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Kevin Spraggett's blog has an interesting piece on Joe Smolij - king of the chess hustlers in Toronto in the 70's and 80's. He sure was an interesting character. What a lot of people may not know is that every once in a while he would "escape" to a weekend Swiss tournament in the United States to try and win some class section money. My first encounter with Joe was on my way to a tournament in Ann Arbour Michigan in the spring of 1976. After a long ride on the Greyhound I ended up at the sleazy old Greyhound terminal in Detroit Michigan. While waiting in line for a bus to Ann Arbour and whiling away time with a pocket chess set I was appoached by what seemed like a bag man and bag lady but turned out to be Joe Smolij and his third wife. I dont remember much of the stories he told on the ride to Ann Arbour but in the last round of the tournament we ended up playing for first prize in the "B" section. Ours was the last game to finish and for a while the most interesting judging by the amount of spectators crowding the board. It was also my introduction to Jude Acers who spent some time analysing the game afterwards and who was also an interesting personality with great stories (Jude Acers became king of New Orleans street chess and has had his famous table there for about 30 years now - but back in the 60's and 70's toured the States trying to win prizes in tournaments) Here is the game: White: Joe Smolij Black: Hans Jung 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.g4 Be6 10.h4 Rc8 11.h5 Ne5 12.hxg6 fxg6 13.Nxe6 Nxf3+ 14.Ke2 Nxd2 15.Nxd8 Nxf1 16.Raxf1 Kxd8 17.Bd4 Rg8 18.Rhg1 b5 19.a3 Rc4 20.Kd3 Nd7 21.Bxg7 Rxg7 22.g5 Ne5+ 23.Kd2 Rf7 24.Ke3 Rc5 25.Kd4 Nf3+ 26.Ke3 Nxg5 27.Rxf7 Nxf7 28.Rf1 Ne5 29.Kd2 Nc4+ 30.Kc1 Nxa3 31.Rf8+ Kd7 32.Ra8 Nxc2 33.Rxa6 Nd4 34.Kd1 h5 35.Nd5 Nc6 36.Ra8 Ke6 37.Rf8 Rc4 38.Nf4+ Kd7 39.Nxg6 Rxe4 40.Rh8 Rg4 41.Nf8+ Ke8 42.Ne6+ Kf7 43.Nc7 Rg5 44.Kd2 Re5 45.Ne8 Nd4 46.Nc7 Ne6 47.Rh7+ Kg6 48.Rxe7 Nxc7 49.Rxc7 h4 50.Rd7 h3 51.Rxd6+ Kg5 52.Rd8 Kg4 53.Rg8+ Rg5 54.Rh8 Rh5 55.Rg8+ Kh4 56.Rg1 h2 57.Rh1 Kg3 0-1 Looking at this game in the light of day more than 30 years later it doesnt seem that great but at the time it caused a lot of excitement.
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Re: Joe Smolij
Hi Hans;
I played the Smash Crash Gambit man many times along Yonge Street he had 3 different places until he finally based himself outside of Gould in front of Sam the Record Man.
The First time I played him he played his Smash Crash Gambit the Greco Counter Gambit . He also had a Play as you Go Gambit I think it was the Fried Liver Attack if he played White but that was very Seldom.
I beat him and he paid me but after that anytime he played me and I beat him he always would call me a club player and never paid. He used to jimmy his clock later in his career so that even though he played 3 mins to 5mins his clock always took longer to fall. I had a friend time his clock one time. He was a Street fixture though and he would always play me because he knew If I could beat him that drummed up business so to speak. We did go for drinks later a couple of times and he bought so I guess I got paid in the end. Very colourful person and he could sure draw a crowd. -
Re: Joe Smolij
Joe Smolij played in the 1959 Canadian Closed Championship in Montreal so he must have been at least expert strength at some point.Comment
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Re: Joe Smolij
Maybe it was after that time that he got stranded without papers in Uruguay. Forlan (Furlano, Forlani...), Fucile, Lugano... maybe he got out by convincing them his name was Smolini. He appeared in Vancouver in the early 1970s.Originally posted by Hans Jung View PostComment
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