The Nebraska Chess Hall of Fame Committee is happy to announce that Robert 'Bud' Narveson has been chosen to be entered into the Nebraska Chess Hall of Fame.

Bud Narveson was an English professor at the University of Nebraska Lincoln for many years. He is now officially retired and spends slightly more than half of each year in Minnesota. In September of 1964, Bud saw the need for more chess activity in Lincoln. He began publishing a bi-monthly newsletter known as the Gambit. The Gambit now in its 35th year of publication is still the official newsletter for Nebraska chess.

In January of 1965, Bud saw another need. There were no scholastic tournaments to encourage chess among high school players. He soon organized the very first Nebraska State Scholastic Chess tournament which was held at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln in the Student Union on January 16th and 17th. It drew an outstanding 72 players in two sections and attracted students from 16 different Nebraska high schools. This event also became a winter tradition which continues to the present day and has been expanded to include competition in not only high school, but middle school, elementary grades and primary grades as well as a normally strong Open tournament for interested adults.

Over the course of four decades, Bud has contributed to Nebraska chess in many other ways as well, running the Lincoln City Championship numerous times, serving as President of the Lincoln Chess Foundation, and continuously playing in traditional Nebraska events such as the Midwest Open.

Bud was instrumental in helping to organize the 1969 and 1975 U.S. Opens which were both held in Lincoln. Bud also organized a unique chess event that had never been tried called the Chess and Humanities Workshop in May of 1978. This two day conference attracted chess scholars, authors and players from all over the country and included such notable individuals as George Koltanowski, and Arpad Elo.

In 1977, Bud was involved in helping to organize the national telephone chess league matches which were held downtown in Lincoln. Bud is a strong player as well, having achieved a rating as high as expert in his career. He is still currently rated Class A, and finds more time to play when he's back in Nebraska for the winter.

The next time you see Bud, thank him for more than 35 years of dedication to Nebraska Chess. The NSCA, is honored to see Bud join the ranks of Nebraska's chess elite.