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Life & Chess... coincidences & memories

( Author: © Eugene Salomon )

To a degree, the title of this article reflects my life – 90 years of coincidences. I spent nineteen years in my native  Spain , thirteen years in  Cuba  and fifty-eight years in the  United States of America . Weaving together a chess passion of 75 years with a 65-year career in business, a great wife of 57 years and the treasure of four children and seven grandchildren led to a lot of beautiful memories.

Oftentimes, as Ling Yutang wrote so well, our lives are like leaves blown from place to place by stormy winds. In my case, I feel like a drop of water in the large ocean of immigrants that may die any given day proud of their heritage and equally as proud of the fruits that they are leaving behind.

As Einstein would say, "Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous". Writing this article is a sheer coincidence and can't stop asking myself: Is there any meaning behind all the "coincidences" in my life?

I guess when one reaches 90 years of age and is fortunate enough to have a clear mind, it’s not strange to look back at your life and find all kind of "coincidences", perhaps treasured as "memories".

How it all started... by sheer coincidence

Luncheon in Alekhine's honor (1944). Salomon is on left upper corner. The child on the right is Arturito Pomar

It was 1895 when my father, Robert Salomon was born in Metz, then a part of Germany. In 1914 a few months before the First World War that he arrived in Gijón, with a management trainee position at the large German company AEG .

It was also in 1895 when my mother, Juana Rugarcia, was born in Cárdena, Cuba, then a part of Spain. Shortly after the Spanish-American war, my maternal grandfather returned to his native Asturias, in Spain, with his wife and 5 children as one of the thousands of "Indianos" – this was the Spanish name for the immigrants who, after making a small fortune in Latin America, returned to Spain.

I guess the above explains how by coincidence I was born in Gijón, where I had the privilege of learning to play chess with my father, my uncle and even a world champion, Alexander Alekhine.

Perhaps chess was in my genes. My first teacher was my father, who between games would tell me about his experiences and philosophy of life. After him, I learned valuable lessons from my uncle Casimiro Rugarcia. He was a true poet. Always in search of beauty in chess: combinations! Could my rapid progress in chess be due to any genetic influence? I don’t think so. I believe the main reason, was the degree of passion for chess both my father and my uncle instilled in me. Of course, the lucky coincidence of having met and played against Alekhine didn’t hurt either.

I fell in love with Alekhine’s games and the sheer poetry of his style. As an example, I would suggest to any interested reader to go over the 1922 game Bogoljubow-Alekhine and the pure poetry of not once, but twice seeing a pawn reach the seventh rank. No wonder one of the great, modern champions, Kasparov, wrote: "I was enormously influenced by Alekhine's play. I admired the refinement of his ideas, and I tried as far as possible to imitate his furious attacking style".

A few days after my 90th birthday, while preparing a "farewell lecture" for my Toms River Chess Club, my mind flew back to the beginning. It all started in Gijón, in 1941, as it was still bleeding from the tragic civil war. My father and I had not seen each other since before  July 18th, 1936 as we (his 4 children) were vacationing at my grandparents’ home near the beach, while my parents were in  Madrid .

We were not able to get together after that vacation as my father, quite prudently decided to leave Spain for France, where a cousin had offered him a job and where, being Republican he would feel much safer. Life in the neighboring country turned out to be not that safe as, after the Nazi invasion, he was hunted by the Gestapo after escaping a concentration camp.

He survived in the “San Juan de Luz” area giving chess and language lessons. Finally, after being denied entry in to Spain because he lacked the proper documentation, he decided to enter illegally, crossing the Pyrenees. This landed him in a concentration camp for the “undocumented”. In the camp he taught several of his fellow inmates how to play chess and, in the process, chess made life more bearable.

When we met again after almost 5 years, we played chess for hours. I guess that in an effort to "bond" with his youngest child he decided to use chess as a vehicle and we spent countless hours each evening playing chess and sharing stories of his life. He is my life hero. Three short years later, in 1944, in Gijón, I met my chess hero, Alekhine.

I guess that repeating a positive experience, and following the example of my father, I was trying to bond with my three boys using chess as a tool. We used to travel to Philadelphia to the "World Open. "For my kids it was a real treat – not necessarily the chess, but going to their favorite "McDonald’s" or "Burger King" for lunch and for dinner three days in a row! In 1980, I decided to enter a family team in the U.S Team Tournament.

That’s how “King Salomon and his Three Knights” team was born, comprised of my 3 sons and myself. Son Robbie, 4th Board at age 7 was interviewed by a reporter. When asked a number of questions, the answer was always “Yep!” until finally he was asked: “Do you know what concentration means?” Robbie replied: “Yes, you sit on your hands and shut up!” 

From learning in Asturias to teaching in New Jersey

I have vivid memories from my five main chess clubs: El Casino in Gijón and The Maudes of Madrid in the 1940’s; The Capablanca Chess Club in Havana during the early 1950’s; The Westfield Chess Club during the 1970’s and 1980’s; and my present club, The Toms River Chess Club. It is indeed surprising the coincidences and parallel experiences that I treasure in my chess life.

Going back to memory lane and 1942, before Alekhine’s arrival in Gijón, I clearly remember traveling to Oviedo with the Casino’s team, under Felix de las Heras, the famous chess organizer. Four years later I had the honor and the pleasure of becoming a member of Castille’s team champion with the Maudes. Six years later I had the same pleasurable experience being a member of Havana’s team champion. Many years later I would be a key player in the Westfield Chess Club run by a most remarkable chess organizer: Dennis Barry. Here I am in 2018 next to another great chess organizer, Steve Shoshin, who welcomed my offer to give simultaneous exhibitions and lectures to help his group of young players.

No doubt, I thought my last lecture should be in Toms River and I should share the lessons about chess and life that I learned as a child. At age 90, I feel a debt of gratitude towards my three TEACHERS as well as to CHESS.

Félix de las Heras

Steve Doyle

Memories of the coincidences and parallel experiences in some of my five clubs are truly remarkable: Felix de las Heras, in 1944 initiated the Gijon International Tournaments which he organized for 21 years. Later on, he became President of the Spanish Chess Federation and a Vice-President of FIDE. Several decades later, here we are on the other side of theAtlantic at the Toms River Chess Club, ready to start my lecture and the person introducing me, Steve Doyle is like a replica of Felix. For the last 30 years, Steve, has organized the U.S. Amateur Team Tournament –an event with more than 800 players!- For years he was also a Vice-President of FIDE and the President of the U.S Chess Federation!

What made this lecture a remarkable one is that, as a surprise, the club converted the conference into a birthday party. The president of the club, Steve Shoshin, invited my friend Steve Doyle -who founded the club 54 years ago- to introduce me. They would hear us talk about how our chess lives had crisscrossed over the years –from the early 1970's and our mutual friend –the legendary chess organizer Dennis Barry at the Westfield Chess Club –to the end of the 90's when he published my game against Russian Master Lenar Murzin from the 1998 World Open in Philadelphia in his chess column in New Jersey's Star Ledger newspaper. And as fate would have it, here I was using that game in my conference: Salomon - Murzin.

             

Surprise Cake to celebrate the lecturer 90th Birthday

That Murzin game is one of my favorite memories. At age 70 and retiring from chess competition, I had the good fortune of still creating a "small chess poem." Yes! There is poetry in chess as I learned from my second teacher, my uncle, the poet chess player and Alekhine's doctor – Dr. Casimiro Rugarcia.

In his remarks, Steve Doyle, thanked me – after 30+ years – for having introduced him to my close friend Roman Toran back in the mid 1980's when, as President of the U.S. Chess Federation, he was traveling to Geneva for a FIDE meeting. Their relationship had not only been cordial but quite constructive over the years when they worked together at FIDE.

Steve Doyle also informed the audience that I was not the oldest lecturer at the Club. The famous Edward Lasker had presented a lecture at age 92, so I promised the club that I would return in three years if they invite me!

By chance, Spain discovers a chess player of the 1940's

Eugene and youngest grandson Ben, his good chess student and better i-Phone teacher

When I left Madrid for Havana in November 1947 (over 70 years ago!) I could play as an equal with the best players of the time, as illustrated by more than a dozen games won against Juan Manuel Fuentes, Román Torán, F.J. Pérez, Julio Ganzo and Antonio Medina. At the same time, however, I was the least known among the good players of the time.

Throughout the years, chess was out of my life twice. Once for 16 years! Yet, I was still able to play more than 100 tournaments and close to 1000 games. I fondly remember games where I planned and played the endgame – my favorite phase of the game – well. To plan the endgame well is as important in chess as it is in business or in life! The next section contains a few examples of endings that I enjoyed.

After retiring from chess tournaments, the coincidences continued - sometimes in an amazing fashion. During the last couple of years some things happened that I feel I should share. It is all related to the book I wrote some 3-4 years ago together with my old friends Steve Pozarek and Wayne Conover: “40 Years of Friendship – 100 Games of Chess”.

A few months later, at age 88, I decided to get my first iPhone. Teaching me to "navigate" in these frustrating new waters was my youngest grandson, Ben. It was fitting, as a couple of years earlier I had helped him when he was ready to play his first chess scholastic tournament at age 8.

Three generations using the same pieces that Alekhine played with in Gijon 1944

Two years ago, with my co-author’s blessings, I authorized Javier Cordero to publish on the internet, free of charge, my story, as he thought it could be of public interest to his readers in Spain, on a non-profit historical chess website.

At about the same time, I got a message from the well-known Spanish writer Miguel-Ángel Nepomuceno asking if I would be interested in an interview and possible articles about my life. What an honor, I thought. And what a coincidence. An honor because Miguel-Ángel is a well-known historian/biographer. A coincidence because I knew about Miguel-Ángel's chess mastery from some 40 – 50 years ago when Pablito Morán had talked to me about him. As it turns out, my wife Beatrice and I were scheduled for a vacation in Spain a few weeks later, so we agreed to meet at the "Petit Palace" hotel in Madrid the first week of April 2018.

Insofar as coincidences, it was hard to believe. He had heard a lot about me – more than 40 years ago – from our mutual friend Pablo Morán and my family’s friend, Professor Juan Fernández Rua – with whom I had played in the Casino many times. Juan, Miguel-Ángel and Pablo were close friends from their days in Asturias where they shared their passion for chess. The parallels between Miguel-Ángel’s life and mine were uncanny. Like him, I had started my career in medicine and had changed. We both shared many other interests and even the same birthday – albeit 20 years apart.

Pablo Morán in 1951

As my co-author Steve Pozarek wrote in the Epilogue to our book: "The spirit of Alekhine runs through this book" and perhaps the spirit of The Genius as well as the one of Pablito Morán were smiling some place as Miguel-Angel and I compared notes.

The meeting with Miguel-Ángel – a three hour taped interview – along with dozens of e-mail and phone messages was not just the origin of the articles for Zenda, but the beginning of a friendship that I cherish. It is seldom in life that one has the chance of making a new true friendship at an advanced age.

As I see it, Javier Cordero and his internet site Historia del Ajedrez Español “discovered” me and Miguel-Ángel and his articles in Zenda helped me live again and to enjoy my 75 years of chess memories.

A curious or unbelievable anecdote to end this article: several months ago, I received an e-mail from a distant cousin, a strong chess player in Germany, congratulating me for the article he had just read on Zenda. Apparently, a lady in Perú had sent the article to Kasparov via tweet. Kasparov then re-tweeted it to his followers – about 387,000 strong as I understand!

Eugene showing to Kasparov his 1944 picture with Alekhine during the U.S Amateur Team Tournament 2014

Eugene Salomon

(December 17, 2018)

 

 

Un puzzle al que le faltan piezas

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