Edmar J. Mednis was an American International Grandmaster of chess who was born in Riga, Latvia in 1937, and died in 2002 in New York. He was best known for being the first player to beat World Champion Bobby Fischer in regular tournament play, and he wrote extensively on chess.
Mednis emigrated from Latvia in 1949 and eventually settled in the US. He became a US citizen in 1955. He won the U.S Junior Championship in 1955. Mednis won third place in the 1961-62 U.S. Championship, qualifying him for the 1962 Stockholm Interzonal where he later earned the title International Grandmaster.
His memorable victory of Bobby Fischer was in 1962, which remained Fischer's only defeat in the U.S. Championships. Mednis participated in eight U.S. Championships in total. He also played first reserve for the U.S. team in the 1962 Varna Chess Olympiad, collecting a team silver medal.
Mednis was well-renowned as an author of many chess books and articles. He wrote 26 chess books, including "How to Beat Bobby Fischer", ”Practical Endgame Lessons”, and the best-selling "How to Defeat a Superior Opponent". He specialized in writing about the endgame.
Furthermore, Mednis was a chess teacher who operated phone-in chess instruction courses, and he was a well-known commentator for major U.S. chess events. He was also a regular contributor to Chess Life magazine. For 24 years, until his death, Mednis wrote the endgame column for Chess Life.