• - - - - ..... , ...-- - - . • Volume XXIII Number 10 October, Igsa EDITOR: Burt Hochberg FEDERATION CONTENTS PRESIDENT Mike's Peak (U.S . Open), by George Kol tanawski ................................ 352 Marshall Rohb,nd U.S. Junior Open .................................................................................. 354 VICE·PRESIDENT Isaac Kashdan Observation POint, by Miro Rodojcic .................................................... 355 SECRETARY Chess Ufe, Here and There ................................ 357, 375, 379, 382, 386 Dr. Leroy Dubeck Changing Styles, by Pol Benko ................. .. ....... ... ............................... 358 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR From the U.S. Championship, by Bernard Zuckerman ........................ 360 E. B. Edmondson College Chess News, by Peter Meschter ..................... .. ......................... 362 REGIONAL VICE·PRESIDENTS Personal Impressions of the U.S. Championship, by Nicolas Rossolimo .. 363 NEW I!NGLAND James 801ton Thom.. C. Barham Keres Annotates, by Paul Keres ............................................................ 365 BenJamln Landey ReykjaVik 1968, by Robert Byrne ........................................................ 367 EASTERN Allen Kaufman Michlel Raimo William Colch~rll Bright Spot, by Herbert Seidman ........................................................ 368 MID.ATLANTIC Steve Caruthers Lorry Evons on Chess .......................................................................... 370 Dr. F'n!d A. Sorensen LewiS Hucks Donald Byrne Wins At lantic Open .................................................... ... .373 SOUTHERN Philip ..... mb Robert Cole The Art of Positional Play, by Sammy Reshevsky ................................ 378 Donald Schult! The Championship of Czechoslovakia, by Miroslav Filip .............. ...... 380 GREAT LAKES Robert Byrne V . E. Vandenburg Theodore Pennec Rating Reports Received ....................... ................................................. 381 NORTH CENTRAL Or. Ceorce TIers Postal Chess, by Bob Brandreth .......................................................... 382 Peler Wolf Aleksander LiepnlekS Kaplan Wins Puerto Rico Open ............................................................ 383 SOUTHWESTERN JOhn A, lIowen Robnt S. Brieger Letters ................... .................................. ......................... ..................... .384 Dr. Alfred Sorensen Benko's Bafflers, by Pol Benko ............................................................ 386 PACIFIC A. M. Gardner Burnn! Eddy Tournament Life .................................................................................. 388 Col. ChlTlu O~])' 12 x 12, by E. B. Edmondson ................................................................ 391 NATIONAL CHAIRMEN end OFFICERS ..... ..... Byrne JOIN THE UNITED STATES CHESS FEDERATION .... ..... Cook II PAIRINGS........ _.......... ... rp.d E. Do _•• :U~.~'~',;I;'. ~.,~';.~~n.profll democratic or,anlutlon, the offlcial IilO"ernln, bod)' and nOE IWorld TAX DI!DUCTllIlllTY.•.•. __ ......... Harold Dondla :: :: unit for chess In tIM: I]SA. An)'one Interested In advandn, Amerlun chess TOURNAMENT ADM __H_ Geor,e KOltallowskl fo r membership. "'ith benefits whic h Intludc 3 CHESS LIn: subscription and eUelbiUty TOURNAMENT RULES _,H,HH.HH .. Jame. Sberwin rlttne. U. s. CHAMPIONSHIPHHH_.HHH .. Maurlc:e Kuper WOMEN'S CHESS.. HH_.HHH ___ .HHH._E¥I Aronson RI.ullr Membership: I )·nr. SIO.OO ; 2 )· urs. SI9.oo: 3 ynrs. 521.00. Junior Mlmbershlp women', tnlern.Uon.I.._....... H.K.lhryn SI.hlr (Under 21 .t expiration date): I year, 55.00: 2 )'nu. 59.$0; 3 years. 513.SO. Sustalnlnl Memblr· ship (becomes Lire arter 10 consecuth'e annu.1 payments): no.oo. Onee a Sustalntne Member. • hlp hu begun. each $lIece$sivc ycar'. dul'S must be paid berore the expiration date. Other· wlJe, the sustllnln' cycle starts OV" r 'lain at year one and at whatever rates I rc then In eUect. Life Memblrlhlp: noo.oo. WORLD CHESS FEDERATION (HESS LiFE Is published monthly by USC .. and entered II Hcond·dau mluer .t East (F.I.D.E.) Oubuque. IIlInol •. Non·mlmber \·yr. subscription: $6.50 ($7.$0 outside I]SA); stn,le COpy : U. (1s" outside USA). Chin.. 0' Iddrln: Allow fix week. nollce; please ,Ive ua botb the new .ddreu Fred Cramer and the old addre$!', Includlnc the numbers Ind dlt" o n the top line of rOli r stencil. Vice·President, Zone 5 (U.S.A.) Add ..... all commlinkIUon•• and m.ke aU c:he<:ks paYlble to: UNITED STATIiS CNESS FEDERATION, 479 Ilroldw.y, Nlwbur.lI, N.Y. 11550 350 CHESS LIFE The tollowtng letter was mailed 10 me from Prague, Cuchoslovakia on September 1, 1968. In the bow­ ledge that it is an historic documenl, I bave rehained h om ediling it at all. except to correct a lew misspellings. As you bow, Cl'ed:. writers and journalists who speak oul against the Soviet occupation are in grove danger. For this reason. we cannot say when we shaJI aqain hear Irom our courageous correspondent. -Edilor. Prague. September lsi. 1968 CHESS LIFE NEW YORK Dear friends, In the next months I shall not be able to send my theoretical articles because I have another task now. During the seven heroic days I was editor of one of the dail y newspapers published illegally in Prague. After that I decided to don't accept the capitul ation called "agree­ ment of Moscow" and to continue the fight until the end. We are few here doing it but we arc decided to con­ tinue. Our opponents have tanks, planes, rockets and eventually atom and hydrogen bombs. These weapons are completely ridiculous to us because we have paper and ideas. They have no chances and we are not to be stopped because the ideas are immortal. We know well we are alone and we cannot expect any help from anybody. This fact only incre!lses our re­ sponsibility. If I am the last one, 1 have to conti nue. You have to understand me well: 1 like very much my people and this is the only way to save the honor of my people. Since 23 years I have been Communist and this is the only way to save my destroyed and tortured soul. I hope to come back to chess once more. Please publish this letter expressing my best wishes to all American chess players. Yours, (signed) Ludek Pachman Prague P.S.: I am staying at home. Please don't be afraid to publish this letter because of me, some of my last articles published for example in West Germany arc still stronger. OCTOBER, 1968 351 by George Koltanowski Whoever arranged the 69th Annual U.s. Open Chess A funny point was that one of the folders handed out Championship deserves a special medal! to the participants announced a special lecture on Sunday, Snowmass-at-Aspen sounded very intriguing. August 18, at 8:00 p.m. at The Timbers (right above our main group of players) on the History and Philosophy of the Royal The great question was .. HOW DOES ONE GET THERE? Game, by Eugene Salome, chess teachcr, writer, editor, sponsor Easy, just get to Aspen and from there you take a shuttle of the UniverSity of Colorado Chess Club, former member of bus. Hamburger Schachgessellschaft and the Manhattan Chess But it wasn't that easy. You CQuid fly to Denver, then fly Club, demonstration player and winner of numerous tourna· to Aspen, but service is irregular except in the winter, it's ments. "Concepts of art and science as they relate to chess. fifty dolIars round·trip from Denver and takes an hour. Bus? The meaning of the board and the pieces, historical develop· Even worse. Train . .. well we had to get there, so 30 hours ment of the game; the mind as a creative force; strategy. of train travel from San Francisco right on to Glenwood tactics, and techniques ...." Springs, Colorado, and from there you could get a bus to Everyone raised their eyebrows . who is this chcss Snowmass, Takes one hour and thirty minutes. champion? I was lucky. Col. Paul Webb, the tireless Phoenix chess No one will ever know. You see, our seventh round was promoter and my assistant T.D ., awaited me in Glenwood and also scheduled for that day at 8 p.m.; with the battle in full drove us to Snowmass. force, no one dared lose time on his clock!! Now let's tell you about the U.S. Open . .. The breath-taking views, clean air, and low-hanging clouds you can almost touch, make you think you're in the Swiss Alps! Five years from now, Snowmass will most likely drop CHAMPIONS & PRIZE WINNERS • • • • • • • • • the "-at-Aspen" title, but it's not quite yet ready for large· Player and Category Score Award scale conventions. Buildings are going up at a furious rate and Open Champion, B. Larsen, Denmark 11-1 Trophy+ Sl250 the price of luxury hotels, food, and homes does not seem to 2nd, P. Benko, New York 9%·2% 5575 deter the great number of visitors. (Overflow from Aspen?) 3rd, W. Browne, Australia 9lh·2% $575 But I was really astonished when the fi rst round started 4th, R. Byrne, Indiana 9·3 5200 and noses were counted. We found 172 players, and as most 5th, L. Kaufman, Maryland 9·3 5200 had come with their families, it was a feather in the cap of 6th, Dr. A. Saidy, New York 9-3 5200 the organizers and especially for the Colorado State Chess 7th, G. DeFotis, Illinois 8lh ·3 lh $100 Association. 8th, J. Sherwin, New York 81f2 -3 'h $100 9th, N. Weinstein, New York 81fl -3 1h $100 John Harris, President of the Colorado Chess Association, 10th, E. Formanek, Illinois 81f2 ·3 1f2 $100 was the first person we met, and he was working hard to get Expert, J. Hechtlinger, Michiga n 8-4 Trophy+ $125 things lined up for the great event: tables, chairs, lighting, Expert, V. Seglins, Washington 8-4 $125 scoresheets, pencils, etc. The auditorium was not at our Class A, H. Wallach, New York 8·4 Trophy+ S87.50 disposal, so we divided the players up and used three dif­ Class A, E. Oiins, Wisconsin 8-4 587.50 ferent locations to play their games. PLEASE NOTE: There Class B, N. Stillwell, New Mexico 61h -5 lh TrophY+ S87.50 was no confusion and all ran smoothly and well. Most entries Class B, R. Gardner, California 6'-h-5% $87.50 found that climbing the hills, or for that matter coming down Class C, P. Kerr, New J ersey 7-5 Trophy+$75 them, caused concern about one's heart, and a few, myself in­ Class C, E. Roche, Colorado 6·6 $50 cluded, were worried.