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Bill Addison (1933-2008) by Bill Wall

William (Bill) Grady Addison was born in Baton Rouge on November 28, 1933.

Bill served in the U.S. Army in the early 1950s.

In 1952, he settled in San Francisco and was rated a low expert. By 1953, he was USCF rated 2209.

In 1953, he was a member of the Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club. Arthur Stamer was its director. He
was also a member of the Golden Gate Chess Club in San Francisco. Pictures of Bill Addison appears in
the August 1955 issue of the California Chess Reporter, representing the Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club
and the Golden Gate Chess Club.

In 1953, he played in the 20th California championship, held in Hollywood, California. He took 3rd place,
behind Herman Steiner and Henry Gross.

In 1954, he won the Northern California Open and took 2nd place in the Golden Gate Chess Club
Championship in San Francisco (won by Bob Currie).

In August 1955, he played in the 56th US Open championship, held in Long Beach, California. He tied for
20th place with a score of 7.5 out of 12. The event was won by Nicolas Rossolimo on tiebreak over
Samuel Reshevsky.

In November 1955, he played in the 22nd California championship, held in Los Angeles, California. In
round 5, he drew with Herman Steiner. A few hours later, Steiner died of a heart attack and the
California championship was cancelled. Addison was the last person to play Steiner.

In 1956, Addison’s USCF rating was 2244.

In 1956 he played in the Golden Gate Open in San Francisco and the California State Championship, held
in San Francisco.

In 1957, Addison’s USCF rating was 2274.

In 1957, Addison played board 2 for the North in the 24th annual North vs. South match, held in Fresno,
California. He won his match against Ray Martin, but the North lost to the South by the score of 36-
37. Board 1 was Imre Konig for the North and Isaac Kashdan for the South.

In 1957, he won the Mechanics’ Institute Invitational Tourney.

In 1957, he defeated Samuel Reshevsky in an 8-game clock simul, held in San Francisco.

In July 1957, he played in the New Western Open, held in Milwaukee. He tied for 6th-12th place. The
event was won by Donald Byrne and Larry Evans.

In August 1957, Addison drove several chess players from San Francisco to Cleveland to play in the US
Open. The passengers included Bobby Fischer, Gil Ramirez, and William Rebold. He played dozens of
games with Fischer on that car trip.

In August 1957, Addison played in the 58th US Open championship, held in Cleveland, Ohio. He tied for
13th place with a score of 8 out of 12. The event was won by Bobby Fischer on tiebreak over Arthur
Bisguier. Addison defeated Bisguier (his only loss), but lost to Fischer in round 11 on August 15, 1957
(Fischer won as White in 36 moves as Addison played the Caro Kann defense).

In September 1957, he played in the California State Open championship, held in Monterey, and tied for
7th-8th. The event was won by James Schmitt on tie-break over Grandmaster Larry Evans.

In November 1957, he won the San Francisco City Championship and the Northern California Chess
Championship and qualified for the California State Championship, but did not participate (won by
James Cross).

In 1958, he played board 1 for the Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club in league play, which won the
Division championship. Addison won 7, drew 2, and lost none for the best record.

In April 1958, he won the Golden Gate Chess Club Open Championship with a 11-1 score.

In September 1958, he won the San Francisco championship.

In October-November 1958, took 2nd place in the Northern California Open Championship, held in San
Francisco. The event was won by James Schmitt.

In December 1958, he played in the 25th California championship, held in San Francisco. He took
2nd place, behind Charles Bagby.

By 1958, he was the 19th highest rated active player in the USA, with a rating of 2363. Reshevsky was
rated 2713 and Fischer was rated 2626. (March 5, 1958 USCF rating list)

In 1959, Addison’s rating was 2338.

In 1959, he was the games editor of the California Chess Reporter.

In 1960, he played in the Northern California chess championship in San Francisco.

In November 1960, he took 1st place in the Palo Alto Open in Palo Alto, California.

In November 1960, he played in the 27th California championship, held in San Francisco. He tied for 3rd-
4th with Irving Rivise, behind Zoltan Kovacs (1st place) and Sven Almgren (2nd place).

By the end of 1960, Addison’s USCF rating was 2327.

In 1961, he played in the US Open.

By the end of 1961, Addison’s USCF rating was 2310.

In 1962, he scored a perfect 6-0 to win the Hamilton AFB Open in California.

In 1962, he won the Southern California Open, the California Closed championship in San Francisco, the
Fresno Open and the Santa Monica Open.

In 1962, he took 2nd place in the California Open, won by Walter Cunningham.

By the end of 1962, Addison’s rating was 2408.


In 1962-63, he played in his first of five US championships, the 15th US chess championship (Rosenwald
tournament) in New York City. He tied for 3rd place with Larry Evans and Samuel Reshevsky with the
score 6.5-4.5. The event was won by Bobby Fischer, followed by Arthur Bisguier. Addison defeated
Reshevsky in the first round.

In 1963, Addison was in a play-off with Samuel Reshevsky and Larry Evans to determine who would
qualify for the 3rd position in the next Interzonal (Fischer and Bisguier already qualified). The play-off
was held n Los Angeles and Reshevsky won the event.

In 1963, he played in the California State Championship in Los Angeles.

In 1963, he took 2nd in the Herman Steiner Chess Club championship, held in Hollywood. The event was
won by Anthony Saidy.

In 1963-64, Bill lived in Los Angeles and taught chess under a grant from the Piatigorsky Foundation.

By the end of 1963, Addison’s rating was 2462.

In 1963-64, he played in the 16th US chess championship in New York. He only scored 3.5-7.5, tying for
9th place with Edmar Mednis. Fischer won the event with an 11-0 score.

In early 1964, he won the Masters’ Round Robin of the Herman Steiner Chess Club, held in Los
Angeles. He scored 10 wins and 1 draw, earning $250 first prize.

In 1964 he won the first annual Arthur B. Stamer Memorial in San Francisco.

In 1964, he won the 4th Central New England Open tournament, held in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

In 1964, he played for the USA in the Chess Olympiad, held in Tel Aviv. He scored 7.5 out of 9 and won
the bronze medal as second reserve.

In 1964, Addison’s USCF rating was 2501.

In 1965, he was appointed director of the San Francisco Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club, which he
served until 1969. His USCF rating in 1965 was 2520.

In 1965, he played in the 17th US chess championship. He tied for 4th place with Bernard
Zuckerman. Addison drew with Fischer in the first round and defeated Larry Evans in round 2. Fischer
won the event, followed by Robert Byrne and Samuel Reshevsky.

In 1965, Addison’s highest USCF rating was 2528.

In 1966, Addison’s USCF rating was 2535 and ranked number 7 in the USA.

In 1966, he played for the USA in the Chess Olympiad, held in Havana. The USA team, led by Bobby
Fischer, won the silver medal.

In December 1966, he played in the18th US chess championship. He took 6th place, drawing with Fischer
and defeating Pal Benko and Samuel Reshevsky. The event was won by Bobby Fischer.

In 1967, he tied for 1st with Anthony Saidy in the Santa Monica International tournament.
In 1967, he played at Maribor, Yugoslavia and tied for 9th-12th place. The event was won by Wolfgang
Unzicker. Addison qualified for an International Master title.

In 1967, he was awarded the International Master title.

In October 1967, he appeared on the cover of Chess Life magazine.

In 1967, his USCF rating was 2504 and ranked 7th in the USA.

In 1968, he played at Reykjavik.

In 1968, Addison’s peak USCF rating was 2501, but fell to 2456 by the end of the year.

In 1969, he played in the Arthur B. Stamer Memorial.

In November 1969, he won the Northern California Championship with a 5-0 score, and qualified for the
state championship.

In December 1969, Addison (USCF rated 2497 and 7th highest rated in the US) played in the 20th U.S.
Championship and took 2nd place, behind Samuel Reshevsky (age 56, winning for the 6th time). He won 6
games, drew 3 games, and lost 2 games. He was ½ point behind Reshevsky and ahead of Pal Benko and
Bill Lombardy (who he defeated in the final round). He qualified for the 1970 Interzonal tournament,
along with Reshevsky and Benko. Benko gave up his slot and allowed Bobby Fischer to play, which he
won. Benko became Addison’s second instead, at the Interzonal.

When Addison played in the US Championship, he was described as a pipe-smoking Californian, often
dressed in a three-piece suit, looking like a visiting business executive ready to take over a
conglomerate. Addison would have tied for 1st place with Reshevsky if Larry Evans had accepted
Reshevsky’s draw offer in the final round after 15 moves. But Evans played on and lost, giving Reshevsky
½ point more than Addison.

In February 1970, he won the Central California Chess Association (CCCA) Class tournament at Berkeley.

In June-July 1970, he played at Caracas, Venezuela hoping for a grandmaster norm. He took
11th place. The event was won by Kavalek. Addison defeated USSR champion Leonid Stein and drew
with Junior World Champion and Grandmaster Anatoly Karpov.

On October 16, 1970, Bill Addison married Joanne.

In November-December 1970, he competed in the 8th FIDE Interzonal Tournament in Palma de Mallorca,
Spain. He scored 9-14 and taking 18th-19th place. His Elo rating was 2490. Addison’s second was Pal
Benko. The event was won by Bobby Fischer, 3.5 points ahead of his nearest rivals of Larsen, Geller,
and Huebner.

In Pal Benko: My Life, Games and Compositions, Pal Benko, on page 430-431, writes, “I remember being
Addison’s second at the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal. His one ambition was to finish ahead of
Reshevsky, but he failed, ending up half a point behind Reshevsky at the end. We were looking at his
adjournment against Portisch and he complained, saying that I was finding all the good moves for his
opponent! As it turned out, his wife only agreed to marry him if he quit chess. After this, Addison
vanished from the chess scene.”
Mr. Benko had incorrect information about Bill and his wife. Bill Addison was already married to his
wife, Joanne, and she never made any such statement. She never asked Bill to give up anything. Bill
Addison went to Palma de Mallorca with it totally agreed that if he did well, he would continue with
chess; if not, not. Bill later decided he wanted to put down roots and not travel anymore.

At the end of 1970, Addison’s rating was 2478.

In 1971, he played in his last chess tournament at The Washingtonian in Berkeley, California.

By 1971, at the age of 37, he quit chess and became a cab driver in Daly City, California to make ends
meet. He felt he had gone as far as he could or wanted to go in chess, and then gave up the game to
devote himself completely to his marriage to Joanne and family. Joanne had two little daughters from a
previous marriage, which Bill adored.

Later, he happened on the job at Crocker National Bank in San Francisco (not Bank of America as some
sources indicate). They saw his promise and provided him courses in banking. Over the years, he
worked for several other banks in San Francisco, the last being Bank Hapoalim, an Israeli bank.

Bill no longer had any chess set after returning home from Spain, except for a small miniature pocket
chess set that he rarely used. However, he still followed certain games and tournaments, playing over
the games in his head.

In 1971, Addison’s last USCF rating was 2475 and he was the 8th highest rated American chess player.

In 2001, an annual William Addison Open was started in San Francisco, in honor of William Addison.

On October 29, 2008, he passed away in San Francisco. He was 74. He is survived by his wife Joanne,
who shares the same birthday (day, month, and year) as Bill.

Beside chess, Bill was also a very strong Go player.

My thanks to Joanne Addison for providing me much of this information.

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