Edgar Holladay

Summary: Edgar Holladay, born in Cleveland, Ohio on October 26, 1925, was one of the United States' leading chess problemists, composing thousands of chess problems and winning more than 425 composition awards. Holladay was also an author, chess problemist judge, and editor. Holladay spent much of his life in Carmel, IN and was employed as a financial analyst. Holladay died on September 8, 2003. The Edgar Holladay Chess Collection consists of thousands of Edgar Holladay's own chess problem, along with correspondence with other chess problemists, original chess artwork and his personal chess problem stamps.

Detailed Biography: Edgar Holladay, born in Cleveland, Ohio on October 26, 1925, was one of the United States' leading chess problemists, composing thousands of chess problems and winning more than 425 composition awards. Holladay was an Army veteran and a graduate of Northwestern University and worked as a financial analyst in Carmel, Indiana. Holladay died on September 8, 2003.

Edgar Holladay spent his free time composing chess problems, corresponding with other chess problemists and writing and editing for chess magazines. Holladay published more than 2,200 problems, and his first appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on February 15, 1942 when he was just 17 years old. From 1943 - 1948 he ran the problem section for the Cleveland Chess Bulletin . The following year, Holladay ran the problem department in the American Chess Bulletin and stayed there until 1963 when the magazine ceased. In 1963, he founded the U.S. Problem Bulletin and was the editor for a number of years. Also in 1963, Holladay published Sheppard Two-Movers, a collection of another problemists work. He published two other composers work as well, Wurzburg Artistry in 1974 and Hassberg Ingenuity in 1978. In 2004, a year after his death, Egdar Holladay's U.S. Chess Problem Anthology was published, a work he spent decades on. Finally, in 2007, Holladay Chess Problems was published, which is a collection of his best compositions.

For most of Edgar Holladay's life he composed chess problems and contributed his creativity to the chess community. In 1956 he was awarded the title of FIDE International Judge for Chess Composition. Then in 1977, he became the first American FIDE International Master for Chess Composition. In 1985 he was awarded the Society of U.S. Chess Problemists' The Good Companions' title of Grandmaster of Chess Composition. And finally, in 2000, he became the first recipient of The Good Companions Merit Award, honoring his lifelong dedication to problem art.

The Edgar Holladay Chess Collection consists of thousands of Edgar Holladay's own chess problems, along with correspondence with other chess problemists, original chess artwork and his personal chess problem stamps.

From the guide to the Edgar Holladay Chess Collection, 1947-2007, 1964-2003, (Cleveland Public Library)