Identify Me

http://www.chess.com/blog/billwall/chess-and-the-hollywood-scene

In 1947, Steiner was the chess advisor for the movie Cass Timberlane, starring Spencer Tracy and Lana Turner. Steiner told Lana Turner, "Don't play chess. Sitting at a chess board for hours might make you fat and spoil your perfect figure." There were several chess scenes in the movie.

Very interesting.... and the film is based on a novel of the same name by Stefan Zweig, no less.

Actually, I'm thinking that since the setting in the Bogart shot is thesame as in the mystery women shot, and since the Bogart photo predated the Pan-Am games, then the mystery woman photo possibly/probably predate the Pan-Am tournament and, due to the proximity, most likely a publicity photo to adverise the Hollywood aspect of that tournament. So from that I might infer that whoever the women is, like Bogart, Bacall and Boyer, she may not have taken part in, or even attended, the tournament itself. My original inclination was that she had indeed been at the tournament. Now it doesn't seem as relevant.

...and to me it looks like Steiner had a significant, longstanding Hollywood connection that would make it possible he would be in photos with stars in multiple years, so my "Cloak and Dagger"-delayed-release theory seems less likely. 

But I do think it's Lilli Palmer. 

At the time of this photo, Steiner's chess group was meeting at the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Cherokee Ave., I believe.  There a lot more to this than what wiki offers.

I believe the person in the picture is  Lucille Ball

From the TV show:

I Love Lucy!

Notice the below picture and compare.

I'm not sure she was a chessplayer. But I'm ignorant of movie stars.

Did Lucy play chess ? 

Not that I'm aware of.

To be honest, the woman looks more like Lilli Palmer than anyone else and she was under contract to Warner Bros..  But it's still not obviously her and I can't anywhere that states she was a chess player.  This is all rather frustrating. 

Steiner had verifiable Hollywood connections since 1932.

I now think it's not Donna Reed or Lilli Palmer, reason being the lady in the chess photo has a couple of dark circular freckle/marks on her throat, those marks don't appear to be on either Reed or Palmer. I'm not seeing it on Lucy either. 

Edit: Change my mind again. I zoomed in even more and I could make out what appears to be the marks on Lilli Palmer. 

Here is a close-up of the 2nd image:

It is Lilli Palmer (Lilli Marie Peiser). Probably on the set with Gary Cooper for "Cloak and Dagger" directed by Fritz Lang and released in 1946. She may only be a beginner at chess and if you look with fresh eyes it actually appears she is getting some "chess lessons" from some fairly remarkable fellows. Fun photos. Pretty easy to imagine that movie set was filled with German speaking people (Lang, Palmer and Steiner) and it makes me wonder whether Cooper spoke German? It may have been somewhat unfashionable to speak German in postwar Hollywood, even though it was the native language of so many involved in this movie. The 'posing' in the photos may indicate the 'learning chess' nature of the pics. Great post Batgirl and great responces and photos of many excellent Hollywood leading ladies playing the game.  Get to the movies Batgirl or find someway to enjoy this fantastic part of 20th century culture. (21st century culture too.) Unquestionably, film was the heavyweight of 20th century art. The films of this particular era are among the best ever (think 1937 - 1947). Thanks and hopefully "see you at the movies...!" 

In an earlier post Whip_Kitten had identified Virginia Mayo. If you were doing the same internet searches as me, you may have found this line from a newspaper article dated Monday, January 16, 1950.

"The Hollywood chess groups today named Virginia Mayo the most beautiful girl of 1946. That's right—1946. Herman Steiner, United States champion and chess editor of the Los Angeles Times who heads the groups, said they decided to make the award in 1946 but just got around to it now. The delay? Well, they're chess players, after all."

You need a subscription to newspapers.com to get full access, which I don't have. Here's the link:http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/3843095/

Pliny

found another chess actress http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/the-lodger-chess-scene-hitchcock-e1376506236902.jpg

I've received authoritative confirmation that the lady in the photos is indeed Lilli Palmer. 

Thanks everyone for your input.

Herman Steiner was a United States chess champion (1948) and International Master, class of 1950.  He lived in Hollywood and ran a chess club in a bungalow behind his home.  He also wrote the chess column for the Los Angeles Times until his untimely death in 1955.

what was your confirmation - just curious

Cool! I didn't know that she was married to Rex Harrison:)

I contacted the historian at the Chess Hall of Fame which owns the collection in which these images reside.