Jay Whitehead R.I.P.

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Jay Whitehead R.I.P.

    See link http://main.uschess.org/content/view/11416/643/

    I remember playing in the World Youth Team Championhsip in Chicago in 1984 and Jay was on the US team. A group of us went to dinner one night and I remember he would not drink any water during his meal since 'it would put the fire out in his belly' which was digesting his food.

    Very talented chess player and backgammon. Not sure of how he died or what he had been up to in his later life. When he was younger I remember he left home to join the Hare Krishna organization. He claimed his temple had given him permission to gamble.

  • #2
    Re: Jay Whitehead R.I.P.

    Jay Whitehead had a draw with Gary Kasparov in the 1977 World U16 Championship.

    Canadian content (in my database):
    losses to Peter Biyiasas (San Francisco and Lone Pine, 1977; Berkeley, 1981).
    draw with Peter Biyiasas (Lone Pine, 1980).
    win against Peter Biyiasas (San Francisco, 1985).
    losses to Igor Ivanov (Los Angeles, 1988, San Diego, 1992).
    win against Igor Ivanov (Pasadena, 1983)
    win against George Levtchouk (North Bay, 1998)

    He also played in Saint John (1988), and the 1998 North Bay International.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Jay Whitehead R.I.P.

      I met Jay at the Sacremento open in 1978 i think it was . He won the Tourny with a perfect score and i was half a point behind him . We became friends and he gave me an amazing one day tour of "his " San Francisco .He took me to meet some incredible characters including a guy who supposedly put up Fischer and another guy who seemed like he was 2500 but didnt play in tournements . When i asked him why he said " i would rather read a book ". I think these guys were named Jimmy BUFF and Steve BrandWine . Its hard to rememeber stuff from the 70's for multiple reasons .
      Jay was very generous with me . I saw him again in North Bay for the last time . He was like a different person .We talked and i asked him how long he had been on the road and his answer was his whole life .....

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Jay Whitehead R.I.P.

        Originally posted by Dave Ross View Post
        I met Jay at the Sacremento open in 1978 i think it was . He won the Tourny with a perfect score and i was half a point behind him . We became friends and he gave me an amazing one day tour of "his " San Francisco .He took me to meet some incredible characters including a guy who supposedly put up Fischer and another guy who seemed like he was 2500 but didnt play in tournements . When i asked him why he said " i would rather read a book ". I think these guys were named Jimmy BUFF and Steve BrandWine . Its hard to rememeber stuff from the 70's for multiple reasons .
        Jay was very generous with me . I saw him again in North Bay for the last time . He was like a different person .We talked and i asked him how long he had been on the road and his answer was his whole life .....
        I had the pleasure of a S.F. tour by a local...it was totally delicious! We all have our demons...I have never met Jay, but I hope he finished this part of his journey feeling accomplished! On to bigger and better...special people never die...

        Larry

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Jay Whitehead R.I.P.

          I remember Whitehead from the 1984 Lugano tournament. He was a pretty sharp guy, and drew Korchnoi in that event, a result that Victor was none to happy about. He was also playing a lot of blitz and backgammon (typical Californian!).

          Brandywine was something of a legend in Seattle, where he settled for a time. I think I was introduced to him but we never engaged in any conversation. Someone told me that he ate one meal a day in some all you can eat smoregasbord joint, and spent the rest of his time playing Donkey Kong or blitz chess. He could very nearly hold his own against Seirawan in blitz which was exceptional.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Jay Whitehead R.I.P.

            Originally posted by Gordon Taylor View Post
            .

            Brandywine was something of a legend in Seattle, ......

            http://www.chessdryad.com/articles/sacks/art_07.htm


            http://www.chessdryad.com/articles/sloan/sloan_02.htm
            Last edited by Tony Boron; Monday, 10th October, 2011, 12:25 AM.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Jay Whitehead R.I.P.

              Thanks for those two great links, Tony. I never met Brandwein, but do remember the name, from talk. Referring back to the articles about him being almost unbeatable, I wonder how Bob Zuk did against him during the Great Zuk Winter. Premature attack was a vice that Bob did not indulge.

              I played Jay's brother Paul at one of the Paul Masson Vineyard events. At North Bay, Jay and I had a public argument, but we settled the issue later, and amicably. Were that all TD-related flareups so well settled.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Jay Whitehead R.I.P.

                Bob Zuk and Steve Brandywine may never have crossed paths, and probably not when Zuk was in his prime. I was in Vancouver from 1974 to 1984, a bit before the "Zuk Winter". I think I saw Brandywine only once, probably at the Last Exit coffee house in Seattle, and that was likely in the early 1980s. Bob and I played in a few Futurities and one of those was in Seattle, as best I recall, so they might have crossed paths, but did they ever play speed chess? Donaldson might know.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Jay Whitehead R.I.P.

                  The Great Zuk Winter, where legend reports that he had one stretch of +40 =0 -0 in rated tournament play, was 1970-71. The voice memory reports saying "Brandywine" is Bob Zuk's. Oh well, insufficient data.

                  Comment

                  Working...
                  X