Isaac L. Rice: Entrepreneur and Chess Master
His Genius Resulted in General Dynamics and the Rice Gambit in Chess
Jul 20, 2008
General Dynamics, a large modern corporate giant, grew out of Rice’s Electric Boat Company, founded in 1899 to build John Philip Holland’s designs for the first U. S. Navy submarine, the Holland VI, which was commissioned in 1900.
During World War I, Rice’s company and its subsidiaries built 85 Navy submarines and 722 submarine chasers. Long one of the largest military contractors for the Pentagon and foreign governments, General Dynamics almost folded up after the end of the Cold War, but regained momentum with the Gulf War and present conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Came to America at Age 6
Rice was born in 1850 in Bavaria, brought to the United States at age 6 by his mother, attended Central High School in Philadelphia, then studied literature and music in Paris, where he met Julia Barnett, who came from a family of wealth and position.
Rice asked friends what the most common occupation of their richest friends was. The answer led him to Columbia University's law school, first as student, then as teacher. He married Julia and they had six children.
Julia earned a medical degree because she thought it would be helpful in raising children. Isaac’s wealth grew even faster than his family.
Rice worked with railroads, both as counsel and director, then founded the Forum Publishing Co. He became connected with the Electric Storage Battery Co., being chosen its president in 1897. He then became a founder of the electric automobile and electric boat industries in America. His name is also linked to the manufacture of the first electric refrigerators and first dried milk products.
Chess Clubs Named for Rice
Rice was a prominent figure in the American chess world, becoming president of the Manhattan Chess Club. The inventor of the Rice Gambit, he sponsored tournaments where that opening became the starting point of each game. Several chess clubs around the world are named in his honor.
His children were raised in an unorthodox manner. At an early age each child chose a lifestyle. Their father would underwrite almost any interest they came up with. One had a seven-day bicycle racer for a tutor and another a three-cushion billiard player. They all grew up on a daily diet of calculus and chess and spent hours challenging each other with complex mental contests.
Founded Poetry Society for Daughter
When Dorothy, the oldest daughter, showed a talent for writing poetry, her father founded the Poetry Society of America and set up a salon in the grand ballroom of their 22-room apartment at the Ansonia Hotel. It was regularly attended by Theodore Dreiser, Gertrude Atherton, Richard LaGallienne and Frank Harris, always in white ties and tails.
Later, Dorothy and husband Hal Sims became one of the most famous bridge-playing couples in the world.
When daughter Polly took up motorcycle racing, he built her a garage. Daughter Marion Rice Hart was, at age 74, the first woman to make a solo transatlantic flight. She also wrote a definitive text on celestial navigation.
Family friends included the kings of Spain and Sweden, the Czar of Russia, Madame Curie, President McKinley and Pope Pius X.
(For additional information on Isaac L. Rice, see Who’s Who in America, 1903-5; Isidore Singer’s Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. 10, pp. 405-6; Sports Illustrated, Jan. 13, 1975, and his obituary in the Nov. 3, 1915 edition of the New York Times.
