"I feel I am quite ready to become a chess maniac," he said in 1919. "I play day and night, and nothing interests me more than to find the right move." By the Thirties, he had earned the rank of Chess Master and had represented France at international tournaments four times. There is a brilliant black-and-white photograph of him playing chess against a naked woman at the Pasadena Art Museum in 1963: he seems to be concentrating so hard on the match that he is oblivious to the nudity of his opponent. His poor first wife didn't stand a chance.