OCBCF Newsletter February 2006
A1 By Dr. George Tintera: President OCBCF
No doubt you are aware of your favorite chess player's record at the U. S. Chess Federation. You can check it anytime at www.uschess.org/msa, and that is linked from our local website, www.ocbcf.org. What you may not be aware of is the rating supplement that is produced by the USCF on a regular basis. It is a compendium of recent activity in chess in the United States. It is the size of the phonebook of a small town. Let's survey some of what you can find in the most recent edition, the 2005 Annual Rating List in December 2005.
A list of tournaments in Texas between September 3, 2005 and November 9, 2005 shows that 4 of the 12 largest tournaments (with at least 95 players) were run by the OCBCF. Local player Angel Bohannon is the 11th rated Girl under Age 13 in the country (and 39th under age 16 and 85th of all 12 year olds), Dylan Smith is tied as the 63rd rated 10 year old, and Kurtis and Eric Brenner are rated 75th and 77th, respectively as 9 year olds.
From these listings, I think it is important that we recognize the level of play we have here in the Coastal Bend of Texas. Whether you are in the Top 100 or aspiring to be there, you know that some of the players at our tournaments are amongst the best in the country. And you know that the OCBCF is putting on some of the largest tournaments in the state. As a player, parent, coach or volunteer, I want to thank you for participating in our little organization and making it happen.
From the Editor, Eddie R. Rios, Sr.
A simple summarization of the January and February months has proven itself very busy in the Chess World in the Coastal Bend Area. To begin with, January started with the Region 7 TCA tournament, followed by the Susan Polgar Girl’s National, then the TCA (Texas Chess Association) State Scholastic Tournament in Houston, and finally, Bishop’s 2nd Annual Chess Tournament. My goodness, 4 tournaments in 4 weeks. Parents and Sponsors must be running thin in the pocket book about this time.
February isn’t even over yet! On February 18, 2006, Flour Bluff Elementary will host a Tournament. The Chief Director will be none other than one of my best suppliers of articles, Mr. Ken Muir. The Polgar Center is also having a tournament on President’s Day. Please access these websites to get the flyers and pass them out to your parents.
This kind of activity really proves that Scholastic Chess is alive and doing well in the Coastal Bend Area. Just about every weekend, or every other weekend, one entity or another is hosting a scholastic tournament. There are even tournaments for those individuals that are no longer able to play in scholastics ones attached to the school tournaments. Some of those are offered at no cost to the players from any of the hosts. But one thing still puzzles me, Chess is happening throughout the entire Coastal Bend Region and we still have high schools and middle schools that are sparse in producing sponsors. I think that eventually your children will reach that age and they will find no program available for them to continue their chess experiences with. Now is the time to get involved and start talking to schools and anyone who will lend an ear to our cause. The spread of the chess program and the growth of support run hand in hand. Our biggest advancement this year was to get CCISD to recognize chess as an extra-curricular function. I think our next step is to try to get a sponsor established on every campus and perhaps a small stipend to entice sponsors (UIL pays one). Approach your principals and their supers. They surely must be aware of the great implications of chess in education. In Brownsville, years ago, it was the small band of parents and volunteer coaches that petitioned the district for an established district wide program. Federal monies are now available for these projects. It is only through the efforts of the parents and the active involvement of the parents and the coaches that chess can establish an even stronger foothold in the Coastal Bend Area. We must be united in our efforts.
Beyond the Boards: Notes from the State Scholastic Tournament
By Ken Muir
On my birthday weekend, we drove up to Houston and my son took part in the Houston State Scholastic Chess Championships. This was an unusual experience for me since I’ve become quite accustomed to helping out inside the tournament hall. The down side of helping out as a TD is that you are unable to spend much attention on your own kids, or on the kids you coach in a club. The up side of volunteering is that you’re totally immersed in the excitement and chaos of the tournament. I did fill in for Eddie Rios during one round in middle JV, which was interesting. I always learn new things about TD work every time I work as a TD on the floor in any tournament.
It was nice to basically just relax for a change. I don’t have too much to say about the tournament. It was huge, with about 1600 kids, pretty much the size of the K-12 National that was held there a couple of months earlier. There were some really strong players there. A lot of the players from Corpus were not there. There was quite a bit of drama going on in primary with the show down between two top rated Fernandos from Brownsville, Fernando Spada and Fernando Mendez, both of whom were spotlighted in the most recent issue of Chess Life along with other top players (they each ended up with 6 ½ points). I did enjoy visiting with some folks I ran into there from Corpus, some of were attending their children’s very first tournament. I can reflect on how much I’ve learned about chess tournaments in the last few years, when I think about these folks wading into it for the first time, and wonder where it will lead us eventually.
The next time you drive through Refugio, please stop in and say hi to the nice folks at the Dollar General store. When your 7 year old announces when you pull up to Burger King that she did not bring her shoes (and you realize that, in fact, no one has thought to bring her shoes), they can be a real life saver. The store closes at 6 p.m. so make sure you check on the shoe situation long before that.
On our way back from Houston, we stopped in another small town and spotted a large contingent of happy but tired chess players headed back to the Valley. It was about 11:00 p.m. so they still had a long ways to go. That’s devotion, or perhaps better said, chess nuttiness. I know the feeling well.
Hasta la Vista….
Spotlight On ….. Bill Wheeler, Chess Instructor
By Ken Muir
On a cold evening in January, suitably fortified with a steaming cup of hot cocoa, I sat down to interview one of Corpus Christi’s chess greats, Mr. Bill Wheeler. I’ve known Mr. Wheeler for a couple of years now, and was fortunate enough to have him provide chess instruction for several months last year for our son and a couple of his friends.
Mr. Wheeler, in my opinion, symbolizes what I would imagine someone involved in chess instruction would ideally represent. He is a person of great integrity, who has an inspired passion for the game of chess. He tries to instill in his pupils a love of the game and a sense of the importance of fair play and honor in dealing with one’s opponent. Chess instruction is not just a job for him; it’s an adventure and a calling, and his patience seems limitless. Finally, he is fundamentally a chess player in the traditional sense, with rock solid underpinnings.
Mr. Wheeler learned to play chess when he was 15 years old, by reading a children’s book from the library. He checked out some other chess books from the library and began to play his friends in high school. He attended a local chess club at the Westside Recreational Center on the west side of Corpus Christi, where his play improved rapidly.
Mr. Wheeler participated in his first tournament in 1961 at the age of 17, and was rated a class B player as a result. He was an expert (rated over 2000) by 1964 (age 20), and has stayed an expert ever since. He won the Alamo Open in 1964. He won the Texas Open in both 1971 and 1972 with a perfect 5-0 score, beating John Hall (rated over 2300 at the time) in the last round in 1971. First prize at the time was $100.
Other highlights of his career have included winning the class A trophy at the 1968 U.S. Open in Lincoln Nebraska, and winning the Lubbock Open with a perfect 5-0 score in 1976. He tied at Galveston with Ken Smith with 4½ points, and won the Texas Senior Championship in 1998 with a 4-0 score. I personally observed Mr. Wheeler beat a master (rated over 2200) from Austin in the Corpus Christi City Championships in 2005, which he won with a perfect 5-0 score.
Incidentally, Mr. Wheeler has accomplished quite a few other things in his life besides chess, including obtaining a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Science from the Corpus Christi State University. However, his chess exploits (and they are indeed numerous) and philosophy are the central focus of this article.
I asked Mr. Wheeler what advice he would give to beginning players. He said that first, he would advise players to play all the time, to the point where your parents tell you to quit. They should play the best opponents they can find. He felt it was important that kids should have a normal, well rounded life with a variety of interests and activities and not try to focus exclusively on chess. They should seek out better players who are willing to teach them, and play in as many tournaments as they can. Also, Mr. Wheeler felt that it was important for chess players, as they progress in ability, to assist others with chess activity, and not simply be a drain on the chess-playing community. In other words—give back in some way.
He feels that chess books are an excellent source of learning, but cautioned that there is a lot of poor information contained in some of them. A chess player should get advice about books from people they trust. Also, Mr. Wheeler was quick to point out that one cannot read a chess book like an ordinary book, but instead must go through it methodically much like one would traverse a math book. One must have a board by their side and work everything out for him or her self. One should not take the word of the book’s authors that what they say is correct. Mr. Wheeler’s favorite chess book authors include Alekhine, Bronstein, and Nimzovitch. In his opinion, the best chess books are written by the best players.
As do aficionados of any other sport or focused endeavor, Mr. Wheeler has his personal heroes of chess, and they include Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Tal. Mr. Wheeler’s feelings about Mr. Fischer are amply demonstrated by the fact that in 1972, he visited Iceland for two months and watched every Fischer-Spassky World Chess Championship game up close and personal, through binoculars. Mr. Wheeler says he had a small room with a window, and kept lunchmeat and cheese on the ledge outside the window as it was easily cool enough in Iceland to keep the food well refrigerated. He slept in late every day, and got up each morning just in time to saunter over and watch the two chess giants play. He recalls that he arrived late for game 13. He also did a lot of walking around in the country side with his friend and was able to observe how relaxed people were about strangers there. Mr. Wheeler once shook Mr. Fischer’s hand, and reports that he seemed a friendly, unpretentious person.
Mr. Wheeler feels strongly that chess players should not do anything to mislead their opponents, but should instead display good sportsmanship which playing their very best game. He said that one should not offer a draw unless one actually wants to obtain a draw. As an example of sportsmanship, Mr. Wheeler pointed out that Fischer was once playing a grandmaster named Wolfgang Unziker. During the match, Unziker got up and walked away from the board, behind Fischer, looking backwards to observe the board. He noticed Fischer touch a pawn and then put it back down. Fischer was completely unaware that anyone had noticed him move the pawn, and knew that the pawn move would be a loss. However, Unziker then saw Fischer move the pawn. Unziker said he knew that the moment that Fischer was a true gentleman.
Should one “play the board” or “play the person”? That is a philosophical debate in chess which has proponents on both sides. Mr. Wheeler, however, emphatically believes that one must consider who your opponent is and play the person. He feels that it is flat out wrong to simply “play the board”, and totally disagrees with that philosophy. He says that you are not playing a machine, and should try to play in a way that plays to their weaknesses and emphasizes your strengths. He says that one can always do something to prepare for a game, such as trying to find out something about your opponent. Strong players, according to Mr. Wheeler, always try to prepare for their opponents.
In conclusion, Mr. Wheeler said that what makes chess special is that no other game gives you this level of fulfillment if you perform well—and especially if you win. Words of wisdom with a ring of truth, from someone who really knows what he’s talking about.