Boylston Chess Club
Mike, when I came to the word "Los ..." I anticipating the old joke "Lost Wages" for "Las Vegas".
A fun entry. Thanks.
Mike, another good post. What most fascinates me is your great uncle Ducky. Is he still alive? Did he tell you much about what the bcc was like in the 30's and 40's? You know, as far as I can tell, that is one of the blank spots in the history of the club. An oral history about chess in that era in the Boston area would be interesting.
This is excellent material. I enjoy watching Dan Harrington play in the WSOP, I has no idea he was a former BCC champion.
Another great post on the club's history. I'd heard about Harrington before, but I would love to hear more about the former club member who became World Backgammon champ. Most interesting.
I remember that Herb Gurland and the Costigan brothers were good at backgammon. They used to play it all the time at the club's original location at 48 Boylston Street, Boston. When Herb wasn't playing backgammon, we played a lot of blitz chess together, as he was also an expert strength chess player. I lost touch with Herb, but from googling him, it looks like he went on to become one of the best backgammon players out there.
Not only is Dan Harrington a former BCC champion, he is a former Massachusetts state champion, winning the 1971 Massachusetts Open.
I was told once that Dan Harrigton on the white side of the QGD was fearsome, i.e. 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Bd3 0-0 8. Nge2, with these knight e2 systems something he was very strong at.
Bill Robertie was one of the 8 who played Kasparov in his Harvard University Sanders Theater simul some years back, with which I assisted (thanks for the opportunity, Chris!). Everyone lost; other players I recall are Anna Akhsharumova (wife of Boris Gulko), Harvard professor Noam Elkies, Harvard college students Vivek Rao, Andy Serotta and Issa Youssef, and Sargon IV (!). My apologies to #8, who I cannot recall. George (M.) - I think you helped out, too? Maybe you remember #8?
Google is your friend...
http://www.thecrimson.com/articl...aspx?
ref=238240
What a coincidence this 1989 Kasparov at Harvard event should be mentioned. I just dug out some old slides I took of some old local chess occassions: Tal's visit to Bill Lukoviak's apartment; Karpov's 1990 Harvard visit; Spassky's simul at Billerica Club in 1987. Not great photography -- I didn't know much -- but a bit of history: a time when World Champions would visit Boston and when we all didn't have gray hair!
Ken, blowing up this pic, the other names I could make out of the Harvard team players are: Andrew Serotta, Doug Myers, Issa Youssef.
Here's a photo from Kasparov-Harvard.
Well, I tried posting an image with the post a couple of ways. Didn't work. Oh well...
Tony,
Perhaps you could work with Bob or Jason and just get them posted in a new entry.
Regards,
Mike
Tony,
Yes, if you send me the pix, I should be able to get them on-line. They would make a great seperate post.
I see the name Noam Elkies there, and I would like to add that he is a Grandmaster in chess problem solving, and I believe he has won the World Chess problem Solving championships in past years. He is fun to try to stump with mate in 3s -- he is very, very fast!
I found it-- he won in 1996, and was also part of several world championship teams.
http://www.math.harvard.edu/~elk...kies/
chess.html
Jason - what's your email? I dont see a email link in your post. Click on my website url to get an email for me.
Tony,
Done. Check your e-mail. Thanks.
Thanks, Matt, for turning up the 8th name. I tried numerous Google searches which confirmed my recollection of the 7, but was unsuccessful in getting Douglas Myers, #8. Didn't know who he was back then, but I imagine he's not particularly active in chess these days (or even was back then?).
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