Meeting Mondays over the Holidays 2022-23. Year Review and Funding of a Chess Club, Part 3

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays to all!

LCCC will continue to meet on Mondays - 4pm to 10 pm - at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton, Michigan in the Green Oak Shopping Center thru the holidays.

And bring any spare $3 million or more dollars you have lying around doing nothing. LCCC needs a place to live.

This year was actually a great year for LCCC. Membership (attendance really, since we have no dues required) has been on the increase. Our (let's face it) "squatter" location at BWW has worked out well. Actually, too well in your humble scribe's opinion, but more on that later.

Numbers: The rolling average of attendance at our old location prior to the pandemic scare was 12 players a meeting. That blows away most chess clubs except when they run events. LCCC attendance strangely decreases when we hold our in-house events. We must be a casual-coffee house chess sort of club. And that is fine.

Our average for 2022 was 16 players per meeting! Impressive by any measure. We keep a 2-month rolling attendance sheet. Miss 9 consecutive meetings and you are 'dropped' from the rolls. We keep your name and contact info, but you will not be on the current attendance sheet. Immediately re-instated when you do re-appear.

Your scribe did an analysis of the attendee type at the old location (a Senior Center - no food/drink) and our current location (BWW). Here is the breakdown:

Regulars (at least half of the meetings) -   8 at SC, 10 at BWW

Semi-regular (at least once a month) - 3 at SC, 5 at BWW 

New members (first time visit) - 1 at both places.

Even though my smiling face would love to take credit for the increase in regular and semi-regular attendance, I think the food and drink might be more of the attraction. Not to mention the social aspect of other people just being around. Sort of like a restaurant with a line out the door gets more new people in their line than the equally good semi-empty restaurant across street gets in the door. More on that phenomenon later.

As to why we literally have 50 new people a year visit and we seem to only keep 1 or 2 for any length of time is not really a mystery. To paraphrase the late great Hall of Fame baseball manager Sparky Anderson, "If they don't want to visit, no one is going to stop them."

Chess can be scary. Some show up wanting to learn and decide chess is not for them. Some show up thinking they are good and find out they are not that good, and their egos are bruised. Some are too good for everyone at the club, so it is a waste of their chess time to play the average player. But most of the adult players are just that - adults - and life gets in the way of hobbies.

Most new attendees are kids, whose desires to play at the club change for many, many reasons. Sometimes the parents don't like the location or cannot make our Monday night meeting. 

Anyway, the Club is doing well and that is a good thing. If you want to play some over the board chess, Monday night at BWW you will be able to find one. 

But what about the other nights of the week? There are other clubs of course. You may have to travel some. You can find most all the clubs in Michigan on the Michigan Chess Association web site and magazine. Most clubs are hit and miss as far as attendance for the most part. LCCC has more attendance than most, and we still have our off nights.

An established chess club, open most days and evenings would be ideal. Everyone in the surrounding area would know where to go to find a chess game! Sounds like CHESS HEAVEN!

Not so fast! There is the matter of the $3 million (estimate) to buy/build a building, furnish it and maintain it. Then there is the matter of staffing it 7 days a week and probably 360 days a year. Your scribe is a pretty rabid chess fan but showing up at the "Club" 360 days a year is not only not feasible, but it does not even sound like fun. It now has a job/responsibility feel to it.

LCCC actually lived thru this "too much chess" phenomenon already. About 5 years ago some players found a coffee shop that would let us play chess there on the promise we would give them some business as we played. Now LCCC had Monday chess at the Senior Center and Thursday chess at the coffee shop! Chess heaven? Actually, chess burn out. More is sometimes less.

Our average attendance on Monday dropped from 12 to 7 players and Thursdays averaged 4 players. Adding insult to injury, the 4-player on average on Thursday were the same players still regular on Monday, as one of the Thursday person advocates started missing both nights (again, life gets in the way). And not too many people, no matter how loyal, can commit to two nights a week of chess EVERY WEEK.

The fan giant, the NFL, has seen the same thing happen to their Monday Night Football game (thank God as far as LCCC is concerned! Sorry BWW.). It used to be the "show" to watch on Mondays. It was another "party night" for millions of people. It was a ratings (attendance) monster! Bars were packed on Mondays, which before, Mondays were very slow nights for bars. 

But now with Thursday and Sunday night football added by the NFL, not to mention college football adding Tuesday and Wednesday night football, people don't need to 'make plans'. They can see prime time football almost any night of the week in the fall. The Monday night ratings have tanked.

As far as the LCCC oversaturation, the coffee shoppe eventually closed and LCCC returned to just our regular Monday's and our average attendance returned to 12. People can schedule a "special" night for an activity, but if it is available too many nights, people tend to put it off or not treat is as not so 'special'. 

Here's a number that will surprise most readers. LCCC has a "membership" of well over 100 players! This would include all players that show up on "occasion", like once or twice a year or maybe a little more. They love attending the Club, but life, travel, job, living distance, the "wrong" night for them, etc., all stop them from being a regular. 

So to extrapolate all this 'knowledge' and to speculate, LCCC would probably need 2000 members to be able to get an average nightly attendance of 10 to 15 players every night of the week in a permanently established building. Is this even possible in Livingston County? 

Part 4: Next Time as your scribe continues to think out loud about his dream of a permanent home for LCCC.

LCCC Had 20 Players Last Monday! - Will Meet Every Monday over 2022 Xmas! - and Why the Manhattan Chess Club Review?

LCCC will continue to meet on Mondays - 4pm to 10 pm - at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton, Michigan in the Green Oak Shopping Center thru the holidays. Feel free to stop by and bring the new chess set you got as a gift.

So why did your humble scribe decide to post the history of the Manhattan Chess Club? Because LCCC could suffer a similar fate, that's why. LCCC did suspend meetings a few times in our history. The last time was basically for all of 2020 for the COVID panic.

Well, what destroyed the Manhattan Chess Club? Answer? The same three reasons restaurants, bars, and other businesses normally fail - which are: location, location and location!

In 125 years, MCC changed locations 15 times. Not bad really. That is only once every 8 years as an average. But that is the average. There were some short-term locations and that is never good for anyone trying to keep steady members/clientele. Changing locations still has drawbacks even when moving to a better location, let alone a less desirable one. Some people just will not follow you.

We had to leave the Hartland Senior Center because of COVID. We have not been invited back and don't know if the Club would return if it was offered. Nice place, great parking and lighting, and right in the center of Livingston County. But why return to a place that dumped you once when it could happen again? We instinctive learn this in our dating lives, right? 

By the way I never did get my class ring or 8 track collection back! And another thing.......oh sorry - I got sidetracked there.

The solution: A self-sustaining building in a good location with easy access and plenty of free well-lit parking. That is what I want! 

How to accomplish this: I have no idea. 

Well, I do know one way, as any union or government from a town, township, city, county, state or country can show you. Take money from everyone you control. Even from the people that don't want what you want. Then use that money to get what you want or as you want.

There are thousands of historic buildings, radio and television stations, parks, museums, or orchestra, or ballet companies that are not self-sufficient. They rely on government subsidies to exist.  People claim they want them and may even vote to fund them, but they never attend them. But they feel good voting for it. Culture and class by vote I'm assuming.

Chess has no such 'social necessity' or 'artistic' designation. But then again, the public has not been swamped with feel good news stories and advertisements for decades about the 'benefits' of chess, like they have for the other pursuits that receive government funding.

Much like colleges who do to fund their other sports team that don't generate enough cash to exist. Colleges may wish to provide these sport options to the students and some are required by law now. No one seems to care that money is being spent on something the general public really doesn't care about or want to watch. And as is the case with most colleges, it is the public's money being wasted. But no one cares.

There are even 'professional' sports leagues that exist that are not self-sufficient. They are propped up by the sports leagues that are profitable, and by their media corporation partners who wish to waste investor's money on these unwatched sports. Why do they do this? Not going there, thank you very much.

Now don't get me wrong. This is not a rant about life being unfair to chess or chess players, or even about some sports or pursuits getting preferential treatment over chess. Your humble scribe is just setting down the situation as it currently exists.

Actually, I do have one idea. In order to "Build a Chess Building and They Will Come" scenario, you need a benevolent millionaire or group of 'comfortable' benevolent benefactors. 

Chess is not a past time for the masses that participants, let alone non-participants will spend a lot of money to do. The low cost and lack of barrier to entry into chess is one of the game's greatest assets. And the public, although many millions play chess, just don't care enough to ever fund it somewhere. 

Chess needs someone willing to 'seed' the growth of a chess club building. Now, once the building is built and the Club is up and running, ways to generate SOME revenue may come to pass over time (i.e., dues, food, drink, merchandise, tournaments, meeting room rental, teaching classes).  However, there is no working model chess club - that I am aware of - where the money generated for a yearly budget earns enough profit to pay for the operation completely and add to the till. 

There are chess clubs that are running all over the world, with their own buildings, but they were all 'seeded' as I mentioned. Remember costs go up every year, so a profit is required, either by the club or by the investments of the trust fund, or preferably both, every year! It is the duty of the club board to see this happens.

Hence, the benefactor(s) need to put up enough money to build a building (leasing is not an option as landlords come and go) and maintain this building into the future. All while having the Club Trust grow AFTER paying the annual expenses of the Club.

No small favor to ask of a benefactor to be sure. But then, it would be done for the love of the game of chess, and the love of the area/location the club is placed.

Next Article: Brainstorming ideas anyone?

LCCC Champ Crowned! And the History of the Manhattan Chess Club

 

Sorry for the lack of new posts, but life gets in the way of chess writing sometimes.

The Club is still meeting on Mondays at the Buffalo Wild Wing’s in Brighton, MI at the Green Oak Shopping Center. We start at 4pm and go til 9pm at least. Stop on by for the best in casual chess and the occasional free to enter tournament.

Speaking of which, our Club Champion for 2022 is Dr. Ken Tack.

Congratulations Ken!

1^st – Ken Tack

2^nd – Vince V and Vince S.

4^th – Pete B, Sam T, Jeff S., Charlie S

8^th – Max B, Mike N

10^th – Paul M, Tyler B.

Thank you to all who participated! Look for another tournament after the 1^st of the year!  

Here is the 125 year history of the Manhattan Chess Club:

1877 - Chess players met at the Cafe Logeling, 49 Bowery Street in lower Manhattan. Mr. Logeling was a chess enthusiast and eventually built a room in the back of the cafe for chess. {There for 7 years}

November 24, 1877, it was decided to form a chess club. There was discussion to name it the Metropolitan, Morphy, or Manhattan Chess Club.

December 1, 1877, 37 members showed up for the first meeting. The entrance fee was $1 per person and dues were $4 per year.

October 2, 1879, the Constitution of the Manhattan Chess Club was adopted.

May 7, 1883, the Manhattan Chess Club of the City of New York was incorporated in the State of New York. Its board of directors included Leopold Hellwitz, George T. Green, Roscow Channing, Louis Cohn, L.D. Cohn, F.M. Teed, William M. De Visser, J.D. Peters, Charles Saulson, Isaac Rice, and Charles M. Harris. An initiation fee was $10, and the annual dues were $16.

May 1884, the group moved to 22 East 17th Street. {There for 5 years}

May 1889, the club moved to 22 West 27th Street.  {There for 4 years}

May 1892, the club moved to 105 East 22nd Street in the United Charities Building.  {There for 13 years}

1905 to 1910 the Club was located at the Carnegie Hall Building on 56th Street. {There for 5 years}

1910 to 1923 the Club was located at the Sherman Square Hotel, then to Beacon Hotel. {There for 13 years}

1924 to 1931 - the Club moved to a basement on Broadway and 73rd Street. {There for 7 years}

1932 to 1941, the Club was located at the Alamac Hotel. {There for 9 years}

1941 to 1956 the Club was located at 100 Central Park South. {There for 14 years}

1956 the Club moved to the Hotel Woodrow.  {There for 15 years}

1971, the club was located in the Henry Hudson Hotel on West 59th St. {There for 3 years}

1974, the Club moved to 155 E. 55th St. {There for 15 years}

1989, the Club was headquartered at Carnegie Hall on the 10th floor. {There for 1 year}

1990 - The Club later moved to 353 West 46th Street between 8th and 9th Avenue on "Restaurant Row." Traditionally, the club was supported by the patronage of Wall Street executives. When they passed away, the American Chess Foundation, which owns the building, fell into the hands of non-chessplayers. They ordered the Manhattan Chess Club to move.  {There for 11 years}

In 2001, the Club moved to the New Yorker Hotel, Suite 1521, 481 8th Avenue. It was open on weekdays from 6 pm to midnight and on weekends from 11am to 11pm.  {There for 1 year}

In January 2002, the Manhattan Chess Club closed due to lack of a location to hold the meetings.

That is a pity and a loss of a great chess landmark. We can’t let this happen to LCCC!

Next Article: Searching for a rich person to grant the funds for a permanent location for the LCCC in Livingston County.

PS: Bidding starts at $2 million.

PSS: But don’t be shy. Going over that starting figure is allowed and encouraged.

PSS: Person with the highest bid gets free membership for life, their own parking spot in the lot, and their own chess table, set and 2 chairs in the club’s private playing area.

PSSS: For a winning bid over $3 million, the philanthropist can pick his own chess set for his table.

2022 LCCC Championship Starts Monday - Free to Enter! Also The Rise Of a Great Chess Club!

 No, not LCCC. A different great chess club! The Manhattan Chess Club in New York, New York.

But first, let's talk about the LCCC Club Championship, which begins on Monday, November 14 at 6:30 pm. IT IS FREE to enter. The club starts at 4pm for warm up games and conversation. We are playing at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton, MI at the Green Oak Shopping Center.

Our target start time for the first round it 6:30 pm. If you arrive a little late and want to enter, that will be no problem. You will either receive a 1st round bye (1/2 point draw) or get paired with another late arrival. 

Our tournaments are player friendly, as much as possible. We play one round a week, and the time limit for the games are 45 minutes per player, with a 5 second delay. Clocks and "touch-move" are in effect.

This tournament will last 3 or four rounds (3 or 4 weeks), depending on the number of entries we have. 

It is a great opportunity to experience 'real' tournament chess, without the cost or pressure. We hope to see many of our new players enter for the first time!

Now for a quick history of happenings at one of the biggest, best and most important chess clubs ever formed anywhere in the world;

The Manhattan Chess Club was formed in 1877.

1886 - The club hosted the World Chess Championship (Steinitz-Zukertort)

1890-91 - Steinitz played Gunsberg in a world championship match at the Manhattan Chess Club

1894 - The club hosted the first 8 games of the Lasker-Steinitz world championship match.

1895 - Emanuel Lasker joined the Manhattan Chess Club. In 1895, the first cable match was played between the Manhattan Chess Club and the British Chess Club.

1901 - members of the Manhattan Chess Club defeated the Franklin Chess Club of Philadelphia.

1905 - Jose Capablanca joined the Manhattan Chess Club at the age of 17 and beat its champion.

1905 - the Manhattan CC defeated the Berlin CC in a cable match, with the score of 4-2. The trophy was an autograph portrait of President Theodore Roosevelt.

1909 - the Manhattan CC organized a chess match between Frank Marshall and Jose Capablanca. Capablanca won with 8 wins, 1 loss, and 14 draws.

October-November 1918 - the Manhattan CC sponsored an international chess tournament. It was held at the club’s parlor in the Sherman Square Hotel. Five countries were represented including the United States, Cuba, Canada, France, and Serbia. The event was won by Capablanca.

1924 - The club organized the New York international tournaments (won by Emanuel Lasker) and 1927 (won by Jose Capablanca).

March 7, 1942 - Capablanca suffered a stroke at the Manhattan Chess Club while analyzing a chess game. He died the next day at the age of 53.

1945 - the Manhattan CC was the site of the American team in the USA vs USSR radio match. The USSR won 11 out of 20.

1947 - the Manhattan CC lost to the Club of La Plata in Argentina in a radio chess match by the score of 3.5 to 6.5. The Manhattan CC team included Reshevsky, Kashdan, Denker, Horowitz, Kevitz, Pinkus, Pavey, Kramer, Shainswit, and Donald Byrne. Only Reshevsky was able to win

1951 - the Manhattan CC hosted the Wertheim Memorial, won by Reshevsky.

1952, William Lombardy joined the Manhattan CC.

1953 - Gisela Kahn Gresser (1906-2000) was a regular at the Manhattan CC, always taking lessons from Hans Kmoch. She won the U.S. women’s championship 9 times and was the first woman to become a U.S. master. She died in 2000 at the age of 94.

June 1955, Bobby Fischer joined the Manahttan Chess Club. He soon won the 'C' section, then the 'B' section.

April 1956, Bobby Fischer won the Manhattan Chess Club 'A' Reserve championship. Fischer won the Manhattan Chess Club Rapid Transit with the score of 10 out of 10.

1973 - the club boasted over 400 dues paying members.

1976 - the Club sponsored the first New York International since 1951. The winners were Norman Weinstein, Anatoly Lein, and Leonid Shamkovich.

No one could have predicted, but this was the last major event ever held at the Manhattan Chess Club. Why is the subject of the next article.

This is Scary! LCCC is Still Meeting at BWW on Halloween Night - 2022

Picture from the movie "Nightmare"

Sorry for the lack of articles. Your humble scribe will be back at it soon. Time is at a premium right now.

Hope my readers will be patient.

However, the chess action will continue on this Monday night, and every Monday night thru the spring - from 4pm until 10pm at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton Michigan. 

The BWW is located in the Green Oak Shopping Center off of US-23 at the Lee Rd. Exit 58, just south of I-96.

Look forward to seeing you there!

LCCC Now Going Weekly at the BWW in Brighton! - See you there on Oct. 3 2022

Until 4pm until 9pm or so. Stop on by for some casual chess and great restaurant server service from the lovely, talented and friendly Sydney.

We had 21 players last meeting, so it will not be hard for you to find an opponent, no matter what your skill level.

We were also honored with the presence of the #2 female player in Michigan - Alicia Paans!

Welcome to the Livingston County Chess Club family Alicia!

Your humble scribe is a little under the weather, so look for an article later this week!

Hope to see you this Monday at the Brighton BWW in the Green Oak Shopping Center.

LCCC Returns OTB Monday Sept. 12 at the BWW in Brighton - also meet Nimzo's Galloping Knights

 

We will be meeting again this coming Monday night, Sept. 12, at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton at the Green Oak Shopping Mall.

Stop on by for some friendly chess games and conversation. We start at 4pm and go until 9pm usually.

Your humble scribe hopes to have reports of how our members faired in the recent Michigan Open tournament.  Please bring your games and your stories to me this Monday night please. 

The Galloping Knights

No chess piece is more troublesome for the chess beginner to learn and manage than the knight. It’s strange hoppings from one color to the other and vise-versa, and adding to that, has the ability to leap over friend and foe alike, makes the knight difficult to learn, let alone master.

But knights in the hands of the masters can do some sparkling dancing. 

Your humble scribe refrains from reviewing games because you can find volumes of that stuff elsewhere, and with much better analysis and banter.

But this caught my attention (see diagram). It was a game from a tournament in 1926 between IM Karl Gilg with White, who takes on GM Aron Nimzowitsch with the Black pieces. We pick it up in mid-game for your enjoyment:

Black has just played 19. …..g5! which prevents White from playing Nf4.

20.    Ng1?       Ne4

White needed to play Kg1 with equality.

Meanwhile, Black played "hope chess" with the second-best move hoping to be able to play the pretty mate combination of 21. ……Qxh2+, 23. Nxh2, Nxg3 mate!

The best is the stunning 20. …..Nf2+  21. Qxf2, Ng4  22. Qxf8+, Rxf8  23. Nh3, Qf7  24. Re2, Re8  25. Nxg5, hg  and Black is up 4 pawns!

21.  Nh3          Ngf6

22.  Bxe4?       Nxe4

White blunders here under the panic of Black’s dominating knights compared to his uncoordinated ones. Correct was 22. g4  to allow the move 23. Re3 to defend the knight on h3.

23.  Ng1?        Nf2+

As we soon see, White needed to play 23. Qd3 which would have allowed the return capture of a knight after 23. ……Qxh3 with 24. Rxe4. But instead, the f3 square is clear for the Black Queen to invade.

24.  Kg2           Bh3+

25.  Nxh3         Qf3+

26.  Kg1            Qh1 mate

No Decoder Needed - LCCC Meets Monday August 22 at BWW in Brighton, MI

 

4pm until 9pm or so. Stop on by for some casual chess and great restaurant server service from the lovely, talented and friendly Sydney.

Our club numbers are growing as we approach chess season (fall /winter). We had 18 players last meeting, so it will not be hard for you to find an opponent, no matter what your skill level.

Hope to see you this Monday at the Brighton BWW in the Green Oak Shopping Center.

Now, meet another great chess player and human being most people have never heard of:

Conel Hugh O’Donel Alexander, 1909 to 1974, was one of Britain’s greatest cryptanalysts ever and certainly one the most brilliant chess players of his generation.  A Cambridge educated mathematician, he soon found himself recruited by the government when the second world war broke out. Alexander worked on the German Enigma machine at Bletchley Park during World War II and was later the head of the cryptanalysis division at GCHQ for over 20 years. He was so well known was he in his field, that when he retired Alexander was sought out by the NSA to work for them, but he declined. 

 

Chess was Alexander’s passion, and he was twice British Champion, the last time being in 1956. He was awarded the International Master title.  Alexander’s style of play was very sharp and his real strength was revealed in complicated and messy positions. 

 

He played many of the best players of his day, including Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Smyslov, Botvinnik, Bronstein, Keres and Fine. He defeated Botvinnik and Bronstein once each.  

 

Alexander represented England at 6 Olympiads (it would have been more, but he was prohibited to play behind the iron curtain lest he be kidnapped and was non-playing captain of the English team after he stopped competing from 1964 until the early 1972.  Alexander was also a well-respected chess author.

Alexander represented Cambridge University n the Varsity chess matches of 1929, 1930, 1931 and 1932.  He was twice a winner of the British Chess Championship, in 1938 and 1956. Alexander represented England in the Chess Olympiad six times, in 1933, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1954 and 1958. At the 1939 Olympiad, Alexander had to leave part-way through the event, along with the rest of the English team, because of the declaration of WWII, since he was required at home for codebreaking duties.

He was also the non-playing captain of England from 1964 to 1970. Alexander was awarded the International Master title in 1950 and the International Master for Correspondence Chess title in 1970. He won at Hastings 1946/47 with the score 7½/9, a point ahead of Tartakower.

 Alexander's best tournament result may have been first equal (with David Bronstein) at Hastings 1953/54, where he went undefeated and beat Soviet grandmasters Bronstein and Tolush in individual games.

Alexander's opportunities to appear abroad were limited as he was not allowed to play chess in the Soviet bloc because of his secret work in cryptography.^[4] 

He was also the chess columnist of The Sunday Times in the 1960s and 1970s.

Many knowledgeable chess people believe that Alexander had Grandmaster potential, had he been able to develop his chess abilities further.^[5] Many top players peak in their late twenties and early thirties, but for Alexander this stretch coincided with World War II, when high-level competitive opportunities were unavailable.

After this, his professional responsibilities as a senior cryptanalyst limited his top-class appearances. He defeated Mikhail Botvinnik in one game of a team radio match against the USSR in 1946, at a time when Botvinnik was probably the world's top player. Alexander made important theoretical contributions to the Dutch Defense and Petroff Defense.  

LCCC Meeting Monday August 8th - And That's a Fact!

 

We will be meeting again this coming Monday night at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton. Stop on by for some friendly chess games and conversation. 

We start at 4pm and go until 9pm usually.

It is the height of summer and chess is more of a winter indoor activity. Or is it? If you have never tried playing chess outside, give it a try. Fine a shady spot in the summer and set them up. I think you will like it. 

Speaking of summer, your scribe has been busy doing summer things like playing golf and getting the shed and the outside of the house ready for winter. Oh, and researching these little nuggets of useless information.

Some curious chess facts;

Two of Paul Morphy's strongest critics (although they were not interested in playing against Morphy) were Howard Staunton and Willian Steinitz. Both Staunton and Steinitz died on Paul's birthday.

In the 11th game of the World Championship match between Capablanca and Alekhine, FOUR Queens appeared on the board.

Harry Pillsbury played a 'blindfolded' exhibition where he played ten chess games and ten checker games simultaneously while participating in a whist card game.

Geza Maroczy played many simultaneous chess exhibitions in Europe from June of 1927 thru March of 1928 and compiled an unbelievable score in 943 games of 825 wins, 113 draws and only 5 losses!

Dr. (Phd in Electrical Engineering) and GM Milan Vidmar played in chess tournaments across Europe for 28 years before ever finishing first in one, for the one and only time in his life. Even that one, he shared the title with Salomon Flohr. 

LCCC Next Meeting Monday July 25, 2022 - and Meet Sir George A. Thomas

 No, not meet him at our next meeting! Your scribe meant meet him here by reading about him.

And speaking of meetings, LCCC met on July 11 at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton, MI. It was at our usual time from 4pm until 9pm. And the same time will be for July 25. 

Your scribe missed a post due to some health issues (noting serious, but a broken fingertip does make it more difficult to type. HINT: When setting brick pavers with a big rubber sledgehammer, remember to look before striking and move fingers out of the way before striking the paver. 

Good thing to know.

Out July 11 meeting was successful and fun. We had 12 players for the evening for casual chess. Hope to see you all on July 25.

Now for the story of a fine gentleman and an excellent chess player. But chess was just one of his talents for which he excelled! I will let him introduce himself!

"I am Sir George A. Thomas. I was born on June 14, 1881, in Constantinople. I starred at chess as a young boy but had very limited opportunities for practice or play. We lived in a small provincial town with no strong players. So I concentrated more on tennis, badminton and hockey in my youth.

I never played in a serious chess tournament until 1905. But I won the City of London Chess Club Championship 12 times, the first time being in 1907. I also won the British Championship in 1923.

Chess was my 'what might have been' career, but owing my fondness of other games probably stood in my way. I have captained English teams for three different games; chess, badminton and lawn tennis. Badminton was my best game as I have won over 300 first prizes in open tournaments."

What he did not mention is that he won the British Championship again in 1934 and represented England in the Chess Olympiads of 1927, 1930, 1931, 1935, 1937 and 1939, and scored an impressive 80% in the matches!

In international tournaments his greatest successes were 1st at Spa (ahead of Tartakower) and =1st at Hastings 1934/5 (tied with Euwe and Flohr, ahead of Capablanca and Botvinnik).

During his career he has beaten Capablanca, Botvinnik (in consecutive rounds at Hastings 1934-35), Flohr and and drawn with Nimzowitsch, Rubinstein and Capablanca. He been noted for his sportsmanship and for his interest in and encouragement of young players.

He was the author of the book, The Art of Badminton, in 1923.

He died on the 23rd of July in 1972 in a London nursing home.

LCCC Meeting This Monday, June 20, 2022, 4pm until 9pm. See You There!

 Your humble scribe apologizes for the lack of an article here. Summer brings on other things to do.

A family golf tournament, outside landscaping home improvements, and then a hand injury setting patio bricks into leveling media with a BIG rubber mallet. 

Tips of fingers don't like being mashed into bricks apparently. And the doctor also educated your scribe that continuing to use a fractured fingertip for 6 more hours, instead of immediately icing it, does increase pain and swelling. Who knew?

Typing is a little difficult right now, but something will be posted for next time. 

See you Monday night at BWW! 

LCCC Meets Again June 6, 2022 - And Rubinstein - Part II

 LCCC Meets Again June 6, 2022, at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton, Michigan, located in the Green Oaks Shopping Plaza. We start at 4pm and go until 9 or 10pm. It is just casual chess so feel free to stop by for a game or two....or three.

Now for Part II on the special but tragic life of Akiba Rubinstein:

Among the millions who fell victim to the Great War (World War I) was Akiba Rubinstein's (left) chess genius. The post-war Grandmaster was not the same chess hero of 1914, and who was to contest Lasker for the World Chess Championship soon. 

Rubinstein lost that supreme confidence in himself that is the necessary ingredient in all champions of any endeavor. He suffered now from an inferiority complex, deeming himself of being non-essential to the world. He no longer felt deserving of being a participant in the great chess tournaments after WW1. He even stated he felt unwelcome. He had always been modest, shy, retiring and self-degrading of his own talents, but now it was to the point of being a mental abnormality. More on that later.

There is little doubt that Rubinstein has added more to chess theory and technique than any Grandmaster at this time in history since Steinitz. The standard defense he developed to the Ruy Lopez opening is still in use today, banishing several variations for White to the sidelines for grandmaster play.

In the Queen's Gambit Declined, it was Rubinstein who perfected the fianchetto for the King's bishop against the Tarrasch Defense that gave him resounding victories over Lasker (1909) and Capablanca (1911).

He made improvements to opening theory for both sides of the board in many Queen Pawn openings, the Blumenfeld Counter-Attack, and the Sicilian Defense. 

In the opinion of many of the great chess players of this time, only Capablanca was playing at a greater level of perfection when Rubinstein was at his peak. But where Capablanca improved the theory of others to new levels of excellence, Rubinstein was creating new theory. Current GM's site that most modern openings today started with Rubinstein.

And Rubinstein's genius did not stop at the opening or the middle game. World Champion Emanuel Lasker said that Rubinstein played every move looking at the endgame. And it was debated then, as it still is today by chess snobs, as to who was the greatest endgame player at that time - Rubinstein or Capablanca? 

Dr. Jacques Hannak, who wrote books on both Lasker and Rubinstein stated in the 1920's that after WWI, "Rubinstein's character is too noble for the rough and tumble life. So concerned about his opponent being distracted, that as a matter of principle, Rubinstein would leave the board while his opponent thought. He would only return after his opponent moved. Naturally, with all that time lost for his own study of the game, caused Rubinstein a stunning number of upset losses."

Actually, this was the start of the end for Akiba Rubinstein, the chess player. In 1932, he withdrew from tournament play siting severe anthropophobia. That is a fear of social gatherings. In 1930 and 1931 it was said that Rubinstein would make a move and hide in a corner or behind curtains awaiting his opponent's next move.

Rubinstein stayed in Poland during WWI. There is no solid history as to where or how Akiba Rubinstein (a Jew) survived during WWII during the 1940's. Most believe he spent it in a sanatorium in Belgium. It is alleged that when the Nazis arrived there, they asked Rubinstein if he would like to work for the Nazis and help them with their war effort. The story is, Rubinstein rose from his bed, stood at attention and said, "I would be delighted to." The officer in charge stated, "He must really be crazy," and they left him there.

It is believed that schizophrenia took over Rubinstein's mind because of or during WW1, making Akiba Rubinstein one of the greatest chess players never becoming the World Chess Champion. He spent the last 29 years of his life either at the homes of family members or in sanatoriums.

LCCC Meeting Monday, May 16 from 4 to 9pm. BWW in Brighton, MI - and GM Rubinstein

Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW)for those of you not in the know of our acronym world. See you there.

We are averaging 12 players an evening, so come on by for some casual chess or lessons if you prefer.

Now this is a second article your humble scribe has posted about Grandmaster Akiba Rubinstein (left). He had an eventful and tragic life. There is an excellent search bar on this site in the upper left corner if you wish to read that article and look at a game or two of his. 

Now on with GM Rubinstein's story:

Born December 12, 1882 in Stawiski - a ghetto in Russian-Poland. For generations, his ancestors had been rabbis and scholars of the Hebrew classics, but not ones to chase wealth or even middle class.

A few weeks before his birth, his father died, leaving behind a wife and TWELVE children! Akiba was moved to live with his grandparents, and they raised him and started his education to become a teacher of the Talmud and a full student of Hebrew, as his father and his father before him. And that is all Akiba wanted to do.

But at age sixteen, by chance he saw two children playing chess and was fascinated immediately. He found the only chess book in Hebrew at the time and devoured it. His grandparents mourned Akiba's new love.

At 19 Rubinstein learned that in the nearby town of Lodz, George Salwe lived. A chess champion who had crossed swords with the great Tschigorin. He left immediately for Lodz to see how he would fare. But even given rook odds, he was no match for Salwe. He was told by that local chess club that being a chess professional was out of his reach. No one had any faith in Rubinstein's chess ability, but Rubinstein.

Akiba returned to Lotz six months later and asked to play George Salwe again. Salwe said fine and Rubenstein won! The leaders of the chess club huddled together, and a 10-game match was agreed to take place between Salwe and Rubenstein.

The first match ended 5 to 5. A second match of 8 games was quickly agreed to, and Rubinstein won it with a 5 to 3 score! A new champion was crowned!

A year later in 1905, Rubinstien went to Kiev, Russia to play with the grandmasters of the day and he finished 5th. He had arrived as a chess player. He went then to Germany to play in that Championship and finished 3rd. In four years, he went from losing with rook odds to a grandmaster, to becoming one!

Next at Ostend, Belgium he finished 3rd over 36 entrants behind only Schlechter and Maroczy ahead, and Bernstein, Teichman, Marshall and Janowsky behind him!

The next year at Ostend he tied for 1st with Bernstein and at Karlsbad he won his first clear 1st! He now was mentioned in the same breath with Capablanca, Niemzowitch, Spielmann, Tarkakower and Vidmar. In St. Petersburg in 1909 he tied for first with the world champion Lasker while actually going 1-0-1 in their games in the round robin tournament.

Then in 1912, Rubinstein won five tournaments, all untied. A feat no grandmaster has done before or since. 

Inexplicably, in 1914 Rubinstein had a horrible tournament in St. Petersburgh. But none the less, a world championship match between Lasker and Rubinstein was scheduled.

Then, World War I broke out.

More next time. 

PS: The next meeting for LCCC at BWW will be on June 6th, as we skip the Memorial Day weekend.

LCCC Meeting Monday May 2, 2022 from 4 pm until 9pm

 

The CLUB will be meeting this Monday at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton, Michigan located in the Green Oak Shopping Mall. It is off of Lee Rd and US-23.

The time will be from 4pm until 9pm. It is free and players of all ages, strengths and experience are welcome. So are people who would love to learn the game. Lessons are also free. Stop on by.

Our more life seasoned members of the LCCC participated in the Michigan Senior Open.

Charlie S. (Top photo) finished 2nd in the Under 1400 division, with Jeff Solski and Paul Mills (bottom photo) finishing tied for 4th.

In the vaulted Open division, Don Mason and James Karkos finished tied for 11th.

Well done all of you and please send your humble scribe your best games for posting.

Hope to see you all at the BWW tomorrow!

 

LCCC Meeting at BWW in Brighton on Easter Monday - 2022 from 4pm - 9pm

Sorry for the late post and the actual lack of a post. No time to research an article. Sometimes life has the nerve to interfere with chess blogging. The HORROR!

Anyway, we are meeting this Monday for casual chess. Be there even if you have a full stomach from your Easter ham or turkey dinner. Chicken wings still taste good!

Here are the actual standings from the 2022 LCCC Fischer Random Tournament:

1st - Vince V

2nd - Paul M

3rd - Ken T, Pete B, Sam T, Mike N

7th - Jeff s, Jim G 

9th - Leo B

10th - AJ, Charlie S, Frank F, Levi T, Mary B

It was four rounds of fun. Even though my opponents cheated ...by playing better than I did! 

Hope to see you all tomorrow!

LCCC Meeting in Spite of NCAA Basketball 2022 Final - Vince V Wins the 2022 Fischer Random Club Title

2022 Fischer Random Club Chess Champion Vince V., giving a chess lesson to an aspiring Grandmaster at our old location.

We will be at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton MI at the Green Oak Shopping Center until they need tables for college basketball slappies.

[Ed. Note: Slappie - noun - A person who is an un-apologetic fan of a team or activity. Sentence: "He plays golf even in a cold rain because he is a golf slappie." Or, "He sure slaps it up for the fill in Team Name here."] 

Not positive, but I think the term started because you will see these types of folks 'high fiving' each other every time their team does anything positive. Wolverine football slappies actually pop Dom Perignon champaign corks, after high fiving for every 1st down. Spartan slappies, high five, then add to or change their tobacco chaw every time they see the Sparty mascot. But I digress.

Anyway, us chess slappies (we slap chess clock buttons) will start casual chess night at 4pm and run until 9pm or so. Stop on by!

Now a word about our 2022 Fischer Random Club Chess Champion Vince V. He used what is known in chess circles as the Swiss Gambit to win this tournament. That, and some fine chess playing. 

He took a bye in the first round getting him a half point. 

What this does, is it USUALLY gets you slightly lower ranked players for the rest of the rounds. You never have to play an undefeated player until the very last round, because you are not undefeated. Then, if you win that last round, you catapult over the top of the undefeated player by that sneaky half point.

 It works, unless there is another undefeated player that also won the last round, or you lose the last round. 

There wasn't and Vince didn't. Congratulations Vince!

Two Great Players You Never Heard Of - and LCCC Random 960 Final Monday!

 

LCCC will be back at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Brighton, MI this coming Monday March 21, 2022 from 4pm until 10pm. Stop by for some chess! There will be players available for a casual game.

But our Fischer Random 960 Tournament final round will also be played. Here are the final pairings. The first player listed is playing the White pieces;

Board 1 – Paul M – Vince V

Board 2 – Sam T – Pete B

Board 3 – Mike N – Ken T

Board 4 – Jeff S – AJ E

Board 5 – Jim G – Leo B

Board 6 – Frank F – Levi T

Board 7 – Mary B – Charlie S

Thank you to all the participants!

Now a little remembrance article. I like to call out great chess players that faded away from even most of even the most ardent chess players. And there are many of them. Here are just two.

About 188 years ago was the last match between two of the best players of their era – Louis de Bourdonnais of France and Alexander MacDonnell of Ireland. Their matches were a rivalry of styles and of countries. Each nation behind their guy completely.

In all, there were six individual matches over a span of less than 6 months in 1834. 85 games in all. MacDonnell has a variation of the King’s Gambit named after him as he introduced it in these matches.

Match 1: Louis de Bourdonnais 16      MacDonnell 5          Drawn 4

Match 2: Louis de Bourdonnais 4          MacDonnell 5         Drawn 0

Match 3: Louis de Bourdonnais 6        MacDonnell 5          Drawn  1

Match 4: Louis de Bourdonnais   8       MacDonnell 3          Drawn  7

Match 5: Louis de Bourdonnais   7        MacDonnell 4          Drawn  4

Match 6: Louis de Bourdonnais   4          MacDonnell 5          Drawn  0

The sixth match was not completed as MacDonnell was hospitalized with kidney disease and he died. How much the health of the frail MacDonnell played in his losses is open for debate. But both men were considered the two best at that time.

Many impartial chess experts said that MacDonnell was starting to turn the tide in their rivalry, even with his declining health. But posterity seems it was justifiable to heap most of the praise on de Bourdonnais, and that really cannot be argued with the results given.

MacDonnell was buried in London’s Kensal Green Cemetery. When Louis de Bourdonnais died penniless 6 years later in 1840, leading chess players made arrangements for him to be buried near his rival.

If you get a chance to, play over some of the games between them. Two men, the best at their craft at that time, playing mostly for the love of the game.

LCCC Meets This Monday - 960 Tournament Continues - And Meet the 14th Chess World Champion!

 

Come on by the Buffalo Wild Wings, in Brighton, Michigan for chess! Casual chess will still be played this Monday, March 7, starting at 4pm until approximately 10pm. However, we also have a Fischer Random 960 tournament going on! It will start at 6:30pm or earlier, if the players are there and want to get started. Or a little later if folks can’t make exactly at 6:30. Our club is very player friendly! Here are the pairings for Round 3. The player listed first is playing the White pieces:

Board 1: Mike N – Paul M

Board 2: Ken T – Levi T

Board 3: Sam T- AJ E

Board 4: Pete B – Jeff S

Board 5: Vince V – Mary B

Board 6: Frank F – Leo B

Board 7: Jim G – Charlie S

Stop on by to play or to watch the action!

Now meet the 14^th Chess World Champion!

Alexander Valerievich Khalifman (see photo) was born on January 18, 1966, in Leningrad. Khalifman is of Jewish descent. When he was six years old, his father taught him the game. From there, he became the FIDE World Chess Champion from 1999-2000.

Khalifman studied in the mathematics and mechanics department at Leningrad State University. He served in the Russian army. He is married and has a daughter.

His first trainer was Vassily Byvshev. Later he worked for many years with a Honored Trainer of the Russian Federation, Gennady Nesis. Alexander achieved his first major successes in youth chess. He was the two-time junior champion of the USSR (1982, 1984) and junior champion of Europe in 1985. Among the titles he has won in official competitions are: two-time champion of Saint Petersburg in 1996-97, champion of Russia in 1996, member of the winning Russian world championship team in 1997, and a member of the winning Olympiad teams in 1992, 2000, and 2002.

He achieved the title of International Master in 1986 and became a Grandmaster in 1990. His highest FIDE rating was 2702 (October 2001, January 2003, April 2003). His current FIDE rating is 2625.

He was a participant in the Candidates’ matches in 1994. He has been the victor or a prizewinner in many international tournaments, among them Plovdiv 1986 (3), Dordrecht 1988 (1), Moscow 1990 (1), Groningen 1990 (1), New York Open 1990 (1), London 1991 (1), Ter Apel 1993 (1), Rakvere 1993 (1), Elenite 1994 (1), St. Petersburg 1995 (1), Hastings 1995 (1), Bad Worishofen 1996 (1), Ischia 1996 (1), St. Petersburg 1997 (1), Aarhus 1997 (1), Hoogoven 2000 (1), Kazan 2005 (1) (sharing first place in the premier league of the Russian championship) and others.

His greatest success was his victory in the FIDE World Championship in Las Vegas (USA) in 1999, a tournament in which practically all of the strongest players in the world participated, with the exception of Kasparov and Anand. The tournament was conducted by the knockout system.  After winning the title of FIDE World Champion the Petersburg grandmaster admitted, “I always knew that someday I would be first!”

Alexander Khalifman is a famous chess theoretician and writer. He is the author of the popular series of opening books, “The Opening for White According to Anand” (analysis of the move 1. e4, in 12 volumes) and “The Opening for White According to Kramnik” (analysis of the move 1. Nf3, in 3 volumes), which have also been translated into English.

He is the co-author, with G. Nesis, of the books “Tactics in the Grunfeld Defense” and “Tactics in the French Defense“. He has written numerous columns, which have been published in practically all the leading chess periodicals of the world.

 Below Khalifman is interviewed for a Russian chess magazine.

 To promote children’s chess – what applied skills of chess education do you consider the most significant?

Chess is fairly unique for the precise reason that it teaches you to think. Most subjects taught in school only weigh your memory down with information, without giving you the skills of independent mental work. Even the solution of physical or mathematical problems most of the time can be reduced to one standard algorithm or another.

But chess teaches you to think, and not only that, does it in a playful form that is very natural for children. And at the same time, it brings you face to face with a very concrete result.

Your most memorable game?

Now I have to talk about missed opportunities after all. I was 20 years old, and several rounds before the end of the USSR Championship (Kiev, 1986) I played a good game and had a simple win against the respected GM Vitaly Valerievich Tseshkovsky. If I had won, I would have moved into first place. Alas, I lost the game, and after that I fell apart at the finish. You would think that was all long ago, but it still bothers me to this day.

Tell us, please, about your most memorable victory and most painful loss!

The most painful loss was against Tseshkovsky (USSR Championship, 1986), and the most memorable victory was my draw in the 6th game of the match with Akopian (Las Vegas, 1999). For several days after the defeat against Tseshkovsky I would even wake up, as in “Groundhog Day”, hoping that it was only a bad dream, and today I would play the game as it ought to be played. Unfortunately, it was not a dream… But after the game with Akopian, such a feeling cannot be described. I was happy that this happened to me.”

Is your style more tactical than positional? How would you assess your style of play in chess (brilliant tactician, strategist, attacker, defender, etc.)?

My style is more universal than either of the categories you just named. The absence of even the smallest apparent talent always forced me to play off my opponent, in other words, to play in that style that would be most uncomfortable for that particular opponent in that particular game. That’s difficult work, of course, but at times it didn’t work out badly. I tried to be a universal player and act in a fashion that would be maximally uncomfortable for the concrete opponent.

After this victory, did you consider yourself an equal classical champion in the line beginning with Steinitz-Lasker- … up to Kasparov, or did you somewhere in your heart of hearts understand that it wasn’t so? [Ed. Note: Brutal question. The interviewer is asking, ‘do you rightfully consider yourself the weakest World Champion of all time, or are you lying to yourself?’]

Thank you for your undoubtedly good intentions, but it never even came into my head to consider myself the equal of Steinitz. He defeated Zukertort, but I had to master Kamsky, Gelfand, and Polgar. Now compare. In my perhaps uneducated opinion, a world chess champion should prove his superiority not only over one outstanding challenger, but over others who are, perhaps, equally outstanding.

I do not idealize the knockout system and I do not even have any thought of considering myself a great chess player, but nevertheless the ideal system for awarding the world championship has not yet been invented. [Ed. Note: An absolutely beautiful answer to a boorish question.]

Whose games, among the former world champions, created the strongest impression on you?

You can learn something from all of them, but if I had to choose the absolute favorites, it would probably be Fischer and Tal.