October 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover'

For last month's post, September 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover' (September 2024), we saw four Americans who were newly minted IMs 50 years ago and the logo for a controversial type of FIDE World Championship played 25 years ago. This month we see the leading American GM of 50 years ago, but the FIDE event has disappeared.

Left: '?'
Right: 'Serper Grabs World Open Title'

Chess Life & Review (50 Years Ago)

U.S. Champion Walter Browne, who after winning his title went on to win the Pan-American Championship in Winnipeg, Canada. The U.S. Championship story is [inside]. Photo by Burt Hochberg.

There was more about GM Browne on 'The Editor's Page - News & Views' by Burt Hochberg. This was a regular column in those days.

Walter Browne continues onward and upward. Following his crisp U.S. Championship victory, the American grandmaster went after the Pan-American Individual Championship in Winnipeg, Canada. Though he expected to win it, his dominance of the field was reminiscent of Fischer's performances in tournaments of equivalent strength: Walter gave up only three draws in fifteen games, winning the other twelve. Starting with the World Open in July and including the U.S. Championship and the Winnipeg tournament, Browne has played 37 games without a loss, and this record no doubt stretches further back.

His sudden prominence has not gone unnoticed by the media. The September 2 issue of Newsweek, for instance, devoted two thirds of a page to Browne, reacting to the public's increased awareness of chess since the onset of the Fischer era. The public needs heroes, and so do the media. Walter's youth, his confidence, his lifestyle, his looks -- all fit the public's idea of the dynamic modern sports figure. And since media interest is good for chess, we say more power to him.

This was the first of Browne's six American championship titles. In the same issue he authored a report titled 'The U.S. Championship, by Walter Browne, U.S. Champion'. The five page article, half of which were raw game scores, started,

After the poorly-organized Olympics at Nice (construction noises at the hotel began at 6:00 A.M.), I was looking forward to the excellent conditions normally surrounding a U.S. Championship. Unfortunately, however, on first sight of the playing room I noticed that the players would be quite cramped, while the lighting was very dim.

It was also clear that there was no analysis room, so after the games the players had to sit on the floor outside the playing room. Near the end of the tournament, Bisguier and Evans came up with a table and chairs. Obviously, they had a lot of influence!

The opening ceremony went smoothly. Evans chose No. 1 and I had to play Black against John Grefe in the first round. After the ceremony we all adjourned to a fine Yugoslav restaurant which provided lively entertainment.

The tournament report was a game-by-game description of Browne's progress through the event. For example, 'In the ninth round against Bisguier, I played one of the best games of my life.' That game is available online: Walter Browne vs Arthur Bisguier; United States Championship (1974), Chicago, IL USA, rd 9, Jul-25 (chessgames.com; '"Browne Bagging It", game of the day Oct-07-2006'). For Browne's previous cover appearance, see July 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover' (July 2024; 'On the right is GM Walter Browne, winner of the 4th Statham Tournament in Lone Pine, Cal.').

Chess Life (25 Years Ago)

Congratulations to Alexander Khalifman for winning FIDE's Knockout World Championship, which ended August 29th. And kudos go out to Alex Yermolinsky for his tiebreak victory in the 100th U.S. Open, held at the Sands Regency in Reno, Nevada. Marcel Martinez won the Junior Invitational, hosted by the Mechanic's Institute of San Francisco. And while Boris Gulko, Yasser Seirawan, Gregory Serper and Alex Yermolinsky battle it out in the finals of the Interplay U.S. Championship, we congratulate Anjelina Belakovskaia for winning the Interplay U.S. Woman's Championship in Salt Lake City. Stories will follow next month.

Our main feature this month is on the World Open, won by Gregory Serper, after a tiebreak session of quick play games. Steven Seward of Cleveland, Ohio, again provided the artwork for this month's cover. He enjoys doing portraits, and, judging by your letters, you enjoy his work.

This marks the third time we've seen artwork by Seward of Ohio. The previous cover was January 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover' (January 2024; 'We again called on portraitist Steven Seward of Cleveland, Ohio, to work his magic for our cover.')

The 'main feature' of the issue was a three page report, 'Serper Breaks Log Jam at World Open' by Jerry Hanken. The author was a regular contributor of reports on top-level U.S. chess events of that period. It started,

The 27th Annual World Open, held over the Independence Day weekend, was one of the most exciting and interesting of this great series of tournaments. This was the 15th in a row held at the elegant Adams Mark Hotel in the upscale City Line area of Philadelphia. With adjustments for re-entries in the lower sections (they're not allowed in the Open), the total was 1,470 players, a significant increase of 36 over last year's. The prize fund was increased by $10,000, making the prizes even deeper than last year's.

As it is every year, the World Open was by far the largest U.S. non-scholastic open in attendance and prizes. With the New York Open taking a sabbatical this year, the 30 grandmasters who graced the Open section was again by far the largest number in any U.S. tournament. (Of course, I am not counting the FIDE Las Vegas extravaganza.)

"So who won the shooting match, Hanken? Don't keep us in suspense!" Ah, as Bill Shakespeare said, "Thereby hangs a tale!" In a word, it was Gregory Serper, a very likeable and genial ex-Soviet player who now lives in Cleveland, Ohio (GM City USA, with Yermolinsky, Goldin, and Lein also making the lakeside big town home), who hopes soon to be a U.S. citizen.

GM Serper is today a regular contributor to Chess.com. For an index of his writings, see Gserper's Articles (chess.com).

So what about the news on the FIDE Championship? It was confined to 'Alexander Khalifman Is FIDE World Chess Champion' by Peter Kurzdorfer and started,

Who would've thunk it? The FIDE Knockout World Chess Championship in Las Vegas produced the biggest upset in all world championship history!

Russian Grandmaster Alexander Khalifman, while certainly a very good player. has never been ranked at the very top among world-class grandmasters. He was seeded 36th in the knockout championship, even though top-10 GMs Kasparov, Anand, Morozevich, and Karpov were not competing. Nevertheless, he fought his way through the tournament, winning all seven matches by knocking out grandmasters Dibyendu Barua, Gata Kamsky, Karen Asrian, Boris Gelfand, Judit Polgar, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, and Vladimir Akopian.

The two-column report by CL Assistant Editor Kurzdorfer was the eighth feature in that month's magazine, sandwiched between 'Six Tie for First at North Bay [Ontario, Canada] International' and '1999 U.S. Blind Champion'. The Jerry Hanken report on the World Open was the fifth feature after 'U.S. Amateur Playoffs', 'Pan-Am Promo', 'CJA Awards', and '1999 U.S. Amateur Championships'.

We can only speculate on the reason for the low profile of the FIDE event in CL. Was it because of the bad showing by the U.S. players, all of whom were eliminated no later than the second of the seven rounds? Or was it because of bad blood between USCF, as the American federation was known at that time, and FIDE? I'm guessing it was both.

Wikipedia to Trading Cards to eBay

At the beginning of every month, in preparation for the monthly post on Top eBay Chess Items by Price (March 2010), I prepare a short list of top items sold in the previous month. The items on the short list often repeat previous posts in the series. For example, this month I had on the short list (listed from least expensive to most expensive):-

• A chess watch, similar to the watch shown in Skeleton, Marriage, Chess Watch (October 2016).
• A bronze of cats playing chess, reminiscent of Cold Painted Cats (December 2022).
• A dollhouse, the third such post after Another Dollhouse Chess Table (October 2016).

At the top and bottom of that list I could have added a couple of paintings by Ukrainian artists. Normally I like artwork as the basis for an eBay post, but neither of the paintings inspired me.

Instead of those choices I picked an item titled, '2023 The Chess 16 cards lot'. It sold for US $850.00 'Buy It Now', along with the mentions 'Other people bought this. [one] has already sold' and 'Condition: Used'. Only the first card in the series, pictured below, was shown in the auction.

The description of the auction said,

List of cards:
#2 Emanuel Lasker
#3 Jose Raul Capablanca
[...]
#12 Anatoly Karpov
#13 Garry Kasparov

These were followed by #14 through #17: Kramnik, Anand, Carlsen, and Ding Liren. Any casual fan of chess history will recognize the World Champions, where the post-Kasparov names are those generally accepted by public opinion (apologies to Alexander Khalifman and the other FIDE Champions who aren't on the list).

Where's '#1 Wilhelm Steinitz', who is shown on the card? Although the title of the auction says, '16 cards', '#17 Ding Liren' appears to have been added afterwards, since his name was listed using a different font. I bet that the set includes '17 cards'.

The back of the Steinitz card says, '(c) 2023 The History of Chess. All rights reserved'. The text of the card starts,

Wilhelm Steinitz was a Bohemian-Austrian and, later, American chess player. From 1886 to 1894, he was the first World Chess Champion.

It doesn't take much sleuth work to discover that the text on the card is copied verbatim from the Wikipedia page Wilhelm Steinitz (wikipedia.org). The image on the front of the card is also the same as Steinitz's likeness on the Wikipedia page.

It turns out that all of the individual cards in the card set are available from the eBay seller's store. Some of the cards have the same color as the featured Steinitz card; these each sell for '$49.00 Buy It Now + $29.00 shipping from United States'. Other cards are colored in gray; these sell for '$99.00 Buy It Now + $29.00 [etc. etc.]'. There are a couple of other Karpov cards, both with 'RC Rookie Chess RARE' in their titles, selling for $499.00 each plus shipping. I've seen both cards on eBay, selling for a small percentage of that price. It's hard to imagine that anyone would be gullible enough to pay that sort of money for those cards, but who knows?

Historic Olympiad Yahoos

In last month's Yahoos post -- see the footnote for a definition of Yahoos -- titled DNA Yahoos (August 2024), the stats revealed a possible new trend:-

This month had 99 stories returned by Google News. Of those, 25 were old stories from previous months, compared to 10 old stories returned for the July post. Is Google struggling to find chess stories?

The September stats were 100 stories total including 14 stories from previous months. Later in the August post I noted,

The 2024 Olympiad also had four stories, two of which were the same. Since the event didn't finish in August, I'll save any discussion for next month.

The 100 stories total for September had the first nine under a heading that proclaimed, 'India win historic double gold at Chess Olympiad'. I counted another 18 stories about the Olympiad for a total of 27, plus a few more stories lacking the word 'Olympiad' in the title.

I would like to use the FIDE story to represent the Yahoos, but it's structured oddly so I need a different FIDE report to set the stage. Here are both reports:-

• 2024-09-22: India triumphs at 45th Chess Olympiad, winning both Open and Women’s competitions (fide.com)
• 2024-09-23: Triumphant moments: Celebrating the winners of 45th Chess Olympiad (ditto) • 'In the open section, the bronze medal went to Uzbekistan, and the silver medals were awarded to team USA. The winners of the 45th Chess Olympiad, Team India, received the gold medals and the Hamilton-Russell Cup, the original Olympiad trophy created in 1927 and named after its donor, British attorney and chess sponsor Frederick Gustavus Hamilton-Russell. [...] In the women’s section, the bronze medal was awarded to team USA, while the silver medal went to team Kazakhstan.'

That wasn't the only important news to emerge from the Olympiad. Consider the latest fallout from the war in Ukraine:-

• 2024-09-23: World Chess Body Upholds Ban On Players From Russia, Belarus • 'The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has upheld a ban on Russian and Belarusian players imposed over Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, prompting an angry response from the Kremlin chiding FIDE for bowing to Western pressure.'

Close to the center of the story was/is a Russian national doing a high-wire political balancing act:-

FIDE President and former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who has sought to avoid criticism in both Russia and the West.

Of the other chess stories from Google News, none were particularly compelling, so I'll close this month's post with a reference to the previous Olympiad Yahoo, Olympiad, Business, and Political Yahoos (August 2022). The main event, 'Open' is the current jargon, was won by Uzbekistan.

[Yahoos (mainstream news stories about chess) are derived from Google News top-100 (or so) stories from the past month.]

A Knight and Two Berserkers

The missing subtitle 'Everybody Loves the Lewis Pieces' recalls the recent post Everybody Loves Morphy (June 2024). Our previous Flickr post featuring the dour little warriors was The Lewis Pieces at Church (May 2023; 'Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford, Ireland').

Lewis Chessmen © Flickr user Hornbeam Arts under Creative Commons.

The Flickr description said only,

In the early Welsh story "The Dream of Rhonabwy", Arthur is seen playing a game similar to chess.

The famous pieces even have their own Wikipedia page, Game pieces of the Lewis chessmen hoard (wikipedia.org). The page informs,

The style of carving, particularly that on the thrones of the seated figures, suggests they are Scandinavian in origin, most likely from Trondheim, the medieval capital of Norway until 1217. The types of piece are similar to those in modern chess -- the chessmen are the earliest found that have figures in clerical dress (bishops).

The Rooks are represented as warriors which came to be called "warders" at an early stage after they were discovered. Four of the warders are shown biting their shields -- these have been identified as the berserkers of the Norse sagas. Christian and pagan influences are both present in the designs.

So technically speaking, the two pieces behind the Knight in our Flickr photo aren't berserkers, because they're not biting their shields. Maybe their teeth fell out during previous bites.

As for the dream referenced in the photo description, Wikipedia offers another page, The Dream of Rhonabwy (wikipedia.org; Welsh). Here the 'chess' game is identified as gwyddbwyll, a name that could easily be extraterrestrial in origin, but is in fact 'a Celtic board game similar to Roman ludus latrunculorum'. That reminds me of The Circular Chess Boards of the Druids (April 2024). There we learned,

(Q:) What exactly is a Druid? (A:) 'A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures.'

So Druids played gwyddbwyll and were probably experts at it.

***

Later: A few weeks after the date on the post, I noticed in Key decisions from the 2024 FIDE General Assembly (chessbase.com) another Lewis reference:-

Gunnar Bjornsson, president of the Icelandic Chess Federation, presented the application from the Greenlandic Chess Federation, which applied to become an Affiliated Member of FIDE. "Chess, while very new in its organized form, has a surprisingly long connection to Greenland. The famous Lewis chessmen, a collection of medieval chess pieces, have been definitively proven to be crafted from walrus tusks of Greenlandic origin," read in the application.

This squares with the Wikipedia page on the Lewis pieces, which says, 'Material: Walrus ivory and whale tooth'.

US Chess on Video

With less than 100 views and zero comments after three weeks on Youtube, this video might be the least popular chess clip that I've ever selected for a monthly featured video post. So why feature it? Because I liked the inside look at the US Chess federation.

US Chess Federation Staff Forum Friday August 2 2024 (5:57) • '[Published on] Aug 19, 2024'

The description said,

US Chess is the official, not-for-profit US membership organization for chess players and chess supporters of all ages and strengths, from beginners to Grandmasters. Find out more at uschess.org

That was followed by around a dozen links to various aspects of US Chess, four of which were under the header 'Women in Chess'. At the end of the video, the staff forum morphs into a membership meeeting which has also been recorded for posterity:-

• 2024-08-14: Membership Meeeting August 2, 2024

If you like this sort of thing -- I appreciate that it's not for everyone -- don't miss:-

• 2024-08-19: 2024 US Chess Delegates Meeting [undated]

Nearly nine hours long, it even has a transcript. For more about the venue, see What to Expect at the 124th Annual U.S. Open (uschess.org; JJ Lang). It starts,

The 124th Annual U.S. Open Chess Championship begins Saturday, July 27 at the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel in Norfolk, Virginia. Here is a primer of what to expect and how to follow all the action!

For more about the meetings, scroll to the bottom of that page to find 'Meet, Mingle, Delegate'. Even though online chess gets most of the attention and the players, US Chess is alive and well.

September 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover'

This month's 'On the Cover' features two unique, historical chess events in the USA. Fifty years ago, four up and coming American players received the IM title at the 1974 FIDE Congress. Twenty-five years ago, a controversial World Championship tournament was held at Las Vegas, aka 'Sin City'. For last month's 'On the Cover', see August 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover' (August 2024).

Left: 'Mednis/Soltis/Rogoff/Tarjan'
Right: 'FIDE World Championship; Caesar's hosts the BEST!'

Chess Life & Review (50 Years Ago)

Our four new International Masters: Edmar Mednis (top left); Andrew Soltis (top right); Kenneth Rogoff (bottom left); James Tarjan (bottom right). Photos by Burt Hochberg.

A story inside, 'FIDE Titles' by Arpad E. Elo, Secretary, [FIDE] Qualification Committee, started,

After a drought of several years, four U.S. players were awarded the International Master title by the FIDE Congress at Nice: Edmar Mednis, Kenneth Rogoff, Andrew Soltis and James Tarjan. These, plus a Cuban IM and a Correspondence Master, were all the Western Hemisphere could claim of the 63 titles approved by the Qualification Committee.

All four American players went on to become grandmasters -- Mednis (b.1937; GM 1980), Rogoff (b.1953; GM 1978), Soltis (b.1947; GM 1980), Tarjan (b.1952; GM 1976) -- and all but Soltis played in World Championship Interzonals: Rogoff in the 1976-78 cycle, Mednis and Tarjan in the 1979-81 cycle; see FIDE Events 1948-1990 (m-w.com) for links. Coincidentally, all four had six-letter family names. The Arpad Elo article continued,

Among the interesting new title holders is a Woman Master of whom the USSR players are exceptionally proud, Maya Chiburdanidze, just thirteen years old!

Four years later Chiburdanidze won a match against the reigning Women's World Champion -- see 1978 Chiburdanidze - Gaprindashvili Title Match (m-w.com) -- who had held the title since 1962. When Chiburdanidze lost the title in 1991, it would mark nearly 30 years of an uninterrupted reign by Georgian women players.

Chess Life (25 Years Ago)

By the time you receive this issue, the Second FIDE Knockout World Championship will be history. We were able to report the results of the first two rounds. Unfortunately, that was all that was needed to determine the fates of our nine participants. [...] Jose Angel Pardo put together the artwork for Chess Life in Adobe Photoshop. He holds a BA in Fine Arts from Jersey State College.

For more about the cover teaser, 'Caesar's hosts the BEST!', see two previous posts on my World Chess Championship blog:-

• Who Goes to Caesars Palace to Play Chess? (April 2009)
• Playing Chess at Caesars Palace (ditto)

A few months ago we saw the same paragraph about cover artist Pardo in July 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover' (July 2024). An article inside the September issue, 'Americans at Las Vegas' by Brian Killigrew, started,

The FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament has given chess fans a great deal to be excited about. One month of top-level chess, one hundred players, and speed games where one mistake can cost you a match. The format is exciting, if not controversial.

Do the short matches really prove who is the best? Should speed chess determine the winner of the world championship? And is the winner really the world champ if he hasn't beaten Kasparov -- or, for that matter, Karpov?

These are a few of the questions I posed to the players representing the United States at the tournament. While they were all excited to be part of it, their feelings about the format were mixed. But they all agreed on some points. The players said that it wasn't fair when Karpov was seeded directly into the finals last year, and they also showed a great deal of respect for their first round opponents.

The first (Groningen / Lausanne) and second (Las Vegas) FIDE World Championship Knockout events are documented on my index page for the World Chess Championship (m-w.com). There would be a total of five title events using the knockout format, which never escaped the 'exciting, if not controversial' criticism.

Ugly Chess Jacket

And I mean that in the kindest way, like 'Ugly Christmas Sweater'. English speaking visitors to this blog might be surprised to know that the famous sweaters are known and sought after internationally. Will chess jackets also catch on?

This latest post for Top eBay Chess Items by Price (March 2010), features an item titled, 'Kidsuper Chess Not Checkers Corduroy Blazer - Size Large - Brown - NEW'. It sold for US$ 335.00, 'Buy It Now'.

The description said,

Condition:

New with tags: A brand-new, unused, and unworn item (including handmade items) in the original ...

Brand:

Kidsuper

Type:

Blazer

Size Type:

Regular

Size:

L

Style:

Pea Coat

Outer Shell Material:

Cotton

Department:

Men

Color:

Brown

Fabric Type:

Corduroy

For previous top eBay items in the clothing category, see:-

• Not to Be Confused with Hermes (December 2021; a scarf)
• Endorsements for Asuncion (January 2020; a nice Magnus jacket, not at all ugly)

By coincidence, a used ('Pre-owned' in eBay jargon) jacket of exactly the same type was being offered on eBay for US$ 365.99. Are ugly Christmas sweaters also worth more used?

DNA Yahoos

Just like last month's Yahoos post, Missing Yahoos (July 2024; see the footnote for an explanation of Yahoos), this month had 99 stories returned by Google News. Of those, 25 were old stories from previous months, compared to 10 old stories returned for the July post. Is Google struggling to find chess stories?

The most frequent topic was the Sinquefield Cup with 11 stories. For example, the last story was:-

• 2024-08-29: Undefeated Firouzja Wins Sinquefield Cup And $100k Prize (chess.com; JackRodgers) • 'GM Alireza Firouzja was crowned as the winner of the 2024 Sinquefield Cup and the Grand Chess Tour on Wednesday after securing a draw with GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and finishing on 6/9.'

The Tbilisi FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024 (theweekinchess.com; 14 Aug - 25 Aug) had four stories. None of them were about the final results, which is why I used that TWIC link.

The 2024 Olympiad also had four stories, two of which were the same. Since the event didn't finish in August, I'll save any discussion for next month.

The opponents in the forthcoming match for the World Championship, Ding Liren vs. Gukesh, and the opponents in the most reported game of all time, Carlsen vs. Niemann also received mentions. The most reported of the more colorful stories was:-

• 2024-08-17: Chess Player Suspended After Allegedly Poisoning Her Rival (chess.com; TarjeiJS) • 'A chess player has been suspended by the Russian Chess Federation and is reportedly facing time in jail after she allegedly tried to poison her rival at the chessboard during a tournament. Amina Abakarova, a 40-year-old chess coach from Makhachkala in the Russian Republic of Dagestan, is accused of trying to poison her rival, 30-year-old Umayganat Osmanova.'
  
  
• 2024-08-24: The cheaters, geniuses and creeps of the world of chess (thespectator.com; Luke McShane; 'Nothing says you’re a criminal mastermind like knowing the King’s Indian Attack') • 'Amina Abakarova, a forty-year-old chess player from Russia, supposedly tried to poison a younger rival at the Dagestan Chess Championship this month. Camera footage seems to show her furtively applying a substance to one side of a chess board before the start of the game. Her opponent later became unwell and a Russian news agency claimed that the substance contained mercury.'

Since I dislike closing this post with such a dismal chess story, let's have something more upbeat. This story is behind a paywall, but is intriguing enough to mention it:-

• 2024-08-23: DNA computer can play chess and solve sudoku puzzles (newscientist.com) • 'Computers made from DNA have previously only been able to store information or perform computations on it - now a new device can do both'

Aren't we all 'computers made from DNA'? More research needed...

[Yahoos (mainstream news stories about chess) are derived from Google News top-100 (or so) stories from the past month.]

A Perspective on Chess

One of the best known chess paintings reveals some of its technical secrets. I had to brighten both images, but the results were worth it.

Top: The Chess Players | Thomas Eakins
Bottom: Perspective Drawing for the 'Chess Players'
Both: © Flickr user museado under Creative Commons.

The links for the corresponding museum pages were:-

Top: The Chess Players, 1876 (metmuseum.org)
Bottom: Perspective Drawing for the 'Chess Players' (ditto)

The description for the top portion said,

Thomas Eakins, American, 1844–1916, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • 11 3/4 x 16 3/4 in. (29.8 x 42.6 cm) • Medium: Oil on wood • Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY • Gift of the artist, 1881

The description for the bottom said,

[Ditto] • 24 x 19 in. (61 x 48.3 cm) • Medium: Graphite and ink on cardboard • Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY • Fletcher Fund, 1942

The metmuseum.org page for the painting said,

In this painting, the artist’s father watches a chess game between two friends in a Renaissance Revival parlor of a Philadelphia home. Eakins honored his father with a Latin inscription on the drawer of the chess table, which translates as "Benjamin Eakins’s son painted this in '76." A reproduction of a painting by Eakins’s principal French teacher, Jean-Léon Gérôme, hangs over the mantel.

Eakins adhered to Gérôme’s academic lessons in his careful spatial construction and meticulous detail. In 1881 The Chess Players became the first work to be accepted by the Metropolitan Museum as a gift from a living artist.

I cropped out the top half of the 'Perspective Drawing'. It showed sketches of the table with the wine decanter & glasses and of the two players' chairs.

Vishy Sweats It Out

Remember Everyone's Favorite World Champion (October 2023; 'We recently caught up with the man, myth and legend Viswanathan Anand to give us a house tour...')? Here he is again, sweating it out more than he does in most chess games.

Vishy Answers Intense Rapid Fire Questions! (4:19) • '[Published on] Jul 19, 2024'

The description of the video says,

The GOAT of Indian chess, Viswanathan Anand is back to serve some HOT TAKES with our Rapid Fire Questions!

Q: The best game you have ever played? • A: Lautier, Biel 96. • He got the year wrong, but what a game: Viswanathan Anand vs Joel Lautier; Biel Credit Suisse 1997 (chessgames.com). At the end of the clip he says, 'I'm a chess player', in six different languages.

August 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover'

For the last couple of months, 'On the Cover' has been alternating between the World Championships of 50 and 25 years ago. Last month's post, July 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover' (July 2024), had the 1999 event on the right. Now we have both events behind the respective covers.

Left: '?'
Right: 'Hummel Wins 1999 National High School Championship'

Chess Life & Review (50 Years Ago)

Dapper Grandmaster Svetozar Gligoric happily receiving his 1st-place trophy from TD Isaac Kashdan at the Los Angeles International. Story [inside].

The 'story [inside]' was titled 'Los Angeles International Tournament 1974' by Edmar Mednis. It started,

The United States Chess Federation has organized and sponsored three international invitational toumaments within the space of less than a year. The latest of these was held April 6-19, 1974 in Los Angeles.

These tournaments are intended to provide American masters the opportunity to obtain international titles and FIDE (Elo) ratings. [...] It is important that our top masters receive these rating for two reasons: (1) foreign organizers do not invite Americans rated at 2200 in absence of a FIDE rating, but whose real strength is 2400-2500, because to do so would artificially lower the rating category of the tournament: (2) even in our own tournaments, a 2200-rated American is a handicap, as this lowers the category of the tournament and thus increases the point total required for achieving IM and GM norms.

So far the USCF has been most successful in achieving the goals set for these tournaments. At the first one, held in June 1973 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Ken Rogoff achieved an IM result, while Kim Commons and Craig Chellstorp obtained FIDE. ratings. At the second, Chicago, November-December 1973, Norman Weinstein was a smashing first with an IM result, Jim Tarjan also had to IM result, and Andrew Karklins obtained a FIDE rating. And at Los Angeles, this writer obtained an IM result, his third this year, and will be awarded the IM title at the FIDE Congress in Nice.

A crosstable for the event appeared in the July issue of CL. The big news of recent months was recorded on the 'The Editor's Page - News & Views' by Burt Hochberg, a column which was running monthly in 1974 and which I've already referenced in previous 'On the Cover' posts. The August column started,

Chess players of every strength, their wives and team captains, FIDE delegates and committee members, armies of tournament directors and arbiters, journalists from everywhere -- and assorted problems -- descended like a plague on the world's most famous jet-set resort, the French Riviera. The 21st Olympiad and the concurrent FIDE Congress, hosted by the bustling tourist city of Nice, took place June 6-30 with a record participation of 73 FIDE-affiliated federations.

[Chess 'descended like a plague'?] The big news followed. It would affect world chess for the next decade and even beyond.

The FIDE Congress was shaken by several controversial decisions. Following Dr. Euwe's reelection as President, the Congress decided to approve only part of World Champion Fischer's set of "non-negotiable" proposed conditions for the 1975 title fight. He had asked that 10 wins determine the match winner, that there be no limit on the number of games played, that draws not be counted in the scoring, and that if the score was 9-9 the Champion would retain his title.

FIDE approved the 10-win regulation and the elimination of draws from the scoring, but imposed a 36-game limit and rejected the 9-9 proposal. On learning this, Fischer (in daily contact by phone with Fred Cramer at Nice) cabled the Congress: "FIDE has decided against my participation in the 1975 World Chess Championship. I therefore resign my FIDE World Championship title." FIDE'S response was to ask Bobby to "reconsider possibility of defending title under regulations adopted here."

Also important for the future of chess was a political decision from the Congress.

Another painful episode was the "temporary exclusion" from FIDE of South Africa and Rhodesia because of their racial policies. The motion had been made by Bulgaria at Helsinki last year.

The idealistic FIDE motto 'Gens Una Sumus' was no longer a reality.

Chess Life (25 Years Ago)

Congratulations to Patrick Hummel, our 1999 National High School Champion and not just for winning a national title, but for his stellar performances at the Memorial Day Classic (beat Ehlvest, drew with Ziatdinov) and the Chesswise University - CCA International (defeated WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia in the last round to earn his first IM norm). The cover photos were taken by Carla Hummel and the design is by Jami L. Anson.

For more about Hummel's chess career, see The chess games of Patrick Hummel (chessgames.com). For more about his current whereabouts, see Patrick Hummel (patrickhummelecon.github.io). I imagine that two years after Kasparov lost a match to a computer -- see Kasparov vs. IBM's Deep Blue (m-w.com) -- a chess careeer was not an attractive option for a brilliant teenage student with so many tantalyzing choices in front of him.

The 'On the Cover' introduction continued with the 1999 version of the World Championship.

FIDE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE • We now have NINE USCF representatives in the FIDE Knockout World Championship, which will begin on July 30, 1999 (opening ceremony) at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. There is no charge for watching the games, which begin July 31.

With a number of invitations having been turned down, a spot opened up for Alex Yermolinsky. Thus, the first round of two-game matches will begin on July 31 and we will see: [...]

The intro continued with a list of the initial pairings of the nine U.S. players. According to my page on the event, 1999 FIDE Knockout Matches, Las Vegas (m-w.com), eight of the players started the event in the first round, where three won their matches to join GM Kamsky in the second round. All four were eliminated in the second round, Kamsky losing to GM Khalifman, the eventual winner of the tournament.

***

Later: I neglected to mention the article 'Hummel Wins 1999 National High School Championship' by IM John Donaldson in the August 1999 CL. It started,

The 1999 National High School Championship, held April 8-11 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, will be long remembered for the emergence of a new talent and for the excellence of its organization. Patrick Hummel, representing Meadows High School of Las Vegas, won the event with a score of 6 1/2 - 1/2.

The 14-year-old Hummel, who recently became a Senior Master after learning how to play five years ago, won his first six games before drawing in the last round with Steven Winer of Vermont. Hummel is in distinguished company as he joins GMs Larry Christiansen (1971) and Michael Rohde (1974) as the youngest-ever winners of the event.

None of the games from the event are listed on the Chessgames.com page that is linked in the main post. For a long article on Hummel, see Las Vegas teen on his way to becoming a chess grandmaster (lasvegassun.com).

Can Monkeys Play Chess?

By some curious coincidence, this month's post in the series Top eBay Chess Items by Price (March 2010), echoes last month's Flickr post, 'Interspecies Friendships' and Chess (July 2024). The July post started,

A good subtitle to that title would be 'Don't play chess with a monkey'.

The title of the eBay item shown below was 'Small Antique Early 20th C. Franz Bergman Vienna Bronze Monkeys Playing Chess'. It sold for 'US $695.00 Best offer accepted or Best Offer', where the number must have been close to the final selling price.

The description said,

Franz Xavier Bergman (Austrian, 1861-1936). • Size approx: 3-1/2 x 3 x 1-7/8 in. • Weight approx: 284 grams

You are bidding on a small antique early-20th century cold-painted bronze figure group of monkeys playing chess by renowned Vienna artist 'Franz Bergman'. Each figure is signed/marked/numbered as seen in photos.

Condition Report: Some surface wear, paint loss and one table leg with slight bend as shown, dirty/dusty from years of storage, needs cleaning.

The last time we saw Bergman on this blog was Cold Painted Cats (December 2022). That post included some biographical material.

Missing Yahoos

In last month's Yahoos post, Money Makes the Yahoos Go Round (June 2024), I noted,

This month there was no single story that Google News flagged as dominant.

Copy that for the month of July. Of the 99 stories returned by Google News, four were about chess960, but I've already covered that story on my chess960 blog in the post The Magnus Merry-Go-Round (July 2024), e.g.

• 2024-07-25: $12 Million Raised For 'Revolutionary' Freestyle Series Of Tournaments (chess.com; PeterDoggers)

Instead of going there again, let's look instead at a couple of Chess.com stories on a much darker theme by another top chess writer. I doubt that the Google News AI bots would make the connection, but both stories go a long way to explain why there aren't more women in chess.

• 2024-07-18: Top International Arbiter Banned For Sexual Harassment During Major Tournaments (chess.com; TarjeiJS) • 'International chess arbiter Arild Rimestad from Denmark has been given a two-year ban by the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission (EDC) following multiple reports of sexual harassment against a female FIDE employee. In its decision dated July 13, the EDC has ruled that Rimestad cannot act as an arbiter or participate in any FIDE events for two years, with one year suspended for three years, contingent on no further violations. It's a significant ruling by the EDC, as it seems to be the first time the panel has decided on a sexual harassment-related case.'
  
  
• 2024-07-20: Jennifer Shahade Files Lawsuit Against US Chess For Misconduct And Retaliation (ditto) • 'Two-time U.S. Women's Chess Champion WGM Jennifer Shahade has filed a major lawsuit against US Chess, its president Randy Bauer, and chess writer Peter Tamburro, alleging defamation, retaliation, and discrimination after her public allegations of sexual misconduct.'

That second story takes us back to a previous post on this blog, The Dark Side of Women's Chess (March 2023; 'GM Nakamura reads the Wall Street Journal article, How Sexual Assault Allegations Against a U.S. Chess Grandmaster Went Unaddressed for Years (wsj.com)', i.e. GM Alejandro Ramirez). For more about WGM Shahade's complaint, see Jennifer Shahade Files Complaint Against US Chess (jenshahade.substack.com). It starts,

As a victim and whistleblower, I am fighting back against campaigns to silence me and retaliate against me for speaking up about sexual violence in chess.

Tamburro's contribution to the dark side was his article Due Process, Part II (uschess.org; PDF) in the American Chess Magazine, February 2024. Shortly thereafter, US Chess promoted the article with US Chess Executive Board Statement about American Chess Magazine Article "Due Process, Part II" (uschess.org). Its statement started,

The previously undisclosed details that Pete Tamburro’s new American Chess Magazine piece presents are accurate; we affirm that the facts relative to US Chess are supported by the record of written evidence.

The last time we saw Tamburro on this blog, we didn't actually see him. The follow-up to 2023 CJA Awards - Part 2 (August 2023), should have been 'Part 3', where I would have listed the winners in my favorite categories. When Tamburro won the 'Chess Journalist of the Year' for the second time, it brought back unpleasant memories of the first time, some 20 years earlier. Rather than relive those memories, I decided to drop coverage of the CJA.

The CJA's pay-to-play business model guarantees that first-string journalists who decline to pay invariably lose out to second-stringers. Both Chess.com journalists mentioned above, PeterDoggers and TarjeiJS, neither of whom has ever won a journalist of the year award, are far more deserving than Tamburro.

[Yahoos (mainstream news stories about chess) are derived from Google News top-100 (or so) stories from the past month.]

July 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover'

Last month's 'On the Cover' post, June 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover' (June 2024) had news about the World Championship (50 years ago) on the left and the National Open (25 years ago) on the right. This month the roles are switched.

Left: '?'
Right: 'FIDE World Championship Begins July 30th in Las Vegas • NxP?! (c) Jose Angel Pardo'

Chess Life & Review (50 Years Ago)

On the left is GM Arthur Bisguier, winner of the 8th National Open in Las Vegas. Story [inside]. Photo by Galati. On the right is GM Walter Browne, winner of the 4th Statham Tournament in Lone Pine, Cal. Story [inside]. Photo by Nigel Eddis.

GM Bisguier was last seen in June 1973 & 1998 'On the Cover' (June 2023). GM Browne was last seen in April 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover' (April 2024). Both of those stories '[inside]' began with complications arising from contemporary global affairs. U.S. chess was grappling with troubled times.

Let's start with 'National Open: No Shortages' by Ed Edmondson. First, some bad news:-

No Gas Shortage • Three months before the 8th National Open, the nation was caught up in the Arab Oil Embargo and experiencing very serious gas and oil shortages. We in the North were faced with the possibility of an inadequate supply of fuel oil for heating purposes, and it looked as though -- even if we could pull up roots -- we might not be able to find enough gasoline to drive south and avoid freezing to death.

From a planning standpoint, we were much afraid that drastic cutbacks in driving and curtailed airline schedules would mean not many people could make the trip to Las Vegas for our tournament. As it turned out, the problem had eased considerably in mid-March; by then, however, we had already changed playing rooms at the Stardust Hotel in anticipation of a turnout no greater than 1973's (246 players).

Then some good news, tempered by a bit more bad news:-

No Player Shortage • We changed our reservation from a playing room which could have held more than 400 players in great comfort to one which would hold 250 quite adequately. With fuel restrictions eased, the 1974 National Open set a new attendance record with 296 players. As a result. we did have a Playing Room Shortage. To those who (like me) played and felt a bit crowded at times. I apologize. For 1975. we have already reserved a much larger, better lighted and air-conditioned room which will accommodate 500 players in luxury.

As for the tournament itself, it was covered in two more sections, No Thrill Shortage (the results) and No Fun Shortage (after all, we're talking Las Vegas). The other cover story was 'Louis D. Statham Masters-Plus Tournament' by Isaac Kashdan, Tournament Director. It started,

The fourth annual Louis D. Statham Tournament was again held in Lone Pine, California. We expected it to be the strongest, but not the best attended of the series. As it happened, it excelled on both counts.

First the results. Walter Browne of Berkeley was the highest rated player, and justified that status by winning with the fine score of 6-1. He won his first two games, lost to Ruben Rodriguez of the Philippines, then took his last four games in a row. The streak included former U.S. champion Larry Evans of Reno, and present co-holder of the title, John Grefe of Berkeley.

Grefe finished with 5 1/2, points, tied with Pal Benko of New York, who beat Florin Gheorghiu of Rumania [sic] in the final round to make it. Evans, Julio Kaplan of Puerto Rico, Kim Commons of Los Angeles and Andrew Karklins of Chicago all tied at 5 points For the other prize winners and details of the play read the round by round summary which follows.

Skipping ahead 25 years, we're approaching the end of the millennium.

Chess Life (25 Years Ago)

Maybe this artistic cover is what things looked like up close in the Nunn - Nataf game from the French Team Championship (Letter from Europe, [inside], Move 14). Jose Angel Pardo put together the artwork for Chess Life in Adobe Photoshop. He holds a BA in Fine Arts from Jersey State College.

At that time in its evolution, CL had been featuring regularly artwork on its cover for several years. The previous such cover was March 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover' (March 2024).

The 'On the Cover' write-up continued,

World Championship • FIDE is holding the second World Championship Knockout tournament in Las Vegas July 30-August 29 at Caesar's Palace. Invited are 100 of the top players in the world. Accepting invitations are all eight invited Americans -- including Gata Kamsky! The other U.S. players are U.S. Champion Nick de Firmian, Joel Benjamin, Dmitry Gurevich, Tal Shaked, Boris Gulko, Sergey Kudrin, and Alexander Ivanov.

Kasparov and Anand (who recently won the Chess Oscar for the second time) aren't playing in the FIDE Knockout World Championship because they are piay1ng each other for the Ultimate World Championship and a $3,000,000 prize fund some time during the last quarter of the year. We don't know as we go to press where they are going to play, but it will be a 16-game match, with Kasparov maintaining his title in case of a drawn match.

Alexei Shirov, who qualified as Kasparov's challenger by defeating Vladimir Kramnik in a match late last year, is not involved in this Ultimate World Championship, despite being ranked number two just ahead of Anand and Kramnik, on the World Chess Ranking that Kasparov has set up in competition with FIDE.

Other forthcoming events mentioned in the long preview of the issue were the 1999 U.S. Open, the Interplay U.S. Championship, and Kasparov vs. the World, plus a call to help cover the costs of IM John Watson's medical urgency.

'Interspecies Friendships' and Chess

A good subtitle to that title would be 'Don't play chess with a monkey'. This month's Flickr favorite doesn't really have much to do with chess, but the board in the left photo looks indeed to be that of our favorite board game.

Left: The wounded monkey bites the hand of the prince... © Flickr user museado under Creative Commons.

The full title of the left photo said,

The wounded monkey bites the hand of the prince, his chessmate, in the presence of guests, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifth Night c. 1560

The description continued,

This painting depicts a scene from the cautionary tale the mother parrot tells her young to warn them that interspecies friendships, like theirs with the fox cubs, are a bad idea. She tells them that there once was a monkey who could play chess, and he enjoyed many games with a prince. When the prince invited dignitaries for a party, the monkey made a bad joke, the prince slapped him, and the monkey bit him in return.

At the left, food is prepared as the guests look on in astonishment. An inscription at the bottom of the page names the artist, who went on to become one of the most celebrated Indian masters at the Mughal court. • Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)

The title of the middle photo said,

The monkey slain, his blood to be used as medicine for the ailing prince he has bitten, from a Tuti-nama [etc. etc.]

The description said,

Wounded by the chess-playing monkey’s bite, the prince’s hand became increasingly infected. The only cure, his doctors said, was to apply the blood of the monkey to the wound and let it dry. Reluctantly, the prince allowed the monkey to be killed. Two men accomplish this serious work at the left.

In the right margin is written the name of the artist, the celebrated Basavana. The Tuti-nama contains the earliest known paintings by the prolific master who was instrumental in shaping the Mughal painting style over subsequent decades.

The title of the photo on the right said,

The hunter throws away the baby parrots, who pretend to be dead, and captures the mother, from a Tuti-nama [etc. etc.]

The description said,

Despite the chess-playing monkey’s grim end, the baby parrots continued to cavort with the fox cubs. One day the mother fox discovered that her cubs had been eaten by a panther. Blaming the parrots, she lured a hunter to their tree. The hunter climbed the tree and ensnared the mother parrot and her babies. The mother instructed her young to play dead, then pleaded with the hunter to take her alone, saying that since she knew the art of healing she would fetch a high price.

Lush vegetation and a stream of water painted with a soft brush indicate a fresh new stylistic vision that represents a departure from Indian and Persian styles that came before.

All three Flickr pages mention, 'This photo is in 1 album: Cleveland Museum of Art'.

Gotham Talks at Google

The title of the post for this month's featured video echoes the title of a previous featured video, Kasparov Talks at Google (June 2017). There I noted,

As for 'Talks at Google', I featured another episode a few years back in a Video Friday post titled Computer Chess 'Comedy' (July 2013), about the movie 'Computer Chess'.

Early in the clip the moderator says, 'Our guest is returning to Google today to discuss his new book...'. I couldn't locate the previous talk; maybe some helpful blog visitor can show the way.

Levy Rozman | GothamChess: The Internet's Chess Teacher | Talks at Google (57:03) • '[Published on] Jun 19, 2024'

The description starts,

The creator behind the most subscribed-to chess channel on YouTube, Levy Rozman aka GothamChess, discusses his New York Times bestseller “How to Win at Chess: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners and Beyond.” Brimming with practical and easy-to-follow tips for improving your game, the book includes over 500 instructional gameplay illustrations to help you better visualize the board.

It continues,

Levy Rozman, more popularly known as GothamChess, is an online chess streamer who earned the International Master title in 2018. A former scholastic chess coach, he is passionate about chess accessibility, and has donated $100,000 in scholarship funds for chess programs in education. He currently boasts the biggest chess channel on YouTube, where he focuses on creating fun and educational content. His channel has nearly 5M subscribers and 85M total monthly views. This phenomenal growth aided in Levy's transition from making straightforward tactics videos in his apartment to running live commentary at chess and chess-boxing events. • Moderated by Brandon Li.

All of IM Rozman's mentions on this blog have been related to a YouTube video. For the previous mention, see Gotham Gets Gaga (July 2023).

Incarcerated, Self-taught, and Legally Blind

When there are several choices on the short list for a new month's edition of Top eBay Chess Items by Price (March 2010), I almost always go for any artwork. Looking at recent posts I was surprised to discover that the last featured artwork was over a year ago in Baffling eBay (April 2023).

The artwork pictured below was titled, 'Original Painting African American Children Oil Pastels Unframed Signed' The price was given as 'US $825.00; Best offer accepted or Best Offer' (whatever that all means). Judging by its position in the list of sold items, it appears to have sold for $750.

The description said,

This is a one of a kind original painting. Johnnie, an African American artist is incarcerated, has been painting about five years and is self taught. He has donated many of his paintings to support a program that allows men to earn their college degrees while behind bars and has also donated paintings to the American Glaucoma Foundation. He has a rare eye disorder and is diagnosed as legally blind but still manages to create beautiful works of art.

This is titled "We Are Resilient, Make Your Move", hand painted in oil and oil pastels on canvas. It is unframed and signed, H24" X W18".

The artist is incarcerated, self taught, and legally blind. The title of the work ('We Are Resilient...') was written its back.

Money Makes the Yahoos Go Round

The past two monthly Yahoo posts -- see the footnote for an explanation of Yahoos -- started,

Of the [1st-COUNT] chess stories returned by Google News for the month of [MONTH], [2nd-COUNT] were about '[HEADLINE]'

To fill in the blanks, see last month's post An Indian-Norwegian Yahoo (May 2024). This month there was no single story that Google News flagged as dominant. Having said that, of the 100 chess stories returned for the month of June by our favorite news source, 12 stories were about the Cairns Cup. For example,

• 2024-06-23: Tan Draws With Kosteniuk, Wins Cairns Cup (chess.com; JackRodgers) • 'GM Tan Zhongyi was crowned as the winner and will receive the $50,000 first prize after a quick draw with GM Alexandra Kosteniuk secured her a 6/9 score in the final round of the Cairns Cup 2024 on Saturday. GM Anna Muzychuk finished on a high note by defeating IM Alice Lee and claimed $40,000 for outright second while draws on the remaining boards led to a four-way tie for third.'

Two other interesting stories (although I freely admit that what is interesting for me is not necessarily interesting for the great majority of the chess world) appeared multiple times in Google News, both with three mentions each. To pick a single mention, the first story was:-

• 2024-06-25: World Champ Magnus Carlsen’s Fantasy Chess Startup Raises $3 Million (forbes.com) • 'Norway-based Fantasy Chess has raised pre-seed funding without a product from investors SNO Ventures, Coatue and funds led by billionaires Yuri Milner and Peter Thiel.'

The second story was:-

• 2024-06-18: Chessify wins the World Corporate Chess Championship (worldcorporate.fide.com) • 'The San Francisco company emerged as victors after defeating the Delaware-based ChessMood team in the finals. Third place went to another U.S. company – the global quantitative trading firm SIG, while the European team UBS ended up in fourth place.'

That World Corporate story continued,

The last day of the World Corporate Championship, organized by FIDE and presented by Freedom Holding, opened with a surprising announcement by FIDE that the 2024 World Rapid and Blitz Championship will be held in New York at the end of December.

And that paragraph deserves a follow-up; ditto for the fantasy chess story. TBD?

[Yahoos (mainstream news stories about chess) are derived from Google News top-100 (or so) stories from the past month.]

An Unexplained Chess Set

For this month's Flickr favorite, I could have chosen another AI generated photo as in No Hunk-o'-Junk Here (April 2024), but none of the three candidates on the short list were particularly inspiring. I was more intrigued by the photo shown below although there was almost no information about it. The description of the photo repeated its title and added only,

Curt Schlevogt, Ingrid Collection

There were no tags offering further clues. This leads to the often asked question, 'What have we here?'.

Preciosa Chess Set 08 © Flickr user Preciosa Ornela under Creative Commons.

A little searching on the obvious keywords led to 'Desna' Decorative Glass - Preciosa Ornela (preciosa-ornela.com), where Desna is a town in the Czech Republic; Google: 'Population: 3,084 (Jan 1, 2020)'. One section of the page informed,

Chess Set • Desna Since 1847 • Curt Schlevogt, Collection Ingrid • This exclusive chess set is possible to purchase in our Glass Shop in Desna.

A suggestion to 'View More Photos' points to Decorative Glass - Desná since 1847 (flickr.com; 'We would like to introduce you to the artistic crystalware collection from PRECIOSA'). And now that we have come full circle back to Flickr, the journey ends here. We might never know if there is a story behind the set.

Chess.com ARR, Takeaways, and Sound Bites

Only 180 views for a chat with the man who shepherded the greatest chess boom of all time? The most popular chess streamers probably get that much attention in the first millisecond of their latest stream. There is definitely something wrong with this picture.

Erik Allebest - From 0 to 150 million ARR - The Chess.com story (1:12:33) • '[Published on] May 12, 2024'

I thought I knew most of the important accounting and investing acronyms, but ARR had me stumped. Although there are dozens of ARR acronyms in use, I'm guessing that the right one is explained on the page What is annual recurring revenue (ARR) and how to calculate it (paddle.com):-

Annual recurring revenue is a crucial success metric for subscription companies. Learn why it’s important and how to calculate it correctly. [...; AAR] is the yearly value of revenue generated from subscriptions, contracts, and other recurring billing cycles.

The description of the video starts,

Chess.com has grown from being a simple chess service to a thriving 150 million ARR business. The company has focused on making chess accessible to everyone through services around a product that hasn’t changed in centuries. We touch on the challenges of scaling a company and the role of titles and leadership in an organization and how many times Erik wanted to give up in the process.

Wanted to give up? Say it ain't so, Erik! The rest of the video description is worth a look and covers 'Takeaways', 'Sound Bites', and 'Chapters' (important segments in the video). Someone spent time putting all of this together and received only 180 views. For a previous post on the world's most successful commercial chess enterprise, see The Rise of Chess.com (January 2023; 32,365 views).

June 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover'

In last month's post about American chess magazines of yesteryear, May 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover' (May 2024), we had the Candidates stage of the World Championship on the left and American news on the right. Here we go again.

Left: '?'
Right: '"I saw Ehlvest in Las Vegas" • GM Jaan Ehlvest; Winner of the 1999 National Open'

Chess Life & Review (50 Years Ago)

Soviet Grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi, vanquisher of Mecking and then Petrosian. during a talk on the Mecking match before an exhibition at Chess City in New York. The delightful Korchnoi describes the Mecking encounter [inside]. Photo by Nigel Eddis.

Once again, the first chess content in the magazine was 'The Editor's Page - News & Views' by Burt Hochberg. His summary of the contemporary scene is again worth quoting. It started,

It will come as startling news to many that Anatoly Karpov, who turned 23 in May, has roundly defeated ex-World Champion Boris Spassky in their semifinal Candidates Match in Leningrad. Though widely expected to be Fischer's "revenge" challenger in 1975, Spassky was not everyone's choice. His compatriot Korchnoi, for example, told us in New York that despite Spassky's decisive win of the Soviet title last year, some grandmasters (including Korchnoi) recognized in Spassky's games signs that he had not yet recovered from his 1972 defeat at Fischer's hands. [...]

A few paragraphs later, Hochberg covered the other half of the semifinals.

In Odessa, USSR, the Korchnoi-Petrosian semifinal match came to an abrupt end when Petrosian resigned the match on account of illness with the score 3-1 against him. Five games were played, with only one draw among them, a stark contrast with the 1971 match between these rivals. Svetozar Gligoric analyzes this match in our July issue. [NB: Yes!]

After news about various U.S. championships, Hochberg ended his summary with a quote from GM Korchnoi's four page report on the match.

Quotation of the month: "Despite the objective difficulty of the position, I continued to play quietly and confidently, as though all was well, as though I, and not my opponent, was winning. As I later learned, this manner of play really drove Mecking mad!" -- V. Korchnoi

The full title of the Korchnoi report was 'The Korchnoi - Mecking Match' by Viktor Korchnoi. Echoing the 'Quotation of the month', it started,

There were many critical moments in my match with Mecking. A lot of mistakes were made and in fact there was not a single error-free game. My opponent has learned to set up his game rather well strategically and his tactical skill was always up to par. However, owing to his character disposition he was not capable of consistent play through the match. At difficult moments I succeeded in saving bad positions and even scoring important points by means of stubborn defense unforeseen by my opponent. Here are three fragments from the match which were turning points in the overall struggle.

For the results of all the matches mentioned here, see 1973-75 Candidates Matches (m-w.com).

Chess Life (25 Years Ago)

It was a three-way tie for first place in Las Vegas, at the National Open, and Jaan Ehlvest took home the Edmondson Cup on tiebreaks. It was the third time that Jaan tied for top honors, but this was the first time he won the Cup, edging out Ilya Smirin and Gregory Kaidanov. Almost 1,000 players journeyed to Las Vegas to compete over the board, and to enjoy the ambiance of the Riviera Hotel and Casino, enhanced by the organizing skills of Al Losoff and a skilled staff. Coverage, provided by Edmar Mednis, begins [inside].

And yes, one could say one saw Ehlvest in Las Vegas... • Cover photo by Brian Killigrew.

The four-page, illustrated tournament report 'National Open: More Excitement and Fun' by GM Edmar Mednis started,

The 1999 National Open was held from March 19-21 at its luxurious home, Riviera Hotel & Casino, on the famous "Strip" in Las Vegas. Chief organizer Alan ("Al") Losoff had again put together a fantastic festival of competitive chess and pure enjoyment. Players were guaranteed a lot more money than last year ($50,000 vs. $42,000), with the actual payout being $53,350.

The turnout was an impressive 986, with 260 (including 27 GMs) in the Open section, 347 in the Reserve section (under 2000), 340 in the Booster section (under 1600), and 39 in the Unrated section. The larger guaranteed prizes meant that all section winners received more for their successful efforts. The three winners in the Open each made $4000, the two in the Reserve got $2500 each, and the two in the Booster each pocketed $1200. The schedule was two rounds per day, the time limit was 40/2, 20/1, SD/30, and an unlimited number of half-point buys [sic] were available.

And in case you're as clueless about the cover as I was ... Q: What means 'I saw Ehlvest in Las Vegas'? • A: That must be Ehlvest Presley. • Q: Is that a hound dog's name?

Everybody Loves Morphy

A couple of months ago in this series on Top eBay Chess Items by Price (March 2010), the post of the month was Morphy Unpublished (April 2024). There I wrote,

On this blog's long running series 'Top eBay Chess Items', Morphy items are not unusual. Having said that, it's been a few years since the previous post on Morphy.

And here we are again. The item pictured below was titled '1860 Sage Token No. 3 Paul Morphy Chess King Harrwitz & Staunton Copper Plated', and carried the note 'AU Details, copper plate white metal'. It sold for US $2225.00 after 34 bids from eight bidders. After a starting price of $0.99, in the last hour of the auction the price rose almost 50% from $1501.

The description started by echoing the title,

1860 Sage Historical Token No. 3, AU Details, copper plate white metal.

Then quoted most of the token's inscription,

[Front:] Paul Morphy, The American Chess King. [Back:] He Has Beaten Harrwitz In Chess Playing And Staunton In Courtesy • No. 3 Aug. 8. [Sage's Odds and Ends]

Then added,

Sage's Historical Tokens (150-250).

I couldn't find much about the tokens, although I didn't look very hard. The page A.B. Sage Series | Coin Census Population Report | NGC (ngccoin.com; NGC Census : US Tokens & Medals : A.B. Sage Series), mentions the Morphy token twice.

An Indian-Norwegian Yahoo

Last month's Yahoos post, Candidate Yahoos (April 2024), started:-

Of the 99 chess stories returned by Google News for the month of April, 27 were about the just concluded Candidates tournament.

Skip ahead one month and we get similar:-

Of the 101 chess stories returned by Google News for the month of May, 28 were about...

Were about what exactly? The lead section, with nine related stories, was titled 'R Praggnanandhaa defeats Magnus Carlsen in classical format'. Add to that more on the same game mixed in with other chess news and we get 24 Pragg-Carlsen stories. Add another four stories on related topics and we get 28 total.

In other words, one game in May received more attention from Google News than the most important tournament of the year received in April. Here's a typical story from Pragg's home country India:-

• 2024-05-30: Praggnanandhaa beats Magnus Carlsen: ‘His opening was provocative, he wanted to fight... I didn’t mind at all’ (indianexpress.com) • '18-year-old Praggnanandhaa defeats Magnus Carlsen for the first time in classical chess, that too at World No 1’s home in Norway to take sole lead in open section at Norway Chess tournament.'

To follow the game, see Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa vs Magnus Carlsen; 12th Norway Chess (2024), Stavanger NOR, rd 3, May 29 (chessgames.com). I've played this line ('Sicilian Defense: Kan. Modern Variation') many times with both colors and I don't know what's 'provocative' about it. Maybe I'll find out by the time the June Yahoos are available.

[Yahoos (mainstream news stories about chess) are derived from Google News top-100 (or so) stories from the past month.]

Shoreditch Street Art

The title of this month's Flickr featured photo says 'graffiti', but it looks more like 'street art' to me. Don't ask me what the difference is; I just know it when I see it. The last time we saw 'graffiti' on this blog was Only on Sunday (April 2023; yes, that's definitely graffiti). The last time we saw 'street art' was No Monkey Business Here (July 2017; Description: 'Street art in London').

Tris graffiti, Shoreditch © Flickr user duncan cumming under Creative Commons.

The decsription on this photo said,

Game on! This is the first piece in a chess battle between Tris and Core246. Two years later it's still in progress.

The Wikipedia page Shoreditch (wikipedia.org), says,

Shoreditch lies just north-east of the border with the City of London and is considered to be a part of London's East End.

By some curious coincidence, the full description in 'Monkey Business' says, 'Street art in London, Shoreditch'. Or maybe it's not a coincidence. The 'People also ask' section of a Google search on 'Shoreditch' informs,

Q: 'What is Shoreditch famous for?' • A: 'Shoreditch is famous for its street art, which can be seen all over the area. The area is also known for its trendy bars and restaurants, as well as its thriving creative scene.'

The Flickr user credited with this month's photo maintains an album titled 'Shoreditch graffiti & street art', currently with more than 32.000 photos. Too bad there's no search on the album. It might be both informative and entertaining to browse more chess street art.

May 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover'

Last month's post about American chess magazines of 50 and 25 years ago, April 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover' (April 2024), was all about American chess. This month we're reminded that there are always important chess events happening in the rest of the world.

Left: '?'
Right: 'Maurice Ashley - Our Newest Grandmaster'

Chess Life & Review (50 Years Ago)

Anatoly Karpov (left) and Tigran Petrosian, winners of their quarterfinal candidates matches. See [inside] for Spassky's assessment of his match opponent in the current semi-finals, and for Szabo's penetrating review of Petrosian's victory.

For the report on the two other quarterfinal matches, see March 1974 & 1999 'On the Cover' (March 2024). For the crosstables of all four matches, see 1973-75 Candidates Matches (m-w.com).

Chess Life (25 Years Ago)

Maurice Ashley, Grandmaster
Grandmaster Maurice Ashley.
Sounds good either way

Technically, until the next meeting of the FIDE Qualifications Committee, I [CL Editor Glenn Petersen] suppose we should say "Grandmaster-Elect" Maurice Ashley. But that's a technicality I'm willing to ignore. Although there are many who are strong enough to achieve the aim (but lack opportunities; see [inside]), few are more deserving than Mr. Ashley.

And not just for what he has accomplished over the board, is he deserving. As a coach, as a role model for young people, as a chess teacher, chess author, chess announcer -- indeed, as an enthusiastic spokesman in almost all areas of chess promotion, Maurice has made his presence notable. Certainly, as the first Black Grandmaster in the world, his place in history is assured. However, there will be no mere 15 minutes of fame for this young man. As he continues to climb mountains (see Brian Killigrew's interview [inside]), and to set standards for generations of youngsters to come, we predict Mr. Ashley 's moment in the sun will be lifelong. • Cover photo by Brian Killigrew

I'm guessing we'll see GM Ashley on the right side of many future 'On the Cover' posts.

A THR 'Exclusive'

THR = 'The Hollywood Reporter', which is also the name of the Youtube channel responsible for the following clip.

Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder and A24 to Produce Ben Mezrich Chess Scandal Story | THR News (1:06) • '[Published on] May 2, 2024'

The description said,

Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder are set to team up once again. If deals close, the duo would partner with A24 on 'Checkmate,' a hot feature package centered on a book proposal by Ben Mezrich, the author whose books were adapted into films such 'The Social Network' and 'Dumb Money.' Fielder is attached to direct, while Stone will produce along with her husband and partner Dave McCary via the duo's Fruit Tree banner.

The description continued, 'To learn more about this story:' Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder Reteam with A24 for Ben Mezrich’s Carlsen - Niemann Chess Scandal Story (Exclusive) (hollywoodreporter.com; May 2024; subtitled, 'The indie upstart seems to have outwitted streamers and studios to win 'Checkmate' with a seven-figure deal that left competitors' head-spinning.')

The last time we saw the Niemann affair on this blog was This Month Features a Bottom Yahoo (September 2023). Let's hope the movie treats chess and chess masters better than Tobey Maguire's 'Pawn Sacrifice', last seen in Excerpts from 'Pawn Sacrifice' (May 2017).

Why hasn't anyone done a movie on the 2006 Kramnik - Topalov Unification Match (m-w.com), aka Toiletgate? I'm guessing it's because the players were Russian and Bulgarian, not the sort of nationalities that inspire massive Hollywood interest.

1976 U.S. Junior (Closed)

In this monthly series on Top eBay Chess Items by Price (March 2010), the sellers often label their items as 'Rare' or 'Amazing'. More often than not, a more appropriate label would be 'Commonplace' or 'Banal'.

The item pictured below was titled 'Amazing Chess History - 8 Autographs'. I won't argue with the adjective here, although 'Rare' or 'One of a Kind' would be equally appropriate. The autographed photo sold for 'US $450.00 Best offer accepted'. Despite eBay's usual obfuscation of the actual selling price, the stated price appears to be close to the actual price.

Left to right: Tisdall, Regan, Seirawan, Henley, Diesen, Fedorowicz, Rohde, DeFirmian.

The description said,

Amazing photo of the 1976 US Junior Chess Championship. Signed by all eight players. This is an amazing piece of chess history. It is signed by six Grandmasters and two International Masters. [...; full names, titles, and ratings for all players] This is NOT something you will see again.

A link titled 'I want to know more!' led to "Fed" Up With Chess? / John's First Visit (memphischessclub.blogspot.com; May 2012). The blog post started,

What a wonderful season the summer of 1976 was in the Bluff City. The United States was preparing to celebrate the bicentennial in July, but before that national event the Memphis Chess Club was presenting the city's chess players a miraculous moment, the 11th U.S. Junior Invitational Championship Chess Tournament; this Memphis event would be repeated only once more in 1978, and in both events, John Fedorowicz participated.

'Fed' was and still is a nickname for Fedorowicz. The September 1976 issue of Chess Life & Review carried a report on the tournament. Titled 'U.S. Junior Invitational Championship' by Carol Little, ITD, it started,

The 11th Annual U.S. Junior Invitational Championship, held in Memphis, Tennessee, June 20-26. was won by Mark Diesen of Potomac, Maryland. and Michael Rohde of South Orange, New Jersey. They each had a score of 5 points and were declared Co-Champions.

This did present a problem for the USCF: Who was going to represent the U.S. in the Netherlands later this year? After a long-distance call to the New Windsor office, an equitable solution was agreed upon by both players, and Mark Diesen will go to Holland as the U.S representative to the World Junior Championship.

The 1976 U.S. Junior Championship was the first national tournament to be held in the Mid-South since the Western Open Championship, the forerunner of the U.S. Open, was held in Memphis in 1914.

The Wikipedia page John Fedorowicz (wikipedia.org) says, 'co-winner of the 1977 U.S. Junior Championship (with Kenneth Regan) and outright winner in 1978'. Somewhat curiously, the same page carries no link to a separate page on the series of U.S. Junior championships.

Candidate Yahoos

This month's Yahoos post (see footnote) is going to be short. I'm leaving on vacation and must catch a plane in a few hours. Of the 99 chess stories returned by Google News for the month of April, 27 were about the just concluded Candidates tournament (CT; for the latest post on my World Championship blog, see Toronto Candidates - Third Week; April 2024).

The first three of those CT stories were grouped under a header titled 'Gukesh at world chess championships'. The first of those three stories was:-

• 2024-04-24: Dommaraju Gukesh Wins The Candidates’ Tournament (nytimes.com; Dylan Loeb McClain) • Alternately titled: 'The Next Winner of the World Chess Championship Could Be the Youngest Ever'; Subtitled: 'Dommaraju Gukesh, a 17-year-old grandmaster from India, is the youngest player ever to win the Candidates Tournament.' • 'Dommaraju Gukesh, a 17-year-old Indian grandmaster, made history on Sunday: He won the Candidates Tournament in Toronto, held to select the challenger for the World Chess Championship in the classical time control. With that achievement, he became the youngest player ever to qualify for the title match.'

I admit: this isn't much of a post, but I'll try to make up for it when I return from vacation. For the previous Yahoos post, see Real Yahoos (Sort Of) Spotted Again (March 2024).

[Yahoos (mainstream news stories about chess) are derived from Google News top-100 (or so) stories from the past month.]

Vikings as AI Stereotypes

Although it might have seemed that last week's Monday post, The Circular Chess Boards of the Druids (April 2024; 'Druids play chess'), was more about non sequiturs than anything else, there was a common thread tying it to previous Monday posts: four weeks in a row on a religious theme. This current post looks to be breaking that series, unless of course there is something religious about Vikings.

'Vikings play chess'
AI Comic Factory

Before we get to the Viking part, let's remember a quirk I observed about the AI Comic part a couple of weeks ago in The '3D Render' Style (April 2024). I closed the post saying,

A recurring theme in the experiments is that the software reduces a text phrase ('Buddhists' in this example) to a stereotype, then develops its images based on that stereotype. I'll have more examples of this phenomenon in future Monday posts.

So here we are. There's no denying that, in the image above, the 'Vikings' look similar -- fierce, brawny men, all with long hair and long beards, wearing some kind of a horned skull cap. If you asked people to pick a Viking out of a police lineup, I bet most of them would pick any person looking like our AI Vikings. Getting back to real Vikings, in Vikings (wikipedia.org), Wikipedia starts,

Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.

This is preceded by a note that explains,

For the North Germanic ethnic group from which most Vikings originated, see Norsemen.

What about their religion? The same Wikipedia article explains,

For most of the period, they followed the Old Norse religion, but later became Christians.

All of those italicized terms lead to more Wikipedia articles, but I'll stop here. In my next Monday post, I'll delve into more AI stereotypes.

No Hunk-o'-Junk Here

For this month's Flickr Favorite post, I had a number of good choices. One choice was another in the series of J-L. Mazieres chess images last seen in More Lessons in Art Appreciation (April 2021). The new Mazieres Flickr page is Lucas de Leyde [aka van Leyden]. 1489-1533. Leyden Jeu d'échecs. (flickr.com), where the title continues,

Berlin Gemaldegalerie. The game of chess symbolizes both the struggle for power and the war of the sexes.

The choice I finally made, shown here, is another of those AI generated chess images of which I'm so fond. When I first saw it, I thought it might even be a photo of a real chess set.

victorian era technical illustration of steampunk style chess pieces... © Flickr user Hongse sishen under Creative Commons.

The full title is:-

victorian era technical illustration of steampunk style chess pieces on intricate chess board with complex brass and ivory fittings with exotic colorful mineral crystals, measurement dials and meters [...]

That reads very much like a prompt for an AI generator. It was continued in the description with:-

[...], glass magnifying lenses emitting ethereal light & electrical sparks --ar 16:9 --style raw --v 6.0 @Jerry

The Flickr user's name looked to be written in Chinese characters. Google confirmed it to be 'Chinese (Traditional)', then transliterated it to 'Hongse sishen', translated as 'red death'. Note the word 'death' is also a component of the photographer's name in the image's URL.

The last time we saw 'steampunk' on this blog was Hunk-o'-Junk Chess (January 2016; 'Before: Random Pipe Fittings • After: Steampunk Chess Set'). As far as I can tell, steampunk and AI are polar opposites.

CFAA's CMP : Blogs

After two posts on my experience with Google's CMP -- CFAA's CMP Earnings and Visitors (both April 2024; CMP = Consent Management Platform for ads) -- I decided,

I don't mind losing the ad revenue. [...] This latest chart, however, shows that the CMP change is making visitors stay away. [...] It looks like Google's Adsense will have to go.

That will take some time to do, but in the meantime I have another decision to make. My Google account's CMP and associated ads also appear on my blogs. The following chart shows the impact of the blogs' ads on total earnings.

google.com/adsense : full year 2023

The first line shows earnings from m-w.com/aboutcom (the 'Chess for All Ages' site), the second line from m-w.com/chess (the 'World Chess Championship' site), and the third line from this blog that you're reading (CFAA). The last two lines are for my other chess blogs.

The first line says that over 90% of earnings are coming from the CFAA site. Of course, I knew that already, but it always helps to quantify relationships.

Re the three blogs, although their 'earnings' are negligible, I've never done them for the money. They're more of a hobby than anything else. If they get visitors, that's great; if they don't, there's no harm done. Through the years that I've been keeping them up-to-date, the daily numbers of visitors have fluctuated substantially and depend on a number of factors over which I have little control.

Bottom line: I'll keep Adsense on the blogs. That will help me stay up-to-date with online ad technology and trends. The online space evolves so quickly that what is true today is no longer true tomorrow and vice versa.

The Circular Chess Boards of the Druids

A week ago I posted The '3D Render' Style (April 2024; aka 'Buddhists play chess'). There I started,

Let's continue with the religious theme. Three weeks in a row make a trend.

Four Weeks in a row make a wedding photo of my three brothers and me. And following the principles espoused by Non sequiturs 'R' Us, that brings us to the subject of Druids.

'Druids play chess'
AI Comic Factory

What exactly is a Druid? In Druid (wikipedia.org), Wikipedia starts by saying,

A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts.

Following the link for 'Celtic cultures' brings us to Wikipedia's page on Celts. First we learn an important distinction:-

This article is about the ancient and medieval peoples of Europe. For Celts of the present day, see Celts (modern).

The article 'about the ancient and medieval peoples' starts,

The Celts or Celtic peoples were a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia, identified by their use of Celtic languages and other cultural similarities. Major Celtic groups included the Gauls; the Celtiberians and Gallaeci of Iberia; the Britons, Picts, and Gaels of Britain and Ireland; the Boii [central Europe]; and the Galatians [Turkey].

So my Belgian friends [Gauls] are somehow related to Turks. That I did not know...