Gresser, Gisela (1906–2000)

views updated

Gresser, Gisela (1906–2000)

American chess champion. Born Gisela Kahn, 1906, in Detroit, Michigan; died Dec 4, 2000, in New York, NY; attended Radcliffe College; m. William Gresser (lawyer and musicologist), 1927 (died 1992); children: Ion and Julian.

Pioneer in women's chess, entered her 1st competition in 1940; won her 1st US Women's Chess championship (1944); was 9-time national champion as well as a championship challenger at Women's World Chess championships (1949 and 1950); became the 1st American woman to achieve a master's rating. Was the 1st woman inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame.

More From encyclopedia.com