News-Journal from Mansfield, Ohio • 63

ess A il 1 I Phntn by Jim Bikar The game of kings, which probably originated in Persia before the seventh century, has always fascinated countless men and women. It can be piajcu even uu mc uuui where Mrs. William Barger and Rosa lie Keffalas set up their board. Quiet Prevails as Competitors Match Tournament Skills urn Wl THE KING man (fvl 1 -y By GEORGK N. CONSTABLE A chess tournament is like nothing else in the world.

The truly remarkable thing about this game or sport is the complete absence of sound. Indeed, the onlooker might become quite conscious that he doesn't even exist in the world of the chess player that he is an intruder. A sedentary game, its players strike poses that have been its trademark for centuries. The very mood of the game is told in gestures and positions a hand cups a chin, a thumb and forefinger tug at an earlobe, a hand is clenched. On Thursday nights the Mansfield Liederkranz Chess Club meets at Liederkranz.

On a good night 15 players show up, boards and chessmen in hand. They arrange tables and chairs, exchange a quip or two about the weather, their family and then they play chess for three hours. The only sound is the humming of an air compressor and an occasional cough or throat clearing noise. Otto Neumann, a carpenter, heads the club. He's played chess 26 years.

He's won several trophies, two second places in the Richland County Open Chess Tournament. Liederkranz chess club members have never met him or watched him play but they love him. "He's responsible for the rebirth of chess on a world scale today," Asher says. "Ho beat I'etrosian in 3 moves, 40 and 4G in the seventh, eighth and ninth games. Wow! I'm rooting for him all the way.

Spassky is cool and has a sense cf humor," the teacher says. Neumann thinks the Russian will retain the world title and "maybe Fischer will win it next time, in three years." Louie Kovacs, engineer at Ohio Brass, says Fischer will win because he has all of the qualities. "We are getting ready for a tournament in Galion Thursday night at the high school," he says. "We have a pretty good club record, 14 wins, four losses and two draws. We lost in Akron, Cleveland, Galion and Canton." William Asher says he has no ranking in the club, but Neumann contradicts him saying Asher is fourth best.

Asher teaches English, journalism and drama at Malabar High School. He's a quiet man. Chess really turns him on. "It's the excitement of it. Creativity is involved, you plan each move," he says.

And it's as simple as pie to draw out a chess player these days. Just toss out a name Bobby Fischer and then watch and listen. Bobby Fischer happens to be the Babe Ruth, the Jim Brown, the Arnold Palmer, the Jim Ryun of American chess. He's a fabulous, egocentric, eccentric 28 year old chess genius who will be playing Russian world champion Boris Spassky this June. Jacob Belsch picks the Russian too.

"I've been playing chess since I was a kid. I enjoy it, It's better than playing cards," he says. Plumber Ivan Sloboda says the world match is going to be close and the winner needs 12 points. He says the experts pick Fischer 12Ms points to 9Vfe. Pipefitter Fritz Zahn adds, "Bobby does it." That's the way Manslield chess players are talking today.

Chess players don't necessarily belong to clubs. For that matter, they aren't a very clubby lot. Chess clubs have come and gone at the YMCA and at Mansfield OSU. Campus chess club adviser Bruce Guthrie says the club there is on again, off again, that the students gel out their boards when they feel like it. Whether Mansfield chess enthusiasts are playing the game for relaxation and the fun of it, chess is a serious mental game.

On the championship level it requires staggering feats of memory, almost mystical foresight, steel nerves and powers of concentration that would overwhelm the normal mind. In every 45 game move, a player can choose among a mere 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 030 000 000 possible alternatives The game usually ends with a solemn, "Checkmate," which is said to derive from the Persian words shah mut, (the king is dead). Barry Bowman is rated as the top chess player in Richland County, having won the championship two years running. He is an A rated national chess player and plays for Mansfield Liederkranz Chess Club. rOf EM CD I News Journal, Sunday, March 19, 1972 PAGE ONE-E wa )iiiiiip 0 To the uninitiated, a game of chess appears to be tame stuff, but a recent bio kinetic survey at Temple University showed a tough game drains as much energy as a boxing match or a football game.

Liederkranz Chess Club chairman Otto Neumann concentrates on his next move. The only sound in the room at Liederkranz during a chess tournament is the humming of an air compressor and an occasional cough or two Getting ready for a tournament at Galion Thursday night are Jacob Betsch, Neumann, Ivan Sloboda and Louie Kovacs at left, and Fritz Zahn. William Asher. Imre Palfi and young Attila Kovacs, 12. Looking on are Kurt Schluinberger and Frank Eder.