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© Copyright 1998, Jim Loy
You may print this and show it to others. But, this article will eventually be
part of a book that I am writing. So, please do not distribute it widely.
Over the years, a few interesting things have happened during my mail play games. Here are a few:
I was playing Leon Goans in the District 9 Mail Tournament. In the previous year's tournament, I had drawn a game with Gene Webb. It was published in Churchill's Compilations. I was playing the same line against Leon. Leon wrote and told Gene that he had found a win in that line. Gene, unethically warned me to avoid that line because Leon had found a win. But, Gene's writing was virtually unreadable. And so, I lost that game, as I should have.
In one District 9 Tourney, I was defeating Paul Heringer 6-0, because he made repeated illegal moves in several of his games. My recollection is that I was going to tie for first place with Leon Goans. But, Paul dropped out, forfeiting to all opponents, rather than let me win in that manner. I think I tied for second place.
In another District 9 Tourney, I chose the same opening that my opponent did. This is very rare, as it may result in two pairs of identical games, but it is perfectly legal. My opponent (I forget who) refused to let me choose that opening. Rather than spend four or five postcards arguing the point, I chose a different opening.
Paul Heringer, made the same losing move in three consecutive tournaments. Paul seems to be a fairly strong cross-board player, but he intentionally makes well-known losing moves, in an effort to get out of the books.
Leon Kwiatkowski complained that it was unfair that I was using a computer against him. Computers are legal in checkers-by-mail, mainly because banning them would be an unenforcable rule. Well, I was amused to hear Leon's complaint, as I had just spent the entire year playing without my computer, in an effort to test my mail play skills.
In the 1996 I-D Tournament, I accidentally chose a go-as-you-please opening, thinking that it was a tough opening. Former Mail Play World Champ Richard Fortman has been highly critical of players who choose such openings, as these openings usually lead to easy draws. Surprisingly, I won four games with that opening.
In the 1997 I-D Tournament, I went into a published loss against almost all my opponents, thinking that I had found a draw. As play continued, the draw evaporated, and I spent a great amount of time and effort trying to control the damage. I was lucky to lose only three games in that opening. Only one of my opponents played the published win against me.
This is all nothing compared to one of my cross-board chess games. I was playing a player who became more and more verbally abusive as his game became more and more desperate. At three o'clock the next morning, he called me on the phone to swear at me. I actually thought that I might have to move away, to protect my life.