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These images and text first appeared in The Parrot's column's
of July 1, 2007 through December 31, 2007.  Enjoy the images.

Also enjoy: Album #1 & Album #2

Readers are invited to contribute their own rare chess photos
for inclusion in future Parrot columns and photo albums.

Fantasy [Chess] Island?

This is one from my homeland, where a lot of chess is played, and our home league featured a little 'squeeker' called Michael Adams whose team captain was P.H. Clarke.

The thing of it is, I don't know if a half-decent game of chess has ever been played on this island, which had a Benedictine Monastery on it in the C11th, and isn't it time?

This picture courtesy Mr. Charles Whippenny of http://www.cornwallcam.co.uk/, the best site on the entire internet, with a half dozen views of Cornwall daily.

Sponsors for an international event at this site should immediately contact The Parrot.

Meri Grigoryan has provided a photo essay at ChessBase on the First International Carinthian Chess Festival, Austria – since other details of the tournament are scarce, lets look at the photographer instead:  Born on 02.09.77 in Yerevan, Armenia, Meri Grigoryan was taught chess by her father and only coach.  She became:

• Woman Champion of Yerevan at the age of 12½ years

• Yerevan boys under 21 champion at the age of 15

• Armenian girls champion in all age groups

• Girls U18 Olympiad of the USSR, 6th place (Spartakiada Narodov SSSR, Leningrad, 1990)

• Left Armenia in the mid 90s and moved to London

• UK British Grand Prixette 2002-2003

• British Ladies Blitz Champion in 2004

• Education: BA in Russian and Scandinavian Studies, Diploma in Translation.  Spoken languages: Armenian, Russian, English, Danish, Czech, Polish, French.

• Work: Chess teacher and interpreter.

• Hobbies: Painting, photography, opera, taking guitar lessons, traveling, and above all writing.
   

Fantasy Chess Tournament Scenarios

In honor of the just-concluded Staunton memorial, here is a picture of one of the most remarkable chess sets of all time.  Ray Keene had sent Chessville several pictures of it 2 weeks ago, but this one is much clearer.

Here is the story of this set from the official site: http://howardstaunton.com/index.shtml:

“This duty over, the players and guests sat down to a highly enjoyable closing dinner and prize-giving.  Chess sets again became a topic of the moment, as Mickey Adams added to his first prize by taking the best game award, for his round 9 masterpiece against Jan Werle.  The prize consisted of the chess set belonging to the late Morris (Moses) Sobkowski, one of the original founders of The Friends of Chess, who have done so much for British chess over the past 40-odd years.  Sobkowski and his chess set survived incarceration in no fewer than five Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Belsen - a remarkable story of human endurance.  After his death, the set was donated to The Staunton Society by his widow, Trudie, and was won in 2005 by Jonathan Levitt, winner of the Third Staunton Memorial.  Earlier this year, Jonathan kindly re-donated the set to the Society.

                                                      
 

She likes it.  The Chairman of USCF Susan Polgar posted this image and this message to her personal blog site last Thursday from the CISSCOM conference on chess and education held in Aberdeen, Scotland.

“This is an example of the TV show created by Mr. Leo Battesti in France.  It is working and he proves what Paul and I have been saying for a long time.  Chess can be promoted on a large scale.  It can be very successful.

But the problem is chess players themselves.  An amazing example that was shown here was an organizer went from a unknown person in chess to having more than 200 sponsors for his annual events now, including some of the biggest companies in his countries.  World class players like Anand, Topalov, Bacrot, my sister Judit and tons of other world class players look forward to come to his events.  But the success did not come from the top players.  It came from working through the grass roots and building chess and education.  Then companies started to notice the numbers and opportunities and they started to invest / sponsor.  But unless we can conduct ourselves properly and professionally, this would never work.

Instead of learning from business people on how to make things work, the problem is we have too many idealists who want to retain the status quo and chase away any possible opening for new and better things.  For example, my larger chess events can draw up to 30-40 sponsors while most tournaments in the US cannot.  Instead of treating our sponsors and supporters with respect, we have "personalities" who like to be opinionated about every issue, including issues they know nothing about, and insult / attack our biggest assets.

Many other people in this conference have shown that they can make things work in their areas / cities / regions / countries by doing things themselves instead of bogging in down on chess politics, bureaucracy and personal ego.  I can tell you first hand that this is a fantastic conference and I am very glad that I attended.  I hope to be able to create similar chess and education conferences in the US, hopefully at Texas Tech University, and invite friends and colleagues from all over the world to come and share ideas.”

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn… a ghoulish fellow at Chessville’s Forum supplied the following information:

Here is the grave stone of William Steinitz, Death: Aug. 12, 1900 New York. Buried in the Evergreens Cemetery, Brooklyn, Plot: Bethel Slope Section, Lot 5896.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Brooklyn, he adds…
I read somewhere that [Fischer] attended Erasmus Hall High School together in Brooklyn.   Also, in this article it says he lived in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant district - no street address though.

…Just found what appears to be the first street address in NY for Bobby and his mom Regina: Apt Q, 560 Lincoln Place.

While goofing around in that thread in the Forum I admired a chess site based on chess in NY City by Michael Goeller, who has a good photo of folks playing in Washington Square Park.

If you ever think of doing a chess-tour of NY city, check out this link.

Now, here is a technical word we chess-journalists use: stealing.  I also stole this handy list from the Forum:

Reuben Fine was born in the Bronx. Probably the Fordham area.
Attended CCNY.
Al Horowitz was born in 1907 in NYC.
Sam Reshevsky lived in Monsey, NY and his family still lives there.
Bobby Fischer - He attended Erasmus Hall High School (Brooklyn)
Isaac Kashdan Lived in NYC. He was partners with Al Horowitz.
Capablanca went to Columbia University
Albert Pincus- was a partner with Horowitz, Maurice Shapiro, Maurice Wertheim, and Mickey Pauley. (All chess players). Pincus lived on the upper West Side and before Wall Street
worked with Guppy in a Tropical Fish Store. (Yes that Guppy).
Before California, like the Dodgers went out West:
Larry Evans lived in NYC.
Probably the Byrne brothers.
Herbert Seidman.
Fred Reinfeld. (Attended CCNY). CCNY is still there. If you get into the Library, you will be amazed at the Chess collection.

Sites:
The New Yorker Hotel, 481 Eighth Avenue at 34th Street in 2002 80 masters played.
Hotel Alamac - I have an address: Broadway and 71st Street in Manhattan
(New York 1924 International Tournament)
NY 1927 - Do not know where it was played.
Note that for Chess Players who were born or lived in NYC the City has changed.

Buildings torn down.
What is standing as above:
CCNY, Columbia, Probably the Hotel Alamac,
IF you have an old Chess Life, look up the address for the USCF. I believe it was located
in the E 3rd St. & 14 st area not sure.

Bookstore: Check out Strands, lots of chess books. Near 12th St. and Broadway.

The Manhattan CC is closed.
The Marshall CC was the original home of FJ Marshall and is still there.
Photograph the back room of the club. That is where Fischer played a Telex match
in a Cuban Tournament.

The grave of Edgar Allan Poe is in the Bronx. He wrote a long article on the TURK.
Near NYU is a park. Probably where searching for Bobby Fischer was filmed.
Union Square Park - When I left NYC in 2000, they were playing chess in the park
for greens even in the Winter. That is where the sharks hang out, looking for Fish.

Bogart may have played chess there in the 30's.
Herman Helms. Active even in his 90's. Wrote for the Brooklyn Eagle. (Folded 1954).
and the New York Times chess column. Can not locate his address of birth.

Photo’s Wanted: If your digital has any space left photograph the Chrysler Building.
Nothing to do with Chess. In 1929 the tallest building in the World.
The Art Deco appears in the walls inside. On the outside of the building:
Art Deco designs of a car around the building. Wheels, hubcaps, Eagles on all 4 sides
(Designed from a late 1920's Chrysler car). They probably played chess in the old
Men's club inside the building. Cigars, soft chairs and chess.

Recommendations: Use a Metro card - Trains are faster than rentals or cabs.

Still going...

Talking about internal standards…Clocking in.

In all these years of chess writing, I haven’t encountered this one before.

Someone we might call “St. Caissa” who I guess is a chess dad, but could be a chess mom, wrote on their blog:

“A few months ago my son volunteered me to fix the broken chess clocks from his chess class.  They are all analog and of different makes.  I knew nothing about chess clocks nor how to fix them, but my son knows I like taking things apart.  Sometimes I can even put them back together.

Amazingly I fixed 6 clocks.  Or, approximately 6.  I don’t really remember now.  They were mostly simple solutions and none of them needed any parts.  I don’t think any 2 had the same problem.

This last week the teacher sent home one more clock to be repaired.  When I saw what the clock was doing, I knew exactly what was wrong because I hade experienced that problem with one of the previous clocks.  I pulled it apart and was able to fix it in just a few minutes.  I am starting to feel like an expert.

What makes a chess clock so special?  Really they are just 2 (somewhat) normal clocks that have a system for starting one clock while stopping the other.  The only thing that makes them different from a normal clock is they have a flag that drops when the time runs out.  But, since they are analog, they continue to run.”

There is a bit more to read here.

RETURN OF THE KING
Reporting: Shobha Warrier

Surprises did not end there.  From the airport, the activities shifted to Adyar, where bigger arrangements were made to welcome the son of the city.

To put it simply, it was a royal welcome for the king.  A two-horse driven, colourfully decorated chariot waited for King Anand at Adyar.  Four men on horseback, dressed as soldiers, escorted the king.

He was a true world champion, always smiling and obliging his fans.  "I am moved by the welcome. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would get such a wonderful reception.  It's touching to see so many kids waiting for me at the airport," that was his reaction to the overwhelming reception Chennai gave him.

More pictures and reporting at http://specials.rediff.com/sports/2007/oct/18pic1.htm

Lois Lane, no… Lisa…

This week we select a picture from  http://www.angelfire.com/games/SBChess/girlchess.html for our picture, and the caption related to the picture, top, says;  “Once upon a time... girls weren't allowed to play chess.  They were barred from the smoke-filled rooms of the exotic clubs.  The general idea was that girls lacked the capacity for chess.  A few women broke through this barrier...a very few.

As time progressed, so did society and women were allowed to have their own little chess clubs, separate and inferior to those of their male counterparts....but that was then....”

Check out the site, and find the article on Lisa Lane, which continues…

“Born on April 25, 1938, she was 21 at the time and had been playing chess for only two years. Lisa was born and raised in Philadelphia and saw her first game of chess in a Bohemian club called the Artist's Hut while a freshman at Temple University in Philadelphia. She became obsessed with the game, quit school at the end of her first year, took lessons from a local master and started playing tournament chess. In December of 1959, she won the US women's championship which she held until 1962. The US Women's Championship originated through the efforts of Caroline Marshall, the wife of Frank Marshall, in 1938.”

                                                      
 

This one is very rare, and I forgot I had it!  In case your monitor can’t resolve the overlaid text, names from left to right are: Botvinnik, Kramnik, Tiviakov, Kasparov.

Spotted his week on e-Bay, by Assoc Editor Rob Mitchell.  Asking price was $199, but no takers:

The caption reads: For auction is the book Nottingham Chess Tournament 1936 by Grandmaster and World Champion Alexander Alekhine. This first English edition hardbound covers one of the strongest tournaments ever held in England. Capablanca and the up and coming Botvinnik tied for first. The U.S. was well represented with Fine and Reshevsky tying for second along with former World champion Euwe, with 9 1/2 followed by Alekhine with 9 and the amazing senior former World Champion Emanuel Lasker finished 8 1/2. This book is in excellent condition.

Hint: Turn your monitor sideways [clockwise!] for a better look at the strongest players in the world in 1936.

SPICE participants all look very happy to be there, in this pencil-rendered photograph. Congratulations to the organizers for returning high level tournament chess to the USA, and many happy returns!

Readers are invited to contribute their own rare chess photos
for inclusion in future Parrot columns and photo albums.

Alekhine's Parrot

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