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Mark Plotkin was the lecturer and simul giver at the Concordia chess club in Kitchener yesterday evening and a great time was had by all. The lecture started at 415pm and went on for a good hour as Mark kept us enthralled with his queen sacrifice checkmate attack against Mike Ivanov from 2019. I must say this: Mark is a great presenter explaining move by move with leading questions and taking answers from the entire audience at every level (literally every level from beginner to master). He not only had many stories of his own to share, he was down to earth and had great patience hearing others stories and yet moving the game along at a comfortable pace. He also fleshed out analysis from each member of the audience and made us the more enthusiastic in our sharing.
Apparently this opportunity of having Mark Plotkin as a guest lecturer came about when Mark did a simul in the summer at the Highland games festival in Fergus which is 20 kilometers north of Guelph. Albert Runstedler and Tim Knechtel went and had a great time playing Mark and in the resulting conversation Mark was invited to the Concordia Club in Kitchener. I wish I had known as my wife Anne and I attended the festival but I had to wait until yesterday to see how well Mark entertained.
After the lecture we all joined in a fabulous meal at the Concordia club restaurant. This is one of the highlights of Concordia events and it was nice to see the inner core of members together once again. Steve Kennel, Tim Knechtel, Gord Olheiser, Brad Rabethge, Albert Runstedler, Dan Wagner have all been enjoying Concordia events for at least 40 years and some of them more than 50.
I am the youngster in that field with only twenty years under my belt. Here's to many more!
During the dinner Mark was telling stories and he got the others going as well. Mark was seated between Gord and Albert and I was at the other end of the table so I didnt always get to hear what Mark had to say. Finally I got up and came around to Mark and shared a story of my own. Back in the 90's I had quite a few students north of Bathurst and Steeles. One day I was quite early for a lesson and I stopped at the neighborhood cafe for a coffee. I was sitting there and in walked two rabbi's with the robes, long hair, beards mid chest and the long curls down in front of their ears. They started talking Yiddish and amazingly I could understand every word. It was the same as the old German dialect that I had learned while living with my grandmother in Southern Germany when I was eleven. I went over and started talking to them in their language. Talk about being astounded! They invited me to sit and plied me with endless questions about where I learned the language and my background. They were very cultured and well educated and we talked about many topics as an hour flew by and reluctantly I left late for my lesson.
The meal was delicious, I had the goulash soup and Rote Grueze, a creamed red currant dessert.
At the simul I noticed several youth players which was good to see. Mark made it more entertaining by letting participants choose their own colour. I dont know what the results of the simul were. Stay tuned for that.
I would highly recommend Mark as a guest lecturer and simul giver. He's the best Ive seen in a while. Not only great moves and great presentation but fantastic colour commentary and appealing to all levels. Thank you Mark Plotkin for a wonderful time and I cant wait for the next Concordia event.
Apparently this opportunity of having Mark Plotkin as a guest lecturer came about when Mark did a simul in the summer at the Highland games festival in Fergus which is 20 kilometers north of Guelph. Albert Runstedler and Tim Knechtel went and had a great time playing Mark and in the resulting conversation Mark was invited to the Concordia Club in Kitchener. I wish I had known as my wife Anne and I attended the festival but I had to wait until yesterday to see how well Mark entertained.
After the lecture we all joined in a fabulous meal at the Concordia club restaurant. This is one of the highlights of Concordia events and it was nice to see the inner core of members together once again. Steve Kennel, Tim Knechtel, Gord Olheiser, Brad Rabethge, Albert Runstedler, Dan Wagner have all been enjoying Concordia events for at least 40 years and some of them more than 50.
I am the youngster in that field with only twenty years under my belt. Here's to many more!
During the dinner Mark was telling stories and he got the others going as well. Mark was seated between Gord and Albert and I was at the other end of the table so I didnt always get to hear what Mark had to say. Finally I got up and came around to Mark and shared a story of my own. Back in the 90's I had quite a few students north of Bathurst and Steeles. One day I was quite early for a lesson and I stopped at the neighborhood cafe for a coffee. I was sitting there and in walked two rabbi's with the robes, long hair, beards mid chest and the long curls down in front of their ears. They started talking Yiddish and amazingly I could understand every word. It was the same as the old German dialect that I had learned while living with my grandmother in Southern Germany when I was eleven. I went over and started talking to them in their language. Talk about being astounded! They invited me to sit and plied me with endless questions about where I learned the language and my background. They were very cultured and well educated and we talked about many topics as an hour flew by and reluctantly I left late for my lesson.
The meal was delicious, I had the goulash soup and Rote Grueze, a creamed red currant dessert.
At the simul I noticed several youth players which was good to see. Mark made it more entertaining by letting participants choose their own colour. I dont know what the results of the simul were. Stay tuned for that.
I would highly recommend Mark as a guest lecturer and simul giver. He's the best Ive seen in a while. Not only great moves and great presentation but fantastic colour commentary and appealing to all levels. Thank you Mark Plotkin for a wonderful time and I cant wait for the next Concordia event.
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