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By Najib Wahab
THE MERDEKA
EFFECT - Playing chess with Larry
(See game
below)
The last time I played in any tournament was probably about a year
ago, and the last time I played in a Merdeka Team Tournament was in
1996 when the event was held at its then permanent venue, the all
purpose hall of Wisma Belia along Jalan Syed Putra. I was then
playing for the State of Johor and if my memory serves me right, we
did quite well in the
tournament, finishing 2nd (or was it 3rd?).
So, after 11 years of absence from the Merdeka Tournament (I was
involved in a few Merdeka events between then and now but as
official/organizer, not as a player), I decided to tickle my brain
power and see how I would match up with the chess crowd of today. The
difference between then and now was that I am playing to have fun and
enjoying myself while doing so, and not to worry so much about winning
or having this immense pressure to perform well. When I spoke to
Collin about my intention to play in the event, he told me that he is
in the midst of gathering a few old timers, chess heroes of
yesteryears and the likes - not that I am THAT old (grin), to form a
few teams and that I would definitely be welcomed to join in the fray.
I was even more excited when he told me that my team-mates would be
Collin himself, Woo Beng Keong, Carl Haessler and Larry Parr.
One for the album - Carl, myself, Collin and Larry!!
Larry Parr??? He looked at me and I looked at him and Carl, who was
sitting nearby analyzing his game with Mark Law - this was during the
Arthur Tan event, looked up and said "Yeah. Isn't that great?
Larry Parr will be playing again" and I smiled....
The thought of playing with Larry Parr was without question, an honor
and a great pleasure for me. It brought back a lot of pleasant
memories from 20 to 25 years ago when I was younger, just gotten
married, was studying, working and playing chess in the states. It
reminds me of my youth, the happy times that I had, the adventures and
challenges that I was facing in a new world, the great camaraderie
with college mates whom some, I have not seen since then. It also
reminded me of the chess friends that I have come to know and wondered
what has happened to them i.e. Tom Kayma, George Chressanthis and
Patrick Stewart, to name a few, from the Lubbock Chess Association,
and Mike Fleming from Amarillo Chess Club. The one thing I remembered
fondly about Mike was when he put up the question to a few friends and
I, "Do you know how great it is to have sex after a good
shower?". Yes, those were the days...
Well... back to Larry Parr.
From what I understand, Larry has not been playing chess competitively
since he left his position as the Chief Editor of Chess Life, the
official magazine for the US Chess Federation, in the late 80's. I
told Collin and Carl that it would be great to play alongside Larry,
with the
duo having managed to coax him to play in his first event after almost
3 decades of "retirement". When I was playing in the US
between 1985 and 1988, and being a member of USCF, I would get a
monthly dosage of Chess Life magazine and Larry Parr at that time was
the Chief Editor for the magazine. I would be reading his editorial
comments and admire how well the magazine was put together, the
content, the articles, the tournament calendars, etc, etc, etc. I said
to myself that it would be great to see and meet Mr Parr, and I would
wonder how he is like in person. At that time, as he was in New York
and I was thousand of kilometers... sorry, miles.... away in Dallas,
it was just a wish and it stayed a wish until I came back to Malaysia
and realized that this wish will not ever going to happen. But the
wish came true albeit it took 25 years to happen. It was in 2003 when
Hamid Majid invited me for a ‘teh tarik’ (tea) session, and
mentioning to me that Larry Parr was also having a drink with him.
Larry Parr?? THE LARRY
PARR?? I think I asked
him twice to confirm that it is THE Larry Parr and he said
"yes" – the one and only. Larry Parr?? Wow!!! And I took
the offer to join him almost immediately.
Of course, at that point of time, my expectation would be "Larry
the Chess Life Editor" and when I actually had the chance to sit
with him - while Hamid was busy gobbling his meal and downing his teh
tarik, it was a bit of a letdown to actually realize that the man
sitting in front of me was not THE Larry that I had envisioned 25
years back – chess wise that is! It was funny because Larry kept
repeating the fact that he has not been playing chess or touched any
chess piece in the last 20 years... Anyway, it was a brief meeting
that evening and between then and recently, I'd probably had the
chance to meet Larry only once or twice, and on all occasions (if
there were more than a couple of meetings), it would be one of those
situation where Hamid would call me up for some discussion and Larry
happened to be around. I was resigned to the fact that I will never
get to see THE ‘Chess’ Larry but Larry the writer as he was, at
that time, collaborating with Dato' Tan Chin Nam to complete his first
autobiography. FYI, Dato' Tan's book "Never Say I Assume"
hit the market last year and there is talk that a second book, a
sequel, may come out soon.
So, coming back to Collin who said that Larry would be playing, there
was skepticism because Larry MAY say that he would be playing but will
he actually sit and start pushing pawns and pressing the clock? The
moment of truth came when I saw him at the tournament hall and when he
actually sat next to me and kept complaining that we should be using
the normal analogue chess clocks instead of the confusing and annoying
digital clock, I realized that I will finally get to see Larry the
chess player, THE Larry that I had envisioned 29 years ago. It gets
more interesting when Larry, after not been playing in a serious event
for so long, decided to play the Danish gambit (the sharp line) and
started to throw whatever pieces that he has to his opponent (who
seems to be in total shocked and traumatized by the whole sequence) in
order get his attack going. To cut it short, Larry won his game (and 2
more games later in
the event) and I was satisfied that this IS THE LARRY that I expected
to see, the Larry that plays chess, and writes chess.
During the prize giving ceremony, when our team name was announced for
the 6th position, I insisted that Larry to go up and accept the prize
- which he, and eventually all of us, did. Soon after that, Larry kept
saying that this would be his last tournament ever - yeah Larry...
keep saying that!!! - (he scored 3 points out of 6 games) and that he
does not look forward to playing in any tournament anymore, at least
for another 25 years. I think that was the same thing that Bobby (as
in Fischer) said when he was stripped off his World title in 1974.
Well, that is a different story altogether....
Well Larry, the future is for us to see but for this moment, and for
this time, it was fun playing with you... It was fun having Carl on
the team, and Beng Keong alongside us, and thanks to Collin who
managed to get all the 4 teams for the event.
To most of you, Larry Parr may just be another writer, another chess
player, another American who is here making a living. TO me, Larry
Parr reminds me of my youth, what it was like to be a chess player,
the friends and the experience that I had forging friendships with
strangers in the land of opportunity, what it was like to be working,
living, and learning in the States. A wish to see a person, in real
life, albeit having to wait for 25 years for it to happen, is a wish
that comes true no matter how you look at it. It was definitely,
without a doubt, a surreal experience, one that I will cherish for a
very long time.
Well Larry... for that, I am looking forward for our next outing in
2032... 25 years from now... same venue, same time and the same
game... chess!!!
QUICK GLANCE
(click on Replay Game)
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