Lincoln, Jefferson and others

By Frank "Boy" Pestaño

ABRAHAM Lincoln was a keen chess player and one of his chess sets is displayed in the Smithsonian. Whenever he played, he did not want to be disturbed even in the White house. Once while playing with Judge Treat, his wife told his son, Tad, to tell them that dinner was ready. When they still continued playing, Tad kicked the chess board off the table and the Judge was speechless but Lincoln said mildly “Come, Tad,” and they walked away to have dinner.

Thomas Jefferson was probably the most passionate to chess among American Presidents. He started playing in his 20s and owned several chess sets including a rare ivory set that got lost when he moved to Monticello.

When he moved to Paris in the mid-1780s he joined the Salon des echecs chess club and paid 96 francs. In his latter years he constantly played with Benjamin Franklin and told friends that they were of equal playing strength.

He also played marathon games with James Madison. He wrote an analysis on how to play an endgame with a rook and bishop against a rook.

George Washington may not have played chess but his victory over the British army was because of it. A spy had earlier given a report to the British commander that Washington was about to attack but he was playing chess and put the unread report in his pocket. The report was later found in his pocket, unopened, when he died in battle.

Other American Presidents who played chess were James Monroe who purchased chess books from Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, who also owned an ivory chess set, Rutherford Hayes, a strong player taught by his mother, and James Garfield, described in a chess column in Philadelphia as a first-rate player.

Theodore Roosevelt may have played Ajeeb the automaton and once invited foreign chess masters to the White House. One of Woodrow Wilson’s chess sets is also in the Smithsonian.

Jimmy Carter wanted to become a chess master when he left the White House and purchased numerous chess books and a computer chess program.

He finally gave up saying, “I found that I don’t have any particular talent for chess. I hate to admit it, but that’s a fact.”

Karpov/Polgar. Susan Polgar has won six Olympic medals including three golds, two silvers and one bronze while playing for her native Hungary. She is also a four-time world chess champion.

Anatoly Karpov is a former world champion and needs no introduction. He is considered by many as among the top 10 players of the modern era.

The two chess titans met recently in Linsborg, Kansas in the first-ever officially sanctioned match between a male and female world champion.

The match was six games consisting of two rapid (25 minutes), two Fischer random (15 minutes), and two blitz games (five minutes). Karpov won the rapid games by a score of 1.5-0.5, while Susan won the blitz games by the same score. The Fischer random was tied, so the final score was 3-3.

Kramnik/Leko. The match between classical world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Peter Leko of Hungary will start tomorrow in Brissago, Switzerland. The winner of this match will challenge the winner of Fide world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov versus Garry Kasparov match scheduled end of this year. The winner will then be declared the undisputed World Chess Champion.

Kramnik’s seconds are Grandmasters Evgeny Bareev and Peter Svidler of Russia and Miguel Illescas of Spain. Leko’s seconds are Grandmasters Vladimir Akopian and Arshak Petrosian both of Armenia and Vladislav Tkachiev of Russia. The seconds are crucial factors in one-on-one matches as they will advise, prepare and give all possible support to the protagonists before and during the match.

Cepca tournament. Winner of Cepca‘s September Tournament last Sunday at the Cebu Youth Chess Center was the mercurial Maggi Dionson followed by Santiago Peque, Marty Baria and Gerry Rallos. The top two monthly winners since the start of the series in June up to December will meet in the grand finals to be held before the year ends.