A Superior Court judge has temporarily stopped a breakaway group of chess players from calling themself the U.S. Virgin Islands Chess Federation, collecting membership dues under that name, or undermining business of the preexisting U.S. Virgin Islands Chess Federation, Inc. The order also froze the organization’s bank account.
The May 23 ruling by Judge Douglas A. Brady was the latest salvo in a decades-long feud that has ensnared passionate world chess enthusiasts from St. Croix to Switzerland.
The federation sued six other players in 2024 who had objected to the leadership of longtime President Margaret Murphy. Claiming Murphy was a bully who would never relinquish power over the territory’s official chess group, a splinter group held a special election in December 2023 and voted in new leadership.
Murphy dismissed allegations from the group and said she didn’t realize the impact of the off-brand election until she was informed by Bank of St. Croix that the names on the Chess Federation’s account — containing roughly $8,000 — had been changed.
Brady’s order said Murphy and the Chess Federation had a compelling case. Rather than declaring one group or the other the victor, however, Brady said the public interest was best served by pausing for a special election.
Brady gave the chess players 90 days to organize an election. Murphy was ordered to present defendants Gail Widmer, Anne Kershaw, Sinclair Wilkinson, Brandon Rhymer, Okemo Hodge, and William Van Renselaer with an election plan. They, then, had 10 days to file any concerns with the plan. Brady urged both parties to work together to present the court with their special election proposal.
