May 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover'

If last month's 'On the Cover' -- April 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' (April 2023) -- was 'USA all the way', then this month's is 'all the way with USA national champions'. The fellow on the left won the title six times; the little guy on the right five times (and counting?); the first titles for both players were after the respective cover dates.

Left: '?'
Right: 'Hikaru Nakamura the Youngest Master Ever'

Chess Life & Review (50 Years Ago)

GM Walter Browne, who won the National Open in Las Vegas on tiebreak over GM Laszlo Szabo of Hungary and Master James Tarjan of California. Story next month. Photo by Burt Hochberg.

Skipping ahead to 'Story next month' in the June 1973 CL, the story was titled '7th National Open Sets Record'. It started,

Back where it all began in 1965 -- at the Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas -- the 1973 National Open set a new record for attendance with 246 players. Average attendance in the six previous tournaments was 124. Yes, Victoria, there is a chess boom!

Grandmaster Walter Browne is threatening to make the National Open his tournament, In 1971, a 6 1/2 - 1 1/2 score put him in a 7-way tie for first. He improved his score to 7-1 in 1972, good enough last year for a 2-way tie for first. This year, 7-1 produced a 3-way tie between Browne, Laszlo Szabo of Hungary, and James Tarjan of California. However, Browne took the Championship Trophy on Median Tie-Break. By the way, Walter came up a winner in more ways than one. Just before the tournament, he wed the former Raquel Facal of Argentina.

Chess Life (25 Years Ago)

Not much to explain here. Just a nice father and son pose. A proud father, Sunil Weeramantry (of both Asuka and Hikaru) and a delighted son, Hikaru, who just happens to be the youngest, at 10 years and 79 days, to achieve the rating of Master. As happens often to youngsters, he didn't keep the rating very long, but he bounced back with a vengeance. Ask Arthur Bisguier. • Cover photo by Jami L Anson.

Nakamura was spotlighted in the same issue as 'Player of the Month'. The reference to Arthur Bisguier is for that column, which included a game where the GM lost in 21 moves playing White against Nakamura. Following is the entire column.

Boy. doesn't he have anything better to do with his time? First he becomes the youngest to beat an International Master. And three months later, he breaks two more records. At the tender age of 10 years and 79 days (February 26, 1998), he earned a master's rating of 2203 - which he promptly lost. However. it didn't take long to get that rating back up to 2201. And on April 5, he pushed that rating even higher. by beating a Grandmaster -- another record for the 10 year old -- and peaking at about 2250. For now.

He's got a good start on breaking the record for National Scholastic titles, with three under his belt already: the 1996 3rd Grade (Terre Haute), the 1997 4th Grade (Parsippany), and the 1997 K-3 Championship (Knoxville). He is also the 1997 New York State K-3 champion. Not bad for someone who started playing in February of 1995!

According to his mother, Caroline, there were four things which influenced Hikaru during his climb to master-status: his brother Asuka, his father Sunil Weeramantry, Fritz 4, and the 1995 U.S. Open skittles room. Hikaru didn't play at the U.S Open in Concord, but he spent most of his time in the skittles room, observing at first, then playing a little, then playing a lot, under the wing of Oscar Tan and other skittles room habitues.

And lest you think that chess is all he follows, his favorite teams are the Yankees, the Rangers, and the Knicks, and he is finally starting to practice the trumpet, as he should.

As Andy Soltis has often said. "Never underestimate anyone under four foot tall." The following games should drive that point home.

For Browne's previous 'On the Cover', see November 1972 & 1997 (November 2022; 'Grandmaster Walter Browne after winning the 1972 U.S. Open in Atlantic City'). Nakamura doesn't have a previous cover, although I expect we'll see him on many future covers. For his numerous previous mentions on this blog, see Showing posts sorted by date for query 'nakamura'.