THOUGHTS OF A CHESS ADDICT

As the school holidays start with effect from Friday, Thomson Chess Club will be open from 7pm till 10pm for Sep 2 and 9 Fridays. Members who wish to come practice before the National Inter-Schools Team Championship are welcome.

After reading Chess Ninja's post on the topic, I am sure many will be convinced that chess coaches or normal GMs do not make much financially. I have asked GM Torre back when he was here: " Would you recommend the path of a GM to anyone?" He stopped to think before replying : " It's not for anyone. The path to GM is tough and only those who are deeply passionate about chess and not much else should venture into it". So please forget about trying to make big bucks when you enter into the world of chess. Most of us who are involved in chess organising give much of our time, energies and sometimes even money just to ensure that tournaments are run well, players are at least silent on complaints. As a coach in Singapore, I speak for myself that I can survive comfortably being single and not having to feed a family, given the high cost of living here. In many ways, chess coaching is about the few professions I can go into once you are in your 40s here. Getting a ...

This month, I am in pensive mode so I thought I'd share a few interesting and funny GM stories before I start to lose them. 1995 - Eugene Torre was in Singapore and had just won the Asian Inter-Continental Rapid Chess Championships. I was his escort and tried to help him get some local goodies for him to bring home. The first was durian. I told him that it was forbidden to bring it onboard but he was relentless. So rather than dissuade him, we managed to find a durian seller who would pack it airtight so that no smell would be emitted. That done, he needed cash to pay. So we went to a money changer. I introduced Eugene to him and announced : " This is Asia's first Chess Grandmaster! You must give him a better rate." To which the friendly Indian money changer replied : " Yes, he is Asia's first, but not first compared to India's Visawanathan Anand". Both Eugene and I were red-faced after his remark. 1992- We had just landed in Singapore and I spotted ...

He's probably done the most for Singapore chess during 1968-74, having helped the Singapore Olympiad team then in their preparations. Many of our senior players remember him for his affable, congenial disposition - always courteous, smiling, never losing his composure. My first meeting with the man was in 1978. Karpov had just defeated Korchnoi in Manila. As students at RI we were told that a FIDE delegation would be visiting the school and I was given the task of organising a simul for the FIDE President Fridrik Olaffsen. Strangely, a man came in the afternoon into the lecture hall where we staged our reception and started to give a talk on pawn endings. He was ready to give away collar pins to anyone who could solve the puzzles. Several of the boys did, which made him very happy. Then he proceeded to give the simul. He had not yet introduced himself. The simul started and shortly after 20 minutes, another group of people entered into the simultaneous match. One elderly gentleman ...

I was manager of the then National Junior Squad back in 1986-87, which comprised names like IM Hsu Li-Yang, Wong Foong Yin, Ong Chong Ghee, Low Pe-Yeow,Mark Tan, Lee Wang Sheng, Lee Song and Mark and Jeremy Lim (?!). The SCF then received news that GM Eduard Gufeld was available for a 3-day seminar having spent some time in Malaysia at the Chess Palace there doing the same thing. After deliberation, IM Tan Lian Ann agreed to sponsor the training but made sure that all proceedings were recorded and that I would be the chaperon. GM Eduard Gufeld was renowned as the trainer who help Maya Chiburdanidze rise to world fame by beating the then Women's World Champion Nona Gaprindashvilli. He was also the creator of several beautiful wins in the King's Indian Defence, notably his "Mona Lisa" against Bagirov in 1973 and then another against Mestel in 1985 in Hastings. He showed both games in the simultaneous match in Singapore at the Chinese Swimming Club and it was really a wo...