I learned to play chess when I was 12 years old. My best friend and neighbour was my teacher. In the summer of 1960 we played chess all day long, and I lost to my neighbour all day long for over a week… until I won my first game! After that first win, my dear teacher and childhood best friend was never again able to win against me. I kept playing for many more years. On my only official tournament and as an adult (after winning the first two games) I learned that I was not as good as I thought when on my third game I was eliminated by a young boy. The reason? I used my queen too early!!

One highlight of my chess story was the January 1974 Byrne vs. Spassky “Candidates Quarter Final” match that took place at the College of Engineers and Architects club house in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I joined the many chess aficionados at the Engineers’ building to watch the match. I remember rushing my supper after work in order to be able to make it on time to the match. Eating my supper in such a rush brought on a bad case of stomach cramps. My digestive system and that of my young wife just got paralyzed. At the time, in order to save for our first house we were living with my mother. My first born crying all night, the night heat in San Juan and the tight quarters in the house mixed with the Byrne-Spassky match was all our poor stomachs needed. We spent the night at the emergency room and was administered a needle directly to the stomach to get it functioning again!

Over the years I have organized a number of friendly home tournaments with family members. My most memorable accomplishments have all been in informal settings and include a very tight loss to the University of Puerto Rico champion after over 5 hours of play. I also remember betting on a new pair of shoes with a fellow worker. He challenged me by stating that I could not win one single game in a series of 6 games. After a tie on the second game (I lost the first) we decided to not continue with the betting. On that second game (which was “my win for sure “) I learned the vital importance of economy of movement and timing. After a second day of play (I have sealed the strongest possible move the day before) I took an extra and unnecessary move to crown my pawn. That was all that my opponent needed to plant his king in front of my pawn making my “sure win” a tie.

Now in my retirement years in Nova Scotia, Canada; I have rekindled my love for chess by playing with my two grandchildren (12 & 15) as well as with my son in law. In 2011, I made a hand painted pine chess board to play with my many plastic and light weighted chess pieces. But after 6 years of playing with my new board, I decided that at 69 it was time for the real thing. So I started searching the web for good wooden classical chess pieces. My main criteria were for the pieces to be made of wood, of an adequate size for my 2.16 in. squares board and of good weight. I was also looking for sturdy pawns and broad rooks. My search ended with Chess Bazaar when I found the Reykjavik set with a 3.75 in. king. This was the set used for the 3rd game of the 1972 Fischer - Spassky world championship in Iceland. I just love the sturdy pawns and, the broad bases of all the pieces. Not to overlook the beautiful tall knights and round headed bishops. It’s a classy feeling to handle the heavy weighted pieces of my Reykjavik in Sheesham and boxwood. I have finally found the companion set for my handmade chess board. With my new set, I found that I am now playing two to three games daily. (Thanks god for the android chess apps). Now I find myself constantly searching Chessbazaar.com for my next purchase. I think it will be a Dubrovnik in bud rosewood, another Bobby Fischer favorite

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