Farewell, Arthur Feuerstein

Anyone who has long been a competitive chess player in the New York City area has heard of Arthur Feuerstein. That includes me. When I heard about the unfortunate passing of Arthur, I knew that I had to commemorate him here. Arthur Feuerstein, as many chess veterans can recount, was a chess legend back in the 1950's and 60's, even holding a young Bobby Fischer to a draw- not once, not twice, but three times. Although his rating was never high enough to obtain the grandmaster title, he nonetheless was a force to be reckoned with. 

Then, tragedy struck in 1973. Arthur was involved in a near-fatal car accident, which caused severe brain trauma and left him comatose for close to 2 months. After finally regaining consciousness, doctors informed his wife that he likely wouldn't be able to talk or perform complex tasks again. However, defying those odds, Arthur regained his ability to speak. Not only that, one of the first abilities that returned to him during his long recovery was his ability to play chess! That, to me, showed his love and passion for the game.

It would be quite a while before Arthur would compete in tournament chess again, but when he did, he still demonstrated his prowess for the game. For decades, he was involved in chess clubs in the tristate area. At the now-defunct Suffern Chess Club, Arthur would routinely win tournaments, leaving his opponents in the dust. He also was a very active player at the Dumont Chess Mates, which later became the Bergen Chess Mates. Perhaps his most shining moment in the 21st century was at the International Chess Academy Open Championship of 2010, when he beat a grandmaster and an international master, clinching first place. In the 2000's, he also worked as a chess instructor for 6 consecutive Saturdays in January and February, teaching young children how to play. I was one of those children, and what Arthur, or "Mr. Art" taught everyone stuck with me and I never forgot how to play chess despite not becoming a tournament player for several years after his lessons stopped. I remember beating my mom and some other people at chess when I was little and thought that I was a pretty good chess player. Then, I faced Mr. Art in a casual game after his lesson was done for the day. I was hit hard by the cold sense of reality to say the least; before I knew it, all my pieces had been captured! It seems most fitting that now, in 2022, I now stand in his shoes by occupying his old job, teaching chess to young children at the same school at the same time.

It wasn't until the autumn of 2015, at the Bergen Chess Mates in Ridgewood, when I saw Arthur again. To my pleasant surprise, he now octogenarian chess player claimed to remember who I was despite not having seen him in several years and the fact that he still had some lingering memory impairment 40 years after the accident. He participated in a 3 round tournament, finishing with 1 win, 1 draw, and 1 loss. Sadly, my rating was too low at that time to play him. After that, I never saw Arthur again but often thought about him and wondered if he still perhaps played chess with family members or at least studied the game in his free time. I knew that it was extremely doubtful that Arthur, now in his early 80's, would ever return to play tournament chess, especially with the pandemic. Sometimes I still study his games, as they are all quite instructive. His death at the age of 86 is very sad, and chess community has lost a titan. I hope that Arthur is playing chess in heaven, maybe with some of his departed friends and family members.

Now, without further ado, let's look at some of Arthur's fastest victory. This one is a classic miniature of his, lasting only 13 moves!

That game is just a tiny fraction of many of the masterpieces that Arthur has played across the chessboard. I hope that his memory lives on forever through not just the beauty of his chess games, but also through those who he taught to play and everyone who had the esteemed privilege of playing him themselves.

Wow, just such a sad story, and impressive recovery. A lot of people will miss him.