Herman Steiner was a United States chess

Chess

Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

 player, organizer, and columnist.
He won the U.S. Chess Championship

U.S. Chess Championship

The U.S. Chess Championship is an invitational tournament held to determine the national chess champion of the United States. Since 1936, it has been held under the auspices of the U.S. Chess Federation. Until 1999, the event consisted of a round-robin tournament of varying size...

 in 1948 and became International Master in 1950.
Even more important than his playing career were his efforts promoting chess in the U.S., particularly on the West Coast

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

.
An exemplar of the Romantic School

Romantic chess

Romantic chess was the style of chess prevalent in the 19th century. It was characterized by brash sacrifices and open, tactical games. Winning was secondary to winning with style, so much, in fact, that it was considered unsportsmanly to decline a gambit...

 of chess, Steiner was a successor to the American chess tradition of Paul Morphy

Paul Morphy

Paul Charles Morphy was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy...

, Harry Nelson Pillsbury

Harry Nelson Pillsbury

Harry Nelson Pillsbury , was a leading chess player. At age 22, he won one of the strongest tournaments of the time , but his illness and early death prevented him from challenging for the World Chess Championship.- Early life :Pillsbury was born in Somerville, Massachusetts, moved to New York City...

, and Frank Marshall.

Born in Dunaszerdahely, Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

 (now Dunajská Streda

Dunajská Streda

Dunajská Streda is a town in southern Slovakia . Dunajská Streda is the most important town of the Žitný ostrov region. It has a Hungarian ethnic majority and its population is 23,562 -Name:...

, Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

), Steiner came to New York City at a young age.
For a time, he was active as a boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

.
At age 16 he was a member of the Hungarian Chess Club and the Stuyvesant Chess Club.
With the experience he gained in the active New York City chess scene, Steiner rapidly developed his chess skill and in 1929 he tied for first place (with Jacob Bernstein) in the New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 State championship tournament at Buffalo

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

.
The same year he was first in the Premier Reserves at Hastings

Hastings International Chess Congress

The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...

, England.

Steiner left New York for the West

Western United States

.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...

, settling in Los Angeles in 1932.
He became chess editor of the Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

that year, writing a chess column

Chess columns in newspapers

The earliest known chess column appeared in the Lancet in 1823, but due to lack of popularity disappeared after less than a year.-Historical development:...

 until his death.
He formed the Steiner Chess Club, later called the Hollywood Chess Group, headquartered in a clubhouse next to the Steiner residence.
The Hollywood Chess Group was visited by many movie stars including Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey Bogart

Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....

, Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...

, Charles Boyer

Charles Boyer

Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found success in movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised romantic dramas,...

, and José Ferrer

José Ferrer

José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...

.
Steiner and the Hollywood Chess Group organized the Pan-American International Tournament in 1945 and the Second Pan-American Chess Congress in 1954.

Steiner played three challenge matches against Reuben Fine

Reuben Fine

Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S...

, one of the world's top players. Fine won all three matches: by 5½–4½ at New York 1932, by 3½–½ at Washington, D.C. 1944, and by 5–1 at Los Angeles 1947.

One of his major international wins was at the 1946 London Victory Invitational, the first significant European tournament held after the end of World War II. Steiner challenged Arnold Denker

Arnold Denker

Arnold Sheldon Denker was an American chess player, Grandmaster, and chess author. He was U.S. Chess Champion in 1945 and 1946....

 in 1946 to a match for the United States Chess Championship at Los Angeles, but lost 6–4. In 1948 Steiner won the United States Chess Championship at South Fallsburg, New York

South Fallsburg, New York

South Fallsburg is a hamlet in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 2,061 at the 2000 census and 2,121 according to a 2007 estimate.South Fallsburg is located within the town of Fallsburg on Route 42....

, ahead of Isaac Kashdan

Isaac Kashdan

Isaac Kashdan was an American chess grandmaster and chess writer. Kashdan was one of the world's best players in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was twice U.S. Open champion...

.

Steiner was a member of the United States Chess Federation

United States Chess Federation

The United States Chess Federation is a non-profit organization, the governing chess organization within the United States, and one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 from the merger of two regional chess organizations, and grew gradually until 1972, when membership...

's teams sent abroad to the Chess Olympiad

Chess Olympiad

The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...

s in The Hague 1928

2nd Chess Olympiad

The 2nd Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between July 21 and August 6, 1928 in The Hague, Netherlands.The final results were as...

, Hamburg 1930

3rd Chess Olympiad

The 3rd Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between July 13 and July 27, 1930, in Hamburg, Germany...

, Prague 1931

4th Chess Olympiad

The 4th Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between July 11 and July 26, 1931, in Prague, Czechoslovakia...

 and Dubrovnik 1950

9th Chess Olympiad

The 9th Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between August 20 and September 11, 1950, in Dubrovnik, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia .The final results were as follows:-Final :The...

. As reigning U.S. champion he captained the 1950 team.

In the historic 1945 USA–USSR radio match

USA vs. USSR radio chess match 1945

The USA vs. USSR radio chess match 1945 was a chess match between the USA and the USSR that was conducted over the radio from September 1 to September 4, 1945. The ten leading masters of the United States played the ten leading masters of the Soviet Union for chess supremacy. The match was played...

 between teams from the USA and the USSR

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, Steiner was the only U.S. player to achieve a plus score.
Although the American team including Reuben Fine, Samuel Reshevsky

Samuel Reshevsky

Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster...

, Arnold Denker

Arnold Denker

Arnold Sheldon Denker was an American chess player, Grandmaster, and chess author. He was U.S. Chess Champion in 1945 and 1946....

, and Isaac Kashdan, was badly beaten, Steiner scored 1½–½ against Igor Bondarevsky

Igor Bondarevsky

Igor Zakharovich Bondarevsky was a Soviet Russian chess Grandmaster in both over-the-board and correspondence chess, an International Arbiter, trainer, and chess author...

.

Steiner was very active as a player in West Coast tournaments, winning the only two California Open tournaments he entered in 1954 and 1955, and winning the California State Championship in 1953 and 1954.
He was defending his State Championship in Los Angeles in 1955, when after finishing his fifth round game (a 62-move draw

Draw (chess)

In chess, a draw is when a game ends in a tie. It is one of the possible outcomes of a game, along with a win for White and a win for Black . Usually, in tournaments a draw is worth a half point to each player, while a win is worth one point to the victor and none to the loser.For the most part,...

 against William Addison) he felt unwell and his afternoon game was postponed.
About 2 hours later around 9:30 pm, Steiner died practically instantaneously of a massive coronary occlusion

Coronary occlusion

A coronary occlusion is the partial or complete obstruction of blood flow in a coronary artery. This condition may cause a heart attack.In some patients coronary occlusion causes only mild pain, tightness or vague discomfort which may be ignored: the myocardium is however damaged....

 while being attended by a physician.
By agreement of the players, the 1955 California State Championship tournament was canceled.

Tournament record

Date	Tournament	Score	Result
1929	N.Y. State Championship		1st–2nd (tied with J. Bernstein Jacob Bernstein Jacob Bernstein was an American chess master.Born into a Jewish family, he lived in New York. He won three consecutive New York State Chess Championships , and shared 1st with Herman Steiner in 1929, but lost a tiebreak to him.He also tied for 8-9th at New York 1913 ,tied for 5-6th at New York... )
1929	Hastings Premier Reserves		1st
1931	Berlin		1st (ahead of Sämisch Friedrich Sämisch Friedrich Sämisch was a German chess grandmaster .-Main results:* 2nd at Berlin 1920...  and L. Steiner Lajos Steiner Lajos Steiner was a Hungarian–born Australian chess master.Steiner was one of four children of Bernat Steiner, a mathematics teacher, and his wife Cecilia,, and a younger brother of Endre Steiner... )
1931	Brun		2nd (behind Flohr Salo Flohr Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr was a leading Czech and later Soviet chess grandmaster of the mid-20th century, who became a national hero in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. His name was used to sell many of the luxury products of the time, including Salo Flohr cigarettes, slippers and eau-de-cologne... )
1932	Pasadena International Tournament	6–5	4th–6th (tied with Dake Arthur Dake Arthur Dake was an American chess master. He was born in Portland, Oregon and died in Reno, Nevada....  and Reshevsky Samuel Reshevsky Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster... , behind Alekhine Alexander Alekhine Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...  and Kashdan Isaac Kashdan Isaac Kashdan was an American chess grandmaster and chess writer. Kashdan was one of the world's best players in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was twice U.S. Open champion... )
1935	Mexico City		1st–3rd (tied with Fine Reuben Fine Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.Fine won five medals in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S...  and Dake Arthur Dake Arthur Dake was an American chess master. He was born in Portland, Oregon and died in Reno, Nevada.... )
1942	U.S. Open U.S. Open Chess Championship The U.S. Open Championship is an open national chess championship that has been held in the United States annually since 1900.-History:Through 1938, the tournaments were organized by the Western Chess Association and its successor, the American Chess Federation .The United States Chess Federation ...		1st–2nd (tied with Yanofsky Daniel Yanofsky Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, OC, QC was Canada's first chess grandmaster, an eight-time Canadian Chess Champion, a chess writer, a chess arbiter, and a lawyer.-Life in chess:... )
1945	California State Championship	8–1	1st–2nd (tied with Adolf Jay Fink)
1946	U.S. Open U.S. Open Chess Championship The U.S. Open Championship is an open national chess championship that has been held in the United States annually since 1900.-History:Through 1938, the tournaments were organized by the Western Chess Association and its successor, the American Chess Federation .The United States Chess Federation ...		1st
1946	London		1st (ahead of Tartakower Savielly Tartakower Ksawery Tartakower was a leading Polish and French chess Grandmaster. He was also a leading chess journalist of the 1920s and 30s...  and O.S. Bernstein Ossip Bernstein Ossip Samoilovich Bernstein was a Russian chess grandmaster and a financial lawyer.-Biography:... )
1948	U.S. Championship U.S. Chess Championship The U.S. Chess Championship is an invitational tournament held to determine the national chess champion of the United States. Since 1936, it has been held under the auspices of the U.S. Chess Federation. Until 1999, the event consisted of a round-robin tournament of varying size...		1st
1952	Hollywood International Tournament		3rd (behind Gligorić Svetozar Gligoric Svetozar Gligorić is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is considered the best player ever from Serbia...  and Pomar Arturo Pomar Arturo Pomar Salamanca is a Spanish chess Grandmaster .A chess prodigy , and a pupil of Alexander Alekhine, he became quite famous... )
1953	California State Championship	7.5–1.5	1st
1954	California State Championship	7.5–1.5	1st
1954	California Open		1st
1955	California Open		1st
1955	California State Championship	4–1	tournament cancelled