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Interactive E-Magazine Volume 2 • Issue 5 September/October 2011

Albert Einstein Arrested Chess Players and Chess Prison

The Geography of Chess and HOW CHESS SPREAD ACROSS THE NATIONS

Chess Chess Tournaments

Isaac Asimov and Chess White Review Chess E-Magazine

Table of Contents

contents EDITORIAL- “My Move” 3

4 ARTICLE- and Chess INTERACTIVE CONTENT FEATURE- Chess in Prison 8

ARTICLE- Arrested Chess Players 11 ______• Click on title in Table of Contents HUMOR- How to Annoy Your Opponent 16 to move directly to page.

NEWS - Chess News around the World 17 • Click on “White Knight Review” on the top of each HISTORY- Chess Tournaments 18 page to return to Table of Contents. ARTICLE- Isaac Isimov and Chess 23 • Click on red type to continue to next page FEATURE- The Geography of Chess 24 • Click on ads to go to their websites BOOK REVIEW-“Beyond Deep Blue: 28 • Click on email to Chess in the Stratosphere” open by Monty Newborn up email program • Click up URLs to ANNOTATED GAME -Robert McGuire – 29 go to Tibor Weinberger websites.

COMMENTARY- “Ask Bill” 31

September-October 2011 White Knight Review September/October 2011

My Move [email protected] editorial -Jerry Wall The great thing about chess is that anybody can play it. From the very young to the elderly, from the very poor to the affluent. It crosses race barriers, economical status, and even intellectual acuity. It can be White Knight enjoyed at any level and in just about any place you can set up a board. In Review this issue we explore the realm of chess by those Chess E-Magazine who are incarcerated in prison. Their bodies are behind bars but they are free to challenge one another intellectually. They are still free to think Executive Editor/Writer and chess is a great way to exercise their minds, Bill Wall plan strategy and just have plain fun. Prisoners [email protected] have a lot of time on their hands and what better way of spending it than in working at being prolific at the game. Many have done just so in Publisher /Editor/ Creative spite of their circumstances. Director We also have a small article on Isaac Asimov, Gerald Wall who enjoyed playing chess. He was my favorite [email protected] science fiction writer and when I was a kid I wrote him and was surprised that he took the time to write back. He was considered one of the world’s Production/ Marketing smartest men and yet discovered he was terrible Steve Wall at chess. He realized it was not based on [email protected] intelligence but on years of studying patterns and hard work. Yes anybody can play chess and enjoy it but to be really good at it is another story. It is For Subscription not how smart you or where you are but how [email protected] dedicated and how hard you work at it. Whether from a prison cell or table one at a top tournament, chess is the rightful persuit of all For Advertising Rates people. [email protected]

Jerry Wall © 2011 Editor All Rights Reserved. Let us know what you think of the magazine. Perhaps you have Unauthorized reproduction, some suggestions for future articles or have other comments. in any manner is prohibited Let us know and drop me a line at: without expressed permission [email protected] from the Author or Editor.

www.offthewallchess.com

3 White Knight Review September/October 2011 Feature

By Bill Wall

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was teaching post. Someone helped from schizophrenia. born at Ulm in Wurttemberg, him get a job at the Swiss Patent , on March 14, 1879. The Office as an assistant examiner. In 1914 he moved to as a family moved to in 1880. professor at the local university He may have first played chess He married Mileva in 1903. In and became a member of the in Munich. In 1936, he did tell 1904 his first son, Hans Albert, Prussian Academy of Sciences. a reporter that he played chess was born. He also served as director of as a boy. He grew up in Munich, the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of but left at age 15 when his In 1905, at the age of 25, he . parents moved to in 1894. received his doctorate after His parents then sent him to submitting his dissertation "On a In 1915 he presented a series of to finish secondary new determination of molecular lectures on the theory of general school, which he completed in dimensions." That same year relativity. 1896. Einstein found competitive he wrote articles on Brownian activities traumatic, so he was motion, the photoelectric effect, In 1919 he divorced Mileva and not so fond of chess, special relativity, and energy married his first cousin, Elsa equivalency. The paper on the Einstein. At age 43, she was 3 In 1896 he renounced his photoelectric effect later won years older than him (he was now German citizenship and enrolled him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 40). in a Swiss technical school. 1921. He graduated with a teaching In 1921 he won the Nobel Prize diploma in 1900 and became a In 1908, Dr. Einstein was licensed in Physics for his work on the Swiss citizen in 1901. in Berne, Switzerland as a teacher photoelectric effect. and lecturer. In 1910, he second In 1902 he had an illegitimate son, Eduard, was born. In 1927, Einstein first met daughter (Lieserl) with Mileva (1868-1941) Maric (1875-1948), a Serbian In 1910, Einstein’s second son, at the home of Alexander classmate and mathematician. Eduard, was born in Zurich. He Moszkowski (1851-1934) in Berlin Einstein could not find a died in 1965 in a psychiatric and they became good friends. sanatorium in Zurich, suffering Lasker was world chess champion 4 Continue White Knight Review September/October 2011 from 1894 through 1921 with a said, "I do not play any games. age of 76. PhD in mathematics. Einstein There is no time for it. When I took many walks with Lasker. get through work I don't want Many of Einstein’s friends anything which requires the and acquaintances were chess In 1928 Einstein wrote to Dr. working of the mind." Einstein players, including Emanuel Lasker, congratulating preferred playing the violin and (1902-1984), Arthur Eddington him on his 60th birthday, calling sailing. Einstein did say he played (1882-1944), Enrico Fermi Lasker a Renaissance (1901-1954), Fritz Haber man. However, Lasker (1868-1934), Werner said he had only met Heisenberg (1901-1976), one genius in his life, “Einstein was an amateur chess Lise Meitner (1878- and that was Jose 1968), Patrick Moore, Capablanca. player. He played chess with his Robert Oppenheimer neighbors and friends. He always had (1904-1967), Max Planck In 1930 Einstein (1858-1947), Isidor Rabi received a patent for a a set up ...” (1898-1996), Erwin new type of refrigerator. Schroedinger (1887- 1961), Leo Szilard (1898- In 1931 a pamphlet was 1964), (1908-2003) written called One Hundred chess as a boy. Authors Against Einstein. One of In 1937, Einstein's second wife, Einstein was a good friend of the authors was Emanuel Lasker Elsa, died. Dr. Emanuel Lasker (1868-1941). because Lasker did not believe Lasker thought Einstein's theory the theory of relativity. In 1938, Paul Nemenyi, a of relativity was wrong and that Jewish Hungarian scientist, the speed of light was limited came into power in fled to America and headed to due to particles in space. Lasker 1933 and there was a nationalist Princeton to consult with Albert did not think there was a perfect hatred of Einstein, accusing him Einstein. He found vacuum. of creating "Jewish physics." a job working for Einstein then fled Germany and Einstein's son, Einstein knew was given permanent residence Hans Albert, at in the . He accepted the University of (1885-1981). On a position at the Institute for Iowa's hydrology one occasion, Advanced Study in Princeton, lab. There are Edward Lasker New . He was 54 years old strong indications visited Einstein when he first arrived in the USA. that Nemenyi is the at Princeton The director of the Institute was biological father and gave him an Dr. Robert Oppenheimer (1904- of . autographed copy 1967). Emanuel Lasker also fled He met Bobby of his book Go and Berlin about the same time that Fischer's mother, Gomoku, written Einstein left. Both of their homes Regina, in 1942, at in 1934. Einstein, were ransacked by the Nazis. the University of in return, gave Colorado. Edward Lasker an Einstein was an amateur chess autographed copy player. He played chess with his In 1939 Einstein of one of his papers neighbors and friends. He always met Dr. Edward on relativity. The had a chessboard set up at home Teller. Teller was an book given to at 112 Mercer Street in Princeton, avid chess player, but there is no Einstein later showed up in a New Jersey. He was probably indication they played chess. used bookstore. When most active in chess in the late someone told Edward Lasker 1920s and early 1930s. He became an American citizen about this, Lasker replied, "That's in October 1940, at the age of In 1934 Einstein visited friends all right. I left his relativity paper 61. He also maintained his Swiss on the subway." and relaxed with a game of citizenship. chess. When he met children, he Einstein thanked Edward Lasker asked them if they liked music In 1947, a movie was made for his book, but then asked, or could they play chess. He called The Beginning or the "You are obviously an intelligent would occasionally teach a child End. There is a scene in which man; clearly a great deal of work the basics of chess, then tell that a group of scientists go to the went into this book. But why for child to practice, then would play home of Albert Einstein (played such a trivial and unimportant that child a game of chess the by Ludwig Stossel). Einstein is topic?" Edward Lasker replied, "A next time they met. seated by the fireplace with a friend of mine recently said the chessboard and men on the coffee following, and I must say I In October, 1936 Einstein was table. interviewed by the New York agree with it: 'We are born Times. In that interview, he and we die, and in between He died on April 18, 1955 at the these two events of a 5 Continue White Knight Review September/October 2011 lifetime, there is a lot of time that introduction by Dr. Albert must be wasted. Now, whether it Einstein. Barnie Winkelman is wasted by doing mathematics, translated the book from German practicing law, or playing games, to English, but a paper shortage CHESS it is really quite insignificant.'" prevented an English version to Ed Lasker was quoting Clarence be printed. QUOTE Darrow. In 1951 Einstein met a Go from In 1955, the English version of and told the interpreter that he Einstein’s preface was published (Einstein) did not know much in the May 1955 issue of Chess about Go. Review in an article called ‘Einstein Einstein is on Lasker.’ “When you see quoted as Einstein had saying that died in April. a good move, "chess grips its exponent, ______shackling the look for a mind and In 1959, brain so that Heinrich the inner Fraenkel’s better one.” freedom and (1897-1986) independence English of even the version was • Emanuel Lasker strongest published character in London, cannot remain called unaffected." Emanuel Lasker: Einstein also The Life said, "I always of a Chess http://www.chessquotes.com dislike the fierce competitive Master. spirit embodied in [chess]." Fraenkel’s version differs from Winkelman’s version. In 1952, Dr. Jacques Hannak (1892-1973) published a biography of Emanuel Here is Fraenkel’s version of Einstein’s preface for his book Lasker, called Emanuel Lasker Biographie eines “Emanuel Lasker: The Life of a Chess Master” Schachweltmeisters. It was published in Berlin. The book “Emanuel Lasker was undoubt- well in the course of many walks in featured a Preface (Geleitwort) by edly one of the most interesting which we exchanged opinions about Albert Einstein, who wrote it in people I came to know in my later the most varied questions. It was a Princeton, New Jersey in October years. We must be thankful to those somewhat one-sided , in 1952. Hannak originally who have penned the story of his which I received more that I gave. intended the publication of the life for this and succeeding genera- For it was usually more natural book in 1938 for Lasker’s 70th tions. For there are few men who for this eminently productive man birthday, but it was delayed. have had a warm interest in all the to shape his own thoughts than to In 1942, Hannak completed great human problems and at the busy himself with those of another. the biography of Lasker and same time kept their personality so To my mind, there was a tragic sent the German manuscript to uniquely independent. note in his personality, despite his Barnie Winkelman (1874-1978) I am not a chess expert and fundamentally affirmative attitude for translation to English. It therefore not in a position to marvel towards life. The enormous psycho- was Winkelman who wrote to Einstein and asked for a preface. at the force of mind revealed in his logical tension, without which no- Einstein wrote back and asked greatest intellectual achievement body can be a chess master, was so for a few days to prepare a - in the field of chess. I must even deeply interwoven with chess that fitting foreword to the book. confess that the struggle for power he could never entirely rid himself Within a week, Einstein wrote and the competitive spirit expressed of the spirit of the game, even when the foreword in German and in the form of an ingenious game he was occupied with philosophic sent it to Winkelman, which he have always been repugnant to me. and human problems. At the same translated into English. I met Emanuel Lasker at the time, it seemed to me that chess was more a profession for him than the In 1944, the book was supposed house of my old friend, Alexander to be published, with an Moszkowski, and came to know him real goal of his life. His real yearn- ing seems to be directed towards 6 Continue White Knight Review September/October 2011

Albert Einstein & Chess scientific understanding and the ian knot. Lasker's attempted solu- beauty inherent only in logical tion was based on the following creation, a beauty so enchanting idea: "Nobody has any immediate that nobody who has once caught a knowledge of how quickly light is glimpse of it can ever escape it. transmitted in a complete vacuum, Spinoza's material existence for even in interstellar space there is and independence were based on always a minimal quantity of mat- the grinding of lenses; chess had an ter present under all circumstances analogous role in Lasker's life. But and what holds there is even more Spinoza was granted a better fate, applicable to the most complete because his occupation left his mind vacuum created by man to the best of his ability. Therefore, who has the free and untroubled, while, on the Here is a game attributed to other hand, the chess playing of a right to deny that its velocity in a really complete vacuum is infinite?" Albert Einstein. The game was master ties him to the game, fetters first published in Freude am his mind and shapes it to a certain To answer this argument can be Schach (The Pleasure of Chess) extent so that his expressed as follows: "It by Gerhard Henschel in 1959. internal freedom is, to be sure, true that and ease, no mat- nobody has experimen- Albert Einstein - ter how strong he tal knowledge of how J. Robert Oppenheimer, is, must inevitably light is transmitted in a Princeton 1933 be affected. In our complete vacuum. But conversations and it is as good as impos- 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 in the reading of his sible to formulate a b5 5.Bb3 Nf6 6.O-O Nxe4 7.Re1 philosophical books, reasonable theory of d5 8.a4?! [8.d3] b4?! [8...Bc5] I always had that light according to which 9.d3 Nc5?! [9...Nf6] 10.Nxe5 feeling. Of these the velocity of light is Ne7 11.Qf3 [threatening 12.Qxf7 books, "The Philoso- affected by minimal mate] f6? [11...Be6] 12.Qh5+! phy of the Unat- traces of matter which g6 13.Nxg6! hxg6 [13...Rg8 tainable" interested is very significant but at 14.Nxe7+ Kd7 15.Qxd5+ Ke8 me the most; the the same time virtually 16.Qxg8] 14.Qxh8 Nxb3 15.cxb3 book is not only very original, but independent of their density." Be- Qd6? [15...Kf7] 16.Bh6 Kd7 it also affords a deep insight into fore such a theory, which moreover, 17.Bxf8 Bb7 18.Qg7 Re8 19.Nd2 Lasker's entire personality. must harmonize with the known c5 20.Rad1 [or 20.Re2] a5 21.Nc4! Now I must justify myself be- phenomena of optics in an almost dxc4 [21...Qc7 22.Bxe7] 22.dxc4 cause I never considered in detail, complete vacuum, can be set up, it Qxd1 23.Rxd1+ Kc8 24.Bxe7 1-0 either in writing or in our conver- seems that every must wait sations, Emanuel Lasker's critical for the solution of the above-men- Some (Dennis Holding and Andy essay on the theory of relativity. It tioned Gordian knot - if he is not Soltis) have attributed the above is indeed necessary for me to say satisfied with the present solution. game to Albert Einstein's son, Hans something about it here because Moral: a strong mind cannot take Albert Einstein (1904-1973), and even in his biography, which is fo- place of delicate fingers. played at Berkeley in 1945 where cused on the purely human aspects, But I liked Lasker's immovable Hans taught. But Hans Albert did not play chess. There is no indication the passage which discusses the es- independence, a rare human at- that Oppenheimer was in Berkeley say contains something resembling tribute, in which respect almost in 1945. He was either at Los Ala- a slight reproach. Lasker's keen all, including intelligent people, are mos, New or Princeton, New analytical mind had immediately mediocrities. And so I let matters Jersey in 1945. He was at Berkeley clearly recognized that the central stand that way. from 1929 to 1933. point of the whole question is that I am glad that the reader will be Andy Soltis, writing in the July, the velocity of light (in a vacuum) 1979 issue of on page 372 able to get to know this strong and, in an article called "Science at Play" is a constant. It was evident to him at the same time, find and lovable that, if this constancy were admit- says this game was apparently played personality from his sympathetic in the late 1940s when Hans Albert ted, the relative of time could not biography, but I am thankful for be avoided. So what was there to Einstein, son of Albert Einstein, and the hours of conversation which Robert Oppenheimer were both on do? He tried to do what Alexander, this ever striving, independent, the faculty at the University of Cali- whom historians have dubbed "the fornia at Berkeley. Great," did when he cut the Gord- simple man granted me.”

7 White Knight Review September/October 2011

by Bill Wall o prison in the U.S. is more famous than two years. Honorary editor was George Koltanowski. Sing Sing Correctional Facility in In 1957, George Koltanowski gave a simultaneous Ossining, New York. Other than Alca- exhibition at San Quentin prison. He played 107 traz, Sing Sing is probably the best known prisoners, winning 103, losing 1, and drawing 3. In maximum security prison in the United 2003, Earl Smith, the chaplain at San Quentin State NStates. Unlike Alcatraz, Sing Sing is still in use with Prison, played a chess match with Charles Manson. about 2,000 prisoners and opened in 1826, One of the Not sure who the winner was. Recently, eight activities at Sing Sing is chess. In 1913, a chess col- members of the Bank of America chess team have umn appeared in a monthly magazine, Star of Hope, been going to San Quentin to play the inmates in a written by inmates at Sing Sing State prison in New team match. The team is led through the gym to a York. Inmates have been known to play chess in the sitting area of tables and chairs overlooking the gym yard in near-zero weather, just to get out of their cells below. Usually, the San Quentin inmates beat the since they are locked up 21 hours a day. Some of the visiting teams, so they are pretty good. They beat the inmates are playing chess by correspondence through Bank of America team with 7 wins and 1 loss. the prison pen pals system. Some of the inmates make a from used toothpaste caps and squares of Rikers Island is ’s main jail complex. paper as pieces. They call out their chess moves to Many of the street hustlers in chess around new York other inmates in the cell . Prolific robber Willie have served time at Rikers Island. One chess hustler, Sutton was sent to Sing Sing and played chess there. In Bobby Plummer, said he learned how to play chess his autobiography, he stated that he found a half-dozen in 1965 on Rikers Island, where he did a six-month inmates who were enthusiastic players at Sing Sing. stretch for riding in a stolen car. Some volunteers do When he was caught in 1952, he was reading How to Think Ahead in Chess by Horowitz and Reinfeld.

At San Quentin prison just north of San Francisco, prisoners can take part in 12 different sporting activities, including chess. In 1955, San Quentin State Prison in California organized a and edited a , Chess Nuts, that lasted for

8 Continue White Knight Review September/October 2011 a community service inside Rikers Island, teaching USA. He had manipulated the U.S. Chess Federation chess to inmates. However, some of the inmates are (USCF) rating system that was prone to “closed pool” better than the teachers. ratings inflation. In the early 1960s, the State Correctional Institute of Pittsburgh From 1972 through 1974, a pilot study was done had a strong chess club called the Walled on the prison chess program at the Powhatan Knights. Members of the Pittsburgh Chess Club used Correctional Center in Virginia. The official news to regularly play matches against the Walled Knights. release said “The purpose of the current prison chess In 1972, a prisoner failed to return to Western Peniten- program is to build a statistical base which can be tiary from a chess match at Carnegie-Mellon Univer- used to demonstrate the value of chess in reducing sity in Pittsburgh. A week later, a second prisoner recidivism and thereby reducing crime!” There were escaped after a at Carnegie-Mellon. 44 prisoners who took part in the chess program. The warden remarked, “I’m afraid we won’t be invited When they were released, only 10 returned to prison back to the university if this keeps up.” Pittsburgh after several years, a rate of 22.7% compared to 70% Chess Club member Bobby among all prisoners in state Dudley visited the prison custody in Virginia. several times and donated many chess books, magazines The U.S. Chess Federation and equipment. By 1985, the (USCF) gave free memberships Pittsburgh Chess Club prison and affiliations to prisoners visit program was no more. through its prison chess In , the Philadel- program until 1979, when phia Industrial Correctional they suspended the 200 free Center (PICC) offers school- memberships. The USCF ing and various elective does have a special discount activities for inmates under for USCF memberships for 18. One of those activities is prisoners. At one time, they chess. had a Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas is a federal program for prison inmates. The USCF Patron prison with a maximum-security military prison four Program helps support prison chess with chess sets, miles north. From 1903 to 2005, it was the largest books, and supplies. maximum security federal prison in the United States. It is now a medium security prison. Occasionally, Sometimes there is violence while playing chess the federal prison has allowed guest chess masters to in prison. In January 1979, Patrick McKenna, a give lectures and play simultaneous exhibitions. In prisoner in Nevada, strangled his Las Vegas cellmate, the 1960s, Carl Flood, brother of baseball player curt Jack J. Nobles, after an argument over a chess game. Flood, was the prison champion at Leavenworth. The McKenna has been on death row in Nevada since chess master Norman Whitaker spent some time at 1979. In 2010, a chess game between inmates at the Leavenworth in the early 1930s.. Robert Stroud, the Indian River County Jail in Florida led to a fight. birdman of Alcatraz, spent some time at Leavenworth Christopher Brown was playing chess with another and played chess. inmate in the cell block when Christopher O’Neal, who was watching the game, commented about the In 1969, Claude Bloodgood (1937-2001) was sent to game on the other inmate’s behalf. Brown told O’Neal prison in Virginia for murdering his mother. He had to shut up, but O’Neal ignored him and continued to already been in and out of prison since 1962. From discuss the ongoing chess game. The two then got prison, he organized the Virginia Penitentiary Chess into a fight. It took several detention deputies to break Program (VAPEN) and played thousands of chess up the flight. games by mail and thousands of games with inmates. At one time, the prison system paid for his postage In the early 1980s, I participated with several other stamps, so he was able to play as members of the Dayton Chess Club in Ohio in many as 2,000 correspondence matches at the London Correctional Facility in Ohio. games at a time (including me at We would sign in, take everything out of our pockets, one time). In 1974, he escaped and go through the metal detector. We were escorted after receiving a furlough to play by guards and go through several metal doors that in a chess tournament. We was closed behind you. recaptured a few days later. While in prison, he played rated chess In 2001, Christopher Newton murdered his cellmate, matches with fellow prisoners. Jason Brewer, over a game of chess in a Ohio prison. By 1996, his rating was 2702, the Brewer would resign his chess game against Newton second-highest rated player in the every time a was lost or the position looked Continue 9 White Knight Review September/October 2011

bad. Newton tried to tell him not to give up and play pictures will accompanying Princeton in their annual the game out, but Brewer refused. After a month chess match with inmates at New Jersey State Prison. of playing chess and Brewer always resigning early without playing out the game, Newton finally had In 2006, the first Bulgarian national chess enough and strangled Brewer. tournament for prisoners was held and won by the Varna Prison inmates. The winners were awarded William Montgomery is an Ohio death row with television sets and sports equipment. Inmates prisoner. His hobby is chess. from all the prisons asked the Bulgarian Justice Minister if he could cut a few months off their James Schroeder was Ohio chess champion of sentences if they win a first place in the tournament. 1950 and 1985. He founded and continues to operate The minister said he would consider it. The Prison Chess Fund that purchases chess books and magazines and chess sets for prisoners. Many masters and grandmasters give simultaneous exhibitions in prison. In 1960, Bobby Fischer, age 17 There have been many people who learned chess and US chess champion, gave a simultaneous chess while in prison. In 1988, The Grass Arena, the exhibition at Rikers Island prison. He defeated all 20 autobiography of John Healy, was published. It was prisoners while 2,400 inmates watched the game. In the autobiography of an alcoholic vagrant who found November 1996, Grandmaster gave redemption in prison through chess. He learned a simultaneous chess exhibition at a state prison near the game of chess from a fellow cellmate while at Pittsburgh. He had just won the U.S. championship. Pentonville Prison in London. He Yermolinsky played 20 games, winning 17, recently wrote a new book, Coffee losing 2, and drawing 1.In 2007, former House Chess Tactics. world chess champion gave a at the Krasnoyarsk In 2002, ABC News Nightline prison in . He repeated the exhibition featured a profile of Eugene Brown, in 2009. Jude Acers (1944- ), a chess who learned chess in prison. When master from , has given over 100 he got out he opened up a youth chess simultaneous exhibitions in prisons recreation center in Washington throughout the years. D.C., called the Chess House, and made his living by teaching chess. He In 2008, two of ’s worst killers, is Founder and CEO of The Big Chair Zeesham ‘Crazy’ Shahid and Jamie ‘Baldy’ Chess Club, a non-profit organization Bain, played chess in solitary confinement as that teaches chess to inner-city they shout out moves to each other as they children and adults. play on separate cells. In September 1996, Heidi Fleiss, Every prison in California allows chess sets, famous Hollywood madam, was sent to federal prison. but many chess clubs have been eliminated due She spent the time in prison playing chess with some to political interest groups. The state prison at of the other inmates. She was released from prison in Soledad, California has a chess program and solicits 1998. chess instruction tapes. These chess instruction tapes are then broadcasted to three prison facilities Sometimes chess is prohibited in prison. In simultaneously over thousands of TV sets by the 2001, the Oregon Department of Prisons prohibited prison’s video system. chess books and magazines in the prisons because it “contained code throughout.” I guess they thought In Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Chess that algebraic notation was secret code. In 2003, an Association (MACA) has a fairly active chess outreach inmate in Utah was prohibited from subscribing to to prisons program. Their charter designated the a chess magazine because he was under “intensive MACA to initiate, promote, and develop chess management.” activities within the correctional institutions of Massachusetts and other states, including Since 2002, the Princeton University Chess Club the development of chess clubs, tournaments, had had an annual match with the New Jersey and instructional program, the of maximum security prison. The New Jersey State correspondence play, and the coordination of visits Prison has 75 members and over 1,000 inmates of the by chess teams to these prisons. There is even a 2,320 inmate population know how to play chess. Benjamin Landey-Emil Reubens Memorial fund In 2008-2009, Oliver Fluck, a photographer, started to procure chess equipment, supplies, and other taking pictures of inmates playing chess. His series materials in support of prison chess activities. Prisoner Chess Portraits captures the image of an There are at least 40 prisons nationwide that inmate while playing chess. He took most of the have chess clubs affiliated with the USCF.

10 White Knight Review September/October 2011 Arrested Chess Players

by Bill Wall

In 1624, playwright Thomas if she won again. She again won live. The woman survived. His Middleton (1580-1627) was and asked that her husband’s life book, American Chess Nuts, was arrested in London after be spared. Thomas Paine then was published in 1868. producing a play, A Game of released from prison. Chess, that satirized the proposed In 1875, Albert Ensor was marriage of Prince Charles with In 1832, Alexandre Deschapelles arrested for counterfeiting in New a Spanish . The play was (1780-1847) was arrested for being York. In 1873, he was the first performed in the Globe Theater involved in the French insurrection Canadian Chess Championship. in London. Its nine performances of June 1832. He was released after He was later arrested in Germany was the greatest box-office hit writing to the that he was too for gambling, of early modern London. After old, too infirm, and innocent. and in Middleton’s arrest, the play was for forgery. censored and was not allowed to be In 1862, chess player Armand shown again. Blackmar (1826-1888) was In 1879, arrested and imprisoned by American In 1794, Thomas Paine (1737- Union soldiers in for chess player 1809), author of The Rights of publishing Confederate music. and journalist Man and Common Sense, was James arrested in for favoring the In 1864, George Mackenzie Mortimer exile of King Louis (1837-1891), a former Captain in (1833-1911) XVI rather than the Union army, was arrested for was arrested for refusing to reveal his execution. desertion from the Union army. the author of an allegedly libelous Paine was He was released in May, 1865, article. Once inside prison, he scheduled and moved to New York and taught his fellow inmates how to to be started playing chess. By 1867, play chess. guillotined, he was U.S. chess champion. but his wife In the 19th century chess master In 1866, William Henry Russ Joseph Blackburne was arrested intervened (1833-1866), or W.R. Henry as in a strange as a French spy for sending chess he was known, shot his adopted moves in the mail. The British way. She daughter four times in the head frequented the government thought they were after he proposed marriage when coded secrets. Café de la Regence she turned 21, and she rejected where Robespierre frequented and him. He then jumped into a river defeated him in a game of chess. Some sources say that William to drown himself, but the tide was Steinitz was arrested in New York Robespierre challenged her again out. He was arrested, but died and promised to grant any wish or New Jersey after someone in the 10 days later, lacking the will to telegraph company thought that Continue 11 White Knight Review September/October 2011 ARRESTED CHESS PL AYERS allied troops in 1945. In 1950, a chess player in his chess moves being sent over there. Vancouver, British Columbia, was telegraph was code. arrested for assault after cutting his In 1936, Pyotr Izmailov (1906- chess opponent in the arm with a In 1914, all the Russian chess 1937) was arrested and sentenced knife after he lost a chess game. masters were arrested at the to death in the , Mannheim, Germany Congress accused of plotting to assassinate In March 1952, was when broke out. Stalin. He was executed in April, arrested and imprisoned for 16 The arrested players included 1937. In 1928, he was the first months in a and champion of the Russian Republic. Hungarian Bogoljubow. Alekhine was concentration released after 6 In 1937, chess problemist Mikhail camp for trying weeks. Platov was arrested in Russia after to escape from making a derogatory remark about East Berlin and In 1918, chess Stalin. He was shipped off to the defect to the master Ossip Gulag in Siberia and died within a West. He was Bernstein year. accused of being (1882-1962), an American an advisor to In 1937, Nikolai Krylenko (1885- spy. When they rich bankers 1938), Chairman of the Chess searched his apartment, they found in Russia, Section of the Supreme Council mail devoted to his postal chess was arrested for Physical Culture of the Russian games. The police assumed that by the secret Federal Republic, was arrested in the notation was secret code, and Bolshevik police and ordered Russia and later executed on orders they demanded to know how to executed by a firing squad. An from Stalin. One of the charges break the code. officer reviewing the list of those to against him was that he had be shot recognized Bernstein as the retarded the development of chess In 1952, famous bank robber famous chess master and spared in the Soviet Union. Willie Sutton (1901-1980) was his life. arrested by the FBI. At the time, In 1940, the Germans arrested Sutton was reading How to Think In 1921, British chess master all the chess players that were Ahead in Chess by I.A. Horowitz. William Winter (1898-1955) was meeting at the Warsaw Chess arrested and imprisoned for 6 Club (Kwiecinski Chess Café), In 1960, a U.S. sailor was arrested months for sedition. He was an which was banned earlier by in New York for murder after he active member of the Communist the Germans. The were all got in a fight with a spectator who Party. taken to a concentration camp criticized his chess game. The (Danilowicowskia) and were later sailor struck the spectator with a In 1932, chess master Norman killed in a mass execution. This broken beer bottle, which struck Tweed Whitaker (1890-1975) was included Polish masters Dawid his jugular vein. The sailor was arrested for attempted extortion Przepiorka, Achilles Frydmann, eventually acquitted of murder and in a scheme to $104,000 Stanislaw Kohn, and Moishe was charged with accidental death from a wealthy heiress by claiming Lowtzky. instead. to be in contact with the Lindbergh kidnappers. Earlier in his life, In September 1940, In 1962, Theodore Smith was he was convicted of several other arrested for murder after stabbing crimes, including auto theft, Menahem Begin (1913- to death chess master Abe Turner sending morphine through the (1924-1962) at the office of Chess mail, and sexual molestation of a 1992) was playing magazine. Smith stabbed minor. He served time in Alcatraz Turner 9 times in the back, then and was a friend of Al Capone with his wife when he was arrested at home by stuffed his 280 pound body in a Russian troops (NKVD). At the safe. Smith had been recently time, he was an active member of released from an insane asylum the Zionist movement. and claimed that Turner was a Communist spy and had to be In 1943, Austrian master Ladslaus killed on orders from the U.S. Dory was arrested for sedition by Secret Service. the Nazis and sentenced to death. He was released from prison by In 1964, chess master Raymond

12 Continue White Knight Review September/October 2011 Weinstein was arrested for murder after he killed an 83-year old man ARRESTED CHESS PL AYERS in a nursing home with a razor. He was judged mentally ill and was In May 1981, The young man agreed. They confined to Ward’s Island for the Bobby Fischer played for 20 more minutes and mentally ill. (1943-2008) the young fellow paid his money. was arrested As soon as Flom put the money In August 1969, Grandmaster in Pasadena, in his pocket, four NYPD officers Ludek Pachman (1924-2003) California approached him, slapped him in was arrested and imprisoned because he handcuffs and read him his rights. for his political activities in matched the He was arrested for promoting . He was charged description of a man who had just gambling in the second degree of defaming a representative of the committed a bank robbery in that and for possession of a gambling Republic and supporting Dubcek. area. He was held for two days, device, his chess set. He was jailed He was sent to Ruzyn Prison on then released on $1,000 bail. for 3 days, his medication was the outskirts of Prague. He was confiscated, and he had a heart later charged with subversion and In 1982, and his wife attack. Five years later, he received up to 10 years imprisonment. He were arrested for protesting at the a $1 million settlement in a false was released in December, 1970, in Moscow. arrest suit against New York City but was banned from chess in They were trying to immigrate to as the judge ruled that a chess Czechoslovakia. In 1972 he moved . game was not “gambling” since to Germany so he could play chess. it was a game of skill rather than In 1987, Grandmaster Tony Miles chance and the chess board was not In 1970, chess (1955-2001) was arrested at 10 “gambling equipment.” player and Downing Street in London after organizer trying to get in after midnight In 1992, Robert Bryan of Claude to talk to British Prime Minister shot Matthew Hay over a chess Bloodgood Margaret Thatcher about payments game. Bryan had ‘had enough’ (1937-2001) owed to him by the British Chess after losing to Hay and was jailed was arrested Federation. He was eventually for 10 years after admitting and sentenced hospitalized for two months from a attempting to murder Mr. Hay by to death mental breakdown. shooting him in the neck with a for killing shotgun. his stepmother. His death In 1988, International Master sentence was commuted to life James Sherwin In 1992, police in New Rochelle, imprisonment in 1972. was arrested NY arrested a player who refused on stock to put away a chess board and In 1971, Trevor Stowe, a chess manipulation pieces at a library. Louis Taylor, antique dealer, was charged in charges. The 41, was reading a chess book and court in London for indecent appeals court set up his own chess pieces and exhibition on display in his overturned the board in the library. A librarian window. Each of the 32 pieces guilty verdict told him to put his game away. showed couples in sexual positions. in 1991 and he When he refused, the police were Stowe had to pay $132 in fines and was released. The U.S. Attorney called, who cuffed Taylor and court costs. who prosecuted Sherwin was Rudi charged him with trespassing. Giuliani, who spent over a million In 1973, police arrested a chess dollars prosecuting the case. From 1992 to 2006, Alexander tournament director in Pichushkin (1974- ) went and confiscated the chess sets on In 1989, the LAPD vice officers on a killing spree in Moscow. charges of allowing gambling (cash arrested three men at a chess Pichushkin claimed he killed 63 prizes to winners) and possession tournament, citing them for people (48 confirmed) and his aim of gambling devices (the chess sets). gambling after finding $1.50 on the was to kill 64 people, one for each table. square on a chessboard. In January 1979, Patrick McKenna, a prisoner in Nevada, In 1991, Arkady Flom, a 64-year- strangled his Las Vegas cellmate, old grandfather was arrested in Jack J. Nobles, after an argument Manhattan after a young man sat over a chess game. McKenna has down to play chess with him in been on death row in Nevada since the park. The young man played 1979. so poorly that Flom would give him pointers in exchange for $2. Continue 13 White Knight Review September/October 2011 Maxim Dlugy was arrested ARRESTED CHESS PL AYERS in Moscow and charged with attempting to defraud a metals was sentenced from 15 to 30 years plant in Russia of $9 million in In 1993, a chess player in in state prison. bonds. He was transferred to a San Antonio got so mad at a In May 2003, prison in Perm, central Russia. He tournament director for poor faced up to 10 years in prison. All pairings and bad tournament Grandmaster Alex Sherzer, 31, the charges against him were later conditions at a hotel that he tore dropped. down and ripped up all the pairing was arrested in sheets that were posted for the next Mobile, Alabama for allegedly In September 2005, chess master day. The police were called and he Robert Snyder was arrested in Fort was arrested. attempting to solicit sex from a Collins, Colorado on charges of 15-year-old-girl molesting three chess students of In 1994, Martin Wirth of Fort his. Two boys were age 13 and one Collins, Colorado, shot to death he met on the Internet and who boy was age 12. He later escaped Vernie Cox after the two argued and was featured on America’s over a chess game. Cox died of was living at a juvenile detention center. Most Wanted in 2009. He was later two gunshot wounds to the chest. captured in Witnesses said that Wirth had lost In July 2004, Bobby Fischer after a chess game with Cox, knocked someone over the chess board and some was arrested in Japan, accused of traveling on a revoked American recognized furniture, then began to argue with him from his opponent. Wirth went across passport. He was wanted by the U.S. government on charges the TV the street to his home and returned show. He with a gun and shot Cox to death. of violating a ban to travel to Yugoslavia in 1992, where he went was released In June 1995, to play chess with . from jail Gilberto in 2008 Rodriquez- In 2004, the FIDE vice president, and was Orejuela was Zurab Azmaiparashvili, was supposed to register as a sex arrested in arrested by a group of security offender, but he never did. He Columbia agents during the final ceremonies was featured on America’s Most for illegal of the 36th in Wanted in November, 2009. A importation Calvia, . He was approaching girl had recognized him as a chess of 200 metric the stage to get the attention of teacher in her school in Belize tons of cocaine over the past 10 FIDE President Ilyumzhinov about and notified the authorities. US years. He was known as “the chess some awards that had not been Marshals tracked him down in player.” given out when the security people Belize and arrested him. stepped in front of him. The In 2000, Laurence Douglas of Calvia police said that he hit them, In July 2006, two chess players Puoghkeepsie, New York, stabbed so they arrested him. tried to smuggle cocaine in a Craig Williams to death over a wooden chess set in Trinidad, chess game. Williams had just In March 2005, British but were caught and arrested. beaten Douglas in a chess game International Master Simon The cocaine, which weighed that had a $5 wager. Williams took Webb (1949-2005) was stabbed 6.8 kilograms, was valued at $3 a $5 bill from Douglas after the to death by his son, Dennis, in million. game. Douglas then pulled out after returning home from a knife and stabbed Williams 16 a chess tournament. His son was In 2007, two players got into an times. arrested after he tried to commit argument at the Village Chess suicide by driving his car into a Shop in New York during a chess In 2003, Simon Andrews of Falls building. game. One player was using his Township, Pennsylvania, stabbed piece to knock off the other player’s to death Jerry Kowalski during In 2005, GM Vladimir Akopian piece rather than using the hands a chess game. Authorities said was arrested at Dubai airport to remove a captured piece. One that Andrews was disturbed by having been mistaken for an player than picked up the wooden Kowalski’s constant talking during individual of the same name board and hit the other player in their chess games. Andrews wanted by Interpol for murder. the mouth, which drew blood. then pulled a knife from under The police were called. The player a sofa-bed mattress and stabbed In April 2005, Grandmaster and that was hit was pressing criminal Kowalski in the neck. Andrews former World Champion charges and vowed to sue. Continue 14 White Knight Review September/October 2011

In April 2007, ARRESTED CHESS PL AYERS was among 170 Michael Steward while playing computer fraud people arrested a game of chess at the rooming and aggravated during an anti- house where they both lived. identity theft Kremlin rally in He was sentenced to up to 10 in stealing Moscow. He was years in prison for involuntary email messages freed several hours manslaughter. Christian choked between later (some sources say he was in Steward to death USCF board prison for 5 days) after being fined members. $40 for public order offenses. In July 2010, In January 2008, Zachary Lucov Oakland school board member was playing chess with Dennis Jumoke Hinton Hodge was Klien in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, arrested when she refused to stop when a scuffle broke out. Lucov playing chess at the intersection of pulled out a gun and Klein was Broadway and 14th Streets. shot in the elbow. Lucov was arrested for aggravated assault and In February 2009, a man killed a In November, 2010, seven players reckless endangerment. friend with a sword after a chess were arrested for playing chess in game in Alameda, California. a playground in Inwood Hill Park, In 2008, a man was arrested by An argument broke out during New York. The chess tables in the Boston police on a warrant of their game, and the two started park were off limits to adults if receiving stolen property. He was wrestling. Joseph Groom not accompanied by a child. The supposed to have been running retreated to his bedroom and charges were finally dismissed in an extracurricular chess program returned with a sword, which he April, 2011. for elementary school students, used to stab Kelly Kjersem once. charging $63.50 per student, but it Kjersem later died. In June 2011, a chess coach was a scam. for a junior chess team in Port In July 2009, Gregory Alexander, Elizabeth, South was In October 2008, David Christian an assistant to GM Susan Polgar, arrested in connection with of Iowa City got in a fight with was arrested in San Francisco for child pornography charges.

Mobile Chess? Move In Motion

15 HUMOR White Knight Review September/October 2011 How to Annoy Your Opponent

I think it was my ex-coach Bill Lombardy who said, “In hasty moves so as not to appear a slowpoke. Wall Bill by chess, winning isn’t everything. It is the only thing!” As you When you exchange pieces, always put one of your know, chessplayers cannot stand losing a game of chess. opponent’s pawn or piece on your lap or hidden in your Therefore, it is quite necessary to know how to win easily other hand. If your opponent likes to compare the pieces without just mastering the difficult task of playing good that have been exchanged, he will think he is winning and chess. The art of annoying your opponent is a must for those ease up a bit. If you are a piece up, roll the extra piece in who do not have the time nor patience of playing master your hands or toss it up in the air a few times. Let your op- chess. And that’s most of us. ponent know he is an exchange down and there is no hope for him. Find an extra from another board and have The easiest and most common form of annoying your it nearby, indicating you may soon queen a pawn. opponent is talking. There are several methods that can be adopted to disturb your opponent so as to distract him from For the musically inclined, humming is a favorite nui- making a good move. One method is to talk directly to your sance. Aggressive players can go into a full song accompa- opponent, pointing out his bad moves and letting him know nied by the gestures of a conductor. Bringing a radio along his position is hopeless. By the time he complains to the and occasionally turning it on during critical times of the tournament director, his position will be game works. If your opponent is a sports fan, hopeless. And, of course, you deny ever tune in to some important sports event. talking to him. Tell the tournament direc- tor it was him doing all the talking. When smoking is allowed, it is best to get the foulest, blackest cigars or pipes. A If your opponent is about to make a lot of smoke towards your opponent not good move despite your efforts to talk to only obscures the position of the board, but him directly, then yell out “touch move” causes your opponent to choke and become just before he moves his piece. Of course blind from the smoke in his eyes. he will deny ever touching anything. An argument will result, upsetting your opponent so much that A method popular among grandmasters for annoying he will have forgotten his original plan or think the almost an opponent is to stare directly and deliberately at your touched piece was a losing move and make a weaker move opponent. Let your opponent know he is being watched instead. and stared at. Of course, if your opponent starts staring back at you during your move, carry a pair of sunglasses Another effective method is to talk to spectators about with you and slip them on. The mirror reflection type is best your opponent and perhaps start ugly rumors about him just in case your opponent or his guru is trying to hypnotize (“He has AIDS. He voted for Clinton”). People will soon be you. staring at your opponent, will start to snicker and point at him. This will make your opponent very uncomfortable and When you think you have a good position, rock your will take his mind off of chess. If that doesn’t work, discuss chair back and forth, smile victoriously, and let everyone your opponent’s playing ability or talk about his hygiene know you have a won position. Your opponent will lose that habits. This will your opponent into the discussion much more quickly even if he doesn’t see any threat. with an argument and he will have forgotten all about his game. With the help of a friend, you can plan on taking pic- tures of the game. Make sure a bright flash can be pro- Another common method is to talk to yourself. Talking duced. Just before your opponent reaches to make a move, to God or praying out loud are other variations. Mumbling your friend flashes the camera and blinds your opponent and even laughing at your opponent’s moves and getting temporarily. He then touches the wrong piece which he friends to laugh, also, will surely distract him from making must move as there are not only witnesses but a picture of it strong moves. with a second snapshot.

Other methods of disturbances are to cough, sneeze, If you are so lucky, have a big-breasted gorgeous and blow your nose loudly during the game. Spread lots of blonde sit by you or on your lap. He won’t be concentrat- germs and let your opponent know that you may have some ing on mating with his chess pieces for long. It helps if she awful disease. If he thinks your disease is contagious, he will has lots of perfume, wears tight clothes, and leans over the leave the board often, unable to concentrate on the game. board alot. Have lots of used tissue paper from blowing your nose on your side of the board. There is just one more kind of annoyance worth men- tioning. Of all the annoyances to an opponent you can If your opponent is slow in moving, drum and tap your make, this is the most devestating of all. Although it is very fingers on the table. Act very impatient. You should heave a infrequent in occurrence and almost entirely accidental, it sigh, then yawn; look at the or your watch often; is the most annoying and upsetting disturbance known and finally, groan. Your opponent will be induced to make to chess. It is called making a strong move!

16 White Knight Review September/October 2011 Chess News Chess News Around the World Biel – In July, World #1 player won Los Angeles – From August 17-21, GM Michael the Biel Grandmaster tournament, followed by Alex- Adams of England won the 1st Metropolitan Chess ander Morozevich, Maxime Vachier0Lagrave, Alexei International in Los Angeles. Shirov, Fabiano Caruana, and Yannick Pelletier. Los Angeles – The 51st Pacific Southwest Open took Caen, France – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave,a ge 20, playce on July2-4, 2011 in Los Angeles. Andranik won the 2011 French Chess Championship in August. Matikozian, Roman Yankovsky, and John Bryant all He won the French championship in 2007 at age 16. tied for 1st place. In 2009, he won the World Junior Championship. He is currently tanked #22 in the world. Moscow – won the rapid seniors Bot- vinnik Memorial in Suzdal, near Moscow. The event – the World University Games was held in marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of former Shenzhen, China from August 12-23. The chess tour- world champion . nament for top university player was won by . Moscow - PeterSvidler won the 64th Russian Cham- China – won the World Tam Championship pionship for the 6th time. The event was played in in Ningbo, China, followed by China, , Rus- Moscow. And held in August, 2011. sia, , and USA. Philadelphia – Gata Kamsky won the 39th World – Russian grandmaster Igor Kurnosov won Open, held in Philadelphia from June 28 through the 2011 Politiken Cup in Hels- July 4. He beat Michael Adams of ingor, Denmark, held July 30 to s around th England in a play-off as both scored 7 August 7. Over 20 grandmasters ew e points out of 9 in the event. N wo participated. ss r e ld Rostov – In August 2011, Women’s h Dortmund – In July, Vladimir C World Champion won Kramnik won the 39th Dort- the 1st Women’s Grand Prix of the

mund Invitational, followed by 2011/12 series.

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a n r u England – Michael Adams won o Russia the 98th British Chess Champi- onship in Sheffield. Saint Louis – Former world cham- pion Anatoly Karpov will play in the upcoming Kings – The 50th World Junior Chess Championships and Queens tournament, scheduled in St. Louis on took place from August 1-16 in Chennai, India. The September 9-16. Also participating will be Hikaru boy’s title went to Dariusz Swiercz of on tie- Nakamura, Ben Finegold, Jacek Stopa, and Marc Ar- break from Robert Hovhannisyan of Armenia. The nold. For the women, it will be Judit Polgar, Kateryna girl’s title went to Cori T Desi of . Lahno, Anna Zatonskih, Alexandra Kosteniuk, and Irina Krush. Khanty-Mansiysk – The 2011 FIDE World Chess Cup knockout event is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk, – English Grandmaster Russia from August 28 through September 20, 2011. won the 2011 Commonwealth Chess Championship, It started out with 128 players. As of today, only 8 held in Ekurhuleni, South Africa from June 25 to July players left: Judit Polgar, , Ruslan Pono- 3. mariov, , Vassily Ivanchuk, Teimour Radjabov, David Navara, and . Toronto – The 48th Canadian Open took place from The top three players will advance to the Candidates July 9-17. , Dejan Bojkov, and Walter stage. Arencibia tied for 1st place.

17 White Knight Review September/October 2011 History

By Bill Wall A chess tournament is a series of chess tournament was held in London. It chess games played competitively to de- took place during The Great Exhibition termine a winning individual (or team for of Art and Industry and was a 16-player team tournaments). Chess tournaments knockout elimination match-tournament. are the standard form of chess competi- The tournament was held at St. George’s tion among serious players. Chess Club, Polytechnic Building, Caven- dish Square. It was won by Adolf Anders- sen(1818-1879) of Germany (), In September 1467, the first who became regarded as the world’s known chess tournament of Middle Eu- best chess player, until he was beaten rope was held in , Germany. in a match by (1837-1884) in 1858. 2nd place went to Marmaduke In 1575, a chess tournament was Wyville (1815-1896). The tournament held at the Royal Court in Madrid. It was In 1843, the first documented was organized by . a series of matches arranged by King Phil- American chess tournament was held in lip II. The winner was Giovanni Leonardo New York. Di bona da Cutri (1542-1597). In January 1849, there was a In January 1841, the first mod- 12-player knockout elimination chess ern chess tournament, in the sense of tournament held at Samuel Ries’ Chess a structured competition, was in Leeds, Divan in the Strand in London. The England. It was the first time that the tournament was won by Henry Thomas word “tournament” was used as a chess Buckle (1821-1862), followed by George term. Medley (1826-1898) and John R. Medley. The 12 competitors were paired by lot. Ludwig In 1843, The 6 players winning two out of three Bledow (1795-1846) (not including draws) were declared was the first person In June 1851, there was a one the victors of the First Section of the to suggest an interna- day knockout chess tournament held in tournament. The 6 winners were then tional tournament. He with 38 players. The winner paired off by lot to form three matches. intended the winner of was Maartin Van’t Kruijs (1813-1885). The three winners then played a match the proposed tourna- between themselves to determine the ment, to be held in From June 6, 1851 to July winner. Trier, Germany (the oldest city in Ger- 15, 1851, a “London Provincial many, founded before 16 BC), should be From May 5, 1851 to July Tournament” was organized for British recognized as the world champion. players not strong enough for the Inter- 15, 1851, the first international national Tournament . The winner was 18 Continue White Knight Review September/October 2011 Samuel Boden (1826-1882), followed by Chess Congress was held in New York. It replayed. Charles Ranken (1828-1905). was the first American chess tournament to determine the national champion. It In 1868-69, Joseph Henry Black- From July was won by Paul Morphy. The top 16 burne won the 2nd British Chess Associa- 28, 1851 to players in the country took place in the tion Challenge Cup. Drawn games, which August 8, Major tournament. William Horner won did not count, were replayed. 1851, a club tour- the 16-player Minor tournament. nament was held in In Janu- London. The winner In August 1858, Loewenthal ary 1869, the was Adolf Anders- won the 2nd British Chess Association largest round sen. (BCA) Congress, held in Birmingham, robin tournament England. Falkbeer took 2nd place. 12 was held in New In January 1853, the first players participated. York. There were unofficial Berlin Chess Championship 48 players who was won by Jean Dufresne (1829-1893) In 1858, Carl Hamppe won the faced each other followed by Max Lange(1832-1899) and , championship. twice, making it 94 Karl Mayet (1810-1868). There were 12 rounds. The win- Ignatz Kolisch won the players in the event. In 1860, ner was George 3rd British Chess Association Congress, Mackenzie with 82 wins and 8 losses. In 1855, a chess tournament was held in Cambridge, England. held at Kling’s Coffee House in London. In 1870, won a Louis Paulsen won the 4th The winner was Adolf Zytogorski (1807- In 1861, 10-player tournament in Baden-Baden, British Chess Association Congress, held 1882) in this 8-player event. Germany. in Bristol, England. In January-February 1856, In 1870, John Wisker won the 3rd a tournament was held at the McDonnell In 1861, won the British Chess Association Congress, after Vienna, Austria championship. Chess Club in London. The event was a play-off with . won by Ernst Falkbeer (1819-1885) in this the first study-composing 12-player event. In 1862, In 1870, won the chess tournament was organized by Jo- 1st Austrian Chess Federation Congress. In 1856, a knockout tournament hann Lowenthal and won by Horwitz. It was a double round robin with 14 play- was held in Berlin. The winner was Her- ers. It was the first tournament in the 1862 to July 5, Balduin Wolff (1819-1907) in this From June 13, Austro-Hungarian empire, held in . 1862, the first major round-robin (every 8-player event. competitor plays against every other In 1871, Arthur Skipworth won the In August 1857, the first British competitor) chess tournament was held 3rd British Chess Association Challenge Chess Association (BCA) Congress was in London. The 14-player event was won Cub in Malvern, England. held in . The winner was by Adolf Anderssen with a score of 12 Johann Jacob Loewen- out of 13. All drawn games had to be In December 1871, the 2nd thal (1810-1876) in replayed until there was a winner. American Chess the 8-person major Congress was Wilhelm Steinitz won section. Loewenthal In 1865, held in Cleve- a 5-player round robin tournament in was supposed to play land. George Dublin, Ireland. Boden in the final Mackenzie won the 9-player round, but after the Cecil De Vere won the first game was drawn, In 1866, event. Drawn first British Chess Association Challenge games, which Boden was unable to Cup, held in London. remain in Manchester, and conceded the did not count, prize to Loewenthal. First prize was a set were replayed. It was the first round- In 1866, George Mackenzie won a robin tournament in the United States. of Chinese carved ivory chessmen. John chess tournament held in New York. Owens (1827-1901) won the 16-player In 1872, Wilhelm Steinitz won the minor section. The first place prize was a In June 1867, Ignatz Kolisch won set of Staunton chessmen made of wood. 2nd British Chess Federation Congress, a 13-player international tournament in held in London. There were 8 players. Paris. He was presented with a Sevres From October 5, 1857 to Drawn games, which did not count, were vase by and 5,000 francs. replayed. November 10, 1857, the First American Kolisch later gave up chess tournament play, became a banker for the Rothsh- In 1873, Steinitz beat Blackburne childs, and a millionaire that could spon- in a play-off game at Vienna. There were sor chess tournaments. 12 players. Each player played a match for the best of 3 games vs. the other In 1867, Gusev Neumann won a players. 10-player round robin tournament in Dundee, Scotland. It was the first time In 1873, B.W. Gifford won the 1st that drawn games were counted and Chess Federation tourna- worth ½ point and did not have to be ment, held in The Hague. Continue 19 White Knight Review September/October 2011

In 1874, the 3rd American Chess the England Counties’ Chess Associa- double-headed chess clocks were used. Congress was held n . George tion tournament. MacDonnell At the same time, a minor tournament, Mackenzie won this 8-player event. withdrew from the tournament unless called the Vizayanagaram Tournament, the Mephisto player was identified. was won by . In 1874, A. De Lelie won the 2nd Netherlands Chess Federation tourna- In 1879, defeated In 1883, the first International ment after a play-off. Semyon Alapin in a play-off to win the Problem Tournament for Ladies was held, Best Russian Players tournament in Saint and won by Frideswide Beechey. In 1875, Pietro Seni won the 1st Petersburg. Italian National tournament in Rome. In 1884, the first Scottish champi- In 1879, Berthold Englisch won the onship was held in Glasgow. The winner In 1875, George Jackson won the 1st German Federation tournament, held was John Crum. 3rd Canadian championship, held in Ot- in . tawa. In 1884, the first international In January 1880, the 5th correspondence chess tournament was In 1876, James was held in organized by the French chess magazine, Mason won the 4th New York. George Mackenzie won the La Strategie. American Chess play-off against James Grundy in the Congress, held in major section. The tournament was a In 1884, the first women’s chess Philadelphia. It was an 10-player double round robin. The minor tournament was held, sponsored by the 8-man double round section was won by Nicolai Gedalia. Sussex Chess Association. robin. It was the first tournament to award a In July In 1885, the second brilliancy prize. 1880, the first Scottish championship was international tour- held in Edinburgh. The win- In August 1876, George Mack- nament in Germany ner was Daniel Mills. enzie won the Café International Tourna- was held in Weis- ment in New York. It was a 17-player baden. It was also In 1885, the first Irish double round robin. the first major tour- Chess Association tourna- nament interrupted ment was held in Dublin. In November 1876, James by war (the Franco- The winner was William Mason won the Clipper Tournament in Prussian war). The Pollock. New York. There were 21 players. Draws tournament was the did not count and not replayed. first to introduce In 1885, the first chess clocks. It was British Chess Federation In 1877, Andrei Asharin won the a three-way tie for championship was held in first major tournament in Saint Peters- first between Blackburne, Englisch, and London. The winner was Isidor Guns- burg, Russia. Adolf Schwarz. 16 players participated. berg.

In 1877, Louis Paulsen won a tour- In 1880-1881, Samuel Rosenthal In 1886, the second British Chess nament in Leipzig, Germany. There were won the 1st French National tournament. Federation championship was held in 12 players. There were 7 players in this double London. The winner was Blackburne af- round robin. ter he defeated Amos Burn in a play-off. In 1878, the first intercontinen- tal chess tournament in was In 1881, Joseph Blackbunre won In 1886, the first British Amateur held in Paris. The winner was Johannes the 2nd tour- championship was held in London. The Zukertort after a play-off with Szymon nament. winner was Walter Gattie. Winawer. This was the first tournament that had an and the sealing In 1881, Edward Chamier won the In 1886, the second Irish Chess As- of a move. 2nd French National tournament. sociation tournament was held in Belfast. The winner was William Pollock. In 1878, Mephisto (Gunsberg) won In 1882, an international tour- nament was held in Vienna. The top In 1886, the third Scottish champi- 10 players in the world participated. onship was held in Glasgow. The winner William Steinitz and Winawer tied for was Georges Barbier. 1st place. It was the first time that the top 10 players in the world had met In 1886, the first Bavarian Chess and played in a tournament. It was an Federation tournament was held in Mu- 18-player double round robin. nich. The winner was Hermann Neus- tadtl. In 1883, an international tourna- ment was held in London and won by In 1886, the first New York State Zukertort. It was a 14-player double Association championship was held in round robin. The first two draws did Cooperstown, NY. The winner was Wal- not count and were replayed. The third ter Shipley. draw counted. It was the first time that 20 Continue White Knight Review September/October 2011

In 1887, the second Australian In 1895, the first tournament that Tarrasch. It was the first time that the championship was held in Adelaide. The used the Swiss pairing system has held in title of grandmaster was used. winner was Henry Charlick. Zurich, Switzerland. In 1909, Alexander Alekhine won In 1887, the 3rd British Chess In 1897, the first Women’s Inter- the All-Russian Amateur tournament in Federation Congress was held in London. national chess tournament was held at St. Petersburg. Amos Burn and tied for the Ladies’ Club at Hotel Cecil in London. 1st place. The event was won by Mary Rudge.

In 1887, the 2nd British Amateur In 1897, the first Nordic Congress championship was held in London. The was held in Stockholm. The winner was winner was Charles Locock. Johan Svensson.

In 1888, the In 1899, the second Nordic Con- first United States gress was held in Copenhagen. The win- Chess Association ner was Jorgen Moller. tournament was held in Cincinnati. It was In 1899, an international tour- won by Jackson Show- nament was held in London and won In 1911, an international tourna- alter. The tournament by Emanuel Lasker. It was a 15-player ment at San Sebastian, Spain had 9 of the was a 6-player double double round robin. 10 top players in the world. The event round robin. was won by Jose Capablanca, his first ap- In 1899, the first All-Russia chess pearance in Europe. This was the first in- In 1888, the first international championship was held in Moscow, won ternational tournament that reimbursed correspondence chess tournament was by Chigorin. all the competitors for their travelling organized. and living expenses. In 1899, the first Baltic Chess In 1889, America organized the tournament was held in , . The In 1914, the 19th German Chess 6th American Chess Congress and its winner was Roberts Betins after a play- Federation Championship was held in first international chess tournament, off with Karl Rosenkrantz. Mannheim, Germany. The tournament held in New York. The event was won by was interrupted by World War I. Alekh- Mikhail Chigorin (1850-1908) after a play- In 1900, the first U.S. Open (West- ine was leading 9.5-1.5 before the tour- off with Miksa Weiss. It was a 20-player ern Chess Association) was held in Excel- nament ended. He and the other Russian round robin. Chigorin won 27 games in sior, Minnesota. The winner was Louis became prisoners of war in Germany. this event. MacLeod lost 31 games in Uedemann. There were 20 players. this event, the most losses ever in one In 1924, the first unofficial Chess tournament. In January 1901, Chigorin won Olympiad team tournament took place the 2nd Russian National Tournament in in Paris. In 1890, the 3rd USA Chess As- Moscow. sociation tournament was held in St. In 1925, the first international Louis. The winner was Jackson Whipps In 1901, the second U.S. Open tournament in Germany after World War Showalter. (Western Chess Association) was held in I was held in Baden-Baden. The event Excelsior, Minnesota. The winner was was won by Alexander Alekhine. In 1891, the 4th USA Chess Asso- Nicholas MacLeod. There were 16 play- ciation tournament was held in Lexing- ers. In 1925, the first chess tourna- ton, Kentucky. Showalter beat William ment financed by government funds was Pollock in a play-off to take 1st place. In 1901, held in Moscow. There were 7 players. an internation- al tournament In 1927, the first official Chess In 1895, an international chess was held in Olympiad was held. 16 countries partici- tournament was held in . It Monte Carlo. pated in the event. was one of the strongest tournaments The winner ever held. The event was won by Harry was Dawid Janowski with a score of 10 In 1929, Nelson Pillsbury. The tournament had 22 ¼ out of 13. Drawn games were worth ¼ an interna- world class chess players. The women’s point and were replayed. tional tourna- tournament was won by Lady Thomas. ment was held In 1904, Frank Marshall won the at Carlsbad international tournament at Cambridge with 9 of the Springs, Pennsylvania. top 10 players in the world In 1907, a quadruple round participating. robin elite chess tournament was held The event was in Ostend. It included the top six play- won by Aron ers in the world, except for Lasker. The Nimzovich. event was called the “World Tournament championship.” It was won by Siegbert Continue 21 White Knight Review September/October 2011

In 1933, Dr. Jo- In 1945-1946, the first Pan- School Chess Championship was held in seph Goebbels (1897- American Intercollegiate chess tourna- New York. 1945) banned all ment was played in New York and won Jewish players from by City College of New York. It is the larg- In 1969, Japan held its first na- official chess tourna- est and most prestigious collegiate chess tional chess tournament. ments in Germany. tournament in the Western Hemisphere. In 1970, the first tournament just In 1935-36, In 1946, Mikhail Botvinnik won for chess computers was held in New the USSR Trade Unions chess champion- the first major international chess tour- York City, called the North American ship was held. It had 700,000 entrants, nament after World War II, at Groningen, Championship (NACCC). the larges of any chess tournament. the Netherlands.

In 1936, the strongest tournament In 1947, the first World Correspon- ever held on British soil was played in dence Chess Championship start with Nottingham. Botvinnik and Capablanca 78 players. It was won by Cecil Purdy tied for first place. several years later.

In 1936, the first U.S. champion- In 1948, the first world champion- ship that was played in a tournament ship match-tournament was held and instead of a match was held in New York won by Botvinnik. City and won by . In 1948, the first Interzonal chess tournament was held at Saltsjobaden, Sweden. The event was won by David Bronstein, who survived an assassination attempt on his life in the last round. In 1971, the first Women’s Inter- In 1949, the first USSR correspon- zonal Tournament was held in Ohrid. It dence chess championship started. was won by Tatiana Zatulovskaya.

In 1950, In 1973, Bill Goichberg was the Bronstein and first tournament director to ban smoking Boleslavsky won from chess tournaments. the first Candi- dates tournament In 1974, the first World Computer in , Hun- Chess Championship (WCCC) chess tour- In 1937, an international chess gary. First prize nament was held in Stockholm, Sweden. tournament was held at Jurata, Poland. was $5,000. It was won by Kaissa, a chess program The 22 masters had to play 21 games in created in the USSR. 14 days with no adjournments. In 1952, the first international chess tournament In 1974, China held its first cham- In 1938, the AVRO tournament in restricted to college students was held in pionship chess tournament. the Netherlands had the top 8 players in , England. the world. The event was won by Paul In 1977, Nona Keres and . In 1953, the Zurich/Neuhausen Gaprindashvili became had 9 out the the first woman to win In 1941, the US Chess Federation top 10 players in the world. The event a “men’s” chess tourna- sponsored its first postal tournament, was won by Vassily Smyslov. ment when she tied for won by Louis Persinger. first place at Lone Pine, In 1954, the first official college California. In 1942, the first tournament in student Olympiad chess tournament was the United States that used the Swiss held in Oslo. In 1980, the first international pairing system was the 1942 Texas cham- tournament in China was held. pionship. In 1959, the first ham radio chess tournament was organized. In 1986, the World Open in Phila- In 1946, delphia drew 1,506 players. The winner the first inter- In 1962, Japan held its first inter- was . national chess national chess tournament. tournament after In 1989, an international tourna- World War II was In 1967, the first chess computer ment was held in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. held at Gronin- to play in a chess tournament with hu- 89 grandmasters participated, the most gen, the Neth- mans occurred when MacHack VI from grandmasters in one tournament. This erlands. It was MIT participated in the Massachusetts was the strongest Swiss tournament won by Mikhail Amateur Championship. of all time. The winner was Krunoslav Botvinnik. Hulak. In 1969, the first National High 22 Continue White Knight Review September/October 2011

In 1993, the top 10 players in the world played Isaac Asimov and Chess in an international tourna- Isaac Asimov was born in 1920. In his lifetime, he ment in Linares. The event wrote over 500 books. was won by world cham- One of his first science fiction stories, Nightfall, writ- pion Garry Kasparov. ten in 1941, contains a reference to chess. A multi-chess board was set up and a six-member game was started. In 1968, the Science Fiction Writers of America voted In 1994, Anatoly Karpov won the Nightfall the best science fiction short story ever written. Linares tournament with a performance When the book was expanded into a novel, multi-chess rating of 2899, winning 11 out of 14. had been changed to stochastic chess. His first published novel, Pebble in the Sky, published In 1996, the Las Palmas chess in 1950, propelled a man thousands of years into the fu- tournament was a Category 21 tourna- ture. The only thing that did not change, after thousands ment with an average rating of 2756. of years, was the game of chess. The novel also mentioned variants of chess such as 3-D The six best players in the world partici- chess, and chess played with dice. pated. Five of the six players had been In 1979, Asimov wrote Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts. On page 68, he says, “The world champions. The event was won by number of possible ways of playing just the first four moves on each side in a game Kasparov. of chess is 318,979,564,000.” This may be wrong. The number of possible ways for White to play the first move is 20 (16 pawn moves and 4 knight moves). For the first move with Black, the number is 400. For the 2nd move for white, the number In 2004, the Calvia Olympiad drew of possible moves is 8,902 (5,362 distinct). For the 2nd move for Black, the num- 1,135 players with 250 grandmasters ber of possible moves is 197,281 (71,852 distinct). For the 3rd move for White, the participating. number of possible moves is 4,865,617. For the 3rd move for Black, the number of possible moves is 119,060,679. For the 4th move for White, the number of possible moves is 3,195,913,043. For the 4th move for Black, the number of possible moves is 84,999,425,906. This is smaller than what Asimov says. In 1981, Asimov wrote a science fiction short story called The Perfect Fit. He referred to a 3-dimensional chess game which was a game with 8 stacked upon each other, making the playing area cubic rather than square. He has been quoted as saying, “In life, unlike chess, the game continues after - mate.” In 1990, he wrote an essay for the Los Angeles Times about computer chess vs. hu- man intelligence. In 1994, Isaac Asimov’s last autobiography, I. Asimov: A Memoir, was published. He died in 1992 of AIDS after a blood transfusion during heart surgery. In his chapter titled Games, this is what he said about chess. Failure at physical sports has never bothered me...What bothered me, though, In 2004, the UK Challenge Tourna- was my failure at chess. When I was quite young and had a checkerboard, but no ment had over 71,000 chess players in- chess pieces, I read books on the game and learned the various moves. I then cut out volving 2,000 schools. It was the world’s cardboard squares on which I drew the symbols for the various pieces, and tried to largest chess tournament. play games with myself. Eventually I managed to persuade my father to get me real chessmen. Then I taught my sister the moves and played the game with her. Both of us In 2005, the Supernationals played very clumsily indeed. scholastic chess tournament was held in My brother, Stanley, who watched us play, learned the moves and, eventually, Nashville, Tennessee. There were 5,270 asked if he might play. Ever the indulgent older brother, I said, “Sure,” and prepared junior players competing. to beat the pants off him. The trouble was that in the first game he ever played he beat me. In the years that followed, I discovered that everyone beat me, regardless of race, In 2005, the HB Global Chess Chal- color, or religion. I was simply the most appallingly bad chess player who ever lived, lenge, held in Minneapolis, drew 1,358 and, as time went on, I just stopped playing chess. players and 43 grandmasters. The prize My failure at chess was really distressing. It seemed completely at odds with my fund was $500,000. “smartness,” but I now know (or at least have been told) that great chess players achieve thier results by years and years of studying chess games, by the memoriza- tion of large numbers of complex “combinations.” They don’t see chess as a succession of moves but as a pattern. I know what that means, for I see an essay or a story as a pattern. But these talents are different. Kasparov sees a chess game as a pattern but an essay as a mere collection of words. I see an essay as a pattern and a chess game as a mere collection of moves. So he can play chess and I can write essays and not vice versa. That’s not enough, however. I never thought of comparing myself to grand masters of chess. What bothered me was my inability to beat anyone! The conclusion that I finally came to (right or wrong) was that I was unwilling to study the chessboard and In 2009, the Pearl Spring chess weigh the consequences of each possible move I might make. Even people who couldn’t tournament was held in China. It was a see complex patterns might at least penetrate two or three moves ahead, but not I. I category 21 tournament, with an average moved entirely on impulse, if not at random, and could not make myself do anything rating of 2764, making it the highest else. That meant I would almost certainly lose. tournament ever held. It was won by And again - why? To me, it seems obvious. I was spoiled by my ability to under- Magnus Carlsen. stand instantly, my ability to recall instantly. I expected to see things at once and I refused to accept a situation in which that was not possible.

23 White Knight Review September/October 2011

Chess (the European form) most likely originated in India around 600 AD in the upper basin of the Ganges. It was called in the Sanskrit language. Some historians thank that chess originated in central India. Others place the source in the west of the peninsula. One source thinks it originated in the east of India, perhaps even Ceylon. Chess traveled farther in less time than any other game in history. Chess crossed the border from western India into the adjacent Persian Empire around 700 AD. The game was then called chatrang with little change in the rules. By 800 AD, chess found its way in the in Minor, and was called (sometimes called shitranj).

In 220 AD, Artaxerxes of Persia founded the Empire of the Sassaniads. One of his descendants was Chosroes I, who ruled from 531 to 579. It may be this period that a form of chess was brought from India into Persia. The traditional story is that the Hindu embassy included chess as one of their gifts to the Persian court during the reign of Chosroes. The first unmistakable reference to chess is in Harschacharita (Deeds of Harsa) by the Indian court poet Bana Bhatta (595-655), written between 625 AD and 640 AD. The Harschacharita is the earliest attempt at historical romance in Indian literature. The passage that mentions chess is “only ashtapadas (game 8th century (some sources say that it was written in board) teach the positions of the chaturanga.” 600 AD). This is a story of the exploits of Artaxerxes (Ardashir), the son of Papak, the founder of the No authentic chess pieces earlier than the 7th century Sasanian dynasty, who ruled over Persia from 226 AD AD have been identified. to 241 AD. The name by which chess is designated in this work is chatrang in the Middle Persian (Pahlawi) Chess reached Persia around 625 AD. Chess is language. The passage stated that Artakhshir was mentioned in a Persian romance called the Karnamak skilled in ball-play, horsemanship, chatrang, and (Karnamak-i-Artakshatr-i-Papakan), written in the hunting.

24 Continue White Knight Review September/October 2011 After the Arabian conquest, 638-651, the game was around the 9th century. The Saracens conquered Sicily renamed shatranj, a word which later found its way by 878 AD. An early Sicilian image of chess can be back to India as sitringee, a type of checkered carpet. seen in the Normans’ Palatine Chapel in Palermo, Sicily. Completed in 1140, it shows a painting of two During the reign of Chosroes, a series of writings men in turbans playing chess. was collected. Many items were added in the next three centuries. The collection became the basis for the The first chess pieces known in Europe are the epic poem, Shahnameh (Shahnama – Book of Kings), Mozarab chess pieces, dated at the end of the 9th written by Abu’l-Qasim Mansur Firdawsi (935-1020) century or the beginning of the 10 century. The pieces in 1011. Chess is mentioned in it and referred to as were found in the San Genadio, Leon, Spain and now shatranj. The original chess pieces in India (and kept at the monastery of Santiago de Penalba in Leon, Persia) were red and green (rubies and emeralds). Spain. Fidawsi replaced the description of jewelled chessmen by pieces of ivory and teak (white and black). The earliest known literary account of chess and Firdawasi describes an ambassador from the Raja of the earliest reference to chess in a western document India visiting the Persian king Nushirwan, bringing is found in the Einsiedeln Verses. It was written him gifts from Kanuj (Kunyakubya), India. The gifts in the 10th century in the monastery at Einsiedeln, included an expensive chess board and chess pieces. Switzerland. It is a 98-line poem describing chess. The Muslems received the game and its vocabulary By 1000 AD, chess was widely known throughout from Persia. The Encyclopedia of Islam states that Europe. chess is a Persian source and that acquired the game from India. The Arabs first learned chess during Europe’s first reference to chess is found in Spain. their invasion of Persia. They learned chatrang in The will of Ermengaud I, Count of Uregel (Urgel) Persia and, because of language difficulties, had to in Catalona, written on July 28, 1008, mentions his pronounce it as shatranj in Arabic. They used most of chessmen to be delivered to the convent of St. Giles the Persian terms. upon his death (he died on September 1, 1010 in battle near Cordova). The oldest clearly recognizable chess (chatrang) pieces have been excavated in Afrasiab (Samarkand), Chess may have been brought to Britain around in . These are seven ivory pieces (king, 1013 with the Danish invasion. Canute (995- visir, elephant, two kniths, chariot, and pawn) dated 1035), King of Denmark and England, was playing around 7601AD (because a coin so dated belonged to chess around 1030 AD. It was said that he learned the same layer). chess while on a pilgrimage to Rome. William the Conqueror (1027-1087) was said to have been a By 800 AD, chess spread to and was called chessplayer. The Normans named their financial sutrenj as the game was spread by conquering Moslems department exchequer after the chess board, which was around North Africa. In 1005, chess was banned in used as a counting device or abacus. The first British Egypt by al-Hakim. He ordered that all the chess sets reference to chess, a Latin poem, was written in 1180 be burned. by a Winchester monk.

Chess finally entered Europe through the Spanish Chess made it to Italy in 1300, and was called peninsula after 711. The Moors crossed Gibralter scacchi. Muslim sailors from Africa crossed into in 711, and chess may have arrived soon after that Marseilles and Italy and introduced Europeans to date. However, there are no writings by Arabs that chess. mention chess until 850 AD. Around 820, chess was thought to have been introduced in Cordoba, Spain, by Chess (zatrikion) made its appearance in Byzantine Ziriab (Abul Hassan Ali ben Nafi). He was a Persian Greek around the first quarter of the 7th century. musician who lived in Baghdad. Mohammed I, Emir Around 802, Nicephorus, Byzantine emperor from 802 of Cordoba from 852 to 886, was a passionate chess to 811, mentioned chess (zatrikion) in his writings. player. Zatrikion is a Hellenized word of chatrang (not In Spanish and Castilian, the game is called ajadrez. shatranj), indicating its Moslem source. The present In Portuguese, it is called xadres. Both names are Greek skaki is an Italian source. Zatrikion as a word adaptations of the Arabic name of shatranj. The is unknown in classical Greek. The Greek alphabet Spanish j and the Portuguese x are pronounced sh. The had no letter or of letters capable of Spanish designation for the is , from the expressing the sound of the Persian ch-. The word Arabic words al fil, meaning “the elephant.” zatrikion came into Greek first in accounts of travel to Persia, or in descriptions of Persian life. Chess reached Sicily by the Islamic conquerors Continue 25 White Knight Review September/October 2011

In the 12th century, Princess Anna Comnena (died Southern Germany got its chess (schach) from Italy. in 1148) wrote Alexiad, a biography of her father, Emperor Alexius Comnena (died in 1118). In the 12th Chess made it to Britian via France (as well as book of the Alexiad, she mentions him playing chess. and Denmark), and was called chess by “He had certain familiar friends with whom he played 1400. The oldest known complete chess set, the Lewis zatrikion, a game that was dixcovered in the luxury of chessmen, is dated around 1150. These are 93 walrus- the Assyrians, and was brought to us.” The modern ivory carved pieces found on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Greek word for chess is skaki. Hebrides, Scotland. The pieces were probably brought from Norway. Some historians think that chess was introduced to Europe through the Crusades. But chess was Chess was introduced in Poland around 1100. introduced into Europe in the 11th century and the First Crusade participants returned to Europe in the From Germany, chess made it to Scandinavia and middle of the 12th century. However, the Crusades led Russia in the 1500s. Russia received chess from to the growth of cities, and chess always thrived best Germany, Byzantium, and Siberia. The Russian word in and around cities. It was said that King Richard I for chess, shahmatny, was introduced around 1262. (1157-1199) learned chess while on a crusade. The first written reference of chess in Hungary Byzantine chess may have been a source of some occurred around 1330. Russian knowledge of the game through the trade route of the Dnieper. Byzantine Christians carried the Chess was carried across the Atlantic during the game through the Balkans. discovery period. Spanish ad Portuguese travelers brought it to , while English ships The Byzantine emperors liked to have Scandinavian carried it to North America, , and the islands guards, and every year, some Norsemen traveled back of Asia and the South Seas. and forth from Scandinavia to Constantinople. Chess may have traveled to Scandinavia this way. Chess was brought to Peru around 1530. The Inca The beginning of the 13th century saw the Latin emperor Atahualpa (1500-1533) was taught how to or Western Emperors established in Constantinople. play chess by his Spanish guards before he was killed They must have known about chess in Western in 1533. Europe by then. The Latins called chess scacum. Constantinople fell in 1453. The last outposts of In 1641, the first reference to chess in America was independent Christianity in Asia Minor fell in 1461. found in a history of the Dutch settlers by Esther After that, the Greek word zatrikion disappeared. It Singleton. was replaced by Turkish chess, santratz. Turkish chess then gave way to the Western name of chess, and it The first recorded chess activity in was in became skaki. 1759. General Sir John Hale and General Wolfe played chess during the taking of Quebec in 1759. The Vikings carried chess from the Baltic before 1200 and probably introduced the game to Chess crossed the eastern and northeastern part and parts of Russia. The Icelandic St. Olaf’s Saga, of India and became tseungki (siang ki or - contains a chess reference. It was written in 1230. elephant game) in China around 800 AD. Chess was probably taken to China by Buddhists who traveled France acquired the game from both Italian and abroad to further their religion. Chess probably Spanish sources, and called it echecs around 1400. followed the Burma Road or Kyber Pass, the main The French word for the bishop was the Arabic noun, trade routes between China and India. Most likely, fil (elephant), which became fol, and presently fou, caravans from China or the Caspian Sea brought trade the current name of the bishop. The first French items to India and came back with the game of chess. reference to chess, around 1097, was by Fouche de The Karakorum pass, north of Kashmir, leads to the Chartes and Robert de St. Remi, who mentioned chess west Chinese province of Sinkiang, and the most likely as a pastime. The French Carolingian epic, Song of path for chess. The Chinese call chess ‘the Game Roland, mentions chess. It was written around 1100. of the Elephant’ and say they got it from India. The modified game of tsuengki is played on a 9x9 board. From France, chess made it to Northern Germany The pieces are fashioned like checkers. and was called schach. The earliest reference of chess in the German literature was the Latin epic Ruodlieb, The earliest certain reference to Chinese chess occurs written around 1050. in the Huan Kwai Lu (Book of Marvels), written at the close of the 8th century.

26 Continue White Knight Review September/October 2011 The Malay, Tibetan, and Mongol game of chess are The Rusian name for is played on a board of 8x8 lodya, meaning “ship.” This squares. The Chinese and indicates that chess in Russia Korean game of chess is has an east-Asiatic origin as the played on an 8x8 board, but piece was never called a ship the pieces are played on the in western Asia. It is regularly lines, not the squares. The called a ship in the Malay Japanese game is played on a Peninsula and eastern parts of 9x9 board. India. In eastern India, the rook was a ship, and its Sanskrit Chinese chess made it to word was roka. Korea around 1000 AD and was called tiangku (tjyang However, the Russian keui). The similarity between designation of the queen, , is the nomenclature of chess an Arabic origin. The Russian in China and chess in Korea game is much closer to the suggests that the Korean game Hindu than to the Chinese form. came from China. The original Russian (Siberan) names for the pieces, except Chess probably made it to Japan from Korea around the ferz, were all translations of the Sanskrit. Mongol 1100, and was called (the Chinese word siang conquests opened Siberia to Persian influences. Ferz is pronounced sho in Japanese). Korea was on the is the Arabic word for the Persian word farzin, so regular trade route path between China and Japan. Russian chess migrated after the Arabic conquest of Some sources say that shogi came directly from China, Iran in the 7th century. The Mongols probably spread and not Korea. Shogi (the Generals’ game), as a word, this form of Persian/Arabic chess to central Asia at is probably a Japanese word of the Chinese tseungki. the time of their conquests in the 13th century. The In shogi, a 9x9 board is used. Also, the men are Mongols called the rook terghe, which means “wagon arranged in three rows instead of two, and there is no or cart.” elephant. Neither the Russuian name for chess, nor the pieces The oldest shogi piece is dated 1059, found in the of the Russian game, show any trace of European Kofukuji at Nara, Japan. origin. Chess may have been introduced into Russia by the Mongols or Tatars, who overran the country The game later made it to and called from 1200 to 1400. Chess could also have been shatara. introduced into Russia from the Serbs and Bulgars around 1200. Early Russian references condemn Chess crossed the southeastern part of India and the game. From 1100, chess was condemned by became chitareen around 800 AD. Chess spread the Eastern Church, which may have influenced the through Burma (chess was called chitareen or lack of chess in Russia during this period. Chess is in Burma) into the Malay Peninsula. Chess was called referenced as shakhmate, a name that is Persian or in Siamese. Makruk seems to be a loan word Arabic shah mat (). adopted from a neighboring language. Chess could have reached Russia in the trade route Chess was called chator in Borneo, reaching the from the mouth of the Volga to Baghdad as early as end of the peninsula in 1400. Chess traveled in saddle 1150. bags of the Buddhists as they converted the people in southeast Asia. Chess (chator) was in Java in 1500. Chess was probably introduced to Tasmania in the early 1800s. Chess crossed the northern part of India over the mountains north of the Indus river and slowly made it Chess did not appear in and the into Siberia several hundred years later. Chess could until the 20th century. have been introduced into Russia in the 9th century through the Caspian-Volga trade route. Chess was being played in Antarctica in the 1950s by Russian scientists. In Tibet, the game was called chandaraki. The name is derived from chaturanga. They obtained their Chess was launched into space in June, 1970 on knowledge of chess direct from India. The present board Soyuz IX. The cosmonauts were able to play game is identical with that played by the Mongol chess on a magnetic board. A chess computer triibes of the North. was on board the space station Mir.

27 White Knight Review September/October 2011 Book Review by Bill Wall Beyond Deep Blue: Chess in the Statosphere by Monty Newborn -Published by Springer in 2011. 299 pages.

It has been over 14 years since IBM’s Deep Blue Chapter 8 introduced a new computer called Hy- supercomputer defeated world chess champion Garry dra, which won the world computer championship. In Kasparov on May 11 (my birthday), 1997. Chapter 9, the 13th World Computer Chess champion- This book looks at Deep Blue’s achievement and the ship was covered, easily won by another newcomer, future of computer chess. There are 21 chapters in the Zappa, named after Frank Zappa. book. Each chapter covers a milestone in computer Chapter 11 covers the match between Deep Fritz chess. The first chapter looks at Deep Blue’s chess and Kramnik, played in 2006. Deep Fritz defeated the matches with Kasparov in 1996 and 1997 and the 12 world champion by the score of 4-2. games they played. The other chapters cover the games and exploits of Shrdder, Deep Junior, Deep Fritz, Hy- Chapter 13 covers the 15th World Computer Chess dra, Zappa, and Rybka. championship, played in 2007. The new world com- In the final Deep Blue vs. Kasparov puter champion was Rybka. Rybka match in 1997, the largest Internet traffic defended its title and won in 2008, to that time, several million hits, were covered in chapter 16, won in 2009, following the games on IBM’s website. covered in chapter 18, and won in After the event, IBM decided to retire 2010, covered in chapter 20. With Deep Blue and the computer team that the recent computer scandal of the put Deep Blue broke up and moved on. Rybka programmers plagiarizing the work of other computer engines, all The book chronicles this period and these titles were lost in 2011. includes all the chess games between Deep Blue in 1996 (in which Kasparov The final chapter, 21, entitled “And won) and 1997 (in which Kasparov Beyond Rybka?” looks at the rise of lost). other chess engines to challenge Rybka (now banned from world championship Chapter 2 covers the advance- competition). The author states that ment in computer chess up to 1999 the likelihood of a human world chess with the 9th World Computer champion (Anand or Carlsen) defeating Championship, held in Paderborn, the best chess-playing engine is ap- Germany. The final winner was proaching zero quickly. Shredder, followed by Ferret, Fritz. Cilkchess, Junior, Presently, the top 6 chess engines are rated at least Dark Thought, Rebel, Nimzo, and Chess Tiger. Shred- 200 points stronger than the world’s best human der was now the world champion. The ratings of the (Carlsen). Computers have gone from a 2000 rating in chess engines were now over 2700, higher than all but 1986, to over 2400 in 1996, to over 2800 in 2004, to the a handful of grandmasters. There endgame tables were present 3227 in 2010. better than any chess grandmaster. These new chess engines were as strong as Deep blue in 1997. Deep Blue’s triumph was a major milestone in the history of the study of intelligence. Its successors have Chapter 3 covered the success of Shredder in the confirmed that milestone and are now playing even next few years. Chapter 4 covered the 2002 Deep Fritz stronger chess. vs. Kramnik match in . The match was a tie This book charts these milestone from Deep Blue at 4-4. The top grandmasters in the world could no to Rybka, with each chapter full of annotated games longer beat the chess engines. Chapter 5 covered the and suggested readings. All in all, a very good book Deep Junior vs. Kasaprov match in 2003. It was a draw on computer chess, complete with 118 annoated games at 3-3. The following year, it easily defeated England’s played by 17 different chess engines, and a few Grandmaster Michael Adams, one of the top 5 chess good human players. players in the world. 28 White Knight Review September/October 2011 play O-O-O] 10…O-O 11.Qxb7 Annotated Game Qxd4 [or 11…Qb6 12.Qxb6 (12. by Bill Wall Qxa8 Nbd7 13.Qxf8+ Nxf8 14.O-O-O looks OK for White) 12…axb6 13.c3] 12.Be3? [best Robert McGuire – Tibor may be 12.Bxf7+! Kxf7 13.Be3 Weinberger, Santa Monica Qc4 14.Qxa8 and 15.Qxa7] Qxc4 1978 13.Qxa8 Nd5!? [13…Na6 14.Qxa7] 14.Qb7? [perhaps better is 14.Qxa7 Nb4 15.c3 Nc2+ 16.Kd1 Nxa1 17.Rxa1Rd8+ 18.Kc2, but This game was played by FIDE after 18…Qd3+, Black has the Master and USCF Senior Master edge; if 14.c3?, then 14…Nxe3 Tibor Weinberger of Santa Mon- 15.fxe3 Qa6 and trapping the ica, California. Tibor, born in queen after 16…Nd7] 14…Nb4 Hungary in 1932, played Bobby Fischer in his early days, then [threatening 15…Nxc2] 15.c3 [15. moved to California. Tibor won Rc1 Bxb2] 15…Nc2+ [forking rook the California Championship and king] 16.Kd2 [16.Kd1 Qd3+ and the California Open several 17.Bd2 (17.Kc1 Nxa1) Bh6 wins times in the 1950s and 1960s. In for Black] 16…Nxa1 [winning the 1968 he was invited and played exchange] 17.Rxa1 [if 17.Qxa7, in the U.S. Championship, al- then 17…Rd8+ 18.Kc1 Be5 favors though he ended up in 11th out Black; if 17.Qxe7, then 17…Qxa2 of 12th place. He has played in (threatening 18…Qxb2) 18.Qa3 all the major events in California Rd8+ is good for Black] Rd8+ and was president of the Santa 18.Kc2 [if 18.Ke1, then 18… Monica Bay Chess Club. Here Bxc3+ 19.bxc3 Qxc3+ 20.Ke2 is a game from a Santa Monica event where Tibor pulled off Qxa1 and Black is winning; if a nice combination to win the 18.Kc1, then 18…Bxc3 will lead game. He sacrifices a piece, but to mate; if 18.Bd4, then 18… exposes the enemy king that leads e5] Qd3+ 19.Kb3 [19.Kc1?? Qd1 to a win. mate] Nd7 [threatening 20…Rb8, pinning queen and king] 20.Bxa7 [if 20.Qxa7, then 20…Rb8+ 21.Ka3 ------Bxc3 22.bxc3 Qxc3+ 23.Ka4 Qb4 1.e4 c6 [the Caro Kann Defense] 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 g6 4.Bf4 [4.Bg5?! Bg7 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 dxe4 8.Qxe4 Nf6 9.Qe3 Qa5 10.O-O-O O-O 11.Bc4 Nbd7 12.Bb3 e6 13.Ba4 Nd5 14.Qd3 Nxc3 0-1, R Laprade-Wall, Click on ads to visit websites Florida 2004] 4…dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bg7 6.Nf3 Bf5 7.Ng3 Bg4 [Black has also tried 7…Nd7] 8.Bc4 [with the threat of Bxf7+, then Ng5+, and Qxg4] Bxf3?! [if 8… Nf6, then 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Ne5+ Ke8 11.Nxg4 Nxg4 12.Qxg4 Qxd4 13.c3; perhaps better is 8…Qc8 mate] and 9…b5; other ideas have 20…Rb8! And White resigned. If been 8…h5 and 8…e6] 9.Qxf3 21.Bxb8, then 21…Nc5+ forking Nf6 10.Qb3 [This may be a new queen and king. If 21.Qxb8+, move. White threatens 11.Qxb7 then 21…Nxb8 22.Bxb8 Qb5+ and 11.Bxf7+; White can also and 23…Qxb8. 0-1 29

White Knight Review September/October 2011

From Enis – I noticed that you spondence play. The name “Orag- Bill Wall have dozens of chess articles or nutan Opening” comes from Savi- Ask Bill [email protected] referenced dozens of times on lots elly Tartakower, who played it in of Wikipedia pages. How can I a major tournament in New York contribute something chess related City in 1924. When asked how From Anita B. - to Wiki? he chose the opening, Tartakower I work for a dentist said that he consulted an orang- who plays chess. Do utan at the New York Zoo the day Enis, there is a WikiProject Chess before, and that’s the opening the I have to worry about page that was formed to better going crazy or com- orangutan selected to be played by improve on information on chess- Tartakower against his next oppo- mitting suicide because he is a related articles. You can join this frustrated chess player? Are there nent, Maroczy. Black must watch WikiProject by adding your name out for traps like 1.b4 e6 2.Bb2 any chess players that were den- to their list at http://en.wikipedia. tists. Bxb4? 3.Bxg7, winning the rook, org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_ and 1.b4 Nc6 2.b5 Nb4 3.e4 Nf6? Chess. You can expand a chess 4.a3, winning the knight. Anita, I hope not. Dentists by stub, request or create a new chess profession has the highest suicide article, peer-review a chess ar- rate, and a few chess players have ticle, suggest or edit a chess article ------committed suicide. Players like needing attention, and participate problemist Henry Russ, Johannes in WikiProject Chess discussions. From Mike L - What kind of chess von Minckwitz, Rudolf Swiderski, If you create an article, make sure clock should I buy? GM Karem Grigorian, GM Alvis you look at the wiki templates, Vitolins, von Bardelebin, George have good notes to reference your Mackenzie, Lembit Oll, and Ste- facts, add some chess references Mike, any digital clock should fan Zweig all committed suicide, and external links, and use good do. They have almost replaced the but none of them were dentists. reliable sources. Don’t use your- older analog chess clocks (which Playing chess at the grandmaster self as a reliable source and don’t I still like) in tournament play. level is harder than pulling teeth. do an autobiography or make it Nowadays, chess tournaments I know of only one International look like you have a conflict of in- could have a variety of time con- Master that was a dentist – Vin- terest. I made that mistake when trols. The digital clock allows you cenzo Castaldi, and former world trying to edit and correct a wiki to implement some sort of time champion Mikahil Botvinnik was entry on me (written by someone delay added for each move. Be- the son of a dental technician. in Italy a year ago) and, soon, the fore a player has made his move, a Wiki police saw that and they specified time increment is added deleted the Bill Wall page from to the clock. For example, if the ------Wikipedia. I was not considered time delay is five seconds, and a notable enough, nor was I a reli- player has four seconds left on From Kris - What is the oldest able source to my own wiki page, his clock, as soon as his opponent chess club in the world and in as well as a conflict of interest. moves, he receives the5 second America that still exists? increment, and has 9 sec- onds to make a move. This ------prevents losing a game on Kris, the oldest chess club in the time in a sudden-death world is the Zurich Chess Club in From Jimmy K -What opening is time limit. The major Switzerland, which was founded 1.b4 and is it any good? brands of digital clocks in 1809. The oldest chess club in include Saitek, DGT, and Britain is the Manchester Chess Chronos. Most chess Club, founded in 1817. The old- Jimmy, 1.b4 (or 1.P-QN4 in de- tournaments have some- est chess club in America is the scriptive notation) is called the So- one selling chess books Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club kolsky Opening or Polish Opening and chess clocks, or you in San Francisco. Its first meet- or the Orangutan. I wrote a book can go online, such as to ing was on December 11, 1854 on it a few years ago. It is consid- wholesale chess, and order and was incorporated as a club on ered an irregular opening since it a chess clock. April 24, 1855. It was destroyed does not control the center and by the 1906 earthquake and fire, there are about eight more open- but restarted in 1901. The Man- ing moves that are more popular. Do you have a hattan Chess Club was founded It is not a popular opening at the question for Bill? in 1878, but ceased to exist a few grandmaster level, but it is played You can email him at years ago. at the lower levels and in corre- [email protected]

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