Anthony Santasiere

Anthony Edward Santasiere (9 December 1904 – 13 January 1977) was an American chess master.

Chess career

1920s

In 1923, Santasiere tied for 13-14th in Lake Hopatcong (Frank Marshall and Abraham Kupchik won). In 1924, he took 3rd, behind Marshall and Carlos Torre, in New York. In 1927, he tied for 3rd-4th in New York (Albert Pinkus won). In 1927, he tied for 4-6th in Rome (New York State Championship; Rudolph Smirka won). In 1928, Santasiere won in Buffalo (NYS-ch). In 1929, he took 3rd, behind Herman Steiner and Jacob Bernstein, in Buffalo (NYS-ch). In 1930, he tied for 1st with Norman Lessing in Utica (NYS-ch).

1930s

In 1931, he took 7th in New York (José Raúl Capablanca won). In 1931, he tied for 3rd-4th in Rome (NYS-ch; Fred Reinfeld won). In 1934, he tied for 9-10th in Syracuse (Samuel Reshevsky won). In 1935, he took 7th in Milwaukee (Reuben Fine won). In 1938, he tied for 10-11th in New York (2nd US-ch; Reshevsky won). In 1938, he took 5th in Boston (Israel Horowitz and Isaac Kashdan won).

1940s

He took 2nd, behind Reshevsky, at Boston 1944 (45th US Open), and won at Peoria 1945 (46th US Open). In September 1945, he played in a radio match US vs USSR on 10th board against David Bronstein and lost both games. In 1949, he took 2nd, behind Sandrin, in Omaha (US Open). He won a tournament in Italy in 1953. In 1957, Santasiere beat young Bobby Fischer in the West Orange Open.

Outside of chess

Santasiere was a high school mathematics teacher by profession. His hobbies included creative writing and oil painting. Santasiere wrote extensively on chess in the magazine "American Chess Bulletin". He is the author of the book "The Romantic King's Gambit". The chess opening Santasiere's Folly (1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b4) is named for him.

Books written by Santasiere

*The Futuristic Chess opening: Santasiere's Folly (Paperback) by Anthony E Santasiere
*King’s Gambit - Analysis and Games , Anthony Santasiere