Jude Acers, the Man in the Red Hat
This week, I thought I’d share something interesting about one of the chess world’s most colorful characters: the New Orleans chess master Jude Acers (we don’t have an affiliation with Jude, in case you’re wondering). Jude has been a legend amongst tourists to his city for decades, and one of the most tireless promoters of chess to the general public I am aware of. For the past 7 years, an anonymous benefactor has paid for Jude to compete in the FIDE World Senior Chess Championship held annually in Europe, and this November, he’ll be headed there again.
There’s now a Kickstarter campaign to fund a two-person film crew to accompany him, and capture his matches there, to include in a documentary on Jude that they’ve been developing over the past two years. See more about Jude here and on Facebook, and check out the Kickstarter campaign here.