Chess Queen Gambit Lands in Court

Table-top strategists pitched in a bitter, decades-old battle to control the Virgin Islands’ official chess organization have taken their dispute to the Superior Court.

Longtime leadership of the non-profit Virgin Islands Chess Federation alleged disgruntled chess players from the offshoot Virgin Islands Chess Association staged a would-be coup, holding an unsanctioned election that spuriously voted in new Federation leadership. They then took their elections documents to Bank of St. Croix and changed the names of who could access the account. Federation President Margaret Murphy said she went to the bank and was shocked to find she was no longer allowed access. “The lady says to me at the bank, ‘oh that account, the signatories were changed on that yesterday,’” Murphy said. “I said, ‘How did they do that?’ She said, ‘Well, they had minutes from the meeting.’”

The Association, represented by Gail Widmer and attorney Anne Kershaw, claimed the election and bank account changes were valid and long overdue. Murphy, they said, had run the territory’s Olympic chess organization as her own fiefdom, creating ad hoc rules to block out rivals while stacking club leadership with friends. They and like-minded chess players had asked for changes to Federation bylaws and for Murphy to hold a special election. Challenges to Murphy’s laws, they said, were met with retribution. They said Murphy was invited to participate in the March election but refused.