by Tim Harding

In previous articles in this series, I wrote about some libraries that have fine collections of chess literature. Kibitzer 126 dealt with the second largest chess collection in public hands, the Van der Linde-Niemeijer collection at the Royal Dutch Library in The Hague, which I have been fortunate to visit on two occasions. Previous to that, I wrote about the chess collections in the British Library (February 2005) and the Harold Murray collection in the Bodleian Library, Oxford (February 2006). Only recently, however, have I had the opportunity of visiting the world’s largest chess library, the John G. White Collection at the Cleveland Public Library in Cleveland, Ohio, I spent a week there from 16-20 April. 

Karen Chernesky Fotis: You’ve been playing chess for a long time.  Why do you still play?

BB: Chess is a game that is so beautiful I do not think I could ever get bored of it. Also, traveling to play chess is lots of fun. Some of my favorite times of the year are when our chess team goes to play at nationals. Chess is also a great way to meet people, for example I met one of my best friends at a chess tournament in Milwaukee.

KC:  Is it true that pattern recognition is a big part of chess?  How important is it to your game?

BB: I have no clue which side uses pattern recognition but it is very important in chess. You study tactics so when you are playing you can see the same sort of patterns you see in puzzles. Pattern recognition is very important in my game, since I am a very aggressive, tactical player.