Chess — Stephen Dann
Sunday, December 8, 2013
http://www.telegram.com
The passing of Nelson Mandela last week brought memories of Jerry Bibuld to mind, the fellow who precipitated banning South Africa from FIDE (World Chess Federation) events in 1977. Both men were for equality of the races. In prison 27 years in an 8-by-8-foot cell, Mandela and other inmates made chess sets out of soap and driftwood.
Russia, China and Ukraine took the medals in the World Team in Turkey. The USA was fourth, even though it defeated Russia in the 10-country round robin on four boards. Excellent coverage at www.chessbase.com.
World Under 12 Champion Sam Sevian of Southbridge was awarded the IM title recently in Armenia, crossing the 2400 FIDE rating barrier at a Budapest, Hungary, event in early November, and two of his games were posted Thursday at www.uschess.org.
Postal Master Dr. Imre Toth, a retired dentist from Bolton, has another feature describing the 33-year-old Nashoba Jr. Chess Club (www.nashobachess.org), which meets again Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the high school on Green Road. The Q&A story can be found at www.wickedlocal.com/bolton and describes one of the longest running programs for kids open to the public, now twice a month.
Belated results again show John Curdo of Auburn winning the 18-player Noble November Open in Worcester. The Thursday program is described at www.chesspals.com.
Cape Cod’s www.chesscafe.com is still conducting its amazing 70 percent off clearance sale of books and equipment in stock where you can buy within Mass., and enjoy all the free features archived on the 15-year site created and maintained by Mark Donlan, a former editor of Chess Horizons magazine.
Tops this week at www.masschess.org are the Boylston Chess Foundation’s Saturday $5 Open in Somerville and MACA’s own four-section Pillsbury Memorial Sunday at the Royal Plaza Hotel in Marlboro. MACA honors two of its greatest chess celebrities in December, Harry N. Pillsbury (1872-1906) and George S. Sturgis (1891-1944), founder and first president of both the U.S. Chess Federation and MACA during the 1930s.
Nice column.