[chessmind] Dennis Monokroussos: Quotation Time #12: The clearly unnecessary solution

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Posted by Dennis Monokroussos:
Quotation Time #12: The clearly unnecessary solution
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1213651817.shtml


   Here's the quotation, originally given in [1]this post, which was even
   easier to solve than I had hoped:

     Word was getting around about Bobby Fischer. From the first rumors
     of a talented kid from Brooklyn, he was now appearing regularly at
     the speed tournaments, and getting progressively better scores. At
     one point, however, I had beaten him four times in a row, and he
     cried at least once, revealing the depth of his intensity for the
     game. But one night at the Marshall Chess Club rapids we played a
     French Defense and a very peculiar thing happened. In the middle of
     the game Bobby made a strong move and I suddenly had an almost
     physical sense of the power emanating from it. And Bobby moved
     again with the same effect; it was as if he was playing with
     dynamic rays of force that I had a heightened sensitivity to. It
     happened once more, and my position was busted, as the coffee house
     players would say. I never won another game from Bobby, and I
     wonder if any other players have had this experience while opposing
     him.

   The writer was none other than "Captain" Bill Hook, from his very
   enjoyable [2]Hooked on Chess: A Memoir (New in Chess 2008), p. 40. The
   book won't add any points to your rating, but you'll be glad you read
   it. I'd go further, and call this required reading for non-chess
   players inclined to write about the game and its aficionados. Hook
   comes across as a very personable, very human individual, and when he
   writes about others, even those who might fit the bill for those
   looking for "weird chess players", he writes about them with
   (non-condescending) affection and as an equal. An excellent read,
   especially in contrast with those horrid writers whose imagination is
   so limited that they feel compelled to repeat for the thousandth time
   the stories of Rubinstein and Fischer at their worst.

References

   1. http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/posts/1213564027.shtml
   2. http://www.amazon.com/Hooked-Chess-Memoir-Bill-Hook/dp/9056912208