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Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
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---- Nous avons besoin d'un traduction français!
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I have decided to transcribe these writings by Bernard Freedman over several posts.
My First Contact with Chess by Bernard Freedman (cofounder of the Chess Federation of Canada)
Chapter 1 I recall my first contact with Chess; it was many years ago. I was quite young, about fourteen. Our large family was holidaying at Middel-Kerke, a seaside summer resort close to Ostend, Belgium.
Among our friends there were two brothers who insisted on showing me a chess board and a chess set. They started telling me the names of the various pieces and how they each moved. It all seemed Greek to me, but I listened patiently until they came to the intricate move of the Knight.
That was enough for me. It was way beyond me and I stated that one had to be very clever to understand that game.
I went back to the beach to enjoy a game of soccer which was much more appealing to me; in fact, a few years later I was captain of the team that won the Junior Championship of Belgium.
I have decided to transcribe these writings by Bernard Freedman over several posts.
My First Contact with Chess by Bernard Freedman (cofounder of the Chess Federation of Canada)
Chapter 1 I recall my first contact with Chess; it was many years ago. I was quite young, about fourteen. Our large family was holidaying at Middel-Kerke, a seaside summer resort close to Ostend, Belgium.
Among our friends there were two brothers who insisted on showing me a chess board and a chess set. They started telling me the names of the various pieces and how they each moved. It all seemed Greek to me, but I listened patiently until they came to the intricate move of the Knight.
That was enough for me. It was way beyond me and I stated that one had to be very clever to understand that game.
I went back to the beach to enjoy a game of soccer which was much more appealing to me; in fact, a few years later I was captain of the team that won the Junior Championship of Belgium.
Now that I know you are reading it Francis, I'll be inclined to post more often.
Yes, please keep them coming. I remember him from the days of going to the Toronto Central YMCA in the early 70's. He would always have a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. I remember Kuprejanov playing some fun games with him and I would watch. I remember Bernard would play the dragon as black.
In 1911, I went to Montreal, Canada on business and I would visit my sister and brother-in-law, Alfred Michaels. The whole family played chess and they, too, wanted to teach me chess. I refused. However, some time later I had the flu, and my brother-in-law took advantage while I was in bed to bring up a chess set and explain to me the rudiments of the game. I could not walk away and was too weak to put up a fight. Finally, he suggested that I try and play him a game. He coached me very well and then I said, "What now?" He answered, "You have won!" and stated that he would be mated next move if I said 'check' with a certain piece. My ego was awakened. I played many more games and improved somewhat.
Chapter II continued .... I was told that there were classical opening moves with a proper sequence of replies; also that there were technical end games.
I then watched my sister's father-in-law, Mr. John Michaels, who would daily play with his wife's sister, Aunt Amelia. As soon as supper was over they would rush to the den to play chess. There were continuous fighting words which we all enjoyed. Mrs. John Michaels would come in and say with authority, "Will you stop it?" but they paid no attention. He would claim that she had touched a piece and would call out, "Touchez", which, according to the rules, it meant that she had to move it. She would deny it and claim that he had removed one of her pieces from the board. They would start looking on the floor, on the chairs, and the fight would go on.
Aunt Amelia was a big woman, near-sighted, and with a healthy-looking bosom. She had to lean over to see the whole chess board. Once the missing rook was discovered on her breast where she had inadvertently placed it.
Thanks for posting this, Hans!
I believe Mr. Freedman is best known in Canadian chess for having been an early promoter and supporter of the very young Daniel Abraham Yanofsky, in the 1930s. Yanofsky, who would later develop into the first GM in the British Commonwealth (1964, although he was likely of GM strength several years prior to that), was a young player in Winnipeg when he met Freedman. By 1939, Yanofsky, then age 14, was playing on board 2 for Canada at the Buenos Aires Olympiad, Canada's first team entry into that event; he made an astonishing score over 80 per cent. By 1941 Yanofsky, then 16, won his first of eight Canadian Championships.
In December 1913, I was travelling through Central America on business. I had been in Panama and then went to Costa Rica. I had to take a boat at the harbor of Puntarenas to go to San Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, travelling along the Pacific Coast. I was on one of the steamers of the Royal Mail Pacific Steamship Lines.
There were very few passengers and I would watch the purser and the mate play chess. They were weak players and I made no comments. They invited me to play a few games. I won fairly easily so this big two hundred and fifty pound purser, realizing how little they both knew about the game, finally yelled in a loud voice, "We two are not playing chess, we are playing AT the Damn Game."
In May, 1914, I was recalled back to Belgium to serve in the Army. I am a Belgian by birth, born in Antwerp in 1894. While serving in the camps and trenches, wherever I had the opportunity, I would play chess or teach the game to my buddies.
I started as a private with the infantry, then was transferred to the trench mortars and later went to the artillery as a gunner and artillery observer. I finished as a dispatch rider. I was five years in uniform. We were entrenched all along the Yser River. When in the Dixmude district, I would be on duty either in an outpost or in an observation tower. These were of reinforced cement and built by our engineers inside old broken-down farm houses.
My duty was to observe, especially at night, enemy gun flashes from a small opening of the tower. I would read the angle and report it to the other observer on duty at the bottom of the ladder. He would then phone the message to headquarters. They would receive information from other observation posts spread along our lines and they would then determine a triangle and pinpoint the exact location of the firing guns.
When things were quiet I suggested that we play chess. I was in total darkness but my pal below, who had a shaded light, had a chess board and pieces. I tried to memorize the position and would call out my moves. He would play these moves on the board and then call out his reply. If I made an impossible move he would correct me. At first all I could handle was about five or six moves, but after a few months of practice I was able not only to memorize the moves, but visualize the exact position and make winning combinations.
When things were quiet I suggested that we play chess. I was in total darkness but my pal below, who had a shaded light, had a chess board and pieces. I tried to memorize the position and would call out my moves. He would play these moves on the board and then call out his reply. If I made an impossible move he would correct me. At first all I could handle was about five or six moves, but after a few months of practice I was able not only to memorize the moves, but visualize the exact position and make winning combinations.
These excerpts are so uplifting ... thanks again Hans!
In May, 1914, I was recalled back to Belgium to serve in the Army. I am a Belgian by birth, born in Antwerp in 1894. While serving in the camps and trenches, wherever I had the opportunity, I would play chess or teach the game to my buddies.
I started as a private with the infantry, then was transferred to the trench mortars and later went to the artillery as a gunner and artillery observer. I finished as a dispatch rider. I was five years in uniform. We were entrenched all along the Yser River. When in the Dixmude district, I would be on duty either in an outpost or in an observation tower. These were of reinforced cement and built by our engineers inside old broken-down farm houses.
My duty was to observe, especially at night, enemy gun flashes from a small opening of the tower. I would read the angle and report it to the other observer on duty at the bottom of the ladder. He would then phone the message to headquarters. They would receive information from other observation posts spread along our lines and they would then determine a triangle and pinpoint the exact location of the firing guns.
Beautifully evocative! Look forward to every excerpt - thank you Hans!
My duty was to observe, especially at night, enemy gun flashes from a small opening of the tower. I would read the angle and report it to the other observer on duty at the bottom of the ladder. He would then phone the message to headquarters. They would receive information from other observation posts spread along our lines and they would then determine a triangle and pinpoint the exact location of the firing guns.
The opposite method I saw long time ago in a fishing book - how to recall (mark) the spot in the lake - need three specific objects on the shore, and draw imaginary lines.
The forest fire towers worked the same way (later replaced by satellites)
I was able not only to memorize the moves, but visualize the exact position and make winning combinations.
That probably improved to restore the game after shoot outs.
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