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George Leighton

Photo courtesy of The Creola Genealogist.

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GEORGE LEIGHTON (born Oct-22-1912, died Jun-06-2018, 105 years old) United States of America [what is this?] George Neves Leitão was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts on October 22, 1912 to Ana Silva Garcia and António Neves Leitão, both originally immigrants from Brava, Cape Verde. His surname was anglicised to "Leighton" by a teacher who claimed she could not pronounce his last name "Leitão". His parents agreed.(1) Through his own studying and attending night school, Leighton was able to make his way to Howard University. Marcelino Charles "Big Daddy" Grace helped fund his first year at the university. After graduating with honors, he attended Harvard Law School. During his studies, he entered the U.S. Army in World War II and achieved the rank of Captain.(2) Leighton served as a Master in Chancery for the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois from 1960–64. He was elected as a judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, serving from 1964–69. He was appointed as a judge with the Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, serving from 1969-76. He was the first African-American to hold this position in Illinois.(1) President Gerald Ford nominated him the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. He was confirmed by the Senate in 1976, making him the first Cape Verdean-American in the federal judiciary. As a young boy in New Bedford, he took up chess at a informal boy's club run by Mary Hayden. "She had a 'burden' to help underprivileged kids," he recalled in a 1987, local cable TV interview with host Jack Custodio. Over the years, Mr. Leighton made a number of gifts in her memory to the United States Chess Federation. "No one has ever given me a greater gift than she did," he said.(3) He had a lifelong passion for chess. At his peak, Judge Leighton was a strong expert.(4) Leighton died on June 6, 2018 in Brockton, Massachusetts at age 105.(1) The George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse in Chicago is named for him. (1) Wikipedia article: George N. Leighton (2) https://thecreolagenealogist.com/20... (3) http://www.thechessdrum.net/histori... (4) http://chicagochess.blogspot.com/20... (5) http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/... Last updated: 2025-03-26 23:40:03

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page 1 of 1; 16 games    Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. G Leighton vs E Karklins 0-1 24 1968 Greater Chicago Open A45 Queen's Pawn Game 2. H W Stern vs G Leighton   ½-½ 21 1968 Greater Chicago op B72 Sicilian, Dragon 3. G Leighton vs L Kaushansky 1-0 29 1982 Greater Chicago Open D00 Queen's Pawn Game 4. Mark Peilen vs G Leighton 1-0 20 1982 83rd US Open A80 Dutch 5. D Fraats vs G Leighton   1-0 54 1988 National op C05 French, Tarrasch 6. Kyle Johnson vs G Leighton   1-0 83 1991 East Lansing ch-MI op A22 English 7. F Kung vs G Leighton   0-1 51 1991 East Lansing ch-MI op C17 French, Winawer, Advance 8. G Leighton vs M Bagherabadi   0-1 59 1991 East Lansing ch-MI op E32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical 9. G Leighton vs K Czuhai   0-1 20 1991 East Lansing ch-MI op E70 King's Indian 10. G Leighton vs P Tobias   1-0 60 1991 East Lansing ch-MI op D00 Queen's Pawn Game 11. R Williams vs G Leighton   1-0 49 1991 East Lansing ch-MI op C00 French Defense 12. G Leighton vs A Groeger 0-1 46 1994 95th US Open E88 King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox, 7.d5 c6 13. G Leighton vs M Everett   0-1 39 1994 Detroit-ch MI op A61 Benoni 14. G Bailey vs G Leighton   1-0 43 1994 Detroit-ch MI op E67 King's Indian, Fianchetto 15. G Leighton vs E Smith   1-0 49 1994 Detroit-ch MI op A83 Dutch, Staunton Gambit 16. V Rajlich vs G Leighton 1-0 53 1994 Detroit-ch MI op C14 French, Classical  page 1 of 1; 16 games

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Oct-23-16    FSR: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/... Dec-03-16    OhioChessFan: Two great lines from that story: < A voracious reader who picked up chess at age 12, Leighton never graduated from high school, but won a scholarship competition and was admitted in 1936, at age 24, to Howard University. > <When Neal walked over to say good morning, he saw the judge, then in his late 70s or early 80s, face down on his office floor. "I froze for a second," said Neal, who then rushed to see if Leighton was still breathing. "Before I could get over to him, he ripped off another 10 pushups," said Neal, laughing. "He'd only been resting." > Dec-03-16    OhioChessFan: October 22, 2017, he needs to be Player of the Day. Jun-07-18    FSR: He died yesterday. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/... Jun-08-18    ASchultz: A fitting player of the day. I remember seeing him at the Illinois Open. People called him Judge Leighton and I thought, wow, he must be someone. I found out later why people were so respectful once I heard of the Leighton criminal court building and looked up his accomplishments on Wikipedia. Very impressive, and in the smaller picture, it's always nice to see someone put the lie to "but chess will never help you get anywhere in life!" It looks like he lived his life very well. RIP.

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