Knight’s Tour / Tournament Travel
The Mid-South Open November 23-25 or 24-25
Memphis: A Winning Tradition By DWIGHT WEAVER & FRANK WRANOVIX
IT WAS 1960. IN THE PRECEDING YEAR, Alaska and Hawaii had been admitted to the Union; three months before, a band formerly known as Johnny and the Moondogs changed their name to the Beatles; only three weeks earlier, John Fitzgerald Kennedy had been elected president. The Barbie doll was one year old. The microchip was two. Bobby Fischer was 17.
The entry fee for the first Mid-South Open was a robust $5—the same as membership in the USCF. The promo said a “big prize fund” had been guaranteed, and indeed, first place paid a whopping $70! The genesis of the Mid-South Open, now an American Heritage
event, is lost in the dim, misty depths of time. But the new tra- dition sprang from an extensive history of chess in Memphis. The roll call of chess greats who have played here includes Frank Mar- shall, Harry Nelson Pillsbury, José Raúl Capablanca, Jacques Mieses, Géza Maróczy, Dawid Janowski, and Emanuel Lasker; a host of more recent grandmasters, such as Walter Browne, Yasser Seirawan, and Nick de Firmian; and local historians tell us that even Paul Morphy stayed in the city at least twice, but apparently didn’t play any chess here. For 52 years, on the weekend after Thanksgiving, the Mid-South
Open has attracted hopefuls from all over the U.S. In fact, players from 30 states, as well as the District of Columbia, have participated in the tournament. Past winners have included both grandmasters and well-known chess luminaries. Jude Acers, Arthur Bisguier, Boris Kogan, Sam Palatnik, and Elliott Winslow are just a few. Other great players who have graced the lists include the likes of Calvin Blocker, Ed Formanek, and Viktors Pupols, not to mention regional favorites—such as Marty Appleberry, Ron Burnett, Curt Jones, Milam Momic, and Jerry Wheeler, all of whom have taken down the prize at least once. Legendary hometown players who have won include John Hurt, Hunter Weaks, and James Wright.
44 November 2012 | Chess Life
car flies) only 41 hours from St. Louis; 6 hours from Louisville, ⁄2
Getting to Memphis is easy. Centrally located, the city is (as the ⁄2
Knoxville, and New Orleans; 61 hours from Atlanta; and a mere 7
hours from Dallas. (The Mid-South Open offers two- or three-day options, so you could choose to play your first round at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 24.) The city is also easy to get around. Locate the I-240 Loop and Poplar
Avenue, the main east-west thoroughfare, and you can get virtually anywhere in about 30 minutes. Check out Beale Street, the Home of the Blues, in the revitalized downtown. While there, mosey on over to see the famous Peabody Hotel Ducks strut their stuff at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily. Close by are historic Sun Studios, the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, and the STAX Museum of American Soul Music. Don’t forget the National Civil Rights Museum. After all that, you’ll want to pig out on some Memphis barbecue or chow down at one of the other hundred restaurants in downtown. Then there’s Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley; the world-class Memphis Zoo; nine casinos 40 minutes south of town in Tunica, Mississippi; greyhound racing right across the river in West Mem- phis, Arkansas; as well as Mississippi RiverKings hockey (versus Mississippi Surge in Southaven, Mississippi, on Friday, November 23) and Memphis Grizzlies National Basketball Association basket- ball at the FedExForum in downtown Memphis (Friday, November 23, versus Los Angeles Lakers and Monday, November 26, versus Cleveland Cavaliers).
Or as a hotel guest, you could just chill out at the tournament play- ing site, the beautiful Hyatt Place Memphis/Germantown, with its heated pool, fitness center, 24-hour café, and nearby upscale shopping.
For more information on the history of the Mid-South Open, including historic games, go to:
www.memphischess.com.
PHOTO: PHILLIP PARKER
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