Mon 10 Sep 2007
Cool Chess Note For The Day
Posted at 5:30 +1000
From Neil Gaiman's blog today:
I travelled to the airport this morning in a car with Boris and Mrs Spassky in the back, which was odd as I'd put a reference to Fischer Vs. Spassky into the script for "Black Hole" a couple of days ago. Cultural references shouldn't travel in the same car as you.
Very amusing.
Random memory: Many years ago (1990, maybe), I met Boris Spassky. He was meant to be guest of honour at a dinner run by the Victorian Chess Association. His flight into Melbourne was delayed and he didn't get in until about 10:30. Still, he dropped his bags in his room and came down to the lobby where a few of us had hung around in the bar after the dinner upstairs. He immediately ordered a couple of bottles of wine for us all and started holding up an end of the conversation, talking about his travels, asking about recent Australian events, being generally sociable. A very friendly guy; I was impressed. The group didn't break up until 1:00 or 2:00 the next morning, from memory.
The following night, I was one of 20 people playing him in a simultaneous exhibition. I got crushed. ☹
I should try to find some photos of that event and scan them in.
Topics: chess