I remember:
Anyone got any others?
Regards, Old-Fart Zug
Chess on TV. The BBC ran two series when Britain went chess mad in the 1970s and '80s. We had just got a couple of GMs and were convinced we'd have a world champion by the end of the century. Then a bloke called Garry put a spanner in the works.
Back in the states, the chess on TV was hosted by Shelby Lyman, who did a lot to promote chess though I found him a bit dry.
1. Yes, descriptive notation, and the huge debates on the pros & cons of descriptive vs. algebraic. It seemed that every tenth letter to the editor missed the point and suggested combining the features of both notations together.
2. Postal chess vs. internet chess.
3. Internet chess with ascii boards.
4. Yes, adjournments with sealed moves (I actually had to seal a move twice during my limited playing career).
5. Strange pairings due to those index cards and how the rules were interpreted by TD.
6. Late start to first rounds due to late entries.
7. "Chess Life" and "Chess Review" magazines joined to form "Chess Life & Review", later to be "Chess Life" after Horowitz passed away.
8. Early algebraic chess books in English often were figurine algebraic.
9. Most participants in the US closed championship were American born, with a few exceptions (Benko, Kavalek, Shamkovich, Lein.)
10. When some of the entrants for the US closed women's championship were rated below 2000.
11. The chess team league matches played over the phone.
12. When experts could enter the Lone Pine tournaments.
13. Excellent articles in CL&R by Browne, Kavalek, Keres, et al.
Okay, you guys are bringing back too many memories.
I remember when I was eight and my mother bought me my first chess set for $1. It was a small Gallant Knight plastic set with hollow pieces and she helped me weight them with BBs, plaster of paris, and green felt.
And you could send a postal chess card for 2 cents. And my mother said that was a shame, since it only cost 1 cent when I was five.
I remember when Casablanca, Nimzovich, Lasker, et al., were great players from the recent past, instead of ghosts from the ancient days. And Tal was a young firebrand. And Fischer was a child.
And I remember that many chess players were computer nerds who walked around with IBM cards sticking up behind their pocket protectors and slide rules in leather cases hanging from their belts.
And the Drueke plastic natural and black set that everyone had to have back in the seventies. And the miniature analysis-sized set that was just like them. (I still have both of them, actually.) And roll up boards before they had cloth backing.
I remember when we'd finish our tournament games about 10:30 p.m. and then repair to Denny's for post-mortems until 3 or 4 a.m. (A couple of years ago, a manager at Denny's asked us to put our chess set away, and the place was only about a quarter full.)
And I remember when, in OTB chess, you put your opponent's king in check and you actually said "Check," right out loud. Can you imagine?
So, okay, do I qualify as an Old Fart? Will you let me in? :-]
nimbleswitch,
Some of your shares made me smile...others made me sigh...
Great shares...yes, Dreuke was "king" of tournament chess sets...the instructions that accompanied the sets were hilarious...
Your postal chess beats mine...I think my postcards cost 5 to 8 cents, but don't totally recall.
I do remember buying from USCF a rubber stamp chess set, with a stamp for each piece and a board. Completing a diagram from that set took more time then playing the game.
nimzovich-
Yes, "Chess Live & Review." :-]
Ah, I always wanted one of those rubber stamp sets! I don't know what I would have done with it, though. I never actually played postal chess, just thought about it a lot because my Mom's friend gave me a few blank chess post cards that had belonged to her late husband. I didn't have the slightest idea what to really do with them, so I just imagined getting postcards from Europe with chess diagrams on them. I was only about nine. 1. P-QR4 followed by 2. P-KR4 were fine opening moves then.
You know, now that you mention it, descriptive notation (we used to call it English) and algebraic notation (we called that German) really did end up combining somewhat, didn't they? I mean, I have a few chess books, but only a few, that use purely algebraic notation, whether there is a capture or not. So, Nxf7 reads only Nf7. I think its harder to picture the game that way, though. Having that little x in there for the capture seems to make it easier to envision . . . and that's more "descriptive," yes? I'm glad most books now have kept the x.
Say, have you noticed that these postings to the group forums don't show up in the usual Forum listings? You can't use any of the regular features to track them. I've asked about that but haven't got a response yet . . . it's only been a couple of days.
I just returned from my first OTB tournament in 3 years (and the one before that was ten years prior.)
I am getting used to playing everyone younger than me (many my 40+ years), but was surprised this weekend by the electronic handheld devices that kids (legally) used to record tournament games as they were played.
When I struggled to start my new digital clock, a young player seated next to me helpfully picked it up, quickly pressed a few buttons, and I was off and running...
I remember when I saw George Koltanowski perform a blindfold exebition in San Francisco in the 1950's. I joined his Presidio chess club and he became my friend.
He performed this Knights tour many times each in different ways.
I still have two wind up time clocks. I have the books that he gave me when I won sections of tournaments. They are in algebraic notation. I can actually read them.
An we listened to this Ole Rock & Roll
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