John Alan Grefe is an American International Master of 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...

. His best result is a tie for first with Lubomir Kavalek in the 1973 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...

. FIDE awarded him the title of International Master in 1975. Grefe and Stuart Rachels

Stuart Rachels

Stuart Rachels is an International Master of chess and the son of the philosopher James Rachels . He tied for first place in the 1989-90 U.S. Chess Championship. Although no longer an active player, his FIDE rating is 2485, and his USCF rating is 2605.Rachels grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. He...

 are the only players since 1948 to win or share the U.S. Championship without already having, or later achieving, the title of International Grandmaster

International Grandmaster

The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....

. Grefe, at the time he shared the championship, lived in Berkeley

Berkeley, California

Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, and was a follower of the Guru Maharaj Ji

Prem Rawat

Prem Pal Singh Rawat , also known as Maharaji and formerly known as Guru Maharaj Ji and Balyogeshwar, teaches a meditation practice he calls Knowledge....

.

Before his success in the U.S. Championship, Grefe had been fairly successful in Swiss system tournaments in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. He tied for eighth in the 1969 and 1971 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 ...

, tied for first in the 1971 National Open, finished fourth or fifth at Lone Pine

Lone Pine International

Lone Pine International was a series of chess tournaments held annually in March or April from 1971 through 1981 in Lone Pine, California. Sponsored by Louis D. Statham , millionaire engineer and inventor of medical instruments, the tournaments were formally titled the Louis D. Statham Masters...

 1971, tied for fourth through sixth at Lone Pine 1973, and finished sixth in the 1973 U.S. Open.

Notable games

Here is his decisive win over Walter Browne, later a six-time winner of the U.S. Championship himself, in the 1973 championship:

Grefe-Browne, U.S. Championship 1973http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1335667 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 h6 9.Bh4 Qc7 10.0-0-0 Nbd7 11.Be2 Rb8 12.Qg3 Rg8 13.Rhf1 g5 14.fxg5 Ne5 15.Nf3 b5 16.Nxe5 b4 17.Nxf7 bxc3 18.gxf6 Rxg3 19.fxe7 Rg5 20.Bxg5 hxg5 21.Nxd6+ 1-0

Here is a brilliancy against veteran grandmaster Miguel Najdorf

Miguel Najdorf

Miguel Najdorf was a Polish-born Argentine chess grandmaster of Jewish origin, famous for his Najdorf Variation....

:

Grefe-Najdorf, Lone Pine 1976http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1101932 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Qe2 c6 8.a4 Qc7 9.h3 exd4 10.Nxd4 Re8 11.Bf4 Ne5 12.Bb3 Nfd7 13.Rad1 Bf8 14.Bc1 Nc5 15.Ba2 d5 16.f4 Ned7 17.e5 Nb6 18.a5 Nbd7 19.Qh5 Ne6 20.Nf5 Qxa5 21.Rf3 Nb6 22.Rg3 g6 23.Qh4 Na4 24.Rxd5!? Qb6+ On 25...cxd5, Shredder

Shredder (chess)

Shredder is a commercial chess program developed in Germany by Stefan Meyer-Kahlen in 1993. Shredder won the World Microcomputer Chess Championship in 1996 and 2000, the World Computer Chess Championship in 1999 and 2003, the World Computer Speed Chess Championship in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and...

 analyzes 26.Nxd5 Bg7 27. Nxg7 Kxg7 28.Nf6 h5 29.f5 Rh8 30.Nd7! Bxd7 31.Qf6+ Kg8 32.Kh2 followed by Rxg6+ or fxg6. 25.Be3 Qb4? Rybka

Rybka

Rybka is a computer chess engine designed by International Master Vasik Rajlich. , Rybka is one of the top-rated engines on chess engine rating lists and has won many computer chess tournaments...

 considers the queen sacrifice 25...Nxc3! 26.Bxb6 Ne2+ 27.Kh2 axb6 favorable to Black. 26.Rb5! Nxc3 27.Rxb4 Ne2+ 28.Kh2 Nxg3 29.Qxg3 Bxb4 30.Nh6+ Kh8 31.f5! Nd8 32.fxg6 fxg6 33.Qf4 Bf8 34.Nf7+ Nxf7 35.Qxf7 Be6 36.Bxe6 Bg7 37.Bd4 Rad8 38.Bc3 b5 39.Bd7 Rf8 40.Qe7 1-0 (Analysis from chessgames.com)

External links

• Grefe's games at chessgames.com
• USCF Rating of John A. Grefe
• Interview with John Grefe in the October 7, 1973 Hayward Daily Review