List of mathematicians who studied chess

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chess and mathematics have been pursued intellectually for centuries by many researchers and scientists, especially mathematicians. Naturally, the logic and symmetry in chess appeal to mathematicians. The following mathematicians either played or studied chess in their life:

Euler, de Moivre and Vandermonde studied the knight's tour.

George Airy (July 27, 1801 – January 2, 1892)
Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander (19 April 1909 – 15 February 1974)
Adolf Anderssen (July 6, 1818 - March 13, 1879) the best chess player in his time.
Henry Ernest Atkins (20 August 1872 – 31 January 1955)
George Atwood (October, 1746 - July 11, 1807)
Charles Babbage (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871)
Harry Bateman (May 29, 1882 - January 21, 1946)
Max Black (February 24, 1909 - August 27, 1988)
Ludwig Bledow (July 27, 1795, Berlin – August 6, 1846)
Jacob Bronowski (January 18, 1908 - August 22, 1974)
Jerome Cardan (September 24, 1501 - September 21, 1576)
Lewis Carroll (January 27, 1832 – January 14, 1898)
Henry Dudeney (10 April 1857 – 24 April 1930)
Noam Elkies (born 1966)
Leonhard Euler (April 15, 1707 – September 18, 1783)
Max Euwe (May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) a World Chess Champion
Karl Fabel (October 20, 1905 – 3 March 1975)
Martin Gardner (b. October 21, 1914)
Carl Friedrich Gauss (30 April 1777 – 23 February 1855)
J.W.L. Glaisher (5 November 1848 - 7 December 1928)
Richard K. Guy (born 1916)
G. H. Hardy (February 7, 1877 – December 1, 1947)
David Hilbert (January 23, 1862 – February 14, 1943)

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Gauss and Glaisher studied the N-queens problem.

Kurt Hirsch (1906-1986)
Miroslav Katětov (March 17, 1918 – December 15, 1995)
Maurice Kendall (September 6, 1907 - March 29, 1983)
Paul Keres (January 7, 1916 - June 5, 1975)
Omar Khayyám (May 18, 1048 – December 4, 1131)
Ľudovít Lačný (b. December 8, 1926)
Edmund Landau (February 14, 1877 – February 19, 1938)
Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) A World Chess Champion
Adrien-Marie Legendre (September 18, 1752 – January 10, 1833)
Sam Loyd (January 31, 1841 – April 10, 1911)
Jonathan Mestel (b. 13 March 1957)
Abraham de Moivre (May 26, 1667 – November 27, 1754)
Theodor Molien (September 10, 1861 - December 25, 1941)
Frank Morley (September 9, 1860 – October 17, 1937)
Marston Morse (24 March 1892 – 22 June 1977)
Simon Newcomb (March 12, 1835 – July 11, 1909)
Maxwell Newman (February 7, 1897 – February 22, 1984)
Emmy Noether (March 23, 1882 – April 14, 1935)
John Nunn (b. April 25, 1955)
Roger Penrose (b. 8 August 1931)
Grigori Perelman (b. 13 June 1966)

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Many mathematicians became chess composers. Here's a chess problem called 'Excelsior' by Loyd.

Henri Poincaré (April 29, 1854 – July 17, 1912)
Richard Réti (28 May 1889 – 6 June 1929)
Jakob Rosanes (August 16, 1842 – January 6, 1922)
Jan Rusinek (b. 1950)
George Salmon (September 25, 1819 - January 22, 1904)
Richard Schroeppel (b. 1948)
Claude E. Shannon (April 30, 1916 – February 24, 2001)
Raymond Smullyan (born 1919)
Norman Steenrod (April 22, 1910–October 14, 1971)
Duncan Suttles (b. 21 December 1945)
Thorvald Thiele (December 24, 1838 – September 26, 1910)
Alan Turing (June 23, 1912 – June 7, 1954)
Alexandre-Théophile Vandermonde (28 February 1735 – 1 January 1796)
Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894 – March 18, 1964)
Jean-Christophe Yoccoz (b. May 29, 1957)
Ernst Zermelo (July 27, 1871 – May 21, 1953)

Many researchers who had some interest in chess did not have formal training in mathematics. However, they either contributed to mathematics or used mathematics in their profession. They were philosophers, physicists, chemists, engineers, etc. Here is a partial list:

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Some mathematicians composed endgame studies. One of the most famous studies of all time is by Réti.

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