This article is about the American chess player. For his son with the same name, see Andrew Tate.
Emory Tate
Full nameEmory Andrew Tate Jr.
CountryUnited States
Birth dateDecember 27, 1958
Birth placeChicago, Illinois, U.S.
Death dateOctober 17, 2015 (aged 56)
Death placeMilpitas, California, U.S.
SpouseEileen Ashleigh (m. 1985; div. 1997)
TitleInternational Master (2007)
Peakrating2413 (FIDE, October 2006)
2499 (USCF, April 1997)
Peakranking2413 (FIDE, October 2006)
2499 (USCF, April 1997)
Emory Tate
AllegianceUnited States
BranchUnited States Air Force
RankSergeant

Emory Andrew Tate Jr. (December 27, 1958 – October 17, 2015) was an American chess player who held the title of International Master. He is the father of internet personalities Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate.

Early life, education, and military career

Emory Andrew Tate Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 27, 1958.[1] He grew up in a family of nine children. His father, Emory Andrew Tate Sr., was an attorney, and his mother, Emma Cox Tate, ran a truck-leasing business.[2] Tate Jr. learned to play chess as a child. He served in the United States Air Force as a sergeant, where he "excelled as a linguist," eventually operating as a linguist for the CIA where he learned Russian[3][4] Tate learned Spanish as an exchange student in Mexico. He was "chosen to participate in the Indiana University Honors Program in Foreign Language, Spanish Division during the summer of 1975" and spent two months living with a Mexican family.[5]

Chess career

In 1993, Tate gave chess lessons to elementary school students in Goshen, Indiana, as part of a community school board program.[6]

Tate's highest FIDE rating was 2413 on the October 2006 rating list, which made him the 72nd highest-rated player in the United States and among the top 2000 active players in the world.[7] His peak USCF rating was 2508 on December 30, 1996. He received the International Master title in 2007,[8] after earning his third norm at the 2006 World Open.[9]

His oldest son, Andrew, said: "I never saw him study chess books, ever. He also hated chess computers and never used them. He just sat down and played."[4]

Tate earned a reputation as a creative tactician on the U.S. chess circuit, where he won about 80 tournament games against grandmasters.[10] Tate won the United States Armed Forces Chess Championship five times.[11][12] He won the Indiana state championship six times (1995, 1996, 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007) and was inducted into the Indiana State Chess Hall of Fame in 2005. He also won the Alabama state championship in 2010.[13] Fellow Air Force veteran and 2003 U.S. Armed Forces Chess Champion Leroy Hill said: "All the players had street names. Emory's was 'Extraterrestrial' because we thought his play was out of this world."[4]

Personal life

Tate married Eileen Ashleigh, from the United Kingdom, in 1985.[14] Together, they had three children, two sons and a daughter. His two sons are social media personalities Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate. The couple divorced in 1997, and his ex-wife returned to Luton, England, with their children.[15]

Tate died after suffering a heart attack during a tournament in Milpitas, California, on October 17, 2015, at the age of 56. After his death, a number of grandmasters and international masters wrote tributes to him.[16][17] In 2016, the Alabama Senate passed a resolution "celebrating [his] life and legacy".[18] Grandmaster Maurice Ashley described Tate as "a trailblazer for African-American chess".[19][20]

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Emory Tate". Chess.com. Archived January 11, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  2. ^ Shabazz 2017, pp. 5–7.
  3. ^ Dominique, Nicole (2022-08-23). "People Are Discovering Andrew Tate’s Dad Was In The CIA And Now Some Think He’s An Asset". Evie Magazine. Retrieved 2026-04-09.
  4. ^ Lawrence, Al (January 2016). ""Unmatched Perspicacity" / IM Emory Tate, 1958-2015". Chess Life. pp. 41–42. Archived July 7, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  5. ^ Shabazz 2017, p. 8.
  6. ^ Stickel, Amy I. (August 30, 1993). "Goshen schools checkmate kids". South Bend Tribune. p. 11.
  7. ^ "Chess Games Database: IM Emory Tate". Chess.com. Archived January 7, 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  8. ^ Shabazz, Daaim (October 21, 2015). "Emory Tate: chess savant, warrior (1958-2015)". The Chess Drum. Archived July 5, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  9. ^ Shabazz, Daaim (July 5, 2006). "2006 World Open: Emory Tate gets 3rd IM Norm!". The Chess Drum. Archived July 7, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  10. ^ Shabazz 2017, p. 31.
  11. ^ "Armed Forces Champ & Brilliant Tactician Emory Tate, 1958-2015". 19 October 2015. Archived 18 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  12. ^ Klein, Mike (18 October 2015). "IM Emory Tate, 1958-2015". Chess.com. Archived 2022-10-28 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-11-24.
  13. ^ Shabazz, Daaim (May 2016). "Triple Exclam!!! The winning ways of Emory Tate, 1958-2015". Chess Life. pp. 36–40. Archived August 11, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  14. ^ Warren, Tom & Dahir, Ikran (9 March 2023). "The Untold Story Of Andrew Tate, The Internet's Most Notorious Influencer". BuzzFeed News. Archived 10 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  15. ^ Shabazz 2017, pp. 26, 38.
  16. ^ Shabazz 2017, pp. 73–77.
  17. ^ "Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #724". Mechanics' Institute. October 30, 2015. Archived July 7, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  18. ^ Shabazz 2017, p. 74.
  19. ^ Shabazz 2017, p. iv.
  20. ^ Klein, Mike (October 18, 2015). "IM Emory Tate, 1958-2015". Chess.com. Archived October 28, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved November 24, 2022.