Never give up, the relentless pursuit of excellence

Never give up, the relentless pursuit of excellence
Lubbock Avalanche Journal

Posted: June 25, 2011 - 11:36pm

This week, I am re-publishing an interesting article by Mr. Phil Innes, publisher of the Vermont Views Magazine. He always has a unique and interesting take about chess. Enjoy!

Why I am sick and tired of reading about Susan Polgar?

You see her here you see her there, you see her everywhere in print from coast-to-coast, and now or at least very soon, on varieties of television programs, including very prominent ones. A hundred articles already this year in mainline print media. Are you sick of this too?

We have seen her in Mexico City surrounded by 30,000 fans; then in Florida surrounded it seemed by that many media people during a successful attempt on the Guinness Book of records simul, in Texas opening SPICE, a new metro chess HQ, at Texas Tech University and even on the cover of Parade and Lifestyles magazines with prominent celebrities from our time and before.

Are you approaching your Polgar-limit?

Frankly, I am getting sick of it. This woman is traveling about the country promoting chess development for young people, especially young women, and successfully getting herself into mainstream media twice per week.

I ask myself all sorts of questions about my resentment; “Is it because I don’t like chess promotions?” and “Am I jealous?” and “Do I somehow, as a secret factor kept from my conscious self, not want to see chess promoted?” and “Is it because she is female?” or “because she is not born here” and “insert your own miserable question,” why one has Polgar-exhaustion.

And I answer to all these questions; “NO.”

It is because she seems to be the only person doing it. Now – I know about other people who promote chess, there is the excellent Jude Acers and I know about the historic George Koltanowski, the very sort of American Staunton who promoted chess, but the Polgar phenomena in the States is at a greater level. Quantitatively she is achieving an average of two major media write-ups per week, vastly exceeding all other players and institutions combined.

Why should I resent this? Because I compare it to the paid staff of US Chess Federation, some 30 people, who achieve two articles in major media, not per week, but per year.

Ostensibly both the Susan Polgar Foundation and the United States Chess Federation exist for the same purpose – to further chess into mainstream culture. Yet anyone reading these statistics, or even the newspapers, and who had a few dollars to promote chess, would make their choice as a no-brainer! Which of the two actually can be said to promote chess into mainstream culture in a superior way? My ten dollars is going to get 100 here and 2 there…

In effect I am asking “what’s the matter with the rest of us?”

Next week my friend, Mr. Paul Truong, director of marketing and public relation for Texas Tech SPICE, is going to send me two more articles beginning “Susan did …” and this is an obnoxious practice, no? I really want to send him something beginning, “This week Maurice….” or “coming soon, a Brit GM tour of the States, taking in the following cities…” and of course the friendly jibe “take that! Mr. T.” but damned if I am good enough to do it!

But I am going to try to put one in his eye, and so should you, dear reader.

This Polgar woman has proven that it can be done. She has demonstrated that Americans have a huge interest in the well-being of their sons and daughters, and are conscious of what benefits them, and to whom they can relay this aspiration and trust.

She has also demonstrated that it does not take a million dollars to begin, or ‘going Hollywood’ and relying on glamour. In person Susan Polgar is a quiet spoken individual, modest, attentive to other’s opinions, but most of all, dedicated. Am I a bit “struck?” Sure! But I am also a mean, sometimes a very mean realist.

In short, this person is not cute, she is compelling.

So what’s the matter with the rest of us?

We should follow this lead and compete on several broad fronts, and do so without distortions by simply representing the real nature and character of our game as genuinely as we can – with complete confidence that the general public is receptive. If I have learned anything from these exposures to Susan Polgar, it is this!

We should not do this in order that I can write my friend Paul Truong, wiping his eye! He would be the first to applaud the effort (whatever the result). We should do this because we have to-date misled ourselves that it cannot be done. Somehow we convinced ourselves in this country that unless Robert James Fischer is looking over your shoulder… and that the American public has no interest otherwise… we convinced ourselves that Americans cannot generate grandmasters and that we could not follow Olympiad victories in the thirties which provided four gold medals from four attempts.

This Polgar woman disproves both our objections as to our capability and to the public’s reception of chess, and for all these reasons I hope her share of the chess-development market is sensibly diminished in proportion, while the volume of her reported contributions increases.

The hunt for the elusive chess norm

The hunt for the elusive international grandmaster chess norm
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Story last updated at 3/21/2010 - 12:26 am

This week, Dr. Rich Rice and Dr. Hal Karlsson, are contributing to this column. Both are associate professors at Texas Tech and they are also assistant tournament directors at the 2010 SPICE Spring International Invitational.

Thousands of years ago, Native Americans hunted buffalo and bison on the southern High Plains. Today, a different hunt is taking place in the same region.

Ten chess players have come to Texas Tech to compete in the 2010 SPICE Spring Invitational. They hail from four different countries (USA, Canada, Hungary, Croatia) and six different states (Texas, New York, New Jersey, Missouri, California, Florida). Seven of these players are aiming for their international master or grandmaster chess norms: three for a final norm, two for a second norm, and two for a first norm.

The battle for cerebral fitness is taking place in the English department at a university. These chess players compete for the love of the game, for bragging rights, and for personal satisfaction as they hunt for that elusive chess norm.

Chess is the most popular game on the planet, with more than 45 million people playing chess in America and more than 700 million players worldwide. Millions of kids who learn and play chess each year in the states develop life skills that benefit them the rest of their lives.

As the popular saying goes, chess is easy to learn, but hard to master. The 10 players who are in Lubbock this week are working to master the game. They are some of the best chess players in their respective countries with some of the top chess ratings according to the United States Chess Federation and the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

The average FIDE rating at this tournament is 2490.5, which is equivalent to a category 10 event. A Grandmaster norm at this tournament is 6 points (out of nine games) and an International Master norm is 4 points (out of nine games).

Many online spectators have tried to predict who will earn their norms at this tournament. There are so many variables that impact each player's final tournament score.

At the time of this article, 13-year-old Texan Darwin Yang just defeated grandmaster Jesse Kraai to earn his first international master norm. Four players, including Texas Tech's own international master Gergely Antal, are still in contention for various norms. This certainly will be an exciting finish.

Chess is a game that requires mental toughness, physical fitness, strong nerves, diligent preparation, strenuous calculation, superb memory, pinpoint intuition and some plain old luck. Each player faces ups and downs during each grueling round. This is why chess is so challenging.

During this tournament, simultaneously at another tournament, one of the world's best players opened with a3, which is moving a pawn located on the side of the board rather than in the middle. This move is typically considered a beginner's mistake. His game was still going on in France while the players in Lubbock loaded up on coffee and tea discussing it before their next round.

Who will win the 2010 SPICE Spring Invitational? No one knows. Chess is live, varied, and exciting. After each game is completed, I, and others, deconstruct the language and nuances of each game. It is fitting we are doing so in the English department lounge, where words and phrases and books surround them. Analysis has shown missed checkmates, missed wins, and miracle comebacks.

Source: Avalanche Journal

An inexpensive but effective way to help kids

Artwork by Mike Magnan

Chess in schools: An inexpensive but effective way to help kids

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

Sunday, September 06, 2009
Story last updated at 9/6/2009 - 2:18 am

The question of this week is are there countries that include chess as part of the school curriculum, and why is chess so important?

I have addressed this issue in the past, but I will cover it again since it is so important.

According to research, test scores improved by 17.3 percent for students regularly engaged in chess classes, compared with 4.6 percent for children participating in other forms of enriched activities.

In approximately 30 nations across the globe, including Russia, Brazil, China, Venezuela, Italy, Israel, and Greece, etc., chess is incorporated into the scholastic curriculum. Just as sports are a part of the important agenda at schools in the United States, chess has been that way in the European Nations abroad.

Chess is in many ways like life itself. It is all condensed in a playful manner in a game format, and it is extremely fascinating because you are in complete control of your own destiny. You have to be responsible for your actions. You make a move, you had better think ahead about what is going to happen, not after it happens, because then it's too late.

Chess teaches discipline from a very early age. It teaches you to have a plan and to plan ahead. If you do that, you'll be rewarded. If you break the rules, you will get punished in life and in chess.

Chess has long been regarded as a game that has outstanding beneficial effects on learning and development, especially when it is played from a young age. Below are some of the most critical benefits that chess can provide to a child:

• Develop analytical, synthetic and decision-making skills, which they can transfer to real life.

• Learn to engage in deep and thorough chess research, which will help them build their confidence in their ability to do academic research.

• Help children gain insights into the nature of competition, which will help them in any competitive endeavor.

• When youngsters play chess they must call upon higher-order thinking skills, analyze actions and consequences, and visualize future possibilities.

• In countries where chess is offered widely in schools, students exhibit excellence in the ability to recognize complex patterns and consequently excel in math and science.

Countless researchers and studies have shown over the years that chess does indeed strengthen children's mental clarity, fortitude, stability, and overall health. Many schools are now finding chess as an inexpensive but essential and effective way of helping kids grow mentally. In this technologically driven world, chess helps aid in the synthesis and growth of certain areas in the brain and mind where many children can benefit as they grow older from the game.

I have been working closely with Region 17 and Lubbock ISD regarding chess in education and in the schools. Many schools in Lubbock now have chess. SPICE has also made a presentation to the University Interscholastic League in Austin over the summer to include chess in UIL competition. Stay tuned for further development.

• Here are some of the questions and answers from a recent event of mine:

1. Who, in your opinion, is the most overestimated and the most underestimated player in the history of chess?

Over, not really. Under, some such as Bronstein, Korchnoi, Keres, Polugaevsky, etc.

2. Which slogan would you use in a chess advertisement?

"Get Smart! Play Chess!" I created this slogan and it has been used in many local chess events right here in Lubbock.

3. Which prejudices about you personally or your chess would you like to do away with?

My goal in chess is to promote this game the right way globally so it can benefit generations to come. My love is chess. I will dedicate the rest of my life to promote and expand this game the way it should be. Chess in education is very important to me.

4. Which characteristics of chess players are typical?

Perhaps too much focus in the game and not enough the beauty of life. There should be a balance.

5. Which topics should be discussed more among chess players and in the chess press?

For chess players, how to unite for the best interest of our game in the future. No rule should be made to benefit one player. Rules should be fair for all chess players. For the chess press, let's focus more on the so many benefits, interesting and positive things about chess instead of overdoing it with the negative stories.

6. What would you like to learn in your future life and what do you regret not having learned?

I never stop learning. When I was a professional player, I focused on being the best in chess. Now I focus on promoting chess; promoting chess in education; organizing top-notch tournaments for professionals, amateurs, and young people; getting more sponsorships; writing chess books and columns; making chess DVDs; teaching chess; running SPICE; trying to be a good mother, etc.

I would like to continue to improve in all of those areas. There is no reason why a chess player cannot be successful in many other areas other than playing the game. I am sorry I never learned to play any instrument ... yet.

7. Which dream are you still hoping to come true?

Bringing chess to the mainstream! I believe it can be done. I will do everything in my power to help make this happen for the benefit of our entire sport.

8. What is your life motto?

In chess: "Win with grace, lose with dignity!"

In life: "Each day is a new day for learning and improving." You should never stop learning and improving yourself.

9. Which abuses/injustices around the world you would remedy/abolish if you had the power to do that?

Discrimination of any kind, such as discrimination of race, gender, religion, etc. I faced too much of it in my life and I do not want to see it happen to anyone else.

10. Which question would you like to be asked and what would be your answer to that question?

Why do I still focus so much in chess? I love this game. It has given me so much in my life. But there are many flaws that stop the expansion and growth of it. So instead of criticizing while doing nothing, I decided to fix things and make it better for my colleagues and for chess players of future generations. If everyone only talks about the problems, it will not be fixed. We must take one step at a time to fix things and I am willing to work and cooperate with anyone who also wants good things for chess.

Part 2: Chess proponent shares harrowing story

Polgar: Part 2: Chess proponent shares harrowing story of getting to U.S.
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Story last updated at 5/10/2009 - 2:04 am

This is a continuation from last week. Some readers would like to know who my husband is and what is his role in chess.

Susan Polgar: How did you manage to survive?

Paul Truong: I guess my father and I survived because of our inner strength. We said to ourselves, "we have to live. We have to make it because if we don't, my younger brother and mother would eventually die in Vietnam." They had no way of taking care of themselves. The communists did not treat them well after learning of the escape of my father and me. They punished them. They took away everything they owned. So we had to be strong and make it. We had no choice.

SP: I've known you for more than 20 years now. I know you usually don't want to talk about it. But I think this is really important for chess fans around the country and around the world to know why you are so passionate about helping chess. I think it is very inspirational. Please go on. How did you survive?

PT: We were drifting nowhere for a long time. All of sudden, after weeks of nothing but ocean, we finally saw land at the end of the horizon.

SP: So that was it?

PT: Not exactly! We could not get there because we had no fuel. And it was too long of a distance to swim. No one would make it. But luckily, I don't know how, but the current apparently pushed us slowly closer. Then out of nowhere, Indonesian navy ships came in front of us to stop us from entering. My father was brought to the commanding ship. They told my father to turn our boat around. My father explained to them we could not. We had no fuel, no food, no water and many of our people had died. They said they had orders not to let us in. If we do, they have no choice but to shoot us down.

My father told them in that case then please just save all of us from a slow and eventual death by shooting all of us now. We would not make it anyway.

Upon returning to our boat, my father ordered everyone to throw overboard all the dead bodies that relatives were still trying to hold on to for a proper burial. This was our only hope to show them how bad the situation was. When the captain of the commanding ship saw how many bodies were there, I think he changed his mind. An hour later, an official helicopter circled around us and they officially requested to have us brought to safety. In my heart, I know that the captain had radioed for help. But he would never admit it.

SP: So this was the end of the journey?

PT: Kind of! To make the long story short, after we were brought to this wild and deserted island, we were safe. But we still had no food. I had to hunt and fish with my bare hands, and find fruits from the jungle. We had to do whatever we could to survive.

This was a real survival experience, not the game you see on TV. Many more people died as a result of malnutrition. We stayed here for about 5-6 months I think. Then finally, we came to New Jersey on Dec. 1, 1979. I spoke no English. I was frail. I was very rusty in chess. It was a disaster.

SP: So did you start to play a lot of chess in here in America? And did anyone know what you had to endure?

PT: I played in any tournament that I could afford to enter. I had no money. I was going to high school full time (without even knowing the language) and I worked seven part-time jobs at night and weekends to raise money to send back to Vietnam to help my mother, my brother and more than 60 other relatives. Most people did not know this. Some knew, but very little. I did not want anyone to feel sorry for me. I wanted to earn everything by merit.

I became a master again in 1980. I was right around 15. I won many tournaments, but I could not afford to enter many big tournaments, so mostly regional ones.

SP: So when did you leave chess?

PT: At the age of 17, I had to make a very hard decision. Do I want to continue to play chess and be a professional, and to fulfill my dream of being a grandmaster? Or do I just give it up and go to college and have a professional career?
I chose to leave the game. How could I be a world-class player if I did not even have the opportunity to train or play? So I went to college.

SP: What happened after college?

PT: I began working professionally. I worked very hard. I put in 16- to 18-hour days, seven days a week. I did that every day for 15 years. Then in 2001, on 9/11, you remember we had a business meeting right around the World Trade Center area that morning. I guess someone up there did not want us to go. That was when I felt that it was my calling to do something I always wanted to do, and that is to get back into the chess field. That was always my true love.

SP: Is this why making a difference for chess is so important to you?

PT: Yes. Absolutely. I lost my chance to become a very special player in chess when I was younger because of the political situation in my country. I did not have this chance. Then when I came to America, I could not pursue chess fully because I could not afford it. That is why it is my mission to change this.

I want to be able to give every child an opportunity to play this game. I want every child who wants to pursue his or her dream will have the proper guidance and assistance. I would like to promote chess as a tool to help all children academically and in life. I know that I may not reach every child. But I will give it 150 percent everyday to fulfill this mission. Why not? Who says we can't do it? If I can survive everything I went through in life, why can't I do this?

I don't know failure. I don't accept failures. I don't understand the word "impossible." I did not risk my life, give up everything to come here to just be another person. I want to make a difference. I want to give back for the blessing I had.

SP: Is this where you get your passion?

PT: Yes! Whatever I do, I give 150 percent of myself. Everything I do, I do with a passion. Everything I say, I say it with a passion. This is me. I hope my passion will rub off on other people. I hope that when more people see why I am doing this, they will join and lend a hand.

There are about 40-45 million people who play this game according to the numbers I read. Why can't chess be bigger and more popular? I am absolutely positive that we will succeed if everyone works together and what we do can change an entire generation.

Source: Avalanche Journal

Polgar: Chess champion shares personal story of struggle to escape homeland (part 1)

Polgar: Chess champion shares personal story of struggle to escape homeland (part 1)
Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Story last updated at 5/3/2009 - 2:07 am

The question of the week is very different this week. Some readers would like to know who my husband is and what is his role in chess.

My husband has been one of my best friends for more than two decades, who also happens to be my business manager and chess trainer as well. His name is Paul Truong.

He is the director of marketing and PR for SPICE at Texas Tech and is also the assistant head coach of the TTU Knight Raiders Chess Team.

He is the brain behind many current and past incredible chess projects in the U.S. His background is in marketing and PR and his mission is to bring chess to the level of popularity of golf, tennis and other sports.

He has dedicated the last nine years to promoting this wonderful game with all its vast benefits, especially to young people. Often, people ask me why he does this. I think you will know why after reading this two-part interview. It was a very emotional interview because it touched upon many painful topics for my husband, some things he usually does not to talk about.

Susan Polgar: Why are you so passionate about changing the face of chess in America?

Truong: Well, it is a very good question and one I don't think I have talked about too much. It started from circumstances I had to deal with throughout the early part of my life. Growing up in Saigon, South Vietnam, I became a chess icon at a very young age. I won many national junior and open championships. The first one came unexpectedly when I was only 5 years old. All of a sudden, I became a sensation, a child prodigy. My celebrity status skyrocketed.

I was invited by the late President Marcos of the Philippines to attend the Fischer vs. Karpov match in Manila in 1975 (which of course never took place). I also qualified for the World Junior (under 21) Championship in Manila that same year. At that time, I thought I had a chance to showcase my talent on a world stage. Then, my life came crumbling down. The communists from North Vietnam took over my country on April 30, 1975. I was no longer allowed to travel. I was no longer allowed to play chess freely.

Since my father was working for the U.S. Embassy prior to the fall of South Vietnam, my family was singled out. They considered us traitors. For the next four years, my father had to constantly be in hiding, otherwise, he would have been executed. The new government no longer allowed me to train in chess. The only thing they allowed me to do was to defend my National Championship, which I did successfully until April 30, 1979, the fourth anniversary of the fall of Saigon.

On that day, my father and I escaped by boat through an underground network, leaving my mother and young brother behind. They would never survive this dangerous escape. Our hope was to be able to get out first and bring them out later through another channel. To make the long story short, we faced death many times. How we survived was a miracle in itself.

SP: So what exactly happened?

PT: We had a lot of problems the first time we tried to escape. The wooden boat was only about 150 feet long and there were more than 600 people inside. We were sitting like sardines in a can, even worse. There was no ventilation, no food, no water and not even a bathroom. The engine could not hold up and exploded. We were stranded in the ocean without food and water for a while.

After we were lucky enough to be rescued, our boat was towed back to Vietnam and we were all thrown in jail. Luckily, the authorities did not know who my father was. After bribing the local officials, we were released and we escaped again a month later.

This time, the engine was bigger. But we had different problems. We were attacked by pirates from Thailand. They took the valuables from people on the boat. They raped our women and young girls. They even took some to their boat when they were done. We never saw these young girls again. We had to go through this five different times with five different pirate ships.

SP: So how did you get to safety?

PT: During the fifth attack, the pirates could not find any valuables because the previous four groups took everything. They were angry so they sunk our boat. We were in the middle of nowhere in shark-infested waters. Many people could not swim and drowned. Others died of exhaustion. And some died from you know... My father and I were lucky enough to live through this. An American oil tanker happened to go by, saw us and rescued us.

SP: So you were safe after this?

PT: No. After being in a small enclosed abandoned soccer field with no roof over our head, little food and unbearable living conditions for 30 days, we were thrown out of Malaysia because the locals could no longer to help us.

They put us on a boat taken from previous refugees, threw in another 350-plus refugees from different boats (now we had about 700 people total), gave us about 20 gallons of fuel and 20 gallons of water (no food), then towed us out to international waters.

Could you imagine, 20 gallons of fuel? Where do you go with 20 gallons? And 20 gallons of water for 700 people? How long can anyone last under 120-degree heat directly under the tropical sun with no food or water?

Not only that, while they towed us out, they purposely tried to sink us. They towed us in a zigzag formation to tear apart the front of the boat. They did but we were lucky that the boat did not break in half. After they got us to the point where they thought we could never survive, they left us to die.

Again, we had to drift to nowhere for weeks without food, water or fuel. Many people died of hunger and thirst. Dead bodies were everywhere. There was nothing you could do. All you could do was pray.

The second part of this interview will continue next week.