Carol H. Jarecki (

né The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

e Fuhse; February 13, 1935 – June 13, 2021) was an American

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

organizer, an

International Arbiter In chess tournaments, an arbiter is an official who oversees matches and ensures that the rules of chess are followed. International Arbiter ''International Arbiter'' is a title awarded by FIDE to individuals deemed capable of acting as arbiter ...

, and a chess writer. She served as director or deputy director of many national and international tournaments, including the women’s division of the

40th Chess Olympiad The 40th Chess Olympiad (), organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, was an international team chess event that took p ...

in 2012; the Women’s World Chess Championship 2013; and the U.S. Chess Championship in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2017. She was the arbiter and referee for the 1997 match between

Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...

and the

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

supercomputer program

Deep Blue Deep Blue may refer to: People, figures, and characters * Deep Blue (musician), electronic and drum and bass musician * Deep Blue (DC Comics), a superhero in the post-Crisis DC Universe * Deep Blue (''Tokyo Mew Mew''), a character from ''Tokyo ...

.Dylan Loeb McClain
"Carol Jarecki, Respected Chess Referee, Dies at 86,"
''The New York Times'', June 14, 2021.

Early life

Jarecki was born in Neptune, New Jersey, on February 13, 1935. Her parents owned a

chicken farm Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for food. Poultry – mostly chickens – are farmed in great numbers. More than 60 billion chick ...

. After graduating from

Asbury Park High School Asbury Park High School is a comprehensive, community public high school serving students in seventh through twelfth grades. It is in a landmark building in Asbury Park, in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, that was constru ...

, Jarecki studied anesthesia at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, then became a nurse in New Jersey.

Chess career

Jarecki first became involved with chess as a "ChessMom", taking her son John to chess events across the country; John became the youngest ever

chess master A chess title is a title regulated by a chess governing body and bestowed upon players based on their performance and rank. Such titles are usually granted for life. The international chess governing body FIDE grants several titles, the most pres ...

in U.S. at the age of 12 in 1981 (a record soon surpassed by a slightly younger

Stuart Rachels Stuart Rachels (born September 26, 1969) is an American philosopher and International Master of chess. He is the son of the philosopher James Rachels (1941–2003). He tied for first place in the 1989–90 U.S. Chess Championship. His FIDE ratin ...

). She later started working at those tournaments, eventually obtaining certification as a tournament director at the highest National Tournament Director level. She continued directing tournaments after her son retired from competition during his teenage years. Jarecki directed many prestigious chess events: she served as Head Tournament Director at several U.S. Chess Championships, SuperNational Scholastic Championships, National Elementary Championships, and World Opens in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, as well as many other national tournaments large and small. She was the chief arbiter at the Bermuda International Open and associated invitationals for over 20 years. Jarecki was recognized as an International Arbiter by the World Chess Federation (

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

) in 1984. She regularly worked at the World

Chess Olympiad The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams representing nations of the world compete. FIDE organises the tournament and selects the host nation. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, FIDE held an Online Chess Olympiad in FIDE Onli ...

, sometimes as the Head Arbiter. She also served as the Delegate from the

British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands (BVI), officially the Virgin Islands, are a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, to the east of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands and north-west ...

to the FIDE Congress. Jarecki was the Chief Arbiter at the PCA

World Chess Championship The World Chess Championship is played to determine the world champion in chess. The current world champion is Gukesh Dommaraju, who defeated the previous champion Ding Liren in the World Chess Championship 2024, 2024 World Chess Championship. ...

match in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

between World Chess Champion

and challenger

Viswanathan Anand Viswanathan "Vishy" Anand (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Anand is a five-time World Chess Champion, a two-time World Rapid Chess Champion, a two-time Chess World Cup Champion and a World Blitz Chess Cup Champion. ...

, which was held in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

at the top of the World Trade Center. Jarecki was the arbiter and referee for the second match between Kasparov and the

supercomputer program

in 1997 in New York City, as well as the two Intel Grand Prix matches held there. She was the head arbiter for the HB Global Chess Challenge,

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

2005, which had the richest prize fund ($500,000) for an Open tournament in chess history.

Personal life and death

Jarecki was married to physician

Richard Jarecki Richard Wilhelm Jarecki (December 1, 1931 – July 25, 2018) was a German-born American physician who won more than $1 million from a string of European casinos after cracking a pattern in roulette wheels. Early life and education Jarecki was bo ...

from 1964 until his death in 2018. They had three children: John, Divonne, and Lianna. In the 1970s, she and her husband became known for a very successful run of

roulette Roulette (named after the French language, French word meaning "little wheel") is a casino game which was likely developed from the Italy, Italian game Biribi. In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various grouping ...

winnings. They played in casinos in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

and

Sanremo Sanremo, also spelled San Remo in English and formerly in Italian, is a (municipality) on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination ...

, using a system on roulette wheels they found biased by mechanical imperfections. The couple won more than $1.2 million (more than $8 million adjusted for inflation in 2021) before a Sanremo casino discovered their scheme and had them barred from returning to Italy. This ban was later overturned. Jarecki was a licensed pilot, revealing at one point that she had flown for a cumulative total of over 4,200 hours. She lived in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

and

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

. Jarecki announced in December 2020 that she had been diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

. She died six months later on June 13, 2021, at age 86.

Books

* ''Official Rules of Chess'' (Fourth Edition) (with

Bill Goichberg William Goichberg (born November 11, 1942) is a chess master and chess tournament organizer and director. He founded the Continental Chess Association (CCA), which runs the annual World Open and other large tournaments. He is also a former pre ...

and Ira Lee Riddle)

References

External links

Chess Tournament Directing Record of Carol H. Jarecki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarecki, Carol 1935 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American women writers American chess writers American women aviators American female chess players American chess players American information and reference writers American women nurses Asbury Park High School alumni Chess arbiters Deaths from pancreatic cancer University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing alumni 21st-century American women 20th-century American sportswomen