ARival
Member since Jun-20-06 · Last seen Aug-22-20
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| my name is David Taylor [anagram -A Rival Toddy]
Im also from Auckland NZ & yes I know Richard Taylor [no relation] Benzol & Stanly Yee they all play for the Howick-Pakuranga Chess Club.
I go to the Papatoetoe Chess Club but like Richard also play @ the Auckland Chess Center.
The Maori name Papatoetoe refers to the "toetoe"a tall type of grass [2 meters or 6ft 6 in height]that grows in big clumps & has on the end of a long brown stem a large "white feather"frond [imagine an albatross wing on the end of a stick]
At one time this whole area was covered in a great waving sea of white green & brown,& if you stood on top of Puhinui [big wind] hill, in its center, turned 360,thats all you would see streaching away into the distance.
Papa means garden so it translates - the garden of toetoe [pronouced toy toy]
Today its houses suburbia & a concrete water tank on top of Puhinui hill.
During the war the Americans built an army camp at Puhinui,complete with roads & everything.They lived in little A framed wooden huts, which were later sold to the public for temporary housing to use while their new homes were being built.
We lived in one.Though it was quite snug you could only walk upright down the middle.It had no running water - fill the bucket at a tap by the gate -no electricity used lamps & cooked on a single ring kerosene primus stove.Outside longdrop toilet & bath once a week @ the railway public bath house.
Some people put 2 or 3 huts together to make a small home.
We later moved to Camp Bun in Panmure another ex American base that was still working long after they had gone.It had a movie theatre,shop,playground with swings,laundry,seperate toilet & shower blocks,paved roads,even electricty in the 2 bedroom woodpaneled units. Just like a little town. Ive been playing this game on & off for many years but never consistently to amount to much.
After a break because of illness Ive decided to give it one more go.Im not up to Richard,Benzol or Stanlys standard but sometimes Ihave my moments.
Suppose I cant be totally hopeless I did manage to come 2nd = in the 2006 NZ Seniors Championship so that cant be too bad.
However many of the best players didnt compete so the title is a little inflated.
One in particlar-Richard Sutton [2263] from Otago is easily the best senior player in the country.
The cost of travel & accomodation could be a restrictive factor,though some here in Auckland chose not to compete for some reason.[maybe the $60 entry fee was too high for those on a pension] Of the players I like - Paul Morphy,Charousek,Nezhmitdinov,Tal,Fischer,Geller-
,the Polgar sisters & a guy called Jacob Yuchtman. |
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Kibitzing
