Stuart Rachels – Hall of Fame Class of 2021

Stuart Rachels is Alabama’s greatest player of the 20th century. He is a five-time Alabama State Champion, a U.S. Junior Champion, a U.S. Co-Champion, and an International Master.

After his family moved to Alabama in the late 1970s, Stuart learned the rules of chess at age 8. He played in his first tournament in 1979 and quickly began to improve. He had already become one of Alabama’s top ten players, and won the Birmingham City Championship, in 1980. His true potential as a chess prodigy was revealed when, in the summer of 1981, he became the youngest ever U.S. National Master up to that point, at the age of 11 years and 10 months old.

Stuart’s record-breaking National Master title would be followed by many more successes, both at the state and national level, throughout the 1980s. For example, Stuart became an Alabama State Champion for five consecutive years (1982-1986) and a Birmingham City Champion for four consecutive years (1983-1986); he won numerous other notable Alabama tournaments, such as the Vulcan Open, the Space City Open, the Magic City Open, and the Queen of Hearts. He also proved himself to be one of the best junior players in the country by tying for first at the 1982 U.S. Junior High Championship, and then tying for first at the 1982 U.S. Junior Open.

In 1988, Stuart won the U.S. Junior Championship and qualified to play in the 1989 U.S. Championship. He entered that U.S. Championship as a considerable underdog: he was an FM in a field teeming with GMs. However, Stuart defied all odds and played his greatest tournament ever, tying for first (with Seirawan and Dzindzichashvili) at +4 to become a U.S. Co-Champion. Stuart was awarded the International Master title for this performance. He also qualified to play in the 1990 Interzonal tournament, where he competed among past and future chess legends such as Tal, Smyslov, Korchnoi, Short, Gelfand, Ivanchuk, and Anand.

After reaching the summit of American chess, attaining a USCF rating over 2600, and proving he could compete on equal terms with some of the world’s elite players, Stuart retired from competitive chess in 1993. Although his chess career was relatively short, his status as an Alabama chess legend will last forever.

In addition to his achievements over the board, Stuart is also known and respected for his chess writings. Even from a young age, he often contributed articles to Alabama Chess Antics. Much more recently, Stuart wrote a book called The Best I Saw in Chess (published by New in Chess in 2020) filled with stories and games from his chess career. This book is a treasure trove of 1980s Alabama chess history—and, of course, Stuart made much of that history himself. The Best I Saw in Chess won a Chess Journalists of America award for “Best Book” of 2020.

To see one of Stuart’s best games, click here: https://alabamachess.org/magazine/stuart-rachels/

Highlights