WHERE'S SHELBY LYMAN WHEN WE NEED HIM:

Financiers Put Money on Chess Futures Now (DYLAN McCLAIN, 5/21/05, NY Times)

Al Blowers learned to play chess in his 20's from his future father-in-law, Dal Stauffer. He never became very good, but he respected the game and found that the skills needed to play chess helped him to run his business.

Now, years later, Mr. Blowers, 63, who made millions by selling his company, Tax System Services, a payroll-processing business, is giving back to chess in a way that helps other players. His organization, the HB Foundation, started six years ago to promote scholastic chess, is sponsoring the largest open tournament ever held in the United States this week in Minneapolis.

The total prize fund is $500,000. About 1,600 players are competing in the tournament, the HB Global Chess Challenge, which began Wednesday and ends tomorrow. For years, professional chess players have complained that there has not been enough financial support for high-level chess in the United States.

Mostly, they play in Europe, where there are leagues underwritten by companies that pay players to compete on their teams. There are also many tournaments either with large prizes or that pay appearance fees for top players, or both.

Two of the world's best-known tournaments are in Europe. One in Linares, Spain, started by Luis Rentero, a chess player and retired businessman, attracts the world's top players. Another, the Melody Amber tournament in Monaco, is sponsored by Joop Van Oosterom, a Dutch billionaire and correspondence chess world champion. The tournament, named for Mr. Oosterom's daughter, is also an annual stop for the world's top players.

In the United States, the Continental Chess Association, which was started in 1964 by Bill Goichberg, a chess master, has usually organized the biggest and most successful tournaments, including the World Open, which the association has held every year since 1973 in July in Philadelphia. This year it will have $180,000 in prizes. The Chicago Open, which will be held May 27 to 30, offers $100,000.

Despite its success as an organizer, the Continental Chess Association is a bit of an anomaly. It needs enough tournament participants to cover the prizes. In past years, some of its tournaments have lost money, forcing the association to scale back its prizes and perhaps cut the number of future tournaments.

Which is why this week's HB Global Chess Challenge is unusual.

Brian Molohon, the executive director of the foundation, said it had wanted the tournament to attract attention to the foundation and to promote teaching chess to children. They also hope to turn a profit.

PBS used to do great telecasts of the World Chess Championships; you'd think they or ESPN could do regular coverage.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 21, 2005 8:36 AM