There are few Georgians that have had more influence on scholastic chess in their state than David Woolf. Although David has also had had a significant impact on journalism in Georgia, his primary contribution has clearly been with Castle Chess, and its influence on scholastic chess in Georgia has been profound.

 

David became the advisor for the Emory University chess club in the early to middle 1990s and continued in that role for at least a decade. He engaged in fundraising to enable the Emory team to travel and compete in the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship tournaments. He also took the team for outreach functions to play inmates in Phillips State Prison and to play domiciliary residents in the Atlanta Veterans Hospital.

 

For quite a few years (David didn’t remember exactly), Woolf secured sites at Emory University for various GCA tournaments. This pre-dated and post-dated his time at Castle – probably starting in the late 90s. The big tournaments were held at Winship Ballroom in the Dobbs University Center (that building has since been torn down and a new building has taken its place). For several years, the Georgia State Championship was held there, in addition to the Georgia Collegiate and a few scholastic events. There was another site on campus where GCA held the Senior Open and a scholastic invitational.

 This was a significant amount of work because there was nothing automatic about securing space at Emory. Woolf remembers spending a lot of time talking to people about space reservations – different people for different locations. Then: making sure the tables and chairs were set up correctly (they often weren’t), securing a skittles area, and even such basic things as making sure the doors were unlocked (they sometimes weren’t). And David needed to be on site a lot of the time, because Emory wanted an Emory employee there (Woolf) as a responsible party.

 

David learned that the Castle Chess Camp in Bradford, PA (just outside Erie, NY) was the most highly regarded chess camp in the country. In April 2000, he decided to attend (the camp was not for children only) and began entertaining the idea of establishing Castle Chess in the Atlanta, GA area. In July 2000 he attended the camp and discussed the possibility with the camp’s founder, Robert Ferguson, Ed.D. “Bob” Ferguson enthusiastically supported the idea. After multiple conversations with Bob, David decided to book Castle Chess for June 2001 at Emory University.

 David and Bob agreed that FIDE International Master (IM) Jonathan Schroer from Durham, NC would be an excellent choice to be the Camp Program Director. David began spending countless hours planning the camp. Woolf recruited instructors, negotiated space from Emory for the event, developed curriculum ideas with Schroer, designed the brochure, had numerous long conversations with Bob Ferguson, and basically created an organization from scratch.

 Woolf incorporated the Emory Chess Association along with fellow initial board members: Bob Breyer, Gary Southerland, and Ted Wieber. They applied for and received their 501(c)(3) non-profit status. With help from artist Joe Alcober, David began distributing the first brochures for Castle Chess Camp in December 2000. Soon the Castle Chess website – designed by Chris Kelly – was up. In January 2001, some 2200 brochures were mailed out, and 2000 brochures were distributed at various tournament sites and at the Atlanta Chess Center.

By mid-February, there was no doubt that the camp would be full. Although enrollment was originally intended to be capped at 80, there were 89 original participants, plus 7 counselors (6 of whom would also participate in camp activities). Thirteen states were represented from as far away as Corpus Christi, TX. A generous gift from a benefactor enabled financial hardship scholarships. David stressed that the camp should have girls participating and that there should be a decent purse for a Grand Prix tournament at the end of the camp.

 

David was employed at Emory Eye Center as a fundraiser. His experience proved quite valuable, as he was able to obtain generous grants from Chik-Fil-A, Fannie Mae, and a few individuals that enabled a Castle Chess Grand Prix tournament with a guaranteed prize fund at the end of the week. Most of the participants stayed on campus in dormitory housing, but a few attended as “day” campers. Adults were welcome as well.

In addition to IM Schroer, other recruited instructors included (among others): GM Arthur Bisguier, GM Tal Shaked, FM (future IM) Stephen Muhammad, FM Alex Dunne, and Gary Southerland. The chess camp curriculum included slow games, blitz tournaments, bughouse tournaments, endgame studies, openings, great games, middlegames and simultaneous exhibitions. The goal was for there to be only twelve campers for each instructor, although the limit was stretched a bit in the first year. The instructors would rotate so that the campers would benefit from lessons from all the teachers.

 David was the Camp Administrative Director, and his daughter, Katie, was the Assistant Camp Director. David was hopeful that he had fully prepared for the camp. Just before the camp began, Alex Dunne informed David, “I know you’ve put a tremendous amount of time into planning this event. I just want you to know that the real work begins tomorrow.” David found out that Alex was right.

 Woolf spent his time solving unexpected problems that came up and putting out fires. He got up at 6:45 AM each morning and got to sleep at 1:00 to 3:30 AM the next morning. The average day for campers was 14 hours: breakfast, class, tournament-style game with subsequent evaluation, lunch, class, class, recreation, supper, and special evening activity. Although David was stressed and exhausted, he noticed that the campers were enjoying themselves. As the week progressed, it became more apparent that they were having a wonderful time. With the help of terrific instructors, excellent counselors, and volunteers like Bob Breyer, Ted Wieber, and Sharon Katz, David’s dream had come to fruition as a great success!

At the end of the week (on June 16-17, 2001) the first Castle Chess Grand Prix took place. Most of the campers and instructors stayed for the tournament. GM Shaked had to leave, and IM Schroer opted to help campers analyze their games. The tournament was open to the public with $3,000 in guaranteed prizes. The event was a huge success with 145 players in three sections. With two GMs, one IM, four FMs, two USCF NMs, and eight Experts, the 2001 Castle Chess Grand Prix was the strongest Georgia tournament since the 1980 U.S. Open! Woolf decided that he would do it all again in 2002.

 

Since the inaugural camp, the attendance went up to 100 in 2002, and was then capped and filled at 132 for the following years. From 2003 on – in addition to the teaching staff – there were a minimum of 15 counselors whose primary responsibility was the care and safety of the campers (not to mention herding them from one activity to another).

After 2001, the instructors included (among others) GMs Joel Benjamin, Yuri Shulman, Julio Becerra, John Fedorowicz, Boris Kreiman, Sam Palatnik; IMs Stephen Muhammad, Irina Krush (a future GM), Carlos Perdomo; WGM Anna Zatonskih; and WIM Carolina Blanco.

 

Through the years after 2001, the Castle Chess Grand Prix has included such participants as GM Arthur Bisguier, GM Ildar Ibragimov, GM Yuri Shulman, GM Alex Wojtkiewicz, GM Pavel Blatny, GM Julio Becerra, GM John Fedorowicz, WGM Anna Zatonskih, GM Gregory Serper, IM Jonathan Schroer, IM Stephen Muhammad, IM Boris Kreiman, IM (future GM) Irina Krush, IM Emory Tate, and IM Ron Burnett.

 Since 2001, the Castle Chess Grand Prix attendance went from 167 in 2002, 231 in 2003, 229 in 2004, 209 in 2005, 224 in 2006, up to 234 in 2007.

 Because of time constraints, David Woolf had to step down as Camp Director after seven years (2001-2007) of service. The 2001 camp had taken over a year of planning, and the preparation for the subsequent camps had become like a second job. His place was taken by the late Marshall Jaffe in 2008.

 

David’s dream is still going strong to this day. Within the last 25 years, over two thousand campers (almost all children) have benefitted from Castle Chess. Although campers have come from across the country (and other countries), most of them have come from Georgia. The educational influence of Castle Chess has improved the chess of these children. The effect of Castle Chess has had a profound impact on scholastic chess in Georgia. The Castle Chess Grand Prix is also still a great success; in 2025 it had 229 players in 8 sections with many titled players in the Master section.

 

David Woolf has also contributed to chess journalism in Georgia. In the August/September 2001 issue of Georgia Chess, David began to contribute occasional articles, as well as occasional photography and design help. Starting in the March/April 2004 issue of Georgia Chess, David contributed regular photography, cover design, and other occasional editing. Beginning with the January/February 2005 issue of Georgia Chess, Woolf was credited as the Photo Editor. He continued to do so through the January/February 2006 issue.

 

In early 2006, Georgia Chess Editor (and 2024 GCA Hall of Fame Inductee), Dan Lucas, left to work for the United States Chess Federation (USCF) as Publications Director and Editor for the USCF’s national magazine Chess Life. Starting with the March/April 2006 issue of Georgia Chess, David became Senior Editor and held that title for two and a half years.

 David had contributed as part of Editor Dan Lucas’ team while Georgia Chess received Chess Journalists of America (CJA) awards in 2004 and 2005 (for Best State Magazine, Under 1000 Circulation and for Best State Magazine in both years). David Woolf himself won the CJA award for Best Cover for the September/October 2004 issue of Georgia Chess.

As Senior Editor for Georgia Chess, Woolf was helped greatly by Editor (and 2025 GCA Distinguished Service Award recipient) Mark Taylor, Ph.D., and Copy Editor (and 2024 GCA Hall of Fame Inductee) Scott Parker. Taylor and Parker also regularly contributed articles in each issue.

Under Woolf’s leadership, Georgia Chess again won the CJA award for Best State Magazine, Under 1000 Circulation in 2006, as well as the CJA award for Best Cover for the March/April 2006 issue. In 2007, Georgia Chess won CJA awards for Best State Magazine and for Best Layout (three-way tie).

 

Because of time constraints, David resigned from Georgia Chess after the May/June 2008 issue. David stated in an interview that the magazine was a labor of love, but it had required just as many hours as Castle Chess. However, the July/August 2008 issue shows that Georgia Chess had once again received the CJA Cramer Award as the Best State Magazine in 2008. Starting with the July/August 2008 issue, Professor Taylor took over as Senior Editor for Georgia Chess.

 

David has also contributed in the area of service to the GCA. After Rich Belezza’s untimely death in October of 2002, there was no GCA Treasurer until Scott Parker stepped in to finish the unexpired term in early 2003. Scott was then elected Treasurer in May 2004 and served in that capacity until he became President in May 2006. While Parker was GCA Treasurer from 2003 to 2006, David kept the GCA books – tracking expenses and revenue, reconciling bank statements, etc.Woolf was not on the GCA Board but worked to assist Scott Parker and the GCA.

 

David Woolf’s achievements in promoting scholastic chess are outstanding. His award-winning achievements in chess publishing are remarkable. He has also established one of the strongest annual tournaments in Georgia that continues to this day.  He has greatly contributed to chess in the areas of promotion, journalism, publishing, organization, service, and leadership. He has bettered chess in the State of Georgia.

 

 

Sources:

   Georgia Chess magazine;

   Scott Parker, personal interview;

   David Woolf, personal interviews and e-mail;

   IM Jonathan Schroer, personal interview;

   Ted Wieber, personal interview;

   chessjournalism.org website.