Andrew Eden Soltis (born May 28, 1947) is an American chess grandmaster, author and columnist. He was inducted into the United States Chess Hall of Fame in September 2011. Chess career Soltis learned how the chess pieces moved at age 10 when he came upon a how-to-play book in the public library in Astoria, Queens where he grew up. He took no further interest in the game until he was 14, when he joined an Astoria chess club, then the Marshall Chess Club and competed in his first tournament, the 1961 New York City Junior Championship. Tournaments and championships In 1970, Soltis played second board on the gold-medal winning US team in the 17th World Student Team Championship and tied for the best overall score, 8–1. He was also a member of the silver-medal winning US teams in the 14th and the 18th World Student Team Championships. Soltis won the annual international tournament at Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 1972 and was awarded the International Master title two years later. His first-place finishes in New York international tournaments in 1977 and 1980 resulted in his being awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1980. Soltis won the championship of the prestigious Marshall Chess Club a record nine times: in 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1979, 1986, and 1989. He also competed in four US (closed) Championships, in 1974, 1977, 1978 and 1983. Soltis tied for first prize in the 1977 and 1982 US Open Championships. Soltis has been inactive in tournaments since 2002. He reached his playing peak as a competitive player when he was rated the 74th best player in the world, in January 1971. Writer and author He has written a weekly chess column for the New York Post since 1972. His monthly column "Chess to Enjoy" in Chess Life, the official publication of the United States Chess Federation, began in 1979 and is the longest-running column in that magazine. He was named "Chess Journalist of the Year" in 1988 and 2002 by the Chess Journalists of America. Soltis was one of the few Americans in the 20th century who earned the International Grandmaster title but was not a professional chess player. He worked as a news reporter and editor for the New York Post from 1969 until he retired in 2014. He continued writing his weekly chess column for the Post after he retired. He is considered one