Lessing grew up in New York City, and played a great deal of chess as a youth, reaching national master strength. He was New York State co-champion at age 19 in 1930 at Utica with 6½/8.[1] He often played at the Stuyvesant Chess Club, on the lower east side of Manhattan.[2] He won the 1967 Santa Monica Chess Club championship, and the 1967 United States Senior Open, at which time he had a rating of 2207.[3] He was the Senior champion at the American and National Opens several times in the 1960s.
He also wrote the play 36, which was performed all over the United States.
Lessing, along with International MasterAnthony Saidy, wrote the book The World of Chess, published in 1974 by Random House. This book, which has been called among the best coffee-table chess books, features many photos of top chess players throughout history, photos of many exotic chess sets, plenty of lore and stories, and chapters from each writer about their chess experiences.
He died at age 90, of congestive heart failure and complications from Parkinson's disease. At the time of his death, Lessing was working on a book about his chess experiences, to be titled The Stuyvesant Chess Club. He was remembered thus in the United States Chess Federation's news summary: "Norman Lessing was the last link to the Golden Age of Coffeehouse Chess."[5]
norman, lessing, june, 1911, october, 2001, american, television, screenwriter, producer, playwright, chess, master, chess, writer, born, 1911, june, 1911new, york, york, diedoctober, 2001, 2001, aged, santa, monica, california, occupationacademic, screenwrite. Norman Lessing June 24 1911 October 22 2001 was an American television screenwriter and producer playwright chess master and chess writer Norman LessingBornNorman Lessing 1911 06 24 June 24 1911New York New York U S DiedOctober 22 2001 2001 10 22 aged 90 Santa Monica California U S OccupationAcademic screenwriter producer playwrightBiography editLessing grew up in New York City and played a great deal of chess as a youth reaching national master strength He was New York State co champion at age 19 in 1930 at Utica with 6 8 1 He often played at the Stuyvesant Chess Club on the lower east side of Manhattan 2 He won the 1967 Santa Monica Chess Club championship and the 1967 United States Senior Open at which time he had a rating of 2207 3 He was the Senior champion at the American and National Opens several times in the 1960s Lessing wrote actively for television from its pioneering days in 1950 in New York and moved to California to continue his career until 1979 Shows he wrote screenplays for include Hawaii Five O The Fugitive Lost in Space Bonanza The Nurses The F B I Baretta Cannon Dragnet Eight is Enough Shirley Temple s Storybook The Adventures of Ellery Queen and The Man from U N C L E 4 He also wrote the play 36 which was performed all over the United States Lessing along with International Master Anthony Saidy wrote the book The World of Chess published in 1974 by Random House This book which has been called among the best coffee table chess books features many photos of top chess players throughout history photos of many exotic chess sets plenty of lore and stories and chapters from each writer about their chess experiences He died at age 90 of congestive heart failure and complications from Parkinson s disease At the time of his death Lessing was working on a book about his chess experiences to be titled The Stuyvesant Chess Club He was remembered thus in the United States Chess Federation s news summary Norman Lessing was the last link to the Golden Age of Coffeehouse Chess 5 References edit http www ishiipress com dake htm permanent dead link Dake s Complete Chess Career by Sam Sloan The World of Chess by Anthony Saidy and Norman Lessing New York 1974 Random House http www chessdryad com articles wall art 07 htm California Chess in the 1960s by Bill Wall Norman Lessing http www uschess org org govern Archived 2008 09 25 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Norman Lessing amp oldid 1218980839, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
