newsbriefs/2006/NB_EmoryTate.html |title=2006 World Open: Emory Tate gets 3rd IM Norm! |website=The Chess Drum |date=July 5, 2006 |access-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707011655/https://www.thechessdrum.net/newsbriefs/2006/NB_EmoryTate.html |url-status=live }}

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."

Tate earned a reputation as a creative tactician on the U.S. chess circuit, where he won about 80 tournament games against grandmasters.{{Sfn|Shabazz|2017|p=31}} Tate won the United States Armed Forces Chess Championship five times.{{cite web | url=https://new.uschess.org/news/armed-forces-champ-brilliant-tactician-emory-tate-1958-2015 | title=Armed Forces Champ & Brilliant Tactician Emory Tate, 1958-2015 | date=19 October 2015 | access-date=25 March 2021 | archive-date=18 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618091344/https://new.uschess.org/news/armed-forces-champ-brilliant-tactician-emory-tate-1958-2015 | url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Klein |first=Mike |title=IM Emory Tate, 1958-2015 |url=https://www.chess.com/news/view/emory-tate-1958-2015-7615 |access-date=2022-11-24 |website=Chess.com |date=18 October 2015 |language=en-US |archive-date=2022-10-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221028095354/https://www.chess.com/news/view/emory-tate-1958-2015-7615 |url-status=live }} 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.{{cite magazine |last=Shabazz |first=Daaim |title=Triple Exclam!!! The winning ways of Emory Tate, 1958-2015 |url=http://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/CL-AND-CR-ALL/CL-ALL/2016/2016_05.pdf |magazine=Chess Life |pages=36–40 |date=May 2016 |access-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-date=August 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811215357/http://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/CL-AND-CR-ALL/CL-ALL/2016/2016_05.pdf |url-status=live }} 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."

Tate married Eileen Ashleigh, from the United Kingdom, in 1985. Together, they had three children, two boys and a girl, the oldest of whom is social media personality Andrew Tate. The couple divorced in 1997, and his ex-wife returned to Luton, England, with their children.{{Sfn|Shabazz|2017|p=26, 38}}

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.{{Sfn|Shabazz|2017|p=73–77}}{{cite web |date=October 30, 2015 |title=Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #724 |url=https://www.milibrary.org/chess-newsletters/724 |access-date=July 6, 2022 |publisher=Mechanics' Institute |archive-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707011650/https://www.milibrary.org/chess-newsletters/724 |url-status=live }} In 2016, the Alabama Senate passed a resolution "celebrating [his] life and legacy".{{Sfn|Shabazz|2017|p=74}} Grandmaster Maurice Ashley described Tate as "a trailblazer for African-American chess".{{Sfn|Shabazz|2017|p=iv}}{{Cite web |last=Klein |first=Mike |title=IM Emory Tate, 1958-2015 |url=https://www.chess.com/news/view/emory-tate-1958-2015-7615 |access-date=November 24, 2022 |publisher=Chess.com |date=October 18, 2015 |archive-date=October 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221028095354/https://www.chess.com/news/view/emory-tate-1958-2015-7615 |url-status=live }}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUlFMQAACAAJ|title=Triple Exclam!!! The Life and Games of Emory Tate, Chess Warrior|last=Shabazz|first=Daaim|publisher=Chess Drum|year=2017|isbn=978-0998118093}}

• {{web.archive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531114034/https://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=2001365 |title= Emory Tate rating card at FIDE}}
• {{USCF|11126545}}
• {{Chessgames.com player}}
• {{365Chess.com player}}
• [http://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2016/06/25/triple-exclam-the-life-and-games-of-emory-tate-chess-warrior Biography of Emory Tate], Triple Exclam!!! The Life and Games of Emory Tate, Chess Warrior
• [https://twitter.com/tateterrific Emory Tate] X (formerly Twitter) account

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Category:1958 births

Category:2015 deaths

Category:Chess International Masters

Category:Game players from Chicago

Category:African-American chess players

Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen

Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen

Category:African-American United States Air Force personnel

Category:Northwestern University alumni

Category:20th-century American chess players

Category:21st-century American chess players