Chess tourney wins come by way of skill and endurance
By COLIN HICKEY
Staff Writer
06/28/2009
WATERVILLE — Adam Schaff, a software engineer from New Gloucester, came into Saturday’s fourth annual ChessMaine.net Championships as the field’s only expert rated player.
Schaff, 35, held true to his rating in round one of the tournament, played at Colby College’s newest academic facility, the Diamond Building.
The soft-spoken Schaff, ranked fourth among Maine chess players, said he won his first round match in about an hour, a victory he described as “unusually quick” in a competitive chess tournament.
But Schaff knew harder games were ahead and that by day’s end he would be mentally spent.
“I’ve often compared (a chess tournament) to preparing for finals in college days,” Schaff said. “It wears you out like any mental-like thing. You are as worn out as if you would be doing something physical all day … only in a different sense.”
Schaff was one of 54 players in the four-round Swiss format tournament, meaning that each participant was guaranteed to play four times in an event that started at 10 and was expected to run well past 8 p.m.
Four matches in one day, especially if the competition is strong, is a mental marathon even for the most well-trained player.
John Engle, a retired doctor and member of the Waterville Chess Club, emerged from the first round frustrated by a blunder he made in the latter stages of his match.
Engle said the mistake turned what could have been a draw into an opening loss against a lower-rated player.
On the surface, Engle was headed for an easier match in the second round. Tournament Director Dan DeLuca said the software program he uses pairs players based on whether they won, lost or tied in the previous round.
Engle, though, has played chess long enough to know what Schaff knows: fatigue is a factor in a multi-round tournament, and that variable carries a heavier weight as players age.
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How about Korchnoi?