Please choose one:

a) New York City

b) Atlanta

On Jul 23, 4:53*pm, Brian Lafferty wrote:
Please choose one:

a) New York City

b) Atlanta

I saw him at a tournament in Crossville about a week ago. I told him I
would kick in starter money towards a life membership for the former
Columbian captive who talked on CNN about how chess helped him survive
the ordeal; it was pretty inspiring

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americ...ml#cnnSTCVideo

He was very polite about it; I don't know if he is shopping the idea
around or not.

Jerry Spinrad

EVANS ON CHESS

(Reprinted courtesy of Chesstours (c). All rights reserved.)

I saw him at a tournament in Crossville about a week ago. I told him I
would kick in starter money towards a life membership for the former
Columbian captive who talked on CNN about how chess helped him survive
the ordeal; it was pretty inspiring. -- Jeremy Spinrad

CHECK AND MATE!

“To the FARC, check and mate!" So declared the commander of
Operation Jaque after a daring raid on July 2, 2008 that freed 15
hostages without bloodshed from Colombian rebels (FARC).

The ordeal of three Americans held captive for over five years in
the jungles of Colombia reminded me of The Royal Game by Stefan Zweig.
Dr. B. survives torture and isolation in a Nazi dungeon by filching a
chess book from a guard, then retains his sanity by playing games
against himself in his head.

Chess also helped the survival of Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and
Keith Stansell after they were captured in 2003 by the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) when their plane crashed in a remote
region. They painted a grim picture of their captivity — ordered not
to talk to each other and kept in chains while forced to march, often
sleeping in rat-infested drug labs.

Gonsalves told reporters that one of his few possessions was a
chess board made of cardboard. It took him three months to carve 16
chess pieces out of wood with a broken machete.

“My captors allowed me to do it, and some lower ranking guards
actually took an interest to see if I was going to be able to finish
it. Later they wanted me to carve some pieces for them. This chess
board must have got hundreds of hours between all the hostages. It was
a way for us to stop thinking about our cruel situation.”

Stansell added: “We would sit chained just playing chess. When you
are doing that you are free because your mind is engaged and you are
no longer a prisoner. That's the gain, that's our victory. The guards
didn’t even know it.”


wrote:
On Jul 23, 4:53?pm, Brian Lafferty wrote:
Please choose one:

a) New York City

b) Atlanta

I saw him at a tournament in Crossville about a week ago. I told him I
would kick in starter money towards a life membership for the former
Columbian captive who talked on CNN about how chess helped him survive
the ordeal; it was pretty inspiring

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americ...ml#cnnSTCVideo

He was very polite about it; I don't know if he is shopping the idea
around or not.

Jerry Spinrad

wrote:
On Jul 23, 4:53 pm, Brian Lafferty wrote:
Please choose one:

a) New York City

b) Atlanta

I saw him at a tournament in Crossville about a week ago. I told him I
would kick in starter money towards a life membership for the former
Columbian captive who talked on CNN about how chess helped him survive
the ordeal; it was pretty inspiring

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americ...ml#cnnSTCVideo

He was very polite about it; I don't know if he is shopping the idea
around or not.

Jerry Spinrad
That was last week. :-)

On Jul 24, 9:37 am, " wrote:

Dr. B. survives torture and isolation in a Nazi dungeon


Wasn't it a hotel taken over by the Nazis?