Jacqueline Piatigorsky

French American chess player and artist (1911–2012)

Jacqueline Rebecca Louise Piatigorsky (née de Rothschild; November 6, 1911 – July 15, 2012) was a French American chess player, author, sculptor, philanthropist, and arts patron. She was a member of the Rothschild banking family of France. She was born in Paris, France. De Rothschild was raised in the Château de Ferrières in the country in Île de France, and at a home in the city in what is known as the "Talleyrand Building," a mansion at 2 rue Saint Florentin that today is part of the United States Embassy complex in Paris. As a result, she grew into a timid, near reclusive, young woman who at age 19 married publisher Robert Calmann Lévy (1899–1982), a distant relative. It also became the first residence in the US for her parents and her sister Bethsabee after their flight from France to the US, and it was the place where their son Joram was born in 1940. They lived in Philadelphia for several years before moving to Los Angeles in 1949, where her husband taught at the University of Southern California. According to her autobiography they moved to California because the doctor had advised them to move to a better climate to stop Joram's constant colds and ear infections. Gregor Piatigorsky also favoured Los Angeles, because many of his friends such as Rubinstein, Heifetz and Stravinsky lived there.

As an American citizen, Piatigorsky was a chess player of note, and was competitive at the national level. Her passion for the game of chess led to a second career during which she trained seriously, with coach IM Herman Steiner. She represented the United States in the first Women's Chess Olympiad at Emmen 1957, where she scored 7.5/11 on second board and won a bronze medal. In the 1960s, she was the highest USCF rated female chess player in California and was ranked #2 in the United States, competing successfully in several U. S. Women's Championships.

In addition to participating in the game, Piatigorsky became an important patron and tournament organizer. She sponsored the famous 1961 match between Samuel Reshevsky and Bobby Fischer, the top two American players. and she turned 100 in November 2011. Piatigorsky died from complications of pneumonia on July 15, 2012.