Summary:

•  Best player and only USCF Master in Georgia in the 1960's

•  5 - Time Georgia State Champion

•  Winner of numerous local and regional tournaments

•  Co-author of 1967 U.S. Open Chess Championship: Atlanta, Georgia

 

The strongest chess player in Georgia for most of the 1960’s was L. Davis (Dave) Truesdel Jr.  Although the available records and newsletters during his time left much to be desired compared to later Georgia Chess publications, Truesdel is still clearly documented as one of the best that Georgia has ever had.  For a two-to-three-year period in the 1960’s, Dave was the only USCF Master in Georgia.

Truesdel won the Georgia State Championship outright five times – in 1961 (5½ - ½) while a college student, 1962 (5½ - ½), 1964 (5½ - ½), 1965 (6-0), and 1966 (5-0).

He was also successful in other Georgia tournaments.  Dave won the 1966 Middle Georgia Open outright with a 4½ - ½ score (ahead of NM Santasiere).  He tied for 2^nd-4^th (Momic, Scott) with a 5-1 score at the 1966 Peach State Open (behind GM Lombardy, but ahead of SM James Sherwin).  Dave was the 1967 Peachtree Open Co-Champion at 5½ - ½ (two-way with Scott). He was Georgia Open Champion outright in 1967 and 1968 Co-Champion (two-way with Williams at 4½ - ½).

 

A milestone in Truesdel’s career was the 1965 Southern Open held in Cocoa Beach, Florida.  Dave scored 6½ - ½ to tie for 1^st place (2-way). More importantly, this tournament earned him the title of USCF Master.  Between 1965 and 1966 his USCF rating went from 2100 to 2203.  His rating in 1967 was 2242.

 

One of his greatest moments was at the 1967 U.S. Open held in Atlanta (168 players).  GM Pal Benko won clear 1^st with 11-1.  Senior Master (IM the next year) Anthony Saidy won clear 2^nd with 10½ - 1½. GM Robert Byrne won clear 3^rd with 9½ - 2½. Truesdel scored 8½ - 3½ (7-2-3) to share 4^th through 11^th.  Dave’s eight-way tie included: Formanek (IM in 1977), GM Rossolimo, Weinstein (IM 1975), Browne (IM 1969, GM 1970), Goichberg (FM), Martinowsky, and Avram.  Quite a result with such stiff competition.

Truesdel also co-authored 1967 U.S. Open Chess Championship: Atlanta, Georgia (by Anthony Saidy, L. Dave Truesdel Jr.); International Chess Imports, 1967.

Another high point in Dave’s career was winning clear 1^st at the 1968 Southern Open in Raleigh, NC with a score of 6½ - ½.

Dave moved to Orlando, FL in 1968 and won the 1969 Florida State Championship (tie with Eduardo Celorio).  Dave moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1970 and effectively retired from competitive chess, focusing on his professional life.

There are only a very few results afterwards for Dave in Tennessee, but nothing to match his performance in Georgia.  His career rating peak is visible in 1970 at 2257.

Dave played 1^st Board for Nashville in the summer of 1972 at a Memphis – Nashville match in Jackson, TN.  The match resulted in a mild upset, as Memphis outrated Nashville by about 100 points per Board, but the final result was a 12 - 12 tie. Dave won both of his games.  The strong player that Dave beat twice was James A. Wright (“Iron Jim” Wright was inducted into the Tennessee Chess Association Hall of Fame in 1998).

From about this time on, Dave Truesdel only rarely played chess.

 

Although his chess career was relatively short, his eight years of play in Georgia were extremely successful and had great impact.  Dave Truesdel had significant achievements in competition (over-the-board) and journalism.  He clearly bettered chess in the State of Georgia.

Sources:

 

   Georgia Chess Association Chess Letter

   Tennessee Chess News

   Chess Life, Chess Review

   Wikipedia (IM Anthony Saidy)

    Kent Meadows, personal recollections

   L. Dave Truesdel, Jr., personal recollections

   U.S. Chess.com

   Georgia Chess magazine electronic collection