Bill Cornwall
Born (1943-07-04) July 4, 1943
Las Vegas, Nevada
OccupationChess coach
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma materUniversity School of Nova Southeastern University

William Cornwall (born July 4, 1943) is an American chess coach, educator, and journalist best known for his long-running weekly chess column, "Chess: A Knight's Tour".

Chess Background

Cornwall was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and began playing chess at the age of eight. In 1972, Cornwall earned the title of National Master.[1] In his years as a rated U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) Expert, Cornwall won the World Open Expert Championship (1982),[2] National Open Expert Championship (1983)[3] and U.S. Expert Championship (1989). He is a two-time U.S. Open Expert Champion (1989 and 1990).[4][5] He also was the winner of the Philadelphia Open Championship (1969) and the Washington D.C. Championship (1969). While serving in the U.S. Army, he tied for first in the U.S. Army Chess Championship in 1970 and was awarded the Brilliancy Prize for his play in the U.S. Armed Forces Chess Championship that year.[6][3] In 1988, Cornwall became the official Florida State Chess Champion.[7]

Teaching and Advocacy

Cornwall served in the U.S. Army as an Avionics Instructor from 1969 to 1972. After completing his service, he began teaching chess for income. In 1988, he established Cornwall Chess Services (CCS), a chess education business based in South Florida where he lived. CCS provided regular classroom chess training for over a dozen independent schools.

Many of Cornwall's students have achieved national recognition for their high rankings and achievements in the game of chess. They have placed first in the U.S. Elementary Championship, the National Grade Championships, and numerous Florida State Championships at the Elementary, Junior High, and High School divisions.[3][8] A.J. Steigman, one of his personally-trained students and U.S. Junior Open Championship winner, became a Master at 13 and was rated number one for his age in the U.S. eight years in a row. Under Cornwall's instruction, the University School of Nova Southeastern University won the National Elementary Chess Team Championship and placed first in the Florida Elementary Team Championship 8 consecutive times.[9]

As a certified USCF Senior Chess Tournament Director, Cornwall has been an active tournament organizer and director for both regional and national competitions. He served as the Assistant Director of the Closed U.S. Championship in 1994 and Closed U.S. Women's Chess Championship in 1991.[10] Cornwall has been a major contributor to the development of chess in the state of Florida, having organized and served as tournament director for most of South Florida's regular chess tournaments and championships from 1989 to 1997.[6] As a Florida delegate to the U.S. Chess Federation, he served on the USCF's Chess in Education Committee, the Rules Committee, and as U.S. Regional Vice President for the Southeastern U.S. Region.[11]

In 1991, the USCF awarded Cornwall a special citation for his efforts in attracting more people to the game of chess.[11]

In 2014, Cornwall began working as a Senior Instructor with Sunil Weeramantry of the National Scholastic Chess Foundation (NSCF) to train-teachers to teach-chess. Since inception, the pair have trained hundreds of South Florida teachers in workshops.[12]

Journalist

Cornwall has been a national award-winning chess columnist for over 24 years. His involvement with writing began as a teenager when he served as the editor and contributor to his high school's literary magazine. In 1984, he became the editor of Checkmate!, the official Florida State Chess Association publication that he created.[7] His "Chess: A Knight's Tour" column has been published (bi-weekly & weekly) for over 24 years by the Tribune Publishing Company; first in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (1993-2016) and then the Los Angeles Times (2010–Present).[13][14] The column is the 4-time winner of the Chess Journalists of America's "Best Newspaper Chess Column" award[15] and a 13-time recipient of the "Best Newspaper Chess Column of Local Interest" award.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Cruz, Humberto (October 22, 1989). "Local master earns expert class title". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  2. ↑ Caroulis, Jon (April 6, 1983). "The Chess Man". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Anderson, Joshua. "Judges for Annual CJA Awards Program 2017". Chess Journalists of America. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
  4. ↑ Cruz, Humberto (October 22, 1989). "Local master wins expert class title". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  5. ↑ Cruz, Humberto (September 16, 1990). "Pawns go forth in fierce tournament play". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Instructors at the Sunrise Center for the Excellence of Chess". Sunrise Center for the Excellence of Chess. November 2, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  7. 1 2 "Florida State Chess Championships" (PDF). Florida Chess Association. April 1, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  8. ↑ Margolis, Kim (April 1, 1992). "Springs students learn smart moves in chess". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  9. ↑ "University School of NSU Chess Team Defends State Title & Triples Victory". Nova Southeastern University. April 6, 2012. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  10. ↑ Pollack, Rich (August 18, 1991). "Deep-thinker Chess Players Cry Out For Quiet From Fans". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  11. 1 2 Cruz, Humberto (April 28, 1991). "South falls to midwest in U.S. championship". Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Demystifying chess workshop". National Scholastic Chess Foundation. November 1, 2017.
  13. ↑ Cornwall, Bill (December 19, 2010). "Chess: A Knights Tour". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  14. ↑ Cornwall, Bill (October 2, 1994). "Nations best to seek title in key west". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  15. ↑ Tamburro, Peter (September 10, 2007). "CJA 2007 Journalism Awards". Chess Journalists of America. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Prize List for 2017 CJA Awards". Chess Journalists of America. August 4, 2017. Archived from the original on September 11, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
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