[b]Below is a chess quiz of mine, a bit unusual and a couple of my answers are subjective and one may legitimately disagree. I’ll post my answers in a few days and congratulate who did the best… Good luck and I hope some of you all correct.
What was GM Arnold Denker’s first name?
What American GM played the longest game in an Olympiad and what country was his opponent from?
Was there really a dead fly found in the famous chair incident in the Fischer Spassky world championship match.
What was GM Miguel Najdorf’s first name?
Who invented the Elo rating system?
What Russian KGB Colonel was Karpov’s chess spokesman”
What former chess grandmaster is now CEO of a medium size US Corporation.
Did Kasparov really take back a move against Judith Polgar?
Who sponsored the one “all in one location” play of of the US Amateur Team Championship.
!0 Was Edmondson a good USCF President? A good USCF ED?
11 What American travelled on behalf of the USCF paying his own expensesto Africa, started an Elo rating system in Uganda and ran some tournaments while there.
What chess person published a comic book about his life and advancement in chess?
What key vote in FIDE during the Argentina 1978 FIDE Congress allowed the PLO entry into Fide?
What non-US person once served as the USCF Zonal President?
Ref Robert Tanner’s child. Excellent!, The child was entered into the uscf at birth! My error on former GM, GM Gabriel Schwatzman is however the CEO of a medium sized US company and is pretty much retired from chess but u r right, he remains a GM because the title is for life. Don Schultz
My error on former on FORMER GM. GM Gabriel Schwatzman is however the CEO of a medium sized US company and is pretty much retired from chess but u r right, he remains a GM because the title is for life. Don Schultz
Good question. I don’t think so but we will never know. However, I suspect he may have been given US government preferences on one or 2 major issues just as I was. i’ll cover this in an answer to another question.
Don Schultz
10 After a long time one can understand beating Mark Taimanov a classical russian grandmaster six-zip in the Candidates quarterfinals, but Bent Larsen . It boggles the mind.
Interesting tidbit, Taminov was Yuri Averbach’s son-law. He was barred from leaving Russia after losing 6 to 0. He was told if he had even drawn one game with Fischer, he would not have been banned from leaving the country,
Taimanov was one of the Great Pianists of the 20th Century. So he was trained to do things the same way every time. Bent Larsen was the opposite. He was the unorthodox grandmaster of surprise.
I see some trick questions there!
Most of these I wouldn’t know without looking them up, but for the last one, I’m going to guess Alekhine, a naturalized Frenchman.
I don’t know about the President part (in fact, I suspect a trick), but as ED, he impressed me greatly. I worked at the USCF office in Newburgh during the summer of 1972, trying to help catch up with ratings, which were then done on 3x5 pairing cards using four-function desk calculators. He was there every day (except for one or two when he was on official business), solving problems both large and small, by telephone and otherwise. Staff morale was always high. Edmondson had the perfect personality for the job.
I don’t know about the President part (in fact, I suspect a trick), but as ED, he impressed me greatly. I worked at the USCF office in Newburgh during the summer of 1972, trying to help catch up with ratings, which were then done on 3x5 pairing cards using four-function desk calculators. He was there every day (except for one or two when he was on official business), solving problems both large and small, by telephone and otherwise. Staff morale was always high. Edmondson had the perfect personality for the job.
Chessdon: Ed Edmondson was one of the worst Presidents we ever had. He rarely did anything and left all the decisions to the office manager, Joe Reinhart.
For some reason Jerry Spann saw something in Ed that the rest of us did not. He started a project called Operation Hi-Gear to raise money to bring Ed to the NYC office as he was retiring from the Air Force. Ed then moved the office to New Windsor and took over as Executive Director with the office manager reporting to him.
IMO, he then became the number one person of all time in advancing USCF. He worked hard. He was a super motivator of our volunteers, got international tournament invitations for our players, he started the Execitive Board which was first called the PB (Policy Board). Later he claimed it was the biggest mistake he ever made. Years later, just before he he retired from the ED position, he was criticized by some for a financial loss for his lastv two years. I considered those criticisms not fair in light of his overall super fantastic contributions . He was the best we ever had and done more for the USCF than anyone ever. Without his brilliant manevering with FIDE and handling of Bobby Fischer - Fischer never would have become world champion.
I learned a reat deal from Ed. It was my honor to have him as one of my very closest chess friends in the chess world. It was because of him that I became the USCF FIDE delegate. Some might argue that that was his worst decision -
Bottom line - Lousy President, the best Execitive Director of all time and the man who, IMO, has done more to advance USCF than anyone!
Don
Obviously a trick question, but I don’t know the answer other than Arnold. The reference books I have give his full name as Arnold Sheldon Denker.
This time a reference book provides the answer. The Oxford Companion to Chess says that he changed his forename from Mieczyslaw to Miguel when he became a naturalized citizen of Argentina in 1944.
Viktor Baturinsky (unless it’s a trick question)
If I recall correctly, the answer is “yes” based on a videotape of their game (I don’t remember which one.)
Perhaps he had an office manager mentality. That could explain his leaving the decisions to Joe Reinhart, and is also consistent with both your and my high praise of his later work in the office.
Slight correction. He moved the office from New York City to Newburgh. (Lower rent, more space, etc.) A decade or two later it then moved from Newburgh to New Windsor (just down the road).
Most people don’t even realize just how important Edmondson’s role was in getting Fischer to and through the world championships. I saw it first hand, when I worked in the Newburgh office during the summer of 1972. The door to his office was usually open, so everybody there could hear his side of various telephone conversations, some where he played lawyer and others where he took on the role of brilliant publicist.
I’m glad you and I have the same high opinion of Edmondson as ED. As for President, I really have no direct knowledge, so I’ll leave that to you and others.
Did Kasparov really take back a move against Judith Polgar?