Hi All,
First, many thanks for the nice words. Small as it was, it was still an
excellent tournament with some very respectable chess being played. And I
can't say enough about the Karpov School, the support they provided, and
the very generous gift of time, effort, and expense bestowed on us by the
school and by Grandmaster Timur Gareyev. Al mentioned previously that he is
rated 2615. It is also worth noting that Timur is among the top 200 players
in the world according to 365chess.com. And he travelled from Moscow, and I
do mean the one in Russia, not one of the towns in the US of the same name!
And he came to spend two days with us and had to leave at 3 in the morning
to fly, ultimately, back to Russia. All of this sets a very high bar to
which I sincerely hope we will aspire. And perhaps I should clarify-I am not
talking about trying to reach such an elevated rating-although it would
certainly be nice! But I am talking about we, the US blind chess players,
placing the same importance on our participation as the good people at the
Karpov School apparently do. I know I speak for the other three players when
I say we are extremely grateful and humbled by the attentions we received at
the tournament.
A word about the simul. You've probably heard that GM Gareyev played a
seven-board blindfold simul. That's right. He played seven games, all at the
same time, wearing a blindfold so he couldn't see the boards. He went from
game to game in turn. The relevant player would state his or her move. Timur
would consider for a few seconds and give his responding move. Now, three of
us finished with draws. I'd like to say we earned the draws, and I suppose
we could say we played soundly enough to maintain a balanced, or at least
reasonably balanced, position. I can say for a fact that, when I found
myself the "last man standing," and I found myself essentially playing speed
chess with Timur, I was extremely grateful when he most generously Gave, and
I emphasize that, he Gave me a draw. And I want to say this. I know that
there are those of the opinion that playing against a Grandmaster would be
somewhat akin to stepping into a boxing ring with, say, Mohammad Ali. It is
not. The chess moves don't hurt anything at all like the boxing blows would.
It's important to realize that what makes a Grandmaster is not necessarily
the force of their moves but the level of preciseness that a GM is able to
recognize potential weaknesses or vulnerabilities in a position. He doesn't
necessarily just destroy an opponent in 12 moves just because he is rated so
much higher. If the opponent makes sound moves, the game will advance until
the GM's greater ability to recognize vulnerabilities, even very slight
ones, will, or may, allow him or her to cause forced errors and to
eventually break down the opposing position. In short, if you get a chance
to play against someone better than you, that's when you are really likely
to start learning how to play this game. And that translates to deciding if
you want to improve as a chess player, and, if so, getting out and playing.
And that brings me to a question for each of you:
What would it take to get you to attend a face-to-face tournament?
Do we need to find a way to pay all of your out of pocket expenses?
Would covering room and board do the trick?
Are we still looking for those interested enough to care?
Several of us who have attended regularly in the past are getting up there
in years. If we don't get new players willing and interested to participate,
the USBCA is in trouble. It's that simple. Many of us can remember when we
had in excess of 20 players attending our national tournament. I think I can
safely say we haven't had 20 different people attend our tournaments if we
counted everybody who has attended since the turn of the century. So, my
question was not rhetorical. I really do want you to respond. I don't care
if you Reply, or Reply All, or if you write to me privately at
hazelnutt2001@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:hazelnutt2001@xxxxxxxxx> . Call me at
270-935-5015 if you prefer. But please respond. And please forward this very
serious request to anyone you know who isn't receiving this. We, the USBCA,
need to tailor our efforts to rebuilding a body of enthusiastic players who
will actually attend a tournament. As Alex so eloquently stated, playing
chess via skype is great; it's easy; you get to play people all over the
world in absolute comfort; it's free! But it's not playing face-to-face. And
it's not sharing the overall experience like what we had in Lindsborg. And
that was an experience I will always remember.
So, please, tell me what we need to do, if there's anything we can do, to
increase the number of participants to our national tournament. Yes, we're a
big country. It's much more expensive to travel to a specific spot in this
great land than it is in the many smaller countries which regularly seat 20,
or 30, or more blind players at their national tournaments. And I know life
has a way of getting in the way, that chess is not the single most important
thing in the world! Or so they say. But do we want to be such a nation as we
have become, a nation unable to scratch together any more than four or five
players for our national tournament? I won't say that I'm not proud of
having won the tournament. But I will say loudly that I know I am not the
best player in the country. In the long haul, I'm probably not even the best
player of the four of us who were there this year. But I was there. I
happened to have a good series of games, mixed in with some luck, and I came
away the winner. And the single most significant detail there is, I was
there. Had I not attended, I couldn't have won it. We had four people this
year, enthusiastic enough, lucky enough, to be able to attend. How can we
double or triple that number for next year? I really want to know!
Yours in chess!
Jim Thoune, USBCA Vice-President and 2017 National champion
