Albertan: Hi Mariano.
<GM Benjamin quit chess? I didn't>
Well, I believe I saw that he had somewhere on the internet although I don't remember what it said. I am really assuming he did because he hasn't played chess in a very long time has he?
< know.Let me read about it and I'll> <tell you what I think.>
Okay I would appreciate that, maybe soemthing was said in Chess Life about him quitting or retiring. I believe he married an Irish woman who was also a good chess player, her last name might be "Quinn."
<"I have read his book American> Grandmaster, and he seems to resent the flood of Eastern European GMs after the collapse of the USSR, although he speaks very nicely of Yermolinsky and others.
Well, I guess that is similar to the resentment that many Western European professional chess players had for Russian players who came west
when the Berlin wall fell.
< To be fair, during his best years>
<he didn't get the international> <exposure he deserved... attribute> <that in part to the low regard for> <chess in the US, but also distance> <and money.
Yes it is sad this happened and is still happening to your best players there. So many have left the game because they cannot make a living at it in the United States. And it is very expensive to have to fly back and forth between the USA and Europe for example.
<For European players travel (around> <Europe, anyway) is a lot easier.More> <international competition would have> <helped Benjamin climb higher in the> <global hierarchy of GMs.>
Yes it certainly is easier for European players in that regard. Benjamin did play some of the best in the World, I know he played Kasparov a few times.
<In my opinion, he is/was a dangerous> <attacking/dynamic player and> <tactician, strong in the> <complications and calculations of >
<the middlegame. And he was never> <arrogant, and in fact he is quite> <humble for a GM (remember we were> <talking about GM arrogance recently?)>
Wow it seems he had a great deal going for him, it said that he let all this talent go into idle mode. Yes, I seem to recall he did a great deal of work for IBM before and during one of the Deep Thought/Blue matches didn't he?
< In his book, for example, he> <confesses that at the end of a game> <against Korchnoi, he knew he was> <losing (a K & Ps endgame) but> <couldn't see how, and asked GM> <M.Gurevich on the spot what the> <winning method was. Gurevich showed> <him and he resigned. Gurevich even> <said something humiliating >
Wow I never heard this, that sure is interesting, at least he was honest with his opponent and resigned.I wonder why he didn't wait until after the game to get this instruction from Gurevich? Humiliating? How sad! Gurevich was a second for Kasparov in one of his matches wasn't he?
<(to say to a GM), such as "it's the> <ABC of chess" (he was talking about> <king opposition), and Benjamin,> <nevertheless, published that in his> <own book. That's modesty.>
Wow it sure is! It was the behavior of some people in the Alberta chess scene that caused me to stop playing tournament chess. And I am not the first to leave because of this kind of behavior.Some of the best players in our club left, which is really sad.
<I always enjoy his game commentary>
< on ICC, by the way. I learn a lot> <from him, and if he quit playing I> <certainly hope he didn't quit> <commenting.>
Oh so he still commentates on ICC? Well then you are blessed!
He certainly has played very few rated games in the last number of years, check out his FIDE card:
http://ratings.fide.com/id.phtml?ev...
Take care Mariano! Always nice talking with you.
Kibitzing
