Sam Loyd

Sam Loyd
Born
Samuel Loyd

(1841-01-30)January 30, 1841
Philadelphia, United States
DiedApril 11, 1911(1911-04-11) (aged 70)
Known for
  • Chess
  • puzzles
  • mathematical games

Samuel Loyd (January 30, 1841 – April 10, 1911[1]) was an American chess player, chess composer, puzzle author, and recreational mathematician. Loyd was born in Philadelphia but raised in New York City.

As a chess composer, he authored a number of chess problems, often with interesting themes. At his peak, Loyd was one of the best chess players in the US, and he was ranked 15th in the world, according to chessmetrics.com.

He played in the strong Paris 1867 chess tournament (won by Ignatz von Kolisch) with little success, placing near the bottom of the field.

Following his death, his book Cyclopedia of 5000 Puzzles[2] was published (1914) by his son, Samuel Loyd Jr.[3][4] His son, named after his father, dropped the "Jr" from his name and started publishing reprints of his father's puzzles.[4] Loyd (senior) was inducted into the US Chess Hall of Fame in 1987.[5]

  1. ^ Harry Golombek, Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess, 1977, ISBN 0-517-53146-1
  2. ^ Sam Loyd's Cyclopedia of 5000 Puzzles, Tricks and Conundrums with Answers ISBN 0-923891-78-1
  3. ^ Loyd, Sam (1914). Cyclopedia of Puzzles. New York: Lamb Publishing Company. Retrieved December 14, 2017 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ a b Gardner, Martin (1959). "Chapter 9: Sam Loyd: America's Greatest Puzzlist". Mathematical puzzles & diversions. New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster. p. 84.
  5. ^ "Sam Loyd". World Chess Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on April 4, 2017.