Collective Nouns - Fischer v Spassky

[Hans Jung]

The journey of the picture is very interesting. It hung (pride of place) at the chess club mentioned, and then at the next location of the club on the second floor of the bank building on the north east corner of Dundas and Richmond, and then at the final location of the chess club on the third floor above the bookstore just south of queens on Richmond east side. (all told about 5 years) It then was in Bob's study until Bob passed away. Eventually Bob's wife Eva did housecleaning and the picture (with alot of chess items) ended up as part of an estate sale.
In November 2021 (in the midst of the pandemic) I read that City Lights was closing for good. I made a trip to London to check it out and the old owner happened to be there that day. He explained that they managed to successfully find new owners to take over the store and we then got into a long conversation about the past and Ernie. Turns out he was one of those teenagers who was introduced to attractive young ladies and thought the world of Ernie and happened on the auction of items, one of which was the picture. He had bought the picture but it was gathering cobwebs in his garage. So I managed to sweet talk him into giving me the picture. Its now got pride of place in my study.

[Peter McKillop]

... Bob ....Ernie...

That's the great thing about OTB chess and joining clubs, etc.,: it's all about the people you meet. My days of involvement in London chess concluded in January, 1980. Never knew Ernie and never knew about Bob's club(s). I do recall visiting a club in London in the early 90s in an old house on William Sreet (?). Someone told me that one of the rooms was your lesson room. Were you involved in running that club? In 1979 (?), Dave Jackson and I looked into starting a club in a building owned by District Trust (I think) on the east side of Richmond just south of Queens. The area for rent was on the 2nd floor, above the trust company's branch operation. We met with the Asst. Manager to apply for the lease but even after offering to pay the whole first year's rent IN ADVANCE we couldn't get past his boss's negative perception of chess players and the boss nixed the deal. Too bad. It was a great location.

[Bob Armstrong]

In 1965-67 I played for the London German Canadian Club. Endel Tooming was the President.

The best player at the time in London, I think, was Dan Surlan. I think he was better than Peter Murray? But then a better young player came along - John Wright (I think).

I knew David Jackson, played the Kaczmeric (Sp??) brothers, and there was another London Junior who became quite good.....name totally escapes me.

Bob A

[Peter McKillop]

In 1965-67 I played for the London German Canadian Club. Endel Tooming was the President.

The best player at the time in London, I think, was Dan Surlan. I think he was better than Peter Murray? But then a better young player came along - John Wright (I think).

I knew David Jackson, played the Kaczmeric (Sp??) brothers, and there was another London Junior who became quite good.....name totally escapes me.

Bob A

Hey Bob! Thanks for posting that. It sounds like you were leaving the London chess scene just as I was coming in. Endel Tooming was a very nice man who gave me some straightforward but very good advice applicable to chess and life generally. The other strong London junior you were trying to think of may have been Ted Durrant. Re Dan Surlan, when he first started appearing at the YMCA (1967/68), I recall someone saying that he had been a candidate master in his native Yugoslavia. So, elo = or > 2200? I also seem to recall John Wright, at that time, being at least equal to Dan in playing strength. Don't know about Peter Murray vs Dan Surlan but think that Peter was master strength in the late sixties.

[Hans Jung]

Hi Bob, You might be thinking of Ron Jenkins. Peter Murray was the strongest of all those, except for John Wright for a period of less than a year. John Wright went to Toronto and then ended up switching to correspondence where he became an International Master. Year later (2016?) he started playing at the Annex Chess Club over the board again. Ted Durrant had a stellar result at the 1973 Canadian Open in Ottawa which put him well over 2200. Then he quit tournament chess.
Peter Murray had an acerbic wit. His take on Dan Surlan was, Dan was 2400 in the opening, 2200 in the early middlegame, 2000 in the late middlegame, and 1800 by the end. Another great quote was why should i study opening books when I have Dan Surlan? Dan Surlan would spend hours upon hours creating intricate lines in very sharp openings at home and then spring these surprises in tournament play. Peter played Dan thousands of games of speed chess and learned all Dan's opening surprises. One evening I was at the YMCA watching the two go at it and they had started well before the club opening and continued past midnight. The score was 27.5 - 22.5 for Peter. Peter was very disciplined and meticulously notched the score of every result on the back of an envelope. I said to him: Why do you bother? Because if I dont Dan will deny it. and of course he kept a running tally of every encounter and on that particular evening "limited" himself to 50 games. I must add that Dan Surlan was employed by Peter's father as a lab technician at the university for 30 years. Peter's father was head of the physic's? department and is still alive well past the age of 100 (afaik).
After a score of 4-0 against me I finally beat Peter at the Canadian Open 1988 in Scarboro. Peter than stopped playing tournament chess but made a comeback at Reykjavik 2017, 30 years later. He played the same strength as when he quit although he was more than 70 yrs old. Sadly I missed the grand reunion with him and Leon Piasetski because I was busy looking after my mother.

[Hans Jung]

I was playing in the Ontario Open in Toronto (I think it was 1975 or 76?) and Dan Surlan who was playing Lawrence Day came up to me and said "those modern masters dont really know what they are doing in the opening". I went over and Lawrence was a full rook down and I didnt see any compensation. My jaw dropped. I then became engrossed in my own game and when I came back the game was over and on the scoreboard it showed that Lawrence had won. When I next saw Dan I said " those modern masters are really good at giving rook odds".

[Hans Jung]

With Endel Tooming as president that explains why the German Canadian club had all the best players. Although it had the worst playing site of all the 3 main clubs (Edwards club and YMCA being the others) Endel was a fantastic organizer. The other reason was the chess leagues and the German club recruited all the best players and won the league championship many times - SWOCL (south western ontario chess league) Although I attended German school there for many years I didnt attend the chess club until after Edwards club closed in 1978 and the YMCA burnt down New Years Eve 1980.

[Peter McKillop]

.... Dan Surlan would spend hours upon hours creating intricate lines in very sharp openings at home and then spring these surprises in tournament play. ....

Hans, was Dan a perfectionist when it came to his openings? Would he get discouraged or bored easily if his opponent went off on a tangent in a variation he'd invested time in? I'm curious because of a game I played against Dan in a tournament in 1979. I was black in a Falkbeer Counter Gambit. He offered me a draw after about 10 moves. At the time Dan was rated 500+ points above me so the only question should have been, how long could I last before capitulating. I'm pretty sure I showed the game to you and Jay and you guys couldn't see any concrete reason why he would want a draw. I've wondered about the perfectionist angle but maybe he was just feeling crappy and wanted to go home.

[Hans Jung]

Yes a perfectionist when it came to his favourite openings but Dan was mainly motivated by enthusiasm (and cynicism - though he would never admit it). I would think for some reason the enthusiasm wasnt there that day. and like you say he might have been under the weather. Dan never cared much about his rating.

[Hans Jung]

Speaking about the leagues there are many stories about league play. The first I'll share was a legendary story from Peter Murray. As they often did on this particular day they were travelling to Hamilton for a team match. Dan Surlan was driving and it was his car. There were 4 in the car, Dan, Peter, Dave Jackson and I cant remember the fourth.) They were coming to a railway crossing and the warning lights were on and Dan decided to beat the train. The barrier came down on the hood of the car. All three others got out of the car and ran to safety but Dan was determined to save the car. So there he was reving and reversing rapidly, smoke pouring from the tires, engine and tires screaming, and finally a second or two before the train arrived Dan bolts from the car. A few weeks later Dan shows up at the club driving a gorgeous new Lincoln luxury sport car, a car you could only whistle at. Peters take: Dan was the only guy he knew of that could profit from such a hare -brained escapade. (apparently insurance had covered)

[Hans Jung]

That's the great thing about OTB chess and joining clubs, etc.,: it's all about the people you meet. My days of involvement in London chess concluded in January, 1980. Never knew Ernie and never knew about Bob's club(s). I do recall visiting a club in London in the early 90s in an old house on William Sreet (?). Someone told me that one of the rooms was your lesson room. Were you involved in running that club? In 1979 (?), Dave Jackson and I looked into starting a club in a building owned by District Trust (I think) on the east side of Richmond just south of Queens. The area for rent was on the 2nd floor, above the trust company's branch operation. We met with the Asst. Manager to apply for the lease but even after offering to pay the whole first year's rent IN ADVANCE we couldn't get past his boss's negative perception of chess players and the boss nixed the deal. Too bad. It was a great location.

Well I think you helped Dave get started on his dream and he had it in mind when he finally started a club on Dundas Street northside just east of the corner of Talbot. It ran for about a year and then Dave ran out of money and the dream died.

The club on William Street I started in 1990. It was the site of the headquarters of the OSSTF (ontario secondary school teachers federation) John Fortin set that up for me. It ran seven days a week for over two years. I ran the club out of the second floor and attic in two Victorian houses that were joined together. There were endless stairs and winding corridors to different rooms. There were a total of eight rooms. I had a fairly large tournament room on the northside which could hold 50 players. There was also an analysis room, a snack and beverage room, a library, a skittles room, a study for private lessons, a casual play club room and my office. Each room had the name of a famous chess player. There was the Theodor Ackermann room, the Richard May room, the Geza Fuster room, the Alekhine room, the Bobby Fischer room, the Capablanca room, the Emmanuel Lasker room, the Misha Tal room. I had cards printed off for $5, $10, $20 with London Chess Club - Come and get Rooked and each time you showed up the card would get punched,

[Peter McKillop]

Well I think you helped Dave get started on his dream and he had it in mind when he finally started a club on Dundas Street northside just east of the corner of Talbot. It ran for about a year and then Dave ran out of money and the dream died.

The club on William Street I started in 1990. It was the site of the headquarters of the OSSTF (ontario secondary school teachers federation) John Fortin set that up for me. It ran seven days a week for over two years. I ran the club out of the second floor and attic in two Victorian houses that were joined together. There were endless stairs and winding corridors to different rooms. There were a total of eight rooms. I had a fairly large tournament room on the northside which could hold 50 players. There was also an analysis room, a snack and beverage room, a library, a skittles room, a study for private lessons, a casual play club room and my office. Each room had the name of a famous chess player. There was the Theodor Ackermann room, the Richard May room, the Geza Fuster room, the Alekhine room, the Bobby Fischer room, the Capablanca room, the Emmanuel Lasker room, the Misha Tal room. I had cards printed off for $5, $10, $20 with London Chess Club - Come and get Rooked and each time you showed up the card would get punched,

What a thread! All of these great London memories. John Fortin - that name sounds familiar. Was he a teacher at Beal? If so, I think I met him. I recall him telling me that he wanted to get his rating over 2000 and then stop playing tournament chess. IIRC he felt that reaching expert strength would be an accomplishment he could be contented with. And the train story might help to explain something. Years ago there used to be an annual six-round Toronto Open held on Easter weekend. In 1977, I think, I gave Peter Murray (for sure), you (?), and Jay or Dave (?), a lift home from Toronto. Peter sat in front and was very nervous. I didn't think my driving was all that bad in those days, maybe just a tad on the testosterone-fuelled aggressive side. He didn't say anything to me but he held onto the dash with both hands amost all the way home. I wonder if that railway accident happened prior to that tournament and shattered his driving nerves?

p.s. It's probably a good thing I didn't tell him that I was out of my mind on mescaline and whiskey!

p.p.s. : l

[Hans Jung]

John Fortin (yes Beal science teacher) probably did better. All of a sudden in 1993 he packed up and moved to Papua New Guinea as an ESL teacher! I kept looking for him on their Olympic team but I guess it never happened. Still talk about exotic locations. John before he left gave me his car. That's the type of guy he was.

[Hans Jung]

Peter had a horrific car accident in 1976. He was driving down Wellington around the curve just north of Baseline and a car came over the median and hit him head on. Broken bones and I think he had plastic surgery. His father said if he hadnt been driving the Volvo it would have been lights out. Peter to help his recuperation invited me over to Hellmuth Ave and played me an endless match (one game per visit) of active chess. We must of played at least twenty games. As he said the perfect time control and the perfect opponent. Much later he said I was playing active chess before there was even active chess. (referring to the CFC rating active games after about 1990)

[Peter McKillop]

Peter had a horrific car accident in 1976. He was driving down Wellington around the curve just north of Baseline and a car came over the median and hit him head on. Broken bones and I think he had plastic surgery. His father said if he hadnt been driving the Volvo it would have been lights out. Peter to help his recuperation invited me over to Hellmuth Ave and played me an endless match (one game per visit) of active chess. We must of played at least twenty games. As he said the perfect time control and the perfect opponent. Much later he said I was playing active chess before there was even active chess. (referring to the CFC rating active games after about 1990)

Well that certainly explains it. I'm glad I didn't joke around.