Roman as raconteur

Roman Dzindzichashvili entertained about 30 Boylston club members and guests last Wednesday evening.

He decided not to give a formal talk but use audience questions to guide his remarks. Initially questions were about openings and we learned about the intricacies of some lines of the modern Benoni.

But the audience started to ask about his opinions and experiences, so Roman launched into a fascinating knights tour of topics: collusion and corruption in the highest levels of chess, experiences with Bobby Fischer, the strength of young players (with the observation that "young" is younger that it used to be,) his most memorable game in which he discovered step-by-step an astonishing combination, the GMs he hates, computer chess (no human can win nowdays, though he answered a computer challenge in the 70s by stipulating that he had to win 7 1/2 of 10 to draw and 8 to win. Roman won 9 of 10 with his strategic trick - which he explained in 2 minutes.)


Dzindzi was completely charming with a droll sense of humor and we all laughed most of the evening. Two hours flew by. Thanks to the GM and thanks to Paul MacIntyre to arranging an amusing evening of chess.

You can view some photos at www.picasaweb.google/oresick/.