The 82nd Mass. Open continues today and tomorrow with rounds 3 to 6 at the Royal Plaza Best Western Hotel in Marlboro. Tomorrow’s scholastic side event, for grades K-6, begins at 10:30 a.m. Details at www.masschess.org.
Check the MACA website Monday to find out the new president and vice president, as ballots were counted Saturday, and the annual meeting is Monday at 9 a.m. before round 5.
Sad international news with the passing of GM Lothar Schmid, 85, of Germany, who was the match referee of the World Championship in Iceland in 1972. He competed in 11 Chess Olympiads, in correspondence chess, and had one of the world’s greatest chess libraries, as described in detail at www.chessbase.com. He somehow convinced Fischer and Spassky to continue their duel in 1972 when all looked hopeless.
While on Chessbase, you can view Mike Ciamarra’s ongoing story on using chess to battle Alzheimer’s disease at a VA hospital. A dozen times this month Ciamarra has tweeted on his findings, and on Monday the story and film from a CBS affiliate in Birmingham, Ala., was posted urging a global response, using mind sports like chess. He also has been recognized on www.uschess.org for his chess promotional ideas.
The ongoing FIDE Grand Prix in Greece that ends June 3 has official coverage on www.playchess.com, and Americans Kamsky and Nakamura have their work cut out for them in a very strong field.
On www.chesscafe.com, Bruce Pandolfini on Wednesday posted his Oct. 30, 1995, lesson given at an elementary school in New York City. He went back more than 100 years to find a game by Paul Morphy to illustrate a Fried Liver attack to kids in Grades 1 to 5. With 26 diagrams on two demo boards, he explains why each position requires unique thoughts and even uses a game where Morphy gave his opponent rook odds.
A great feature of Chess Cafe is that through Google Translate, you can read most any of the articles in the huge archive in about 70 languages. While there, view Geurt Gijssen’s “Arbiter’s Notebook,” with more questions posed on USCF versus World Chess Federation rules. Amazing how different these rules are in tournament play, as well as blitzes based on different situations.
Pick of next weekend appears to be the Rhode Island Open in Warwick, where a hearty group of volunteers has all types of activities most every week of the year, this one over two days with Sunday side events.
Source: http://www.telegram.com
I like his column.