Chess Fathers and Sons (and sometimes Mom)

Chess Fathers & Sons (and sometimes Mom)

It was several years ago at tournament at Natick where Richard Kahn and myself were sitting besides a then very young Andrew Wang and his opponent. Andrew and I were diagonally across from each other. Richard and my game had a tense log jam where all pieces were vectored into the center. Then BOOM! There followed many exchanges and when the dust settled I was the exchange down but had two connected passers on the sixth rank of the d and e files and one of these guys was sure to make it untouched into the end zone: game over. My eyes caught Andrew who was staring at this frenzied mêlée when his whole body was involved in a huge smile and our eyes met. Message sent: that was really cool, and it was really cool. I realized that Andrew got great joy out of seeing a special chess moment.

Many times you hear about the stereotypical bad dads with the "Looking for Bobby Fischer" vicarious drive to make their kids world champ. This usually happens with dads that really don't understand the game or the collateral benefits and joy the game provides besides winning.

I am envious of father and sons that play competitive chess together and get the extra dimension of sharing their joy of the game together. Frank and Andrew Wang, Vlad & Max Enkin, Walter(s) Driscoll II&IV, and Joshua Haunstrup and his dad just to name a few. Shared activities like chess becomes a the medium that presents events and situations allowing feelings and communication between son and dad: mortar that forms emotional bonds.

Me and my dad shared sports. And even today, 17 years after his passing, certain situations occur and I still know and can feel what his reaction is/would be.

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31 year old wallet worn photo of two week old WarCraft champ Mike Griffin holding a Knight,
son of Mass chess Class B champ Mike Griffin.
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Once at postmortem with my opponent Doug Southall at a Wamala tournament in Lowell, we were reviewing our very complex exchange Gruenfeld game when a Chinese mother stepped in providing line after line of amazing suggestions. Clearly this women was much stronger than us and knew this variation cold!? I asked her: "It's obvious you are very good at this game why aren't you playing today?" Her response was that she was here for her son today.

Do you wish you had a chess dad, mom, or son?

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[ I, Oresick, did have that wish. My son Eric learned chess very early and very easily and so I thought I had a player in the family. But he lost interest in favor of Magic and Warcraft.

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In fact the only time I got to play in a chess tournament in Florida was when I accompanied him to a impressively large, well-run Magic tournament at Disney.

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I tried to rope him into chess - I dragged him to a simul Joel Benjamin once gave at the BU Chess Club. I said this is an opportunity to play against one of the strongest and most famous chess players in the United States. Eric seemed so bored - he couldn't wait to get out of there, but he did end up one of the last to lose against the GM. rjo]

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Please Comment

Thank You

Mike Griffin

10/01/2009

Blitz rule over Kingfishers

Boston Blitz 2½-1½ Baltimore Kingfishers

September 29th, 2009 Chris Bird

Board	White	Result	Black
1.	GM Leonid Kritz (2654)	0-1	GM Larry Christiansen (2662)
2.	Denys Shmelov (2474)	0-1	GM Sergey Erenburg (2616)
3.	FM Shinsaku Uesugi (2354)	½-½	Marc Esserman (2461)
4.	Ilya Krasik (2252)	1-0	Ian Harris (2172)
	Boston Blitz	2½-1½	Baltimore Kingfishers

FM Nathan Resika

Nathan Resika commented on a previous post about multiple Mike's, Capablanca's, and Marisol's.

Following his invitation I did visit his website, and recommend you go to his audio samples - http://resika.com/media.htm - he has a beautiful voice - perfect for loading your ipods for a big tournament. rjo
....................................

Hi Bernardo!! I knew the resemblance was uncanny , Maestro! check my website! http://resika.com/ ... and yes I still play chess for fun and I'm now Fide master. I learned a lot at the Boylston club. I remember playing you in my first Boylston tourney in 86! at the Combat zone location.;p with Lukowiak giving a lecture. Best always and How are you? Nathan Resika | Homepage | 09.24.09 - 10:05 pm | #

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from his bio on his website:

While carving out a niche for himself as a Mozartian singer who also often interprets modern works, Bass Nathan Resika has been praised for his “sonorous” voice by more than one critic. Metropolitan Opera tenor and diction coach Nico Castel wrote that Nathan is ”gifted with a splendid bass instrument…musical…intelligent..He had an excellent working relationship with his colleagues”. Of Nathan's february'09 performance in Center for Contemporary Opera's "Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", Award winning composer Barry O'Neal noted "Nathan can really act with his voice,which has an amazingly rich, dark sound,with powerful low notes". Raised in New York City by a musical family, Nathan sang, acted, and played classical & folk guitar from an early age,and continued his studies at both New England Conservatory and the Longy School. Nathan’s rising career has seen him performing roles with, among others, the Caramoor Opera Festival, the Center for Contemporary Opera, New Jersey Opera, Connecticut Lyric Opera, the Belleayre Music Festival, Utah Festival Opera, and Opera Orchestra of New York’s Artist Program. Upcoming performances include a May 9th concert as bass soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the New Britain Symphony and Hartford Chorale , Colonna(cover) in Wagner’s Rienzi with Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall(2010) , Colline in La Boheme with Opera in the Heights(Houston, 2010), as well as Don Silva in Ernani(2011), also with the latter. Highlights of the pastyear and 1/2 have seen Nathan performing the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera in the Heights, Polyphemus in Handel’s Acis and Galatea at the Irvington Music Festival, Colline in New Jersey Verismo Opera’s La Boheme, Il Commendatore in Don Giovanni with St.Petersburg Opera, and Don Alfonso in Cosi Fan Tutte with Underworld Productions at Symphony Space, NYC. In July, Mr.Resika made his debut at Caramoor as the Marchese di Calatrava in La Forza del Destino(while covering Padre Guardiano), and accompanied tenor Barry Banks on classical guitar in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (while covering Don Basilio). Recently performed roles also include Ferrando in Il Trovatore, Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Ramfis in Aida, Sparafucile and Monterone in Rigoletto, Police Sergeant in Pirates of Penzance, and Superintendent Budd in Britten’s Albert Herring. Nathan has performed in concert in Hungary, Greece, throughout the United States, and has sung the national anthem at several sporting events. Also a chessmaster and tutor, Mr.Resika has been ranked among the top 200 players in the USA.

The Purposeful Rook

THE PURPOSEFUL ROOK

A guide for the class player on activating your rooks— with meaning!

CAREY THEIL

Chess Life September 2009

In case you missed it, our own Boylston master and board member has written a readable article well-worth reading in the September Chess Life.

Julian Chan is the 2009 BCC Blitz Champion

Julian Chan is the 2009 BCF Blitz Champion. Congratulations.


1.JULIAN CHAN 17
2.CAREY THEIL 16
3.ZONGYUAN YUAN 10.5
4.SETH LIEBERMAN 10
5.ANDREW LIU 9.5
6.NICHOLAS LESIEUR 7.5
7.STEVEN STEPAK 6.5
8.BERNARDO IGLESIAS 5.5
9.ANTHONY DI NOSSE 3.5
10.MAX WIEGAND 2

Julian Chan won $30, Carey Theil $10 and Seth Lieberman $10 for U1800



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Tonight is the night for all you blitz fans - the game that is - tomorrow is the team Blitz match.
Come try your best at the annual BCF Blitz Championship. Win honor and money, or at least have some fun.

Tuesday, September 22: BCF Annual Blitz Championship RR/5’(02’’dl) EF: $8, $5 to BCF members. Possible sections. Prizes: $100/b20. Reg: 6:00 – 6:50PM Rds: 7PM

Boston Blitz defeat the Philadelphia Inventors

Boston Blitz (2.0 - 1.0) vs Philadelphia Inventors (1.0 - 2.0)

All Time Series Record: (Boston leads 6.5 - 1.5)

Starts at 7:30 PM ET Time Control - Game in 90 with 30 second increment

Boston Blitz			Philadelphia Inventors
SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun: 2603	1.0	0.0	GM Sergey Kudrin: 2602
SM Denys Shmelov: 2474	0.5	0.5	IM Bryan Smith: 2528
SM Marc Esserman: 2461	1.0	0.0	FM Tom Bartell: 2411
NM Vadim Martirosov: 2235	1.0	0.0	Kavinayan Sivakumar: 2048
Avg Rating: 2443			Avg Rating: 2397
Boston Total -------	3.5	0.5	------- Philadelphia Total

Capablanca? He's Dead!

Capablanca? He's Dead!

There is no doubt that Capablanca was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.

About four years ago about half a dozen of us went to Mike's restaurant of Davis Square between rounds for lunch. When you order at Mike's, they take your money and first name to call you when your order is ready to be picked up. Well that day I stood behind Mike Henroid and Mikhail Derazhne both of whom gave the name Mike to the waitress. Not wanting to further confuse the Mike issue I gave the name Capablanca and thus I became known forever as Capablanca at Mike's.

Bernado and I got to know the waitress Marisol very well and Marisol was always on the lookout for chess players

Then last Thursday night Tom Sifter appeared at Mike's for dinner and Marisol noticed Tom's chess equipment and asked Tom if he knew Bernado and Capablanca. To which Tom responded he knew Bernado and that Capablanca had died! Marisol was horrified?! Later that week Bernado told Marisol that Tom was talking about a different Capablanca.

Oddly enough, I (oresick) found a photo captioned "J.R.Capablanca VIVE (aka Bernardo Iglesias.)

The inscription on the picture that says: VIVE (AKA BERNARDO IGLESIAS) was written by NM Nathan Resika in the 90's when the club was at 140 Clarendon St.
Bernardo
Bernardo Iglesias | 09.22.09 - 12:02 pm | #

Please Comment

My (oresick) question is, is the Marisol you knew Marisol?

Thank You

Mike "Capablanca" Griffin

09/21/2009

Boylston Chess Foundation Championship Underway

The BCC Championship is underway, with a field of nine contenders.

Wallcharts are posted on the Boylston crosstables page.

BCC Championship
Mondays September 14 to November 2
30/90 G/45
TD: Bernardo Iglesias, assisted by Robert Oresick

Wallchart

#	Name/Rtng/ID	Cl/Gr	Rd 1									Tot
1	VIGORITO,DAVID		B 9
	2464 12426279		1.0									1.0
2	SHMELOV,DENYS KONSTANTIN		B 8
	2492 13433622		0.5									0.5
3	WILLIAMS,CHRIS		B 7
	2239 12788759		0.0									0.0
4	CHASE,CHRISTOPHER		B 6
	2333 10010985		0.0									0.0
5	RIORDAN,CHARLES ROBERT		----
	2397 12611870		0.0									0.0
6	TIMES,LAWYER		W 4
	2292 12167330		1.0									1.0
7	CHERNIACK,ALEX		W 3
	2297 11096239		1.0									1.0
8	THEIL,CAREY M		W 2
	2240 12594672		0.5									0.5
9	RUEDA,LIBARDO		W 1
	2171 12497363		0.0									0.0

This year's Hauptturnier is the largest in years - 19 players in two sections.

BCC Hauptturnier
Mondays September to November 9
30/90 G/45
TD: Robert Oresick

Wallchart - Section 1

#	Name/Rtng/ID		Rd 1									Tot
1	WARFIELD,SIMON K		B 9
	2183 12625572		1.0									1.0
2	GLICKMAN,DAVID S		B 8
	1996 11195890		1.0									1.0
3	NEWMAN,KENNETH W		B 7
	1939 10349346		0.5									0.5
4	YEDIDIA,ADAM		B 6
	1899 12871990		1.0									1.0
5	PORTUGUES,RUBEN		W 10
	1862 13426034		1.0									1.0
6	DRISCOLL III,WALTER A		W 4
	1819 12547513		0.0									0.0
7	SCHMIDT,DANIEL		W 3
	1800 12603571		0.5									0.5
8	ELDRIDGE,LARRY		W 2
	1787 10017297		0.0									0.0
9	HO,KENNETH		W 1
	1768 12436950		0.0									0.0
10	LEE,JONATHAN MARK		B 5
	1756 12742928		0.0									0.0

Wallchart - Section 2

#	Name/Rtng/ID		Rd 1				Rd 5					Tot
1	FRAZIER,FRANK		B 9				B 5
	1750 10014280						0.0					0.0
2	FELKER,PAUL		B 8				B 4
	1734 12792069						1.0					1.0
3	INGHAM,SEAN THOMAS		B 7				----
	1674 12859758											0.0
4	DONDIS,HAROLD B		B 6				W 2
	1659 10018765						0.0					0.0
5	PRESSMAN,DAVID MARK		----				W 1
	1652 13469492		0.0				1.0					1.0
6	SADYKOV,KHIKMET		W 4				W 9
	1652 13897647						1.0					1.0
7	ORESICK,ROBERT J		W 3				W 8
	1547 12659519						1.0					1.0
8	STEPAK,STEVEN PHILIP		W 2				B 7
	1500 12437339						0.0					0.0
9	GORCZYCA,THADDEUS S		W 1				B 6
	1307 12642210						0.0					0.0

Rook Endings Lost In Translation

Andrew Soltis' September 2009 Chess Life column (p. 14), "The Language of Chess", discusses how English has become more and more prominent in the world of chess. That made me think about my recent attempts to find a particular French language chess book, and how I had been a little surprised that the vast majority of books sold by the French Chess Federation's website book vendor were originally English language works that had been translated into French.

I was looking, bien entendu, for Rook Endings by Levenfish & Smyslov. Like many chess players, I prefer algebraic notation over descriptive. However, when the English edition of that classic book was converted from descriptive to algebraic notation, a large number of errors was introduced, as a helpful reviewer stated on Amazon.com.

Playing through whole/partial games on a chessboard, I have my share of experiences coming to a point where it becomes clear that I made an incorrect move earlier, and I have to start over from the beginning because I can't reconstruct the proper position by tracing backward. I don't need a chess book conspiring against me while studying chess, I can do that myself!

I can read enough French to use a French language edition of Rook Endings, but haven't been able to ascertain whether such an edition was ever published. Can anyone confirm the existence of same, that it is in algebraic notation, and that it didn't get loaded with errors on its way from the Russian original?


I did learn that a Spanish language edition was published, but aside from the fact that my Spanish does not extend a great deal farther than Ruy López, that book is in Spanish descriptive notation, which is even less enticing to me than English descriptive.

-Algebraic Notation Snob #12345678

Chess Ad Perpetuam Memoriam

One of the coolest things about chess web pages and blogs is that they are living documents of what's considered hot in chess. And not only do they disseminate current events that reflect chess life at the moment simultaneously they are building a view of chess into the past. The crosstables stored by the USCF since 1992 are a great resource.

Over time we are building a history unlike anything seen before in the chess. The BCF has gone out of its way in preserving much about Harry Lyman. And in addition the current BCF webpage is growing an asset about all local chess players great and common alike.

And I get a warm feeling when I occasionally view old photo's on the web site of all people, some now looking older, among those photos. Especially the players who have passed away, for example: Greg Hager, Everyday Ed Lafferty, Gus Goselin. Plus photo's of players who are no longer active around here, example: old nemesis Mikhail Derazhne, Kimani Stancil, Hal Fishbien. Great memories of past battles and moments of the past are generated within when I view these.

Perhaps we should create a special page of photo's containing BCF players that have gone onto that great chess hall in the sky? It would be nice to realize that some karma of your chess past would even exist after you are gone.

Please Comment.

Thank You

Mike Griffin

09/16/2009

Mike

We do have a section of photos in the club gallery (BCC Venerables and Luminaries) devoted to some past or deceased members like Harry and Gus, and we are trying to build up a photo collection of members and players at the Boylston. I think we have at least one photo of each of the folks you mentioned at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/oresick/BoylstonMembersAndPlayers02#

bob oresick

Christiansen Takes Senior Open

USCF Home Chess Life Online 2009 September Christiansen Takes Senior Open

gry8birnv kasparov chess news

Christiansen Takes Senior Open

By WIM Alexey Root

September 7, 2009

2009 U.S. Senior Champ, GM Larry Christiansen. Photo Betsy Dynako Breaking News: GM Larry Christiansen won the U.S. Senior Open in Tulsa, Oklahoma, ceding only one draw to GM Larry Kaufman. 5.5 out of 6 was good for clear first and a spot in the 2010 U.S. Championships. Christiansen said, "It's been a long time since I was the youngest man in my section. But I played like an old man at times!" Larry said that he might have qualified for the U.S. Championship by rating, but was happy to lock in his spot at the Senior. GM Larry Kaufman was clear second with 5 of 6, defeating GM Boris Gulko en route to his finish. He drew Christiansen and, in the last round, drew IM Walter Shipman. As the highest-finishing player over 60, Kaufman wins a trip to the World Senior in Northern Italy. The winner of the 6-round U.S. Women's Open is UTD sophomore WFM Saheli Nath with 5 out of 6. Second was WIM Iryna Zenyuk, who is the top American finisher and therefore qualifies for the 2010 U.S. Women's. Tied for 3rd through 5th with 4 points were UTD freshman Medina Parilla, WFM Chouchan Airapetian, and Jennifer Acon. UTD provided 5 of the 16 players in this first-ever U.S. Women's Open. The photo below shows all the participants of the Women's Open, except Margaret Hua and Jennifer Acon. Back row left to right: Joanna Gossell, Iryna Zenyuk, Marilyn Pelias, Helen Jamison, Karina Vazirova, Courtney Jamison, Bayaraa Zorigt, Brianna Conley, Medina Parrilla, Julia Jones. From row is Alexey Root, Chouchan Airapetian, Saheli Nath, and Natasha Christiansen.

Dallas blanks Boston in round 3

Well, this result was certainly unexpected and unpredicted.

Dallas (4) vs Boston (0)

1. IM Jacek Stopa (DAL) vs GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) 1-0
2. SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) vs IM Daniel Ludwig (DAL) 0-1
3. FM Keaton Kiewra (DAL) vs NM Vadim Martirosov (BOS) 1-0
4. NM Ilya Krasik (BOS) vs FM Darwin Yang (DAL) 0-1

Celebrate the Jewish New Year with a Free Tournament in Waltham

Hi fellow chess-players,

This is my first official event promotion here on the Waltham Chess Club e-mail list, a great way to launch us into fall.

We have a rated 2-round G/60 on Friday, September 18, 2009, in honor of the Jewish New Year. This event is FREE OF CHARGE to EVERYONE. It will be held at our usual time (registration 7-7:25 PM; first round around 7:30 PM) and usual place (the cafeteria of the IBM Building in Waltham). This is our first FEE-FREE rated event, and we look forward to holding more in the future. Our website is www.walthamchessclub.org.

In addition, for those traveling to Rhode Island, the first Pawn-Eater of the season will be held on this Saturday, 9/12/09. The 3rd Max Malyuta Memorial will be held on Saturday 10/17/09. Their website is http://www.richess.org.

I hope as many of you as can make it will come see us in Waltham. See you over the board!

In response to a request, the address of the Waltham Chess Club is the IBM Building at 404 Wyman Street in Waltham, parallel with northbound Route 128 (or I-95) between Exits 27 and 28. Both address and directions are on our website (www.walthamchessclub.org).

I hope to see as many of you there as can come.

Nicholas P. Sterling, Ph.D.
Waltham Chess Club
Tournament Director

Blitz defeat the Cobras in round 2 of the USCL

Boston Blitz 3½-½ Carolina Cobras

September 10th, 2009 Chris Bird

Board	White	Result	Black
1.	GM Eugene Perelshteyn (2588)	1-0	IM Jonathan Schroer (2429)
2.	FM Oleg Zaikov (2388)	½-½	Denys Shmelov (2474)
3.	Marc Esserman (2461)	1-0	FM Ron Simpson (2290)
4.	Craig Jones (2275)	0-1	Ilya Krasik (2252)
	Boston Blitz	3½-½	Carolina Cobras

GM asleep at the board

From Times Online

September 4, 2009

Maverick chess master Vladislav Tkachiev falls asleep at the board.

Philippe Naughton

Vladislav Tkachiev

(Juerg Mueller/Keystone/AFP/EPA)

A Russian-born chess maverick has caused a stir by falling asleep at the board after reportedly turning up drunk at a grandmasters' tournament in India.

Vladislav Tkachiev, 35, who was was born in Moscow, raised in Kazakhstan and now plays as a Frenchman, had to concede a game at the Calcutta Open and could face further sanctions from the game's governing body.

Tkachiev completed only 15 moves in an hour in a third-round match against India's Praveen Kumar after repeatedly dozing off.

“Each time he fell asleep, players around would try to wake him up with a shake of the shoulder,” the Indian Express newspaper reported, alongside photos showing Tkachiev with his head resting on the table.

“Some even offered him water and Tkachiev, having briefly refreshed himself at the change-room while his opponent waited, dozed off again and eventually had to be carried off."

Tkachiev, who is officially ranked 58th in the world, is known as one of the more colourful, fast-living characters on the chess circuit.

He has often expressed his frustration at the glacial speed and endless endgames of classical chess, championing instead the rapid-fire "blitz chess" which he says better suits his temperament as a player and which the public prefers.

"Blitz modifies the reality," he once said in an interview. "During the game light seems brighter, and beer sweeter."

In 2005 Tkachiev and his brother Evegeny - known as "the Blitz Brothers" - angered many chess traditionalists when they set up the "World Chess Beauty Contest", an online contest to find the world's sexiest female player.

Although some highly-ranked female players supported the contest as a valid bid to raise the profile of the game, others dismissed it as degrading and exploitative "soft pawn".

Among those supporting the contest was the British grandmaster Nigel Short, who joined the "chess chicks" judging panel.

But Short, newly recrowned as the UK's top player at the age of 44, expressed his disgust at Tkachiev's behaviour in Calcutta and reportedly asked for the player to be ejected from the tournament.

Soumen Majumnder, the co-organiser of the newspaper said that Tkachiev would have to wait until the after the tournament to decide whether he faces a sanction from chess authorities.

“What happened is unfortunate, it's in bad taste," he told the newspaper. “It’s in bad taste. Once the event is over, we will hold a meeting and decide how to proceed against this player."

Chess and the Greatest

Emanuel Lasker (world champ 1894–1921) is my favorite chess player.

Lasker and Pillsbury in 1895

Lasker played the opponent, had no weakness in his game, and had a chameleon like quality where he would try and put his opponent thru a torture test during a match. Bobby Fischer took after Lasker in 1972 when he played non e4 vs Spassky thus throwing out all Soviet preparation with white. A choice which implies Fischer decided that while e4 is the best, it is not as good as d4 or c4 against an unprepared opponent.

In fact Fischer was sure to face Spassky's Queen's Gambit Declined Tartakower variation, a line Spassky never lost with until game 6. For those who possess The Art of Positional Play by Samuel Reshevsky, there is a chapter about the Tartakower variation which is the best analysis of the defense I have ever read. Whereas in Ruben Fine's Bobby Fischer's Conquest of the World's Chess Championship Tartakower analysis pales when compared to Reshevsky.

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Unequivocally Gary Kasparov is the greatest but I like to re-evoke the discussion about how strong would a Lasker or Capablanca be in world class chess today. My feeling is any top world player of the past would be world class today if given the same opportunities that today's players have had. It's interesting to note that some local masters regard the likes of Frank Marshall as being "expert strength" when compared to today's masters, while other local masters show them more respect. Still there have been computer studies of games and players of the past that show that there were many tactical flaws in games of the past that were overlooked by these old timers. My feeling is that computers have done a good job in training contemporary player's minds to a much higher tactical skill level. And there are so many games e-published every day, visible almost immediately around the world, so variations are tested more quickly and the current chess junkies can keep a finger on the pulse of the bleeding edge. Whereas before WWII players had to be part of the European tour to be on the bleeding edge. And like Kasparov, we can take our ideas and beat on a stronger than human computer to harden our ideas. Feedback was never so good, pushback never so quick. Just like everything in today's world the cycles accelerate. With more room for improvement. What I think this means is that the greatest chess player is yet to arrive.
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How would the old timers rank today?
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Please Comment
Thank You
Mike Griffin 09/02/2009

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044366

Blitz win the opener

Congratulations to the Boston Blitz on their initial victory over the Queens Pioneers.

The crosstable below is from the US Chess League site, where you can find the games and loads of other info.

http://www.uschessleague.com/games1.html

Queens Pioneers			Boston Blitz
GM Alex Stripunsky: 2628	0.0	1.0	GM Larry Christiansen: 2662
IM Eli Vovsha: 2539	0.0	1.0	GM Eugene Perelshteyn: 2588
FM Andrei Zaremba: 2398	1.0	0.0	SM Marc Esserman: 2461
Shaun Smith: 2038	0.0	1.0	Andrew Wang: 2136
Avg Rating: 2401			Avg Rating:2462
Queens Total -----	1.0	3.0	-----Boston Total

Follow the Blitz vs on Monday

Reminder-- Charity Simul this Sunday with Vigorito

Have a heart for Chess! It might save a life.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Join IM David Vigorito for a brief lecture with a Q&A followed by a Simultaneous Exhibition starting at 1PM at the Boylston Chess club (BCC). The proceeds will go to help the American Heart Association.

Here’s Why: Unfortunately, too many of us have a loved one affected by heart disease or stroke. To help stop this, George Duval ( aka Blunderprone) along with others in the chess community will be participating in this year's Start! Heart Walk on September 12, 2009 benefiting the American Heart Association. You can help raise funds and protect those you love by participating in something fun and chess related.

Fee: $20 for both BCC and Non-BCC members, remember this is a fundraiser. Make checks payable to American Heart Association.Your contribution will make a difference in the fight against our nation's No. 1 and No. 3 killers: heart disease and stroke.

Where: Boylston Chess Club; 240 Elm St., Suite B9; Somerville, Massachusetts 02144(617) 629-3933 SUNDAY FREE PARKING !

When: Sunday August 30, 2009 at 1PMRegistration: 12:00 – 12: 45.“Blunderprone” promises to make this a fun event for all levels of expertise as he guarantees no one will lose any USCF rating points.

Bonus: You might actually be saving someone’s life.If you can’t attend but wish to make a donation to the AHA’s heart walk, follow this link through George’s Blog at http://blunderprone.blogspot.com ( click on the thermometer on the right)

Forget Waterboarding - Play Chess

From a post: Interrogation techniques then and now

August 24, 9:55 PM Oklahoma City Political Buzz Examiner
Marc Fasel
...
Have we grown as a civilized society?

In a Washington Post article [Oct. 6, 2007] World War II veterans “lamented the chasm between the way they conducted interrogations during the war and the harsh measures used today in questioning terrorism suspects”.

One quote:

"We got more information out of a German general with a game of chess or Ping-Pong than they do today, with their torture," said Henry Kolm, 90, an MIT physicist who had been assigned to play chess in Germany with Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess.

Chess and MP3 Players

Chess and MP3 Players

I wanted to write an essay about local players that listened to music while they played in tournaments and discuss their music preferences and hypothesize about the best music to play chess by. What seemed like a fun and interesting essay turned out to be not so easy because many players were very guarded about what they liked and some were willing only "to speak off the record".
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Also came up an interesting situation in US chess: I found out that the USCF is trying to discourage the use if MP3/iPod players during tournament games. This is to the consternation of some local strong players. I can only imagine that the USCF thinks that someone might try transmitting information to a player that appears to be listening to music. The sensitivity is quite high among players having the possibility not being allowed to be able to listen to music while playing. I have noticed many players who's lips are silently moving to their tunes, players of all strengths btw.
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Occasionally when the chess hall is noisy, usually because there is a disturbance outside the hall, I will don my earplugs and listen to the opera Marriage of Figaro, which I have heard so often its more like white noise than music to me.
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I usually resort to my MP3 player when that late Saturday night game is beside a wedding reception at a hotel.
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Or when at the BCF the MP3 goes on when the Improvisational Comedy Group, located across the hall from the BCF, decides to practice. One time while directing a tournament, I went over to them to ask them to please quiet down. What ensued was me teasing them by saying it was unethical for an improvisational group to practice. They informed me that what they work on, is to learn to provide openings for their comrades, in order to keep a skit going. I recommend that they Google Reuben Fine and openings.
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Anyways there is much sensitivity about the use of iPods and mp3 players and I wouldn't be surprised but saddened to see rules in the future. I know FIDE prohibits having a player posses a cell phone in the hall or using a cell phone while their game is in progress. I hope the USCF continues to allow people to posses a phone, because as mentioned before, I think cell phones give people more opportunity to play, not less, especially kids.
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And I don't know what reasonable mechanism you would have for enforcement. I think all these "anti technology" rules will not stop the non sportsman from cheating. What about good old fashion talking with each other during the game? I think we should discuss among ourselves the importance of high ethical standards of sportsmanship in chess. Not to say that cheating hasn't happened, but I hope we don't have to excluded all electronics from the chess hall. This would penalize 99.99% good honest folks from leveraging their e-stuff. I think that a director should be allowed to ask and inspect anything a player is using or referring to during a game to insure they're not getting coaching or chess related info. I think that should be sufficient.
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What do you think about listening to music while playing chess or other e-stuff?
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Please Comment. Thank You.
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Mike Griffin 08/25/2009

Lawyer Times wins the Charles Drafts Memorial

The 16th Annual Charles Drafts memorial tournament drew 32 players, including some new faces and absent some regulars.

NM Lawyer Times won the open section with 4.0 of 4. Gabe Frieden and Dan Leach shared second place honors with scores of 3.0. Gabe is playing well, having just shared 1st place in the U1900 section of the 39th Continental Open in Sturbridge last weekend.

The under 1900 section was won by young Ben Yuan with 4.0. He had come to the US from China two months ago to join his father, attended the Boylston chess camp with Jacob Rasin last week, and played and won his first four tournament games for a provisional rating of 2142.

The event was directed by Bernardo Iglesias and the prize fund was guaranteed by Walter Driscoll as he has done for 16 years to remember Charlie Drafts You may not know that Walter is a chess traveler, an actor, and a stand-up comedian. You can catch him at the Burren, on Elm St. near the club, at 10:00 pm on Sept. 9th.

Cardiac related Deaths of Chess Players

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Join IM David Vigorito for a brief lecture with a Q&A followed by a Simultaneous Exhibition starting at 1 PM at the Boylston Chess club (BCC). The proceeds will go to help the American Heart Association.

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I know Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc is a fallacy and cardiac problems are the leading cause of death in the United States.

Still Bill Wall's listing of the causes of death of some chess players makes the the August 30 lecture and simul to benefit the American Heart Association even closer to the hearts of all chess players. At least it is morbidly interesting.

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Deaths of Chess Players by Bill Wall

Georgy Agzamov (1954-1986) - Russian GM fell between some rocks at a beach and died
Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946) - choked to death on a piece of meat in 1946
Johann Allgaier (1763-1823) - dropsy

[ Dropsy: An old term for the swelling of soft tissues due to the accumulation of excess water. In years gone by, a person might have been said to have dropsy. Today one would be more descriptive and specify the cause. Thus, the person might have edema due to congestive heart failure. ]

Adolf Anderssen (1818-1879) - heart attack
Vladimir Bagirov (1936-2000) - heart attack while playing chess in Finland
Rosendo Balinas (1941-1998) - liver cancer
Curt von Bardeleben (1861-1924) - threw himself out the window of his boarding home at age 63
Thomas Barnes (1825-1874) - too much weight loss at one time
Joseph Blackburne (1841-1924) - heart attack
Claude Bloodgood (1924-2001) - lung cancer while in prison for life
Samuel Boden (1826-1882) - died of typhoid fever
Efim Bogoljubov (1889-1952) - suffered a heart attack after a simultaneous display
Paolo Boi (1528-1598) - poisoned (murdered) in Naples
Mikhail Botvinnik (1911-1995) - cancer
Louis Bourdonnais (1795-1840) - stroke
Gyula Breyer (1893-1921) - heart disease
Henry Buckle (1821-1862) - typhoid fever
Ricardo Calvo (1943-2002) - esophagus cancer
Jose Capablanca (1888-1942) - died after watching a skittles game at the Manhattan Chess Club in 1942.
Rudolf Charousek (1873-1900) - tuberculosis
Mikhail Chigorin (1850-1908) - diabetes
Edgar Colle (1897-1932) - died after an operation for a gastric ulcer
Arthur Dake (1910-2000) - died in his sleep at age 90
Cecil de Vere (1845-1875) - tuberculosis
A. Deschapelles (1780-1847) - hydropsy
Ed Edmundson (1920-1982) - died of a heart attack while playing chess on a beach in Hawaii
Max Euwe (1901-1981) - heart attack
Janos Flesch (1933-1983) - died in a car wreck in England
Guillermo Garcia (1953-1990) - car wreck
Efim Geller (1925-1998) - cancer
Aivars Gipslis (1937-2000) - stroke while playing chess in Berlin
Karen Grigorian (1947-1989) - suicide by jumping
Nikolai Grigoriev (1895-1938) - appendicitis
Eduard Gufeld (1936-2002) - stroke
Alexander Ilyin-Genevsky (1894-1941) - died in the siege of Leningrad while on a barge
Dawid Janowsky (1868-1927) - tuberculosis
Klaus Junge - German army officer killed in action in 1945.
Paul Keres (1916-1975) - died of a heart attack returning home from a tournament in 1975.
George Koltanowski (1903-2000) - heart failure at the age of 93
Boris Kostic (1887-1963) - blood poisoning from a scratch
Nikolai Krylenko - executed in Stalin's purges in 1938.
Leonid Kubbel (1891-1942) - executed by firing squad in Leningrad
Salo Landau (1903-1944) - gassed by Nazis at a German concentration camp
Emanuel Lasker (1868-1941) - heart attack
Paul Leonhardt (1877-1934) - died of a heart attack while playing chess at a chess club in 1934.
George Mackenzie (1837-1891) - suicide: took an overdose of morphine
Frank Marshall (1877-1944) - died of a heart attack after leaving a chess tournament
Alexander McDonnell (1798-1835) - died of Bright's disease
Edmar Mednis (1937-2002) - pneumonia and cardiac arrest
Vera Menchik (1906-1944) - died in the German bombing of London
Tony Miles (1955-2001) - died in his sleep at age 46; he was diabetic
Johannes Minckwitz (1843-1901) - suicide: threw himself under a train
Paul Morphy (1837-1884) - died of a stroke while taking a cold bath
Miguel Najdorf (1910-1997) - heart attack
Aron Nimzovich (1886-1935) - died of pneumonia
Lembit Oll - suicide by jumping out of the window of his 4th story apartment
Louis Paulsen (1833-1891) - died of diabetes
Julius Perlis (1880-1913) - died in a mountain climb in the Alps in 1913.
Tigran Petrosian (1929-1984) - cancer
Vladimir Petrov (1908-1943) - died in a prison camp in Russia
Harry Pillsbury (1872-1906) - died of syphillis
David Przepiorka (1880-1940) - died in a mass execution outside Warsaw in 1940.
Cecil Purdy (1906-1979) - died of a heart attack while playing chess
Abram Rabinovich (1878-1943) - starvation
Samuel Reshevsky (1911-1992) - heart attack
Richard Reti (1889-1929) - died of scarlet fever
Karl Robatsch (1928-2000) - stomach and throat cancer
Nicholas Rossolimo (1910-1975) - fell from flight of stairs; died of head injuries
Pierre Saint-Amant (1800-1872) - died after a fall from his carriage
Carl Schlechter (1874-1918) - died from pneumonia and starvation
Vladimir Simagin (1919-1968) - died of a heart attack while playing in a tournament
Gideon Stahlberg (1908-1967) - heart attack during the 1967 Leningrad International tournament.
Howard Staunton (1810-1874) - died of a heart attack will writing a chess book
Leonid Stein (1934-1973) - heart attack
Herman Steiner (1905-1955) - heart attack after a California State Championship game
Alexei Suetin (1926-2001) - heart attack after a chess tournament
Mikhail Tal (1936-1992) - kidney failure
Mikhail Tchigorin (1850-1908) - died of diabetes
Karel Treybal - died a victim of the Nazis in 1941.
Alexi Troitzky (1866-1942) - died of starvation during the siege of Leningrad
Abe Turner (1924-1962) - stabbed 9 times in the back by a fellow employee at the Chess Review office
lvis Vitolins (1938-1997) - suicide by jumping
Daniel Yanovsky (1925-2000) - cancer
Frederick Yates (1884-1932) - died in his sleep from a leak in a faulty gas pipe connection
Alexander Zaitsev - died of thrombosis as a consequence of a leg operation in 1971.
Johann Zukertort (1842-1888) - died of a stroke while playing chess at a London coffee-house
Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) - committed suicide.