Manhattan Chess Club stories

[Hans Jung]

https://www.chess.com/article/view/m...s-club-stories For those that like chess history and stories. For Canadian chess fans there is a photo of a young Deen Hergott about midway down the article.

[Mike Ivanov]

Thanks Hans!

[Frank Dixon]

It's a nice article, but the description 'representative games' is somewhat misleading, since all the very good games presented are by author IM Mark Ginsburg.

For a broader, more nuanced historical perspective on the Manhattan Chess Club, one could consult the exceptional book 'The Bobby Fischer I Knew And Other Stories', by GM Arnold Denker and Larry Parr (former editor of 'Chess Life' magazine), published by Hypermodern Press in 1995. GM Denker (1914-2005) was a Manhattan CC member for decades, from 1928. This is one of the greatest chess books of all time, with many games available nowhere else. However, it is in the annoying descriptive notation.

Also, the old Manhattan CC was the site of J.R. Capablanca's last chess; the former World Champion (1921-27) had a heart attack there in 1942 while playing a casual game, and died soon afterwards, at only 53. Capa was a regular at the Club, right from his early New York days from 1906, and represented the Manhattan in some team matches. Also a regular was Capa's 1927 conqueror, former World Champion Alexander Alekhine, as Denker and Parr relate; Denker and Parr tell of Alekhine losing many speed games for small stakes to future GM Arthur Dake, a devastating blitz player; A.A. got furious!

Former World Champion GM Bobby Fischer became a Manhattan CC member as a junior, about 1955 when he was 12, and met former U.S. champion Denker at that time, who mentored him. Bobby began his stratospheric rise there in class sections (rated 1726 in May 1956, U.S. champion 20 months later at age 14 and ten months, becoming the youngest IM in history). GM Fischer won a blitz tournament there in fall 1971 with 21.5 / 22, with several titled Masters in the field.

The Queen's University chess team visited the Manhattan Chess Club on an evening in late December 1988, after completing the PanAm Intercollegiate Team Championship tournament, hosted by Rutgers University across the Hudson River, in New Jersey. The Club was open every day. There wasn't much going on there that night, with no events, but we were warmly welcomed, paid a small admission fee, and played some casual games, mainly among ourselves. The spacious atmosphere was out of a previous era, with wooden chess tables, large wooden pieces and Koopman clocks, all in perfect condition, elegant surroundings, and an extensive library in cabinets, including every 'Informant' issue. The visit remains a sweet memory for me.

[Hans Jung]

Thanks for your great reminiscences Frank! - and for the reference to: The Bobby Fischer I Knew and Other Stories. It truly is an exceptional book.