Who is the most famous Chess Dad in the history of chess? And which is the strongest father and son / father and daughter combo ever?
I think in football, it would be the Mannings. In baseball, I would vote for the Bonds and the Griffeys. In hockey, I would guess it would be Bobby and Brett Hull. In boxing, it has to be Muhammad Ali and Laila Ali. In car racing, it could be the Unsers. In NASCAR, there are the Earnhardts and the Pettys. In basketball, one choice could be the Barrys. In mixed sports, we have Calvin Hill and Grant Hill as well as the Noahs.
Do you have other choices?
Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
The Unsers ARE NOT in NASCAR!
I cannot think of another than Papa Polgar!
Daddy Kamsky maybe?
Father Kamsky.
Is that Mr. Polgar?
It’s a two horse race: the famous László versus the infamous
Röstäm.
Laszlo is the most famous chess dad. 😉
Kamsky’s dad is famous…
Nakamura’s step-father is sort of well known…
Kasparov’s father figure is famous…
Fischer’s absent father has a sort of fame…
But the Polgar sisters’ father must be the most famous.
happy fathers day to all
Susan, what about the tennis category? I cannot really think of a dominant pair in that sport.
Yes, Rustam and Sunil are #1 and #2, if famous means ‘known to Americans’.
Karl Malone and his daughter Cheryl Ford are both All-Star level basketball stars. The son and daughter of Agassi and Graf should do alright in tennis.
If you wish the father to be himself a master player, then as commenter #9 noted, you have FM Sunil Weeramantry (versus whom I had several entertaining games in the 1970s) for Hikaru Nakamura.
And also three-time Pennsylvania State Champion Michael Shahade, father to IM (and former USCF EB member) Greg Shahade and WGM Jennifer Shahade.
More? Happy Father’s Day, all!
Milan Vidmar was one of the world’s top players, and his son (also named Milan) was an IM.
How about Capablanca’s father? The only father that was beaten by a son that had not been told the moves!! And along with lovely story are the dual pictures of son and father in the same setting with the same table and chess board with Capa was around 5 and 20. If you have seen both of those pictures you know what a Father’s Day present that they are to all of us!
Randy Roehll
Where did we leave Carlsen and his dad who travels around with him?
And yes….there’s Kamsky’s father also. His presence was more felt in chess than any other chess dad’s. Gata’s opponents knew him and probably always felt they were playing against both Gata and him.
In hockey, Gordie Howe actually played on the same line as his two sons! Mark and Marty.
Well, the only Chess dad I know is Fred Waitzkin because he perfectly describes every chess dad’s worries and concerns in his now famous tome, Searching For Bobby Fischer. And, if you are talking about NASCAR, let’s not forget the Earnhardt family– Dale and Dale Jr. and also the Petty family Richard and Kyle. I’m sure there are more…
The Unsers are not in NASCAR but the Allisons are! Let’s hear it for Donny and Bobby Allison!
Richard williams, the father of william sisters in tennis
I think the idea is to find a famous chess dad who is famous in his own right, rather than being famous for being a chess dad……
Banjanx Scotland
PS English folk would probably suggest soccer, and the Charlton brothers Bobby and Jack who both played for England in winning the world cup final in 1966. I know – seems a long time, but they all remember…(he says with sour grapes)