Saturday, March 17, 2001

Miami welcomes grandmaster

The Cincinnati Enquirer

        Gold domes will pop up in Oxford just in time for the big match.

        This week, Miami University brought to town two 2,000-pound “onion” domes, each 15 1/2 feet around, to be placed atop Harrison Hall, home of the new Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies.

        That's appropriate, for at 6 p.m. March 28 the Miami University Chess Club will host games with a Russian, the grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov.

        These won't be just any games, mind you, but 25-board simultaneous chess matches against club members and other local players. According to faculty adviser Clyde Brown, a simultaneous chess match pits a skilled player against multiple opponents.

        In this case, the grandmaster will move quickly among his 25 opponents. Rules require club players to make a
move within 10 seconds of the grandmaster's arrival at their boards.

        “This is the chance of a lifetime for chess players,” Mr. Brown said. “It is like playing golf with Tiger Woods, tennis with Martina Hingis, basketball with Wally Szczerbiak.”

        Mr. Kaidanov was born in Russia in 1959. He earned the title of grandmaster in 1988 and immigrated to the United States in 1991. For the last 10 years, he has ranked among the top three American players and in the top 40 or 50 chess players across the world, said Michael Gribov, president of the Chess Club.

        In this age of video and Internet use, over-the-board chess games are probably suffering a little, Mr. Brown said.

        “But chess on the Internet is booming,” he said. “At any time, thousands of players from all over the world are playing. So if you're awake at 2 a.m. you can find somebody to play chess.”

        Miami's Chess Club is 2 years old. It has 60 members. Mr. Brown is trying to attract interest and grow the membership by inviting Mr. Kaidanov, of Lexington, Ky.

        Mr. Kaidanov will also discuss “Russian Chess: Past, Present and Future,” and discuss American chess. His free talk will be at 2 p.m. March 28 in the Bystrom Room in the Shriver Center.