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Abe Turner

Most played openings

A15		English (3 games)
A34		English, Symmetrical (2 games)
E42		Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 c5, 5.Ne2 (Rubinstein) (2 games)
C54		Giuoco Piano (2 games)
C30		King's Gambit Declined (2 games)
D11		Queen's Gambit Declined Slav (2 games)
B10		Caro-Kann (2 games)
C78		Ruy Lopez (2 games)
E39		Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Pirc Variation (2 games)
C77		Ruy Lopez (2 games)

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ABE TURNER (born Oct-05-1924, died Oct-25-1962, 38 years old) United States of America [what is this?] Turner was born in New York City, learning how to play chess in 1943 at a naval hospital while recovering from shrapnel wounds inflicted during World War II. It was said Turner played chess mostly by grabbing a pawn and swapping pieces to reach an endgame. He frequented the Chess and Checkers Club of New York in Times Square next to the New Amsterdam Theatre, better known as the "flea house," where anyone could play chess for ten cents an hour. Fischer also attended the club and was a student of Turner's. Turner played several times in the U.S. Chess Championship. He was best known as a blitz chess hustler, and was one of few masters who had a winning record against Bobby Fischer. The games were when Fischer was 14, which was the same year Fischer won his first U.S. Championship. In fact, his last round draw with Turner in the 1957 Championship clinched first for young Fischer. Turner was born in New York City, learning how to play chess in 1943 at a naval hospital while recovering from shrapnel wounds inflicted during World War II. It was said Turner played chess mostly by grabbing a pawn and swapping pieces to reach an endgame. He frequented the Chess and Checkers Club of New York in Times Square next to the New Amsterdam Theatre, better known as the "flea house," where anyone could play chess for ten cents an hour. Fischer also attended the club and was a student of Turner's. Turner placed second in the Manhattan Chess Club championship on five occasions. He considered his best performance to be fourth place at the U.S. Open at Long Beach, California in 1955, but he tied for first shortly after at San Diego with William Lombardy and James Sherwin. Turner was found stabbed to death in the basement of an Upper West Side building where the body was discovered. He had been working as a clerk for Al Horowitz for the magazine Chess Review. Police arrested Theodore W. Smith, a clerk-typist employed by the publication, who said he killed Turner (and dragged the body along a corridor to the safe) because Secret Service agents had told him to. Turner, who was 38, never married and lived with his father. https://alchetron.com Wikipedia article: Abe Turner Last updated: 2025-03-22 11:18:10

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page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 78  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. I A Horowitz vs A Turner 1-0 36 1942 BFX New York C29 Vienna Gambit 2. A Turner vs H Steiner   0-1 67 1953 54th US Open A46 Queen's Pawn Game 3. A Turner vs B Rozsa   1-0 57 1953 54th US Open E39 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Pirc Variation 4. F R Anderson vs A Turner   1-0 46 1953 54th US Open C77 Ruy Lopez 5. A Kaufman vs A Turner   1-0 35 1953 54th US Open A16 English 6. V Berzzarins vs A Turner   0-1 59 1954 55th US Open E46 Nimzo-Indian 7. A Turner vs L Evans   ½-½ 44 1954 55th US Open A95 Dutch, Stonewall 8. Rossolimo vs A Turner   ½-½ 24 1954 55th US Open C54 Giuoco Piano 9. A Bisguier vs A Turner 1-0 51 1954 55th US Open E14 Queen's Indian 10. A Turner vs E McCormick 1-0 25 1954 55th US Open A29 English, Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto 11. E Marchand vs A Turner   0-1 61 1954 55th US Open A15 English 12. A Turner vs A Saidy   1-0 50 1954 55th US Open E45 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Bronstein (Byrne) Variation 13. A Pomar vs A Turner   1-0 26 1954 55th US Open B95 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6...e6 14. A Turner vs R H Steinmeyer   0-1 65 1954 55th US Open D96 Grunfeld, Russian Variation 15. A Turner vs M Hailparn 1-0 47 1955 56th US Open A60 Benoni Defense 16. I Romanenko vs A Turner   1-0 38 1955 56th US Open C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed 17. A Turner vs E Godbold   1-0 28 1955 56th US Open D97 Grunfeld, Russian 18. R Martin vs A Turner   0-1 30 1955 56th US Open C54 Giuoco Piano 19. A Turner vs A Saidy 0-1 36 1955 56th US Open A62 Benoni, Fianchetto Variation 20. D Fischheimer vs A Turner   0-1 45 1955 56th US Open B92 Sicilian, Najdorf, Opocensky Variation 21. A Turner vs L Remlinger   1-0 40 1955 56th US Open E95 King's Indian, Orthodox, 7...Nbd7, 8.Re1 22. G Schain vs A Turner   0-1 34 1955 56th US Open A22 English 23. A Turner vs L Levy   ½-½ 47 1955 56th US Open D38 Queen's Gambit Declined, Ragozin Variation 24. A Dake vs A Turner   ½-½ 30 1955 56th US Open E26 Nimzo-Indian, Samisch 25. E Levin vs A Turner 0-1 31 1955 56th US Open B50 Sicilian  page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 78

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing> Apr-25-08    Petrosianic: <Shah Mat> <Maybe the Secret Service DID tell him to kill him. It wouldnt be the dirtiest trick US govt had pulled.> Oh yeah, the Secret Service assasinates pudgy middle-aged chessplayers all the time. But don't they usually do it themselves, rather than ask freelance clerk/typists to do it for them? Even as conspiracy theories go, this one's pretty nutty. Apr-25-08    Petrosianic: Evans had a column a few years back about Turner having appeared on a game show (<You Bet Your Life>, maybe?), and someone having sent him the tape. Does anyone remember this? Apr-25-08    Bishoprick: I think I remember Abe telling me he had come to chess quite late, as an adult. I don't know how accurate the story is, or how faulty my memory is, but I believe he said that he had been wounded in the early days of the war (WWII) and had to spend considerable time in the hospital. Although he didn't know how to play chess, someone brought him a chess book which he read very carefully. When he came out of the hospital he began playing chess and found that he was quite strong, particularly when playing rapids and/or for money, usually up at Fischer's NY Chess and Checkers Club. Anyone know whether this is true? Even if it isn't, its a nice story. I wonder what the book was. I sure could use it :-) May-29-08    wrap99: in evans' chess catechism, the story of his learning the game as a wounded veteran is told. May-30-08    IMlday: According to Duncan and Dobrila Suttles (who only talked about it after Fischer's death) young Bobby considered Abe Turner as his major mentor and father figure. Turner's mysterious death was influential in Bobby's switch from atheistic Nitscheism to Herbert Armstrong's popular radio cult 'Worldwide Church of God'. May-30-08    MichAdams: So what was the name of the killer? Or is it some sort of secret? May-30-08    MichAdams: <Nitscheism [sic]> May-30-08    IMlday: (Toronto Star May 3 2008): "...Trusting that they wouldn't blab to the "creepy" media, Fischer opened up about some mysteries in his life. One was the split with his mother at age 16. According to Fischer this was when he was introduced to conspiracy theory. The Communist plot to take over the world was elaborated to him, and that he had a role to play in combatting it. The problem: his mother, Regina, was herself a Communist. That motivated the family break which lasted until the 1980s. Of his mentors, Fischer considered Abe Turner was his main influence as "father figure". It spooked Bobby greatly in 1962 when Turner was stabbed to death by ex-mental patient Theodore Smith. The murderer claimed the Secret Service had ordered it because Turner was a Communist spy. That mysterious death was the catalyst in Fischer switching his religious views from atheistic Nietzscheism to Herbert Armstrong's radio ministry..." May-30-08    keypusher: Thanks, <IMlday>, very interesting stuff. May-30-08    MichAdams: Was Horowitz aware that Smith was a former mental patient? May-30-08    IMlday: One could also wonder if Turner knew the guys trailing Regina Fischer were F.B.I.? The Turner story I knew was that during the Reshevsky-Najdorf match Sammy's friends hired Turner to keep the Argentine wizard up all night playing five-minute blitz. May-30-08    RookFile: Well, if that happenned, Najdorf deserved to lose. That's just plain silly. Sep-07-15    wrap99: <Tigran Petrosian> If he created the quote about chess being mental masturbation, that is indeed remarkable. Because I have heard the term "mental masturbation" or variant used not about chess but about other non-productive mental activities, like an argument about some topic that maybe neither participant cared about the outcome as much as the argument. Anyhow, imagine he is the first person to have used the term "mental masturbation." Should contact Oxford English Dictionary or someplace that keeps track of this kind of thing. Sep-07-15    norami: Masturbation is physical chess. Sep-07-15    wrap99: Interesting link: https://literalminded.wordpress.com... Looks like our fellow chess player came up with an alternative interpretation. I think he improved very much upon the original. Aug-03-18    MissScarlett: Very occasionally now, <Chess Notes> still turns up something interesting. C.N. 10941: <Steve Wrinn (Homer, NY, USA) notes that the brief scene featuring Abe Turner in the film A Bowl of Cherries...> Re, C.N. 10932 (not yet indexed but see http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...), it's the discrepancies that catch the eye. The <NYT> report from <CN 1311> identified the killer as <Theodore Weldon Smith>, a 35 year-old handyman, whereas in other reports he was also <Ross Smith>, 38 years-old, and was employed as a clerk-typist. A couple of papers helpfully inform that he was a <Negro>. Unfortunately, as with the <Raymond Weinstein> case, there's no sign of a subsequent trial, and Smith, presumably, was confined to a mental institution, and the trail goes entirely cold. Aug-03-18    MissScarlett: In that clip, Turner bears more than a passing resemblance to <Harvey Weinstein>. Aug-05-18    MissScarlett: Wondering how Turner may have got this extra gig, I looked at the cast/crew list (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt197582...) and <George Edgar> as producer struck me as the most likely possibility. So far, so dead end, but then I just happened upon: Fischer - Reshevsky (1961) (kibitz #2) <George Paul Edgar> was married to the actress https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0173125/. But was he the producer of <A Bowl of Cherries>? Aug-16-18    Granny O Doul: <Airlock: I read this story about Turner. Apparently Turner used to win games by getting ahead material, exchanging all the pieces, and winning in the endgame. Someone made the comment that the only time Turner was happy was when he was a rook up and it was his move. So some people started composing problems in which one side was a rook up, it was their turn to move, and the game was lost.> That's almost right, but substitute Hans Berliner for Abe Turner. Nov-15-19    MissScarlett: <Re. C.N. 10932 (not yet indexed but see http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...), it's the discrepancies that catch the eye. The <NYT> report from <CN 1311> identified the killer as <Theodore Weldon Smith>, a 35 year-old handyman, whereas in other reports he was also <Ross Smith>, 38 years-old, and was employed as a clerk-typist. A couple of papers helpfully inform that he was a <Negro>.> The report in the <Daily News> (New York), October 26th 1962, reproduced in <CN 10932> that spoke of <Ross Smith>, 38 years-old, employed as a clerk-typist, was contradicted in the following day's edition, agreeing with the <NYT> of the same day (i.e., the 27th), as cited in <CN 1311>, that the killer was <Theodore Weldon Smith>, a 35 year-old handyman. It also carried a picture of <Smith>... It's hard to conceive why a chess publication would require a full-time handyman, so perhaps he was only employed on a part-time or ad hoc basis, or that <handyman> was a euphemism for <dogsbody>. May-07-20    wordfunph: <The audience cracked up when Abe explained why he didn't like to play a certain woman. "This lady, she's young and beautiful. She has an enormous chest and knocked over a piece every time she bent to make a move. Between a low-cut dress and exotic perfume, how can you concentrate on a game of chess? I'm only human. Sometimes I didn't notice when she knocked off one of my pieces with her whatchamacallit."> Source: Chess Life 2005 October - GM Larry Evans May-08-20    perfidious: In defence of Turner's difficulties, I too would be hard put to play well in the face of such awesome manifestations of weaponry. Jun-25-22    wrap99: Interesting to read of Turner being in the obscure film A Bowl of Cherries (obscure at least to me but suspect few have heard of this 60 year old flick). It just goes to show you how many chess players had other interesting aspects to their lives. I hope when you play live events you endeavor to chat about non-chessic things sometimes. Jan-23-25    Petrosianic: The guy who wrote to Evans referenced a tape of the interview, but it's not on YouTube anywhere. He probably meant an audio tape that he'd recorded off-air. So many early Tonight Show episodes are lost. Jan-23-25    Petrosianic: Chess Review reports on the 1963 Abe Turner Memorial: <First place in the Abe Turner Memorial Tournament in New York City. attended by an outpouring of 135 players was gained by Pal Benko. 5½-½. Others with the same game score but fewer Median points were Asa Hoffmann, Arthur Feuerstein and L. Russell Chauvenet, while 5 · 1 tallies were chalked up by Bernard Zuckerman, Brian Owens, Ariel Mengarini, James Sherwin and Stanley Tomchin.> search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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