The “March of the Grandmasters” series continued on Saturday June 8th at the North Shore Chess Center in Skokie, IL with a visit by four-time US Chess Champion Joel Benjamin.
Joel entertained the crowd with a six hour lecture in which he went over what he was referring to as “Benjamin’s Greatest Hits.” This included some of the most memorable games of his 30+ year career as a professional, along with some of his best endgames from the US Championships which concluded just last month in St. Louis, MO.
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During the first half of his talk GM Benjamin presented a number of his best games. Included among them was his win over Yasser Seirawan in the 1979 US Junior Championship, as well as his win over Peter Svidler, currently ranked 16th in the world, in the 1997 World Team Championship.
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As GM Benjamin went over the various games he was showing to the crowd, he took time to answer questions and give pointers. In fact, he went out of his way to be helpful at all times and gave very thorough explanations to those asking questions of him.
He also amused the crowd with some anecdotes. When he was describing his win over GM Boris Gelfand (the challenger for the World Championship in 2012) during a tournament in New York in 1989 he said “Gelfand is from what I like to call the ‘Soviet Ceiling School of Chess’ because he was always looking up as though the best moves might be written on the ceiling.”
As he played through the games Joel was always quick to point out the biases that lower rated players tend to have in the various positions that he was showing the audience. This was done in an effort to find “teachable moments” in which to impart new ideas and techniques to those in attendance.
After the first half of the presentation was over I had a chance to sit down to lunch with Joel. As we ate we spoke at some length about a number of topics. I asked him what he thought of the prospects of some of the younger players in the US who might have an eye towards turning pro. This is a question that I have asked of a number of Grandmasters in the past, and the crowd is typically split between optimists and pessimists. I found Joel to be a realist.
He was very clear in his assessment that anyone who really wants to make their mark on the game has a lot of work ahead of them. “What these guys are up against is the fact that unless you are rated around 2740 [roughly the top 20 or so players in the world] it’s tough to get consistent invitations to the top events.” Meaning that it’s tough to make a living solely as a player.
Currently in the US it is very common for most professional chess players to earn the bulk of their income from giving private lessons and coaching. Some top players, such as the highest rated player in the US, Hikaru Nakamura, have said that having to work with lower rated players has a negative effect on the ability of the professional to continue to progress. GM Benjamin agreed. “It definitely has an effect” he said, “how could it not?”
Overall, Joel seemed to be optimistic that chess is heading in the right direction in the US.
After lunch came the second half of the lecture portion of the program. During this segment Joel showed the crowd a few endgames that he played against some of the participants in the most recent US Championship. Included were his wins against GM’s Robert Hess and Varuzhan Akobian, as well as that over FIDE Master (FM) John Bryant.
Again, as he spoke GM Benjamin made sure to point out differences in the approach between GM’s and lower rated players. He also discussed a few specific points of technique during the final phase of the game.
After the lecture was over GM Benjamin gave a simultaneous exhibition (simul) in which he took on numerous opponents at the same time. When the smoke had cleared the only player to hold Joel to a draw was local Expert Dusan Tutush, while every other participant, the author included, went down in defeat.
All in all, this was another well run event that was held by the North Shore Chess Center. The North Shore Chess Center is located at 5500 West Touhy Avenue Suite A Skokie, IL 60077 and welcomes players of all ages and abilities. They may be reached at (847) 423-8626 or online at www.nachess.org
