I know, President’s Day is past and gone – but as I watched the Presidential Address to Congress last night, I was reminded of all the U.S. Presidents who have spent time in front of a chess set, enjoying a good game of chess.

I came across a great article a few weeks back that talks about many of our U.S. Presidents and their relationship with Chess. I’ve highlighted some points from the article below. You can read the full article by Bill Wall at his website: Bill Wall’s Chess Page.

Former U.S. President Bush with World Chess Champion Kasparov

Former U.S. President Bush may not have played chess – but met with former world chess champion Garry Kasparov on one occasion. (See photo at left, also found at freerepublic.com).  Current U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle both play Chess – he mentions the game in his book Dreams from My Father.

Chess also runs clear back to the beginning of our nation – it’s rumored that George Washington played chess, and owned an ivory chess set.

One of my favorite stories about chess and U.S. Presidents comes from the life of Abraham Linclon, our 16th President:  One time he was playing chess with Judge Treat. Lincoln’s son, Tad, was sent by his mother to say dinner was ready. When his father continued with his chess game, Tad went over to the game and kicked the chess board off the table or laps of the two players. The judge was speechless, but Lincoln said mildly, “Come, Tad,” and they walked away together to have dinner. Lincoln bought a chess set for his son Tad, which is on display at the National Museum of American History.

Fun stuff!  If you’d like to learn more about Chess and U.S. Presidents, you can read the full article by clicking on the link provided at the beginning of this article.  See if you can figure out which of the Presidents below played chess!

Which of these Presidents played Chess?