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Torre’s talents extended beyond chessBEGINNER'S CORNER87654321a b c a e r gBLACK HAS A CRUSHERHint: Use the advanced pawn.□ □□During a youthful trip to Merida in southern Mexico during the summer of 1962, I visited a chess club where I was approached by a local chess aficionado and well-known archaeologist, Wolfgang Cordan.Would I like, he asked, to meet and play a few games with Carlos Torre? I readily agreed. Torre was the legendary chess prodigy who had established himself as one of the best in the world before dropping out of sight in 1926 at the age of 22 after a mental breakdown.I was introduced to Torre and played three or four games with him on each of two occasions. All of the games ended in quick draws in accordance with a ritual established by my opponent in our first game, during which he unexpectedly proposed a draw after only 14 or 15 moves.Recently, almost 40 years later, 1 was able to place the experience in a meaningful context. In a book published earlier this year, “The Life and Games of Carlos Torre” by Gabriel Velasco, I came upon the following passage:* kr •dfhatom?”“For Torre there was never the ‘thrill of victory’ or the ‘agony of defeat,’ because for him chess was foremost, perhaps solely, an art form. In later years, he was in the habit of playing offhand games with friends, obtaining a won game and then surprising his opponent with a draw offer. Torre would sometimes feel regret, even actual suffering, at having inflicted a defeat on his opponent.”The book also clarified another incident. Moments after our introduction, this gentle genius asked me: “What is the latest theory of theI responded by admitting my ignorance on the matter. Through the years, his question has intrigued me. Was it, I wondered, more than a quixotic remark of someone prone to episodes of mental illness?During a 1977 interview, seven months before Torre’s death,Velasco asked whether a book he had brought along was about chess: “It is a scientific work,” Torreexplained, “in fact a scholarly text. I read it to amuse myself and find it quite entertaining.”Apparently, Torre’s profound talent extended far beyond chess.Below is a vintage Torre brilliancy. Torre Edward Adams1. e42. d43. Nc34. Bg5e6d5Nf6dxe45. Nxe4Be76. Bxf6Bxf67. Nf3c68, c3Qc79. Bd3Nd710. Qe2b611. g4c512. dxc5Nxc513. Nxc5Qxc514. g5Bxc3ch15. bxc3Qxc3ch16. Qd2Qxalch17. Ke2Qxhl18. Bb5chBd719. Qxd7chKf820. g6hxg621. Ng5(a) Blackresigns(a) With the lethal threatQxf7 mate.t a□ □ □Solution to Beginner’s Corner: 1.. Qh3! If 2. Bxh3, then ... hi = Q mate!□ □ □Shelby Lyman is a national chess* wmaster and three-time New England champion.SOLVE-ITafter 20.... hxg6Adams87654321a b cd e fTorre8 h!WHITE Tq PLAYt
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Nashua Telegraph
Nashua, New Hampshire, US
Sun, Dec 10, 2000
Page 87
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