In a fascinating article about GM Kenneth Rogoff's timely book on economic crises, he commented on his chess career. (Rogoff used to play at the Boylston.)
Carmen Reinhart andKenneth Rogoff's handiwork is contained in their recent best seller, “This Time Is Different,” a quantitative reconstruction of hundreds of historical episodes in which perfectly smart people made perfectly disastrous decisions. It is a panoramic opus, both geographically and temporally, covering crises from 66 countries over the last 800 years.
"...He received a chess set for his 13th birthday, and he quickly discovered that he was something of a prodigy, a fact he decided to hide so he wouldn’t get beaten up in the lunchroom.
“I think chess may be a relatively cool thing for kids to do now, on par with soccer or other sports,” he says. “It really wasn’t then.”
Soon, he began traveling alone to competitions around the United States, paying his way with his prize winnings. He earned the rank of American “master” by the age of 14, was a New York State Open champion and soon became a “senior master,” the highest national title.
When he was 16, he left home against his parents’ wishes to become a professional chess player in Europe. He enrolled fleetingly in high schools in London and Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, but rarely attended. “I wasn’t quite sure what I was supposed to be doing,” he recalls.
He spent the next 18 months or so wandering to competitions around Europe, supporting himself with winnings and by participating in exhibitions in which he played dozens of opponents simultaneously, sometimes while wearing a blindfold.
Occasionally, he slept in five-star hotels, but other nights, when his prize winnings thinned, he crashed in grimy train stations. He had few friends, and spent most of his time alone, studying chess and analyzing previous games. Clean-cut and favoring a coat and tie these days, he described himself as a ragged “hippie” during his time in Europe. He also found life in Eastern Europe friendly but strained, he says, throttled by black markets, scarcity and unmet government promises.
After much hand-wringing, he decided to return to the United States to attend Yale, ...
He interrupted a brief stint in a graduate program in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to prepare for the world chess championships, which were held only every three years.
After becoming an “international grandmaster,” the highest title awarded in chess, when he was 25, he decided to quit chess entirely and to return to M.I.T. He did so because he had snared the grandmaster title and because he realized that he would probably never be ranked No. 1.
He says it took him a long time to get over the game, and the euphoric, almost omnipotent highs of his past victories.
“To this day I get letters, maybe every two years, from top players asking me: ‘How do I quit? I want to quit like you did, and I can’t figure out how to do it,’ ” he says. “I tell them that it’s hard to go from being at the top of a field, because you really feel that way when you’re playing chess and winning, to being at the bottom — and they need to prepare themselves for that.”
There is going to be a Discovery Science Channel Series - Physics of the Impossible show hosted by Michio Kaku in need of a Robot themed Chess Set. If you possess one and would like to see it in a TV show please contact us.
Especially if you posses this Lego MindStorms set:
My wife and one of her friends (who is on Medicare) have a very expensive migraine headache medicine that costs $1000 for 6 pills.People on Medicare who have exceeded their $2,800 initial coverage have to pay out of pocket for drugs until the next level of coverage kicks in: they are said to be in the donut hole. My wife's friend hits the donut hole in record time.
In June my rating was 1815 making me ineligible for the 2010 Weaver Adams. But by July my published rating will be 1793 thus placing me in the BCF Championship Qualifying Series Donut Hole technically making me ineligible for the Rubens Landy. Fortunately with intelligent flexibility RL directors Bob Oresick and Bernado Iglesias, with the support of President Jason Rihel, have made an allowance in letting me register for the RL.
The Board is working on reworking the entry requirements for the whole championship series in the fall to be ready for next year. Tradition has the final stage of the Club Championship to be a round robin of 11 of the top masters plus the winner of the Rubens Landy. But the BCF suffers with the pretty cool problem that we now have more than 11 masters thus another potential donut hole situation.
And not only is there a BCF Donut Hole but there is a Donut Munchkin: What happens if someone has a rating below 1800 in June above 1800 in July? They can play in the Weaver Adam's and Rubens Landey.
But we shouldn't become too upset by these things. Always remember the ancient Chinese saying attributed to Homer Simpson's ancestor by Bob:
"Don't curse the hole -- eat the donut."
What are your feelings about this Donut Hole/Munchkin?
Please Comment
Thank You
Mike Griffin (with contributions from Bob Oresick)
This is a very special tournament - it is traditionally a very competitive, prestigious, yet friendly tournament. Only club members can enter, but if you aren't a member, this is the perfect excuse to join or renew. In reviewing our membership and playing list over the last year, I noticed that there are about 220 expert and A players who are eligible for this event. In last year's tournament, 21 strong players competed.
Please consider playing - starting Monday, July 12. ------------------------------------------------------ . The 2010 Reubens Landey begins Monday, July 12. It is the second component of the club championship cycle.
The winner becomes the BCC U2200 champion and moves into the club championship to compete against club masters.
Monday, July 12, 19, 26 August 2:
Reubens/Landey BCF Qualifier U2200 Championship 4SS; 40/90 G/20; Open to BCF members rated under 2200 and at least 1800 published for July 2010.
Entry fee: $20: Winner receives free entry into the BCF Championship beginning in Sept.
Registration: 6:00 to 6:30 or email oresick@bu.edu Rounds: 7:PM
__________________________________________
Below is some context for this tournament: two biographical articles by Bernardo Iglesias and a listing of past winners.
----- EMIL M. REUBENS by Bernardo Iglesias
"....Chess appeals to our emotions and brings us joys and sorrows."
Emil Reubens was born in a beautiful land very far away, in Yelisavetpol (Kirovabad) Russia, in 1886, on September 23 and, died in Massachusetts in Norwood Hospital in 1973, on August 29 after a brief illness. Emil Reubens was 86 years old when he died, an extraordinary man who believed that mankind could become rehabilitated through Chess. Chess is more than life and can change a person to benefit Society.
He was a chess master emeritus and one of the founding member of the United States Chess Federation, a member of the Boylston Chess Club, the Brockton Chess Club and his dear Sharon Chess Club.
Reubens received his formal education at the University of Prague. In 1906 he immigrated to the United States and worked for a time in steel mills in Detroit. Eventually he moved to Boston and graduated from Boston University in 1922 with a degree in business administration. Much later, in June of 1973 he received his Master's degree in business administration, he was the oldest person in the university's history to obtain such a degree at 86.
He lived in Sharon, Mass. for many years. Emil Reubens was a U.S.C.F. life director and authored a wonderful book on chess play, entitled Chess - Trick and Treat in 1965. This book is a treasure, a precious jewel for any novice player. At the end of the book he recommends that every young player should “Join a chess club. Meet chess players of differing skill and style. Subscribe to a periodical that will keep you abreast of the important events in Chess world."
In 1964, he helped to bring the U.S. Open to Boston. He was an honorary Chairman of the Committee, along with a lot of the great chess organizers of the time: Robert Goodspeed (Brockton C.C), Harold Dondis (Johnson C.C.), Eleanor Goodspeed, Eleanor Terry, Frank Ferdinand (Harvard C.C.), James Burgess (Boylston C.C. ),Harry Goober (Clarendon C.C.), Beverly Jarnigan and Joseph Hurvitz (Boylston C.C.). That year, the U.S.C.F. was celebrating the silver anniversary of its foundation, in which Emil Reubens had been a strong force in promoting chess in this country.
Emil had a long time interest in prison reform and was instrumental in assisting many prisoners get back into society. In his book, mentioned above, he thought that “When I was drafted into becoming a "leader" in youth clubs, I employed chess and chocolate bars to lead the youth into the paths of righteousness. There are no available data to estimate the effect of chess on juvenile delinquency, nor are there statistics to gauge the collateral effects of chocolate bars freely rewarded for chess merits."
Reubens combined a lifelong interest in better prisons, rehabilitation and parole systems with chess activities. He organized many teams of players who visited several penal institutions to play against teams of inmates, or just to play simultaneous exhibitions against the inmates. On one occasion, he took Steve Frymer, John Curdo, and R. Gleason to Norfolk Prison, delighting one inmate in particular so much that he became an active player and organizer in Norfolk area.
Emil Reubens loved the youth, kids of all ages, -- they are our future joys and sorrows in life. The second Brockton Open, on September 25 & 26, 1971 in Brockton, Mass. William Lombardy, former World Junior Champion, had agreed to participate in the selection and awarding of a special Lombardy - Reubens “best played game” trophy to some player under the age of 21 (Harry Lyman was present in this ceremony). The winner of the award trophy was won by the young John Peters. The third Brockton Open, on September 23 & 24,1972, the Lombardy-Reubens award trophy was won by John Stopa. For the Boylston C.C. member’s information, at this event Alex Slive and Andrew Anisimov, two new youngsters showed up in the chess arena. After this event, it seems that such award stopped being awarded by the Brockton Chess Club, since he became sick and died shortly.
The "MASS STATE JUNIOR CHESS CHALLENGE TROPHY PRESENTED BY EMIL M. REUBENS " is a silver trophy cup at the Boylston Chess Club to preserve his memory for future generations. In 1988, William Lukowiak, treasurer of the Boylston Chess Club and long time an officer on the board of MACA, introduced a motion to the Executive Board of MACA that the winner’s name of the Junior Scholastic Champion from Massachusetts be inscribed in this trophy and that MACA will help to pay for traveling expenses to the National Championship whenever it was to be held. The MACA board turned down this motion, and denied youngsters of this State such an honor.
After his death, the Mass State Chess Association, organized a one time "the Emil Reubens Memorial" at the Massachusetts Open at the new Brockton High School in 1974. The winner of this event was John Peters.
Emil founded the Steinberg-Reubens Educational Foundation. The Boylston Chess Club Board of Directors decided that in 1986 to pay tribute to Emil Reubens and Ben Landey by naming a qualifier cycle of the B.C.C. championship qualifier in their honor, for players rated 1800 to 2199. The winners of the Reubens/Landy move on to play against the club’s masters for the club championship.
-----
BENJAMIN LANDEY by Bernardo Iglesias
Benjamin Landey was born in 1912 and died on January 20, 1981 in Quincy. From his high school days he worked for the Sharon Bolt and Screw Company founded by Emil Reubens, reaching the position of board chairman, which he held at his death. According to Harry Lyman, Benjamin married Reubens’ daughter.
For many years, he was the ceremonial chess leader of New England: Landey was President of the MSCA, the Boylston Chess Club, the Boston Metropolitan Chess League, the New England Chess Association, and the USCF Regional Vice-President.
He was a truly regional chess entrepreneur, a notable chess organizer, a man of remarkable poise and intelligence, a master of parliamentary procedure and a skillful politician, that is, a leader among leaders in the region. He worked for long hours at his job and then spend evenings and weekends on numerous chess projects and clubs.
While Ben Landey was a tournament director for M.S.C.A., he brought to Boston the U.S. Open in 1970 and the U.S. Junior Open in 1965 and 1969, held at Northeastern University. Ben Landey's most active years were from 1965 to 1970; after this year his health impeded more time in his passion for the royal game of chess. Despite his failing health, he was an extremely successful teacher of chess for beginners, though he himself was rated only about 1500 during most of his over the board career; he also, worked with the Massachusetts Association for Retarded Citizens and several local groups.
Along with Emil Reubens, Landey was a major sponsor of prison chess programs, and the two of them sought the parole of a number of inmates who were avid chess players. In addition to being a regular tournament player, Ben Landey was very active in postal chess with the Nights of the Square Table (NOST).
Landey was the first person to compete with a computer in chess at a U.S. Chess Federation rated tournament. He lost.
Landey’s most glorious moment in the spotlight as an organizer was winning the bid for the 1970 US Open for Boston. It was Ben Landey’s rhetoric that easily won the bid at the 1969 U.S.C.F. meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska. It was unfortunate that the then M.S.C.A. was not ready to host such a major event. The host site, Boston's Parker House, was a less than welcoming host, and a great number of participants complained about the space designated for the playing room, that the light was not good enough for many, etc. Also, Ben Landey got sick a few months before the event along with his co-organizer Lewis Icenogle. It was not Landey's shining hour. `
Ben was treasurer of the Greater Boston Committee of the U.S. Peace Council, past President of the South Shore Assn. for Retarded Citizens. He was the President of the Boylston Chess Club at the time of his death.
After his death in 1981, M.A.C.A. organized a memorial tournament at the Mass. Open in April; the winner of this tournament was the young James Rizzitano in North Darmouth.
The Boylston Chess Club has honored Ben Landey since 1986, when the Board of Directors dedicated a qualifier tournament to those members of the club rated 1800 to 2199 plus the winners of the Weaver Adam's; the winner to participate in the fall championship. His memory will endure for ever at the Boylston Chess Club along with that of Emil Reubens.
Alexander Paphitis with 4 of 4 won the 2010 Weaver Adams. So, he qualifies for the Reubens Landey and is the 2010 BCC U1800 Champion. . . In the final round, he defeated Larry Eldridge, who was under time pressure. Frank Frazier and Seth Lieberman who had both entered the last round with 2 points and hopes that Larry with 2 would knock off Alexander and yield a 3 way tie. Seth and Frank drew and Alexander controlled his own destiny.
Tuesdays, July 6 to August 10: Adult Beginner Classes 7:00 to 8:30 pm. This Boylston Chess Foundation course is foradult beginnerswho would like to learn the rules and improve their chess. The classes emphasize practice over theory, and offer many opportunities to play complete games. . The course isfree to the general public and is a wonderful opportunity to learn the game from a terrific teacher and master. The course covers the following topics:
How the pieces move
Basic checkmates
Tactics and strategy
Elementary endgames
Overview of openings
How to find the best move in a position
Suggestions for improving on your own
About the instructor: Alex Cherniack is a national chess master and a 3-time champion of the Boylston Chess Club. He has over 30 years experience teaching and playing in chess competitions.
In 2008 he tied with two other strong players to become one of the
68th New England Open 2008 Champions:
FM Alex Cherniack, FM Denis Shmelov, and GM Alexander Ivanov
Cover photo: Tony Cortizas
For more information, email Alex at alexx32@hotmail.com.
The only adjectives used around GM Larry Christiansen's name at the US Championship spoke about the aged "old man" of US chess. People were recycling language from the latter day descriptions of Joseph Henry "Black Death" Blackburne who played 50 years of professional chess. Come to think of it, looking at Larry's career I estimate he has 2 years to hit his 50th USCF chess playing anniversary. . Popular opinion gave Larry Christiansen (three times US champ) little chance to do well at the US championship as Larry was the oldest competitor in the year's event. Some gave odds of 200 to 1 of him winning the tournament. When in fact Larry came within one quiet move of getting into the Finals. . There was a packed house at the BCF of chess fans in attendance at the lecture. The self-effacing Larry was very open and honest in describing and assessing his performance. Brutal honesty is the most common trait that Masters and above possess: always seeking the truth, always probing for the best move. Always questioning. . An interesting sidebar was Larry’s discussing about the reliance of today’s players on computers for preparation. . In great detail Larry reviewed the Round one game: Christiansen/Dimitri Gurevich a Richter-Rauzer Sicilian where Larry squeeze his opponent into making bad moves. . Larry also presented round two Ray Robson/ Alex Yermolinsky same Richter-Rauzer but white played it a little more poorly than Larry and black played in super aggressive precise attacking fashion. . He also reviewed his Round four game Alexander Shabalov/Christiansen where Larry played a Bogo-Indian Defense and described how he recovered from over extending his knight to tie up Shabalov to win. . Round seven Christiansen/Hikaru Nakamura was a French Defense Tarrasch where Larry had the advantage throughout the whole game but on move 34 missed the quiet Qe5 which would have given him the win and Nakamura the loss. That result would have placed Larry in the Finals. . Old man Larry put down his walker and got the joy of squashing all the kids finishing second in the US blitz tourney with Nakamura winning. . I think Larry was too hard on himself. His openness to share his feelings and approach to the US Championships was very cool as we got to realize that at all levels the emotions, dreams, frustrations, joys and sorrows are the same for all of us who love the game. . Thank You Larry for a special evening. .
