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I just got home and now file my last report. I pick up from my previous post which is now on page 2 of the Chess Talk. This was a wonderful experience on so many levels and from what I can quickly see there has been quite an appetite for Olypmic news. Here goes...
I neglected to finish the arbiting issues surrounding the final game of England Wales in round 10. Soon after I told the Welsh player that she must not write her moves in advance, she got her opportunity to claim a threefold, which she did correctly – she wrote down the move, told me her intention and did not touch any pieces. We then stopped her clock and I asked her opponent if she accepted the claim. The English player said “I am not sure if it three fold repetition but I agree to draw.” After all the scoresheets were signed I called the Welsh player aside and told her that she shouldn’t call “check”. You are only supposed to speak to your opponent if you are adjusting your pieces or offering a draw. She ahd been quietly calling check for the past 30 moves. It was meek enough that her opponent was not disturbed but it isn’t allowed and she appreciated being told.
The Montenegro reception was nice albeit relatively modest. The evening wound down by around 2am. The following day was a rest day for the players but a full day for the FIDE Congress. Afterwards I caught up with Frederic Friedel and this white haired guy named Boris Spassky. We retreated into the piano bar. It was about 5:30 and I was expecting an early night. The first story was initiated by Friedel because he is having knee trouble and I know something about this after 4 surgeries. We had been discussing his woes for the past few days and I had to conclude last night that his troubles are of a different nature – I watched him walking and his gait and leg alignment is different from mine. Boris listened to my discussion about the progess knee surgery has made, especially regarding torn anterior cruciate ligaments (acl’s). My first scar is about 15 inches long because they harvest part of the thigh tendon to use as the new acl. 20 years later the platellar tendon is harvest site of choice and the scar is 2 inches long. Boris said “Ah fantastic progress, I hope soon we can go to the hospital to get a new head.”
As some 60’s big band music played in the background Boris mentioned his old friend Bobby Fischer. One of Bobby’s favourite tunes was “The green green grass of home”, which Boris came to appreciate as well. Apparently Bobby died prematurely because he refused medical treatment. His refusal to see a dentist was also well known. If a tooth bothered him enough he pulled it out. What a shame to be trapped in such a paranoid view of your surroundings.
Boris then mentioned Feodir (sp?) Bohatirchuk, who left the old world to retire in Toronto. I wish I knew more about him. From Boris he certainly sounded like an interesting man. Mr. Spassky also knew that there was a project surrounding either his memoirs, which were published in Russian, or a biography. The CFC has been contacted regarding the use of some photographs from En Passant. The conversation drifted into war stories. I wish my brother Willard was on hand for it since he is the war buff in our family. As I was preparing to leave for Dresden Willard was busy publishing his video for fellow Guelphite, Colonel John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields”, which he put to music rather well. He managed to get it onto You Tube. If you have any affinity for the poem you may want to check it out. A few people have tried putting it to music with less effect IMHO.
The time was ticking by but how do you not stay and make the most of your time with Boris Spassky? We went on to talk about Robert Hamilton, whom he remembers fondly. Boris was quite impressed with Robert’s ideas and accomplishments, such as the World Chess Festival in 1988. He was also saddened by the obstacles that Robert would hit, like the spectacular troubles he encountered with the gangster/Hollywood producer John Emr during the World Blitz in Calgary. Boris and Robert had some quality time together during the Spassky Tour which Robert arranged in 1996.
Frederic and been coming and going during this time and when he returned finally to take Boris to their next function we had a chance to discuss one of my favourite subjects – corn. Freddy also loves corn and by the time we finished discussing our respective approaches he was ready to come to Canada during corn season for a comparison. We shall see about that. Corn season coincides with our summer chess season so anything is possible.
As they were leaving the Norwegians arrived. Morten Sand is a former FIDE official now helping out with their 2014 bid, Berge Robertsen is the project leader working for the municipality, and Joran Aulin-Jansson, the Norwegian Chess Fed President was also on hand. After a few rounds they invited me to dinner in the hotel restaurant. They were a little surprised at the cost of their reception - 13,000 euros - and in the discussion I learned that Joran is a successful entrepreneur in his own right. We also discussed chess in our countries. They have a similar structure to ours, including an independent scholastic group. Their membership is about the same as ours if one includes the FQE and their population is only about 5 million.
Morten and I lingered after they left and we talked about his basketball career (he’s about 6’ 8”) and his interest in rock music of all kinds. Apparently there is a festival in Austin Texas which he attends annually where over 3000 concerts consume the city for a week in March. Morten’s fifth child by his third wife is due this week. He has plenty of old ghost stories from FIDE which are interesting enough but also make the organization sound more typical than terrible when one considers the scope of FIDE’s activities and people.
By this time it was already tomorrow. I returned to the piano bar for one last look around and ended up having delightful visit with Sunil Weeramantry. Not only is he an adoptive parent of Hikaru Nakamura but a highly acclaimed chess teacher in his own right. We spoke about the regrettable legal stalemate between Susan Polgar and the USCF, Hikaru and his unique approach to the game and connection to Canada. One tale that struck me happened during a trip to Japan, where Hikaru met the World Shogi Champion. The man was quite deferring to Hikaru and they got along very well. Hikaru was surprised to learn that there is much more money for shogi than for chess – a top ten shogi player makes more that the World Chess Champion. The game of GO of course completely dwarfs chess moneywise. By 2:am I was almost asleep in my bed.
I just got home and now file my last report. I pick up from my previous post which is now on page 2 of the Chess Talk. This was a wonderful experience on so many levels and from what I can quickly see there has been quite an appetite for Olypmic news. Here goes...
I neglected to finish the arbiting issues surrounding the final game of England Wales in round 10. Soon after I told the Welsh player that she must not write her moves in advance, she got her opportunity to claim a threefold, which she did correctly – she wrote down the move, told me her intention and did not touch any pieces. We then stopped her clock and I asked her opponent if she accepted the claim. The English player said “I am not sure if it three fold repetition but I agree to draw.” After all the scoresheets were signed I called the Welsh player aside and told her that she shouldn’t call “check”. You are only supposed to speak to your opponent if you are adjusting your pieces or offering a draw. She ahd been quietly calling check for the past 30 moves. It was meek enough that her opponent was not disturbed but it isn’t allowed and she appreciated being told.
The Montenegro reception was nice albeit relatively modest. The evening wound down by around 2am. The following day was a rest day for the players but a full day for the FIDE Congress. Afterwards I caught up with Frederic Friedel and this white haired guy named Boris Spassky. We retreated into the piano bar. It was about 5:30 and I was expecting an early night. The first story was initiated by Friedel because he is having knee trouble and I know something about this after 4 surgeries. We had been discussing his woes for the past few days and I had to conclude last night that his troubles are of a different nature – I watched him walking and his gait and leg alignment is different from mine. Boris listened to my discussion about the progess knee surgery has made, especially regarding torn anterior cruciate ligaments (acl’s). My first scar is about 15 inches long because they harvest part of the thigh tendon to use as the new acl. 20 years later the platellar tendon is harvest site of choice and the scar is 2 inches long. Boris said “Ah fantastic progress, I hope soon we can go to the hospital to get a new head.”
As some 60’s big band music played in the background Boris mentioned his old friend Bobby Fischer. One of Bobby’s favourite tunes was “The green green grass of home”, which Boris came to appreciate as well. Apparently Bobby died prematurely because he refused medical treatment. His refusal to see a dentist was also well known. If a tooth bothered him enough he pulled it out. What a shame to be trapped in such a paranoid view of your surroundings.
Boris then mentioned Feodir (sp?) Bohatirchuk, who left the old world to retire in Toronto. I wish I knew more about him. From Boris he certainly sounded like an interesting man. Mr. Spassky also knew that there was a project surrounding either his memoirs, which were published in Russian, or a biography. The CFC has been contacted regarding the use of some photographs from En Passant. The conversation drifted into war stories. I wish my brother Willard was on hand for it since he is the war buff in our family. As I was preparing to leave for Dresden Willard was busy publishing his video for fellow Guelphite, Colonel John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields”, which he put to music rather well. He managed to get it onto You Tube. If you have any affinity for the poem you may want to check it out. A few people have tried putting it to music with less effect IMHO.
The time was ticking by but how do you not stay and make the most of your time with Boris Spassky? We went on to talk about Robert Hamilton, whom he remembers fondly. Boris was quite impressed with Robert’s ideas and accomplishments, such as the World Chess Festival in 1988. He was also saddened by the obstacles that Robert would hit, like the spectacular troubles he encountered with the gangster/Hollywood producer John Emr during the World Blitz in Calgary. Boris and Robert had some quality time together during the Spassky Tour which Robert arranged in 1996.
Frederic and been coming and going during this time and when he returned finally to take Boris to their next function we had a chance to discuss one of my favourite subjects – corn. Freddy also loves corn and by the time we finished discussing our respective approaches he was ready to come to Canada during corn season for a comparison. We shall see about that. Corn season coincides with our summer chess season so anything is possible.
As they were leaving the Norwegians arrived. Morten Sand is a former FIDE official now helping out with their 2014 bid, Berge Robertsen is the project leader working for the municipality, and Joran Aulin-Jansson, the Norwegian Chess Fed President was also on hand. After a few rounds they invited me to dinner in the hotel restaurant. They were a little surprised at the cost of their reception - 13,000 euros - and in the discussion I learned that Joran is a successful entrepreneur in his own right. We also discussed chess in our countries. They have a similar structure to ours, including an independent scholastic group. Their membership is about the same as ours if one includes the FQE and their population is only about 5 million.
Morten and I lingered after they left and we talked about his basketball career (he’s about 6’ 8”) and his interest in rock music of all kinds. Apparently there is a festival in Austin Texas which he attends annually where over 3000 concerts consume the city for a week in March. Morten’s fifth child by his third wife is due this week. He has plenty of old ghost stories from FIDE which are interesting enough but also make the organization sound more typical than terrible when one considers the scope of FIDE’s activities and people.
By this time it was already tomorrow. I returned to the piano bar for one last look around and ended up having delightful visit with Sunil Weeramantry. Not only is he an adoptive parent of Hikaru Nakamura but a highly acclaimed chess teacher in his own right. We spoke about the regrettable legal stalemate between Susan Polgar and the USCF, Hikaru and his unique approach to the game and connection to Canada. One tale that struck me happened during a trip to Japan, where Hikaru met the World Shogi Champion. The man was quite deferring to Hikaru and they got along very well. Hikaru was surprised to learn that there is much more money for shogi than for chess – a top ten shogi player makes more that the World Chess Champion. The game of GO of course completely dwarfs chess moneywise. By 2:am I was almost asleep in my bed.
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