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).
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