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One of the things not often reported about great chess tournaments is encounters and visits of chess characters, a rich part of chess culture. Part of my enjoyment of the weekend was time spent, sometimes just in passing with players in between moves. On Sunday after round three I headed over to Paris, about ten miles away, to see Herman Kruis at the artisan market. Herman, long time organizer and promoter of our wonderful game has a minimum of three boards and as many as six setup to attract families and social enthusiasts to the game. He introduces chess at a deeper level, encouraging people to get more involved, introducing them to chess clocks, and organized chess and has regular participation prizes. I met Robin Liu, a young student of Mark Plotkins there and introduced him to blindfold chess. He was initially reluctant but warmed up fast and managed 21 moves on first try. I am sure Mark will give him more opportunities and practice with blindfold.
I also had talks with long time tournament players Ian Finlay and Doug Gillis. Ian has been playing tournament chess regularly for over sixty years and shared his continued enjoyment of tournament prep as well as meetings of famous players at the World Seniors. Doug always manages to say hello and share something positive and although these days I see him less than once a year he continually cheers me up.
Rob Gashgarian found time out of his busy doings to share the original photo that appears on the cover of A Short History of Chess in Brantford with Herman Kruis and myself with little anecdotes and reminiscences of each of the players in that photo. It was taken in 1975, exactly 50 years ago with twelve year old Paul Simon as one of the participants in the simul. Another participant was John Monne who played at age 94 in this years Ontario Open and finally won a game in the last round! (and playing all six rounds)
Finally I had a good discussion with Bob Armstrong and he had good advice for me. He felt that seniors should play their best chess that they can right now (not expectations from the past) and still compete in the group that they always have played.
I went away from each of those encounters enriched and it reminded me of why I appreciate and enjoy the game so much.
I also had talks with long time tournament players Ian Finlay and Doug Gillis. Ian has been playing tournament chess regularly for over sixty years and shared his continued enjoyment of tournament prep as well as meetings of famous players at the World Seniors. Doug always manages to say hello and share something positive and although these days I see him less than once a year he continually cheers me up.
Rob Gashgarian found time out of his busy doings to share the original photo that appears on the cover of A Short History of Chess in Brantford with Herman Kruis and myself with little anecdotes and reminiscences of each of the players in that photo. It was taken in 1975, exactly 50 years ago with twelve year old Paul Simon as one of the participants in the simul. Another participant was John Monne who played at age 94 in this years Ontario Open and finally won a game in the last round! (and playing all six rounds)
Finally I had a good discussion with Bob Armstrong and he had good advice for me. He felt that seniors should play their best chess that they can right now (not expectations from the past) and still compete in the group that they always have played.
I went away from each of those encounters enriched and it reminded me of why I appreciate and enjoy the game so much.
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