Lotto Winner of $5.4 Million May Found a Chess Museum

The Escondido resident who won Saturday’s $5.4-million Lotto prize might use the money to open a chess museum.

Al Berlin, an environmental chemist, said he still has not decided what he and his wife, Greta, plan to do with the jackpot. His wife is away on business.

“We might be talking about opening a chess museum,” Berlin said. “There isn’t one anywhere in the world.”

Berlin said that, although books and novels have been written about the game, art works produced and artificial intelligence developed so computers can learn to play, there is no museum.

He said he is not a great player but likes the game.

Berlin, 56, used to play the lottery regularly, but had not done so since beginning a new job in November as vice president in charge of environmental testing for Advanced Remediation Technology. The company, which is based in San Diego, recycles toxic metal wastes from liquids.

Berlin said he bought $10 worth of tickets Saturday. Some of the numbers were based on his children’s ages, and some were Quick Picks. The latter provided the winner.

In a telephone interview Monday, Berlin seemed unexcited about the bonanza.

“I’m not a wealthy man, but I’ve had a good life,” he said. “I was one of the developers of the catalytic converters for cars, so I’ve traveled to Europe and Japan, and I’ve met a lot of people.

“It’s nice to have money. Money makes you feel more secure, especially now that I’m older. But there are more important things.

“Whenever people tell me that their goal is to make money, I tell them that’s not a goal, it’s a dream. And it’s a bad dream. . . . Life is more important.”

Berlin will begin to receive his winnings in about two or three weeks, said Bruce Cherubin, district manager for the California State Lottery.

The net checks will total $227,073 a year after the federal government takes about 20%, Cherubin said.

The largest lottery jackpot won by a San Diego County resident was in November, 1986, when Gordon Pivar of Oceanside won $17.9 million, Cherubin said.