Al Lawrence

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Al Lawrence (born in Illinois, USA) is a chess expert and author.

Lawrence was originally a school teacher in Nebraska. He came to work for the United States Chess Federation in 1981 and in 1988 he was appointed Executive Director.

During his time in office, Lawrence greatly increased both the membership and the revenues of the USCF. Membership rose from about 50,000 to 84,000 and annual sales and revenues rose from less than $4 million to more than $6.5 million, which is still a record. Lawrence was especially effective in increasing sales of books and equipment, which he helped grow to over $3.5 million annually.

Lawrence later became Vice President of Excalibur Electronics in Miami. Excalibur also maintains the World Chess Hall of Fame, for which Lawrence serves as volunteer executive director.

Lawrence is the author of 12 books on a variety of nonfiction topics including chess and astronomy. He is also a World Book Encyclopedia Yearbook contributor. Lawrence won the Chess Journalist of the Year Award in 2000 from the Chess Journalists of America.