Mostly Anecdotal

“I guess you know what this means,” he said, as he captured my last pawn. He now had a pawn while I had nothing but my King. The winning plan is to escort the pawn to the eighth rank and there promote it to a piece, most likely a Queen. The game was in its eighth hour and I was tired. I’d been winning earlier in the game and then lost my advantage, and now it looked as if I would lose.

When you begin to lose your mind shuts down like a body when it dies. Thinking is difficult. You’d welcome an out-of-body experience. You’d like to be somewhere else, but you don’t really want to give up. You’re opposed to the idea. You have a responsibility to the game and to yourself to fight on.

You look at the board again with fresh eyes and you understand, it’s the opposition, that’s the key. You have the opposition in a King and pawn versus King ending. All you have to do is carefully maintain the opposition and the game will end in a draw. You look up, and there he is wearing a George Bush smirk, though at the time, some 30 year ago I didn’t know about the Bush smirk. My opponent still thinks he’s winning, he doesn’t know about Bush smirk either, but he’s wearing it.

You smile, he’s not sure if you’re about to resign or . . . You wait a moment and then say, “Yes, I know what it means. It means the game will end in a draw.” He looks back at the board and then at you. He sees what you see, but he plays on a few more moves. You demonstrate that you understand how to maintain the opposition. He says nothing, but circles a draw on the scoresheet and pushes it to you for your signature.

An elevator is normally a quiet place, all the occupants on a mission to discover something interesting on the ceiling while keeping an eye on the blinking red light registering the floor number as they ascend or descend. Las Vegas is different, a conjunction of happy vacationers bent on having a good time—cheery, hopeful, and friendly. It was just such a car we occupied with five others, eight total, well under the 3000 pound capacity, on our final night in Las Vegas. Let me see, were we going up or going down, returning from the latest round of the chess tournament, or on our way there. I don’t recall. I do remember I was standing near the wall on one side, my sons Tim and Chris on the other. The woman was standing in the middle.

I recognized her immediately. She had mid-western written all over her and child of the twenties tattooed on her glasses with rhinestones. She was probably one of those moms, like mine, who did the ironing while I listened to the Lone Ranger on the radio–hi ho Silver, away. Today she was in Las Vegas, and sharing the elevator with us. She was a look-a-like for Pauline, my father-in-laws second wife. Her hair was white and the whiff of grey was the frosting on the look-a-like cake.

I caught Tim’s eye pointing her out with a nod of my head while mouthing her name. He immediately nudged his brother, glanced at her, and repeated my message. They were both smiling now. The woman was talking to her husband. It was Pauline’s voice reincarnated in this stranger in Vegas having a good time.

Memories of the times in Yuma visiting Pauline and Earl flooded back, and Pauline’s catch phrase, an exclamation, one she often repeated on the Golf course flooded back. Sink a long putt and Pauline would say, “well, goodnight Agnes” or during an evening game of Shanghai rummy, Pauline’s game, a surprising play was guaranteed to generate the phrase.

The boys had heard her say it often, so when Pauline’s double told her husband that she felt a jackpot in her future, I couldn’t resist– “Well, goodnight Agnes,” I said. The boys would have spit up their drinks if they’d had any. They showed remarkable restraint by not laughing out loud– but best of all was the woman. It was as if she had known Pauline, as if she’d been in on our private communications from the beginning, she laughed and said, “Yep, that’s right.”

In the early ninety’s when chess players still got together in person, my good friend Stephen invited the usual suspects over for a little barbecue and some chess. He said he had some visitors we would enjoy meeting. I asked who, he said that Grandmaster Alex Sherzer would be there and the rest he would save until later. I prodded without success.

It turned out that Alex was not traveling alone, the others in his party were introduced as Lyle, Zoie and Sofia. The conversation quickly turned to chess, the PCA the Intel Grand Prix, as well as the merits of different players. I think at least some of us were wondering, could this Sofia be Sofia Polgar, I know I was. We didn’t have to wait long to find out. About five minutes into the conversation Tim said, “well ladies do you play chess.” To which they replied “oh a little.” Most chess players know the code “oh a little” means oh indeed I do, and I’m probably better than you.

A few minutes later not satisfied, Tim said to Sofia, “you look a lot like Judit Polgar”, a real conversation stopper. Stephen said, “well of course she looks like Judit this is Sofia her sister”. Tim said, “NO, not really” to which Stephen in his most serious tone replied, “Yes Tim really”. Tim didn’t say anything for several minutes. Then you could see the realization on his face, like the sun rising in the morning a glimmer of light reflected in his eye. Then just as quickly as if the entire day had passed in that one moment the sun set and his face turned a dark crimson red. There was nowhere to hide; all he could manage was a soft oh.

Sofia gave us all gave a chance to prove our skill at speed chess, all quickly fell victim to a very good player. Tim claims to have won one game, but after watching Sofia crush Alex Sherzer game after game, I don’t believe him. Tim was not alone however, the previous weekend Sofia, Alex and company were in Tucson, Sofia wasn’t playing but was at the tournament where no one recognized her.

Note: Sofia Polgar is a two-times Gold medallist with Hungarian national women’s team in 1988 and 1990. Her biggest success was in Rome, 1989 with a performance rating over 2900! (Kasparov’s current rating is 2838) In a field of strong GMs she won the competition with 8.5/9, which at the time was a record in open tournaments.

A ridge of granite rising from left to right casts a shadow on a lone pine, and below a forest of green covering all but the most rugged gray granite poking through. It is difficult to imagine the pain they must have suffered or what a grizzly bear was doing in northern Utah. Rex Stewart and his bride Cecile were found near Alta Utah. A forest service employee doing routine maintenance on a popular hiking trail found their badly mauled bodies Monday afternoon. Why the bear was there was only part of the mystery. Why the newlyweds were there was equally puzzling.

They had been on their way to Lake Tahoe, with no reason to stop in Utah, except to fill the tank of their red BMW with gas. The police asked me to help in the investigation. Why, well they were quickly discovering how paranoid chess players are and needed someone on the inside. Rex was an internationally known chess player, with a penchant for pissing people off. A giant ego, but of course that was true of most chess players. I was apparently the only one in the entire state that knew who he was. That and my ability to untangle some nasty disputes at the chessboard were my only qualifications.

I’m Matt Finley, an international arbiter, and sometime chess player. I enjoy playing, but know I wont get much better. Fortunately I’ve been able to stay around the game I love as an enforcer of the rules. Rex and Cecile had intended to honeymoon in Tahoe since the Tahoe Open chess tournament was scheduled to begin the following weekend. Rex was just barely welcome at the Tahoe event since he and Bronson the tournament organizer could never seem to agree on the rules. Bronson had some rule variations he liked to implement and while legal, were different from the standard fare and that seemed to create bad feelings. Bronson ruled his tournaments with an iron hand. I had intended to play, one of the few tournaments I play in each year, but now I was here to see if I could find any leads into the Stewarts deaths. The third round was underway when I arrived. I love the sight of a tournament in progress. Row after row of checkered boards, players sitting like statues with only an occasional twitch, or a knee bouncing up and down. One player I particularly enjoyed watching twisted his air around his finger over and over totally unaware of the mannerism. Tournament chess is stressful. Blood pressure rises respiration increases there is palpable tension in the air. The only sound is of the two faced clocks ticking and an audible click as each move is completed and the button atop the clock is pushed starting the opponents clock.

The investigation in Utah hadn’t made much progress. There were some bear tracks but even those had been confusing and the trail had been lost.

I hadn’t missed much. The top players seldom get a challenging game early in a Swiss System tournament, the type most commonly found in the United States. The first half of the players ranked by rating are paired with the second half. In subsequent rounds players with the same scores are paired with each other. The player with the highest score at the end of the tournament in this case after seven rounds, wins. “Hi John”, I said.

John Bronson the tournament organizer came out of the director’s room. “Hi Matt,” he replied. “Looks like it will be another sensational tournament for you” I said. “Yes” he said. “We have 23 Grandmasters, 28 International Masters and $50,000 in prize money, our best so far. I thought you were playing in this one”. I was then the business with Rex came up and I was delayed. They have asked for my help since I know the chess world.” I said, “He was scheduled to play here wasn’t he?” “Unfortunately, I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead, but he was a pain in the ass to have in a tournament”, he said. When was the last time you saw Rex?” “Huh, I don’t know why do you ask.” He said “I’m just trying to figure out how he ended up in Alta Utah. Did he mail in his entry?” I said “I’d have to check with over 300 entries no way I could remember them all.” He said “Well, think about it John and let me know” I said. I started to leave when John said “Matt, you know it wouldn’t surprise me if that Russian Dimitri Ivanov was involved he and Rex were involved in a dispute at the National Open in Las Vegas. Rex accused Dimitri of cheating. Dimitri and a fifth of Vodka didn’t take kindly to the accusations. Security took care of them before they hurt themselves”. “Thanks John it doesn’t surprise me, the Russians don’t like to be accused of cheating.” I said “Who does”, said John “Your right of course”, I said

There were no major upsets in the third round. The fourth round would see the titled players start going at each other. I walked through the tournament hall; just a few games were still in progress. A couple of players in the beginners section were playing on with only their Kings the position is drawn there is no way to lose. One young player was sitting in the corner stacking all the pieces in a sort of tower, strange. Hi Dimitri” I said. He had just finished analyzing his game with Tal Kermalinsky a talented FIDE master. “Hi Matt, I haven’t seen you since Los Angeles you missed Las Vegas this year.” He said “Yes, it was unavoidable I had some business at home. Heard I missed some great chess,” I said… Yes, you missed my great victory. Said Dimitri “I saw the reports that you won, but why 6-0 all you needed was a draw in the last round. “Did the organizers offer an extra thousand for a perfect score?” I said. No I just didn’t feel like giving Walter an easy draw. The last time we played I beat him and he said we was unprepared, and that it would never happen again. I found a line from a training match Botvinnik played in 1951 against Smyslov. I don’t think Walter had seen it. Ha Ha. Botvinnik played lots of training matches over the years, but they were kept secret. “You’re just getting crafty,” I said. Ha Ha like a computer, he said. “Did you hear about Rex?” I asked Yes, wild animals killed him. “And his wife Cecile “, I said “That is very sad”, said Dimitri. “I’m helping in the investigation and trying to find out when he registered for this tournament”. I said “That’s easy,” said Dimitri, “he registered the same time I did”. “When was that?” I asked At the National Open” said Dimitri “John Bronson was there lining up the book concession and directors for his tournament. John joined Rex and I at our table. It was then that we both told John we would be coming to Tahoe for his famous tournament Ha Ha”. “He wrote it down in his notebook, so he wouldn’t forget” he said. “Well good luck in the tournament. ” “Thanks”, said Dimitri. When I got back to my room the light on my phone was flashing. I called the desk. “You have a message for me” I said, “Finley room 347″. Yes Mr. Finley a Mr. Jones a detective with the Salt Lake City Police asked for you to call. He says it’s important. I dialed the number immediately, a pleasant voice answered on the second ring. POLICE Delores Green speaking. Ms Green this is Matt Finely and I received a message to contact detective Jones. Yes Frank Jones, just a moment. Matt, Frank Jones here there has been a break in the case. The forest service found some additional tracks it now appears that what we have is a grizzly mother and her cubs. A mother grizzly is dangerous to encounter anytime, but away from home, deadly. A truck and trailer used for transporting bears between Yellowstone and (Klamath Falls) was found in a creek bed not far from where Rex and Cecile were found. The truck was abandoned. Someone left in a hurry he left some chess gear and other personal things. We think the gay is named Walter Gray do you know him. Yes I know him. Sad case, drugs alcohol was a child prodigy last I heard he was dealing cards in Reno. . We would like you to come back to Utah and go through his personal effects maybe this is the break we’ve been looking for. I took the five o’clock Delta flight. I was in Salt Lake at seven thirty. Detective Jones was waiting for me. We took the 15minute drive into town in 10 minutes, are all law enforcement types this aggressive. Walter hadn’t left much but what he had left was very interesting, a knapsack, with chess set, clock, and the latest Informant. Informants are collections of current GM games published three times a year. Walter had obviously renewed his interest in Chess. The latest issue of Chess life with several upcoming tournaments underlined. Jones said, “We found this scrap of paper on the floor of the truck. It’s a map of the area. Mr. Gray must have brought the bears up this canyon and released them moments before Rex and Cecile came this way. It was damn near certain that the mother would attack perceiving a threat to the cubs. ” Let me see that”, I said. On one side a map of the area, but when I turned it over my heart stopped. It was a partial list of chess rules. Rules I recognized immediately. Colors will not be changed for alternation or equalization simply to preserve color. You will play the proper player sometimes this will entail playing the black pieces three times in a row. John Bronson runs the only tournament I know of with these rules. Detective Jones and I caught the first plane back to Reno and rented a car for the drive to Tahoe. John had already finished the pairings for the last round. The staff said he was getting a bite to eat. We headed for the restaurant Dimitri was coming from the opposite direction. Hi Matt Hi Dimitri you winning, I said “Five and a half points I took a draw from Gary it guarantees me at least a tie for first.” He said “Good job Dimitri. We have to hurry we are going to the restaurant to find John” I said. You won’t find him there, said Dimitri I saw him get in a cab for the airport said he was picking up a player. Strange picking up a player at the end of a tournament. Ha Ha. Detective Jones went to the nearest phone, while I waited the beginning of the end for John Bronson was starting. The authorities were there in minutes. John was apprehended with $100,000. The prizes and receipts from the tournament. He had felt us closing in, but a few extra minutes watching the game between Browne and Christiansen had cost him a possible escape. Rex had found out about a felony conviction for child molestation against Bronson some years before. When Rex revealed it to the USCF board of directors. John would be out of chess organizing. Walter Gray had been doing some work for John and discovered the same information. But he had thought of blackmail. When he confronted John. John laughed Rex already knows and is going to reveal it at the Tahoe Open, and your blackmailing days will be over. Walter’s imagination started working overtime, just like any good chess player, came up with a plan and stole the bears as they were leaving Wyoming. Two drivers each thinking the other had this run, returned home not realizing the bears were missing. Walter knew Rex was stopping in Salt Lake not only for gas but to spend the night

He persuaded Rex and Cecile that the Utah Rockies were something they shouldn’t miss. A day they would never forget he told them. He gave them directions telling them he would meet them at a small lake one mile from the trailhead, and the rest you know. I helped a depressed staff finish up the tournament. There were some boo’s when they found out the prize money was evidence, but Detective Jones had told me it would probably be released in less than a month, that news kept them happy. I’m on my way to Los Angeles for the American Open; this time I’ll be wearing my arbiter’s hat. I read a small item in the Los Angeles times when I arrived about a mother Grizzly and two cubs being found 70 miles from Yellowstone and Home. I guess two freeways weren’t too much to negotiate for a determined bear. Dimitri went on to win the American Open as well making it three majors in a row. At 48 he was still playing inspired chess. The tournament was a success from my vantage point, great chess and no major disputes. In Yellowstone the bears are beginning their hibernation. Walter Gray’s body was found some months later also a victim of the bears. Bet he’d like to take that move back.