To the reason I dropped by: I read your comments on Quinones-Stein today with interest. Same as many another outsider in those days of IZ round-robin events, Quinones had a brutal draw at Amsterdam, particularly in the second half. Ten rounds before the finish, Ivkov (an eventual qualifier) took a piece of his hide, then he ran into two more candidates before wrapping up against four of the five Soviet GMs, a phenomenon which had to happen with the draw being rigged in the early rounds.

In my playing days, I participated in a few events where the opposition was strong throughout, and it could be a grind. Mostly in poker, this has not happened, because with the boom, there are enough 'live ones' that no-one is at all likely to run into a table full of top professionals, though I have played with a great many of the latter. One thing sure: early on in my chess playing days, I got over any fear of meeting strong opposition. Served me well when I turned to poker.

In 2003, I was in Tunica, Mississippi, playing in a cash game amidst dozens of other tables and shortly after I took my seat, three others came open. The seat to my immediate left was filled by a former world champion, then two to his left, a top Vegas pro I had played with before sat in, followed by another former world titleholder. Knew it wasn't going to be easy, but mostly the four of us stayed out of each others' way and went after the five other players at the table.

The killer in all this was when to my right opened and a fellow in his twenties sat down, turned to me and said: 'I know you'.

My first thought was that I was 1400 miles from home and that he could not possibly recognise me, as I was hardly a regular player on the circuit. Really, I thought he was out of his mind, what with these top pros at the table, and he says he knows who I am.

I think what happened in Amsterdam, and in other tournaments with lots of Soviets, was that the players from the same country had to be paired to play each other early, so as to (theoretically) avoid arrangements later on in the tournament when they would have had a lot more information about who had more/less chances to win/qualify. The flipside of that policy was that then the Soviets were inevitably lined-up to play against the rest, one after another one. So, while they may have saved energy playing with each other early on, they must have felt like a massive bulldozer to poor chaps like Quinones. A psychological and energy advantage on top of the objective playing advantage.

Your anecdote reminds me of the day I took my sit on a plane out of Nashville, and this teen in a seat nearby turns toward me and asks: "Excuse me, are you Mariano Sana?" He knew me from chess. In the local club, I am one of the top players (and one of the top 10 in the state, I guess), so kids know me but I don't know them. I felt like a celebrity. It also happens as a professor, of course. When you have scores of college students parading through your classes semester in, semester out, you are bound to be spotted by some in random places... in most cases I would not remember them anymore.

Jussi Björling - O Helga Natt

I don't think I've said this before, but in addition to the tragic event you know of, I am also in divorce proceedings (and I've been separated since the beginning of the year). I don't want to comment on such a private matter online, of course, but I am only mentioning it to stress how awful 2019 has been for me. And again, can't wait to wake up in 2020!