Collective Nouns - Fischer v Spassky

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    Bob Edwards did alot of research and put alot of work into his magazine International Chess News (if memory serves me right) and his chess books. They were very ambitious projects but resulted in only 3 or 4 issues of the magazine and 3 books, two of which were on the Scandinavian Defence which he claimed was the best resource of the modern master. It was due to his notes that I started to play the Scandinavian. His research and magazine did attract attention. One day at the club an older, studious gentleman with large black framed glasses kept coming in and out of Bob's side room (which we nicknamed the study) with stacks of paper which he kept shifting into different piles. Bob came over with a grin, all excited, and said in a low voice Do you know who that is. I thought for a while and said Irving Chernev? That deflated Bob's bubble and he said how did you know? I said - well it isnt Fred Reinfeld so it was next best guess. Lucky guess!
    Our group of speed players (which included Dave Kashijkian aka Mr Wit) kept saying I used to play Irving Chernev's recommendations but then I bought a real chess book or I used to play Chernev's recommendations but then I got a job. I wasnt happy about that because secretly I liked Chernev's books.

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  • Peter McKillop
    replied
    Originally posted by Hans Jung View Post
    One day in 1975 Bob Edwards ....
    It sounds like Bob was a real character. I wish I'd gotten to know him better. In the1980s my big three chess dreams were: play in the World Open, play in the New York Open, and see the White collection in person. Never made it to any of them. In 1994 had trouble getting a U.S. border guard to believe that I was going to Buffalo to play in a tournament. Fortunately I had the latest issue of Chess Life with me! :)

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    One day in 1975 Bob Edwards mentioned that he was going to the Cleveland library (specifically to see the John White collection) and did I want to come along? Did I? I had already heard about it and it was known as the best chess collection in the world! Bob said three things: We will head out real early, you need ID and you better prepare. Prepare? I was a rambunctious teenager - prepare? - its all chess - I will love everything. 6 in the morning we left and Bob did the 300 miles in 3 and a half hours and that included the border crossing. Bob had an old police cruiser (thanks to Ernie Rentz and Bob going with to auctions) and that car could move. You think that would have given me time to ask Bob 1001 questions but I was only half awake or napping the whole way. At one point on the 401 I glanced over and Bob was doing 90 and behind us a police cruiser was approaching rapidly but no lights. Bob didnt flinch - steady speed. The cruiser pulls up alongside and the cop looks over. Bob salutes. The cop nodded and then immediately slowed down, jumped the grass median and headed the other way. I asked Bob what that was all about - I thought you were going to get a ticket. Bob grinned and said You just give them what they want to see. The border was easy. I showed my birth certifcate - customs asked where are you going - Cleveland library to look at chess books. The guy wouldnt look at us - just shook his head, rolled his eyes and waved us through. We got to the library, Bob disappeared and I went browsing. After several aisles and pulling out various boxes I got tired. I had looked through old copies of a Steinitz magazine, looked at several old German magazines, and dittos of Morphys chess columns. I realized what Bob had meant about coming prepared. I finally found a book of Marshalls games and spent happy hours entertained by Marshalls swindles on my pocket set. Bob had a productive day. He came back loaded down with photocopies. He was happy on the drive back as he had successfully found some real chess gems. (rare games)
    Last edited by Hans Jung; Saturday, 23rd July, 2022, 05:08 PM.

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    Originally posted by Peter McKillop View Post

    Chesswise, 1967 was a big chess year for me. In the spring, I 'discovered' that Wendell Holmes Book Store, on Richmond near Oxford, carried high quality chess books. In fact, at that time, they only carried Dover chess books and I'm sure you remember, Hans, what a great selection of chess titles Dover had. I still have all of those Dover books. Then in the fall of '67, a friend mentioned that the central YMCA had a large (for London) chess club where teenagers as well as adults were welcome. And that's when I met Ted Durrant. Ted was one of the good guys in my opinion. In those days, if I remember correctly, Ted was on the verge of breaking into expert strength. I was probably about 1200. But there was no chess snobbery there. Ted was always friendly and helpful, ready to look at a game with me or play some skittles. Lost track of Ted. Did you know him, Hans?
    1967 was my starting year too. It was Canada's centennial and my grade 5 teacher Mrs. Humphreys wanted to do a special class project to celebrate. She chose to teach us chess - yes the whole class, we all learned. I was terrible. I had a perfect score - a dozen losses! and it was 5 years until I played again.

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    Peter's wit was endless. In response to chess players playing famous players in simuls Peter liked to say, yes Ive played Fischer, and Szabo, and Yanofsky and Bronstein. In simuls -no, mano a mano and beaten them all! What? Of course he meant Robert Fischer the American expert, Ken Szabo - Toronto B player (I think), Harry Yanofsky, and there was a C player I think named Bronstein.

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  • Peter McKillop
    replied
    Originally posted by Hans Jung View Post
    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.

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    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)
    Last edited by Hans Jung; Tuesday, 19th July, 2022, 04:15 PM.

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    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.

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  • Peter McKillop
    replied
    Originally posted by Hans Jung View Post

    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
    Last edited by Peter McKillop; Tuesday, 19th July, 2022, 02:57 PM.

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    Originally posted by Peter McKillop View Post

    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,
    Last edited by Hans Jung; Tuesday, 19th July, 2022, 02:11 PM.

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    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)

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    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.

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  • Peter McKillop
    replied
    Originally posted by Hans Jung View Post
    .... 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.

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    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.

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  • Hans Jung
    replied
    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".

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