Jude Acers

Jude Acers (b. 1943 New Orleans, Louisiana) is a chess player best known for playing against all comers in the New Orleans Gazebo while wearing a red baret. He claims to have been the first chess master born in Louisiana since Paul Morphy.

In addition to being a player he has written or contributed to several chess books. He is also known for being a great showman touring the country giving simultaneous chess exhibitions.

Questions have arisen concerning his actual strength at chess. He got his rating up to 2399, just one point below Senior Master, by playing matches against players who had never played rated chess before. This led the USCF Executive Director Ed Edmondson to freeze his rating until he played in an open tournament.

Ever since, for the last nearly 30 years, he has not played in a rated open tournament until the World Senior Championship which is taking place right now in Austria. Acers defeated veteran master Captain Bill Hook in the first round. Hook is Captain of the British Virgin Islands chess team. After defeating Captain Hook, Acers has been pared against a tougher opponent.