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Charles  KALME

 

 Charles Ivar Kalme è nato il 15 novembre del 1939 a Riga in Lettonia e alla conclusione della seconda Guerra Mondiale lasciò il suo Paese con la famiglia e dopo essere stato profugo in Germania riuscì finalmente ad arrivare a Philadelphia.

 Charles si laureò in matematica alla New York University nel 1967 ed insegnò a Berkeley nell'Università della California.

 Charles oltre che un matematico è stato un maestro internazionale di scacchi che già nel 1955 si era messo in luce vincendo i Campionati Juniores americani ed entrando a far parte della squadra Universitaria statunitense che vinse, unica volta nella sua storia, i Campionati del Mondo a Leningrado nel 1960 (vedi foto).

 Charles era anche un esperto di Bridge che ha giocato per breve tempo come compagno di Mike Lawrence quando questi era uno dei famosi Aces di Dallas.

 Quando la Lettonia fu resa libera, Kalme tornò in Patria dove morì il 20 marzo del 2002.

  

Charles Ivars Kalme (November 15, 1939 – March 20, 2002) was an American International Master of chess recognized by FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and a mathematician.

Kalme was born in Riga, Latvia on November 15, 1939. At the conclusion of World War II, Kalme and what was left of his family fled Latvia, lived for years in a Displaced persons camp in Germany and finally arrived in Philadelphia in the United States in 1951.

Kalme won the U.S. Junior Chess Championship, held in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1955 with a 9-1 score.

In 1960, he played on the U.S. Team in the World Student Team Championship in Leningrad, USSR. The U.S. team won the World Championship, the only time the U.S. has ever won that event.

Kalme won two gold medals, one for the team and the other for his individual result on board two.

Kalme also represented the United States twice more in team play at this level: Helsinki 1961 and Cracow 1964. He played twice in the United States Chess Championship: 1958-1959 and 1960-1961.

Kalme also became a master of contract bridge.

He sometimes played as a partner of Michael Lawrence, who was a member of the world champion bridge team, the Dallas Aces.

Later, he also tutored the fledgling Bobby Fischer in Philadelphia.

Kalme received a Ph.D. degree in mathematics from New York University in 1967, and became a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley.

When the Republic of Latvia got its freedom from the Soviet Union, Kalme returned to his native Latvia, where he died prematurely in 2002.

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