The first rounds of the 2024 National High School (K-12) Championship in Baltimore, Maryland, were full of suspense until the very last seconds of the second round. In the K-12 Open, 43 players boast perfect 2/2 scores, including most of the highest-rated players. The results page can be misleading, though, as several familiar names (including both reigning 12th grade champions) survived serious scares late Friday night. Read on for some dramatic, fighting chess!
Born May 15, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, George Mortimer Kramer began playing chess and competing at a young age. By 1945, he had won the New York State Chess Championship. In 1950, he traveled to Dubrovnik in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as a member of the US Olympiad team, earning bronze for his individual performance on the reserve board. The team finished fourth out of 16 competing federations, only a half-point behind third-place West Germany.
[Introduction: Sharon Lee just announced, “Steve died very suddenly today. We knew his health was failing, and he told me a few months ago that he had written an obit. I found it on his computer.” File 770 is honored to publish it.] Steven Richard Miller was born in Baltimore MD July 31, 1950, son of
Editor's note: This story first appeared in the February 2024 issue of Chess Life Magazine. Consider becoming a US Chess member for more content like this access to digital editions of both Chess Life and Chess Life Kids is a member benefit, and you can receive print editions of both magazines for a small add-on fee.