Jude Acers

Jude Frazier Acers (born April 6, 1944 Long Beach, California) is a chess master, showman (simultaneous exhibitor), and chess author/writer.

Acers is best known for playing against all comers in a New Orleans downtown gazebo while wearing a red beret. A longtime resident of Louisiana, he claims to have been the first New Orleans native chess master of comparable strength since Paul Morphy.

Acers in the French Quarter in 2011

He is also known for being a great showman, touring the country giving simultaneous chess exhibitions. He was twice the world record holder of having played the most opponents in a simultaneous exhibition. First against 117 opponents (1974, Lloyd Center, Portland, Oregon), then against 179 opponents (1976, Mid Island Plaza, Long Island, New York). The records were certified by the Guinness Book of World Records.

Acers barely survived Hurricane Katrina and lived in a displaced persons camp for some time. As the city recovered, he returned to New Orleans and resumed his customary chess table in the French Quarter.

Playing strength

Questions have arisen concerning his actual strength at chess. He got his U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) rating up to 2399, just one point below Senior Master, by playing matches against players who had never played rated chess before. This led the USCF Executive Director Ed Edmondson to freeze his rating at 2399 until he played in an open tournament. Ever since, for the last nearly 40 years, Acers has not played in a rated open tournament until the World Senior Championship held in September 2007 in Gmunden, Austria. Acers defeated veteran master Bill Hook of the British Virgin Islands in the first round. Acers' recent result at the 17th World Senior Chess Championship, with a FIDE performance of 2289, should help to confirm his playing strength.

Author/writer

Acers has written or contributed to several chess books. In 2008 he is working on The Road which will be a book about his chess tours. He has annotated many American master-level games, along with Louis Ciamarra, for the Yugoslav-published series Chess Informant.

The Italian Gambit (and) A Guiding Repertoire For White – E4! ISBN 1-55369-604-2