kamalakanta wrote:
He is German.
I intentionally put that study from Schweizerische Schachzeitung to get you on the wrong track
Started in Chess at 40, and Became a Chess Master
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JamesColeman wrote:
I googled the French guys name and there's not much about him to either support or refute this...
Sorry, James, didn't get that, I'm afraid. What did you actually mean?
Jun 12, 2019
0
#44
I just mean that I looked up the guy who you are talking about (he's french, right?) and there isn't much to go on to say how good he was at chess.
Jun 12, 2019
0
#45
OK, OK....he is Italian!
And the lady in the front row is his mistress!
JamesColeman wrote:
I just mean that I looked up the guy who you are talking about (he's french, right?) and there isn't much to go on to say how good he was at chess.
Sorry, what name did you look up, if I may ask?
Jun 12, 2019
0
#49
You can tell the 3rd guy from the left in the back row was poor (he could not afford a barber).....I guess chess did not pay much in those days......
Jun 12, 2019
0
#50
JamesColeman wrote:
It was something like Villeneuve-Esclapon. Was that not him?
JamesColeman wrote:
It was something like Villeneuve-Esclapon. Was that not him?
Yes, James, you are absolutely right, that's him!
le Comte Jean de Villeneuve Esclapon!
kamalakanta wrote:
OK, OK....he is Italian!
And the lady in the front row is his mistress!
You were probably right about that. She is next to our Earl Esclapon
JamesColeman wrote:
I googled the French guys name and there's not much about him to either support or refute this...
Yes, when I was writing an article on the Earl several years ago, I thought I'd seen somewhere that he was of Master strength.
I'm not familiar with the French system of awarding titles at that time. Evidently, there was no ELO in place, that's for sure.
I'm going to ask the French folks from their federation and Europe-Echecs for clarification!
He finished at the bottom of the 1928 French with Marcel Duchamp, who was a Master if I'm not mistaken
Our Earl Esclapon won the beauty prize at the Championships for his game with Maurice Polikier
kamalakanta wrote:
Kamalakanta, FYI, the Earl's "mistress" was Madame Alekhine
Jun 12, 2019
0
#56
I think it's impossible unless something in your past, beginning in your teen years at the latest, has conditioned your mind to do things much like what is needed to become a chess master.
There are people who have become masters late in life, but they were all very good players in their young days.
On the other hand, the same is true of great music composers except for Tchaikovsky, who didn't get into serious music until his late teens and went on to become one of the greatest composers of all time.
Still, "late teens" is a lot earlier than 40.
Personally, I'm only excellent at one thing. I have a very high IQ and when I was 12 years-old told my parents I wanted to be a chemist. 16 years later I was Chief Chemist of Process Research for a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, a couple years after getting a graduate degree in Chemistry from Illinois Tech on a scholarship and graduate teaching assistantship.
I have never been better than the 1600's in OTB chess, but never played competitive chess until my late 20's. I did not spend the hours/day for years needed to improve close to master, but if I did it would be hard to get there.
And I'm a decent piano player, but I will NEVER be as good as some of my teacher's teenagers. I began playing piano for the first time in my mid-50's and benefited from studying for several years under an award-winning virtuoso in the Adult Program at the world-class Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. I reached the point where I auditioned and qualified for several consecutive years to play in the ACE Recital at Peabody, playing pieces by Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, etc. and being complimented on my play by people like opera Grand Diva Hyunah Yu. But I'll never play at a "master" level - I started way too late.
I would point out that you don't have to aspire to be a master to enjoy chess. You can enjoy the challenge and joy of playing a good game as long as the wins come often enough. And you can try new things: last year I played the King's Gambit twice as White for the only time in my life just for the thrill of it - and won both games. At age 68, it's one the things that keeps my mind sharp.
Jun 12, 2019
0
#57
RoaringPawn wrote:
kamalakanta wrote:
Kamalakanta, FYI, the Earl's "mistress" was Madame Alekhine
Wahahahahaha!
Was he drunk?
Once the mysterious Earl uncovered, the discussion got kind of less animated.
What follows is something to give @JamesColeman and others some indication as to the Earl's chess abilities.
After learning chess in 1900, the Earl played in the Paris Military Circle, then café de la Régence.
Here is a tournament at the Cafe de la Regence in Paris in 1907 with Marshall and Dr. Tartakower and six amateurs (our Earl is one of them!) competing that saw the result below. It can tell us something about the Earl's strength who beat the winner, and the winner Antoniadi beat both Marshall and Dr. Tartakower!
Lazard was a chess Master, and Edouard Pape in the sixth place defeated Pillsbury (in 13 moves!), Janowski, Bernstein and also Capablanca in his career before becoming primarily a problemist.
1-2. Antoniadi 6.0
1-2. Marshall 6.0
3. Dr. Tartakower 5.0
4. De Villeneuve 4.0
5-6. Lazard 2.0
5-6. Pape 2.0
7-8. Hagen 1.5
7-8. Weinstein 1.5
Again, the winner Antoniadi scored +6 =0 -1 only losing to the Earl de Villeneuve, i. e. he beat both Marshall and Dr. Tartakower!
Jun 12, 2019
0
#59
physics_girl wrote:
Back on topic:
Why not? If you want it and will devote the time required to do it, surely you can reach your goals.
I think mental maturity helps, you need to be able to focus like none other.
Agreed.
MickinMD wrote:
I think it's impossible unless something in your past, beginning in your teen years at the latest, has conditioned your mind to do things much like what is needed to become a chess master.
There are people who have become masters late in life, but they were all very good players in their young days.
On the other hand, the same is true of great music composers except for Tchaikovsky, who didn't get into serious music until his late teens and went on to become one of the greatest composers of all time.
Still, "late teens" is a lot earlier than 40.
Personally, I'm only excellent at one thing. I have a very high IQ and when I was 12 years-old told my parents I wanted to be a chemist. 16 years later I was Chief Chemist of Process Research for a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, a couple years after getting a graduate degree in Chemistry from Illinois Tech on a scholarship and graduate teaching assistantship.
I have never been better than the 1600's in OTB chess, but never played competitive chess until my late 20's. I did not spend the hours/day for years needed to improve close to master, but if I did it would be hard to get there.
And I'm a decent piano player, but I will NEVER be as good as some of my teacher's teenagers. I began playing piano for the first time in my mid-50's and benefited from studying for several years under an award-winning virtuoso in the Adult Program at the world-class Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. I reached the point where I auditioned and qualified for several consecutive years to play in the ACE Recital at Peabody, playing pieces by Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, etc. and being complimented on my play by people like opera Grand Diva Hyunah Yu. But I'll never play at a "master" level - I started way too late.
I would point out that you don't have to aspire to be a master to enjoy chess. You can enjoy the challenge and joy of playing a good game as long as the wins come often enough. And you can try new things: last year I played the King's Gambit twice as White for the only time in my life just for the thrill of it - and won both games. At age 68, it's one the things that keeps my mind sharp.
Hi Mickey @MickinMD, thanks really for an inspired, and at the same time, inspiring text for all. Really appreciated. Especially your Chess-Music connection brought joy to our chess friend (and Master!) @Kamalakanta as well as for the rest of us.
Agree you don't have to aspire to be a master to enjoy chess. Yet a little bit more of knowledge and understanding will definitely enhance enjoyment as Aaron Copeland pointed out in 'What to listen for in music.'
Thanks again. I'm pretty much your age and chess keeps my mind sharp too (at least I hope so!)
I googled the French guys name and there's not much about him to either support or refute this...