Hearing Impairment, or Hearing Advantage?  Tigran Petrosian suffered from hearing problems, and often wore a hearing aid when playing.  In 1971, Petrosian played Robert Hubner in a Candidates match.  When the noise from the area around the playing hall got too noisy, Petrosian turned off his hearing aid.  Hubner abandoned the match because of the conditions.

Candidate's Colors:  In 1980, Boris Spassky and Lajos Portisch drew their Candidates match (+1, =12, -1).  Portisch went through to the next round because his win was with the Black pieces, whereas Spassky's victory was with the White pieces.

British GM Incentive:  In 1971, British chess enthusiast Jim Slater offered a 5,000 pound prize for the first British player who would obtain a GM title. The money was won by Tony Miles, who became a GM in February 1976.

Beginnings:  The United States Chess Federation was formed in 1939, when the American Chess Federation, the National Chess Federation and the Western Chess Federation merged to form one controlling body for chess in the United States.

Endings:  Former world champion Max Euwe was offered a position in the final of the 11th World Correspondence Chess championship by the International Correspondence Chess Federation.  Euwe accepted the invitation, but died before he could commence playing in the final.

National Chess League:  In January 1976, the United States Chess Federation ran the inaugural "National Chess League". These were matches played on 6 boards, with the moves transmitted by telephone. The 9 teams who entered finished in the following order:

Many of the top US players of the era competed, including Larry Christiansen, Anthony Saidy, Arnold Denker, Robert Byrne, Andy Soltis, Pal Benko, Edmar Mednis, Arthur Bisguier and Lubomir Kavalek.

National Chess Day:  US President Gerald Ford declared the 9th of October 1976 "National Chess Day" in the United States of America, "....to give special recognition to a game that generates challenge, intellectual stimulation and enjoyment for citizens of all ages."

Championship Stalemate:  The longest game played in a world championship match was the 5th game of the Korchnoi-Karpov match in Baguio City in 1978.  The game was drawn by stalemate after 124 moves.  It is also the only World Championship match game to have ended in stalemate as well.

Championship Class:  Mikhail Tal had to withdraw after 21 rounds of the 28 round Curacao Candidates tournament in 1962 due to illness.  While recovering in hospital, the only player who visited him was Bobby Fischer.

A "Sticky" Problem:  At the start of the Vladimir Kramnik versus Deep Fritz match in Bahrain in 2002, it was found that the humid conditions made the chess pieces "sticky" and hard to use. The solution to the problem was to place them in a refrigerator prior to the start of each game.

Masters of Illusion:  Here is a list of the 3 major "automatons" in chess history, and the masters who actually played the games.

Who Am I?

1.  I played OTB chess both before and after WW2.  I won my country's national championship 7 times, plus I also represented my country in 8 Olympiads.  My best performance was finishing 1st in a European Zonal tournament.  I then started playing CC, and my results in this form of chess exceeded my OTB results.  I also became a tournament arbiter, and was the chief arbiter at 2 world championship matches.  I was awarded the Golden Palm of the Order of the Crown by my country for my achievements in chess.  You would not associate my name with the country that I live in.  Who Am I?

2.  I learnt to play chess at the comparatively late of 16, but by my mid 20's I was already one of the top players in the world.  I won 13 of the first 23 tournaments that I competed in, including 5 successive tournaments in one year.  I was a logical choice to play in a match for the world championship title, but could not arrange the financial backing required to make such a match a reality.   In the latter part of my career, my results started to become more erratic.  My good results would be mixed with times when I would play extremely poorly and commit inexplicable blunders.  I was also very shy and introverted.  I would withdraw to the corner of the tournament hall after making a move.  I claimed that I spent 6 hours a day, 300 days a year studying the game, and played in tournaments for another 60 days.  I was considered one of the best rook endgame players of all time.  Who Am !?

[Solutions]

The Lone Aussie:  The only Australian player to participate in a major international OTB tournament between World War 1 and World War 2 was Charles Watson, who competed in the 1922 London tournament.  While he finished at the tail of the field, he did however defeat Richard Reti in 92 moves in their game - the first victory by an Australian player against a GM.

The Lone Hungarian:  Hungarian master Vincent Grimm (1800-72) received an invitation to compete in the 1851 London international tournament. Grimm, however, had been involved in the 1848 uprising against the Hapsburg Empire, and was arrested for printing and distributing subversive literature.  He was exiled in Aleppo, and was unable to take his place in the tournament.

Saw it, went home:  At Hastings in 1895, Wilhelm Steinitz  achieved a won position, with a forced mate, against Kurt von Bardeleben.  While Steinitz was away from the board, Von Bardeleben saw the forced mate and left Steinitz a note that simply said, "Saw it. Went home.", then left. When Steinitz returned, he was apparently none too pleased with this and having to demonstrate it to the spectators instead of getting to play out his pretty win.

Simpson's-in-the-strand:  Simpson's-in-the-strand in London was the center of London chess in the mid 19th century.  The current site now had a display of Howard Staunton memorabilia on display, plus a small GM tournament will be held later this year, presumably to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Staunton.

1.  Alberic O'Kelly de Galway (Belgium 1911-80)

2.  Akiba Rubenstein