Arbiter, organiser, author and roulette millionaire Carol Jarecki (13 February 1935 - 13 June 2021) died

Carol Jarecki (13 February 1935 - 13 June 2021)

Carol Jarecki was born on 13 February 1935 in Neptune, New Jersey and after studying anesthesia at the University of Pennsylvania she began to work as a nurse in New Jersey. She came to chess through her son John, who in 1981, at the age of 12, was the youngest US master ever at that time. Jarecki, who was a passionate pilot, often flew her son to tournaments in the U.S.

Jarecki eventually started organising tournaments herself and also became an international arbiter. She supervised several U.S. Chess Championships, SuperNational Scholastic Championships, National Elementary Championships and the World Open in Philadelphia. She also was the chief arbiter at the Bermuda International Open and associated invitational tournaments for over 20 years.

In 1995 Carol Jarecki was the chief arbiter at the World Championship match between Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand in New York. Two years later, in 1997, she was also the arbiter for the famous Kasparov vs. Deep Blue match. In the course of her career she also worked as an arbiter in several Women's World Championship matches.

Jarecki lived in New York, but for a long time was also the FIDE delegate for the British Virgin Islands. Besides her activities as an arbiter and official, Carol Jarecki was a great promoter of chess.

The name Jarecki also achieved fame outside the chess scene. In the 60s and 70s Carol and her husband, Richard Jarecki, had developed a system for recognising and exploiting mechanical deficiencies of roulette wheels and used it to win more than 1.2 million dollars in European casinos.

Richard Jarecki was born on 1 December 1931, in Stettin, which at that time was part of Germany and is now Szczecin, a Polish city at the German border. Richard Jarecki came from a Jewish family that immigrated in the late 1930s to America, where Richard met Carol. They married in 1964 and later moved to Heidelberg in Germany where Richard finished his medical degree. The couple had three children and stayed married until Richard's death in 2018.

Carol Jarecki died on 13 June 2021 at the age of 86 from pancreatic cancer.

Translation from German: Johannes Fischer

Links

U.S. Chess Champs: Carol Jarecki, Arbiter