Counterplay / Readers respond
SENIORS CHESS I read with interest the letter from “Fly-
ing Rook” on the benefits of chess playing by seniors (“Counterplay,” May 2012). Since June 2011, I have coordinated a chess program for seniors in Ellington, Connecticut through the auspices of the Ellington Senior Center. We are called the Ellington Chess Mates
and we meet weekly for two hours to exer- cise our brains over the chessboard. Novices to the game have learned how to play while chess “veterans” have recon- nected with the game after many years of dormancy. The response from the commu- nity has been very positive and we have a group of eight-10 regulars that have redis- covered the joy of victory and the pain of defeat on the chessboard. In the process, we are doing something good for our brains, meeting new friends, and having a good time.
Alex Cardoni Ellington, Connecticut
PANDOLFINI I was delighted to see the article on
Bruce Pandolfini in the May issue (“Chess Educator of the Year”). He is a gifted edu- cator/communicator, as well as a talented master. In fact, if it hadn't been for Mr. Pandolfini, I might well have given up on chess books as a form of instruction. When I finally got out of school (decades
ago) and could afford “luxury purchases” such as chess books, I was greatly disillu- sioned: The vast majority of chess books appeared to be little more then sparsely annotated, self-indulgent game compila- tions that I could only assume the master-level authors had undertaken in an undisguised effort to gain some extra coin. After several disappointing purchases (had to buy before you can read back then) I realized that an author’s chess prowess was meaningless if he couldn’t effectively teach/communicate. And though I admired their over-the-board prowess, the vast majority of grandmaster authors didn’t seem to be able to write their way out of a pawn-lined paper bag. Then I found one of Mr. Pandolfini’s
books! At last! Someone who not only had talent, but could organize material into logical topics and break down information into a systemic presentation! It restored my faith in chess as a science as well as an art! Chess literature has improved (somewhat) over the years, but even today, few come close to the effectiveness of Bruce Pan- dolfini. (In fact, just this month I purchased a DVD from USCF Sales by a supposedly
6 August 2012 | Chess Life
reputable grandmaster, only to be sub- jected to a rambling, obviously unscripted series of “lectures” that, as a professional technical communicator, made me wince.) Caveat emptor, indeed. These days, I teach (entry and interme-
diate) chess on the side and the two authors I most commonly recommend are Fred Reinfeld and Bruce Pandolfini. I view Pandolfini as one of the most important, yet under-recognized forces in the chess world over the past several decades—and I very much appreciated and enjoyed the article.
Douglas Holzworthi Raleigh, North Carolina GAGA OVER GLIGORIC
While Philidor was a popular light-opera composer of his day, it is difficult to find his music now—though I’ve heard a com- position by someone else in his large family. Through the decades various musi- cians were known as strong chess amateurs, like Sergei Prokofiev. The brain centers for musical and chess aptitude are thought to be adjacent. Now there is a totally new phenomenon:
in his ninth decade of life, a super-grand- master and Serbian national hero has become a composer of popular music. Sve- tozar Gligoric’s CD, “How I Survived the 20th Century,” is eclectic in pop styles from blues to rap and is international, partly in English. It is accompanied by a booklet in Serbo-Croatian elucidating its 17
songs, including one about Bobby Fischer. One may be about the incident when
Gliga risked his life to take out a Nazi gun- nest in World War II. Here is ordering info from a familiar source:
http://bit.ly/M4VeeM IM Anthony Saidy via e-mail
A PILGRIMAGE I very much enjoyed the cover story on
the Reykjavik Chess Festival (May 2012). I enjoyed both the chess and the travel slant, since my wife and I are going to Iceland this summer. Just as the American contingent had
done, I plan to make a pilgrimage to Bobby Fischer’s grave outside of Selfoss. I also want to see the site of the 1972 World Championship. However, no matter how much web surfing I do, I cannot find the location. Do you or any other USCF staffers know where in Reykjavik the match was held? As they say in Iceland, takk fyrir (thank you). Mark Siwek via e-mail
Gunnar Bjornsson, president of the Ice- landic Chess Federation, responds:
The playing venue is Laugardalshöll.
http://bit.ly/MkeBTh.
Send your letters to
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