28 Jul '15 00:33>
Inspired by vandervelde's Andorran adventure, I thought I would start a thread where people can post their bizarre and/or humorous tournament experiences.
When I was a younger chess player in the early 90's (young = mid twenties), I was playing in a tournament in Virginia Beach VA called the David Zofchak Memorial. Back then scholastic chess had not really taken off yet, and the tournament was all men, and I was one of the younger ones in the room.
There were about 40-50 players total at the Ramada Inn, all in one conference room, and it was deathly silent.
Suddenly, out of the blue, one of my friends, Floyd Manzo (he was in his late 40's then), suddenly yells out "Oh F*** me!
Everyone simultaneously lifted their heads, stared for a second, and then burst out laughing! Poor Floyd had hung his queen.
Reading vandervelde's account reminded me that the current chaos that seems to envelop modern amateur tournaments is a relatively new phenomenon, and that things were indeed different once upon a time.
When I was a younger chess player in the early 90's (young = mid twenties), I was playing in a tournament in Virginia Beach VA called the David Zofchak Memorial. Back then scholastic chess had not really taken off yet, and the tournament was all men, and I was one of the younger ones in the room.
There were about 40-50 players total at the Ramada Inn, all in one conference room, and it was deathly silent.
Suddenly, out of the blue, one of my friends, Floyd Manzo (he was in his late 40's then), suddenly yells out "Oh F*** me!
Everyone simultaneously lifted their heads, stared for a second, and then burst out laughing! Poor Floyd had hung his queen.
Reading vandervelde's account reminded me that the current chaos that seems to envelop modern amateur tournaments is a relatively new phenomenon, and that things were indeed different once upon a time.