Chess to Enjoy / Entertainment
By now, you’ve probably got some ques- tions of your own. For example:
Why did you stick with descriptive for so long? (You fossil!) It wasn’t my call. Back in 1979 Chess Life
was converting to algebraic but Editor Burt Hochberg felt some content should remain in descriptive for the benefit of long-term members, the most loyal of USCF members. Whenever a new editor took over Chess
Life—I’ve worked for 10 of them—I usually asked if they wanted to switch Chess to Enjoy to descriptive. Finally one of them, Peter Kurzdorfer, said it was time.
Didn’t there used to be nine diagrams in the quiz? Well, yes. There were two rows of four and
then one lonely diagram in a third row. Then the layout was changed (not my call) to two rows. For a while the quiz appeared with five diagrams in one row and four diagrams and a white space in the other. Nature—and edi- tors—abhor a vacuum. So the quiz was reduced to six positions, in two neat rows of three apiece. (Why not eight? Or ten? Don’t ask me. Again, not my call.)
And finally:
Do you still enjoy Enjoy? Of course. It’s a welcome break from the
real world. In my day job I often write about depressing subjects, like poison gas in Syria, murders in Brooklyn, terrorist attacks every- where, and Representative Anthony Weiner. Chess to Enjoy is always fun. I still get to ask myself questions, like: How do players age? Are endgame com-
posers ever inspired by their own games? When does a rook actually become more important than a knight in a typical game? What’s the greatest consultation game ever played? Do great players usually win —or draw quickly—on their birthday? Why are world championship matches getting shorter? And now it’s my call. I have to start work on column number 421. My clock is ticking.
See our review of Soltis’ latest book, a new edition of Pawn Structure Chess, on page 12. Here are some other books by Soltis that are available at
uscfsales.com:
Frank Marshall, United States Chess Champion: A Biography with 220 Games (1994)
The 100 Best Chess Games of the 20th Century Ranked (2006)
Rethinking the Chess Pieces (2005) Transpo Tricks in Chess (2007)
The United States Chess Championship, 1845-2011: Third Edition (2011)
What It Takes To Become A Chess Master (2012)
BLACK TO PLAY WHITE TO PLAY BLACK TO PLAY
Problem III GM Yury Shulman GM Benjamin Finegold
WHITE TO PLAY
Problem VI GM Robert Hess GM Marc Arnold
WHITE TO PLAY
Problem II GM Joel Benjamin GM Alejandro Ramirez
WHITE TO PLAY
Problem V GM Alexander Stripunsky FM Jorge Sammour Hasbun
2013 U.S. Championship Quiz
Gata Kamsky joined a small, elite group when he won his fourth U.S. Championship title last May. Kamsky won his first four games, drew his next five and needed to win an Armageddon playoff with GM Alejandro Ramirez. This month’s quiz is based on the games from the St. Louis tournament. Be warned: There is more than one way to win some of these positions. We’re looking for the fastest winning line of play. This will usually mean the forced win of a decisive amount of material, such as a rook or minor piece. Solutions on page 71.
Problem I IM Kayden Troff FM John Daniel Bryant
Problem IV GM Ray Robson GM Marc Arnold
www.uschess.org
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