Illinois Chess Bulletin Julio - Agosto 2002 | Page 25

Remembering Richard Part II

Remembering Richard,
Part II

spend my junior year at Loyola's Rome Center, which I
did. Since his pursuit of his M.A. in Art History wasn't
progressing very quickly, I suggested that he become
President of the Chicago Chess Club and take a small
salary. Richard probably reached his peak playing
strength during that year though it would take time for
his rating to catch up.

By Tim Redman

The Chicago Chess Club

Dr. Barry Richmond (?) plays Norbert Leopoldi at
Chicago Chess Club while Richard reads.

Friendship
During my sophomore year at Loyola's Lake
Shore Campus (1969-1970), Richard and I became
close friends. My rating was high enough to get me
briefly onto the USCF's national "Top 25 Under 21" list,
but my interest in chess was replaced with an interest
in school. We'd most often meet in the Loop, play
chess, go to the Art Institute, go to Rose's Records.
Richard knew a great deal more than I about both
painting (he was working on his M.A. in art history at
the University of Chicago at the time) and classical
music, for which he had a lifelong passion. I was
starting to build a record collection and Richard was an
excellent source of advice. I remember once at Rose's
the DGG two-record sets of Berg's Wozzeck and Lulu
were both on sale for $5.98 each. "Buy them," he
suggested. "You won't like them now, but you'll thank
me later." (True on both counts.) He convinced me to

CNA bought the building that housed the club
at 64 East Van Buren, demolished it, and built a much
larger one in its place. They offered generous terms to
buy out our lease, so in May 1970 the Club moved to
new headquarters at 538 South Wabash, with rooms
on the second floor and windows overlooking the el
tracks. The trains turned at that corner, and in
summer, with the windows open to moderate the heat,
the screech of the cars was deafening. The noise
didn't seem to bother the chess players, and it certainly
didn't bother our good friends and neighbors, the
Chicago Deaf Club. But the building was somewhat
run down and the neighborhood at the southernmost
fringe of the Loop worse.

Illinois Champion
Richard played in the 1970 Illinois Open, tieing
for first with Curt Brasket with a quick draw in round
seven. Both had defeated strong opponents in rounds
five and six, Brasket beating Steve Tennant and Paul
Tautvaisas, and Richard defeating Harry Ploss and
Andrew Karklins. His win over Karklins was described
by Frank Skoff in the ICB as "a real crowd pleaser."
Richard's notes to the game are characteristic of his
humor.

Illinois Chess Bulletin

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